MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE LATE CHARLES LEE, ESQ. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL OF THE FORTY-FOURTH REGIMENT; COLONEL IN THE PORTUGUESE SERVICE; MAJOR-GENERAL AND AID DECAMP TO THE KING OF POLAND, AND SECOND IN COMMAND IN THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DURING THE REVOLUTION.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED, HIS POLITICAL AND MILITARY ESSAYS; ALSO, LETTERS TO AND FROM MANY DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS, BOTH IN EUROPE AND AMERICA.
NEW-YORK: PRINTED BY T. ALLEN, BOOKSELLER AND STATIONER, N o. 12, QUEEN-STREET. 1792.
PREFACE.
THE following Memoirs and Letters of the late Major General Lee, have been in the possession of the Editor since the year 1786. They were transmitted from America to England by the gentleman whose name is subscribed to the Memoirs, and who was a member of Congress for the state of Georgia, for the purpose of publication. In their manuscript state they have been seen by several persons in England, who expressed a strong desire of putting them to the press, which the avocations of the person to whom they were entrusted, and his not being acquainted with such undertakings, had caused him to neglect.
As the subject of Revolutions is again renewed by what has occurred in France, it is presumed, that whatever relates to the Mother-Revolution, that of America will, at least, afford entertainment to the curious, and contribute to encrease the general stock of historical knowledge.
The reader may expect to find, in almost every thing that relates to General Lee, a great deal of the strong republican character. His attachment to principles of liberty, without regard to place, made him the citizen of the world rather than of any country; and from his earliest youth to the end of his career, this general trait in his character may be traced.
[Page iv]So little of the courtier had he about him, that he never descended to intimate any thing. Whatever he spoke or wrote was in the fullest style of expression, or strong figure. He used to say of Mr. Paine, the author of Common Sense, in America, and since of Rights of Man, in England, (of whose writings he was a great admirer) that "he burst forth upon the world like Jove in thunder;" and this strength of conception, so natural to General Lee, had it not been mixed with a turn equally as strong for satire, and too much eccentricity of temper, would have rendered his conversation perpetually entertaining.
Though the Memoirs and every Letter in this publication are most faithfully printed from the copy transmitted from America, the Editor has omitted many whole letters, and also his trial before the Court Martial, as not sufficiently interesting to balance the expence to which they would have extended the work. But if any of the particular friends or relations of General Lee should be desirous of seeing them, they may be indulged with the opportunity, by leaving a line at the publishers, directed to the
CONTENTS.
- MEMOIRS OF MAJOR GENERAL LEE, PAGE 1—47
- MISCELLANEOUS PIECES, PAGE 48—125
- Sketch of a Plan for the Formation of a Military Colony, PAGE 48
- An Essay on the Coup d'Oeil, PAGE 55
- A Picture of the Countess of—, PAGE 63
- An Account of a Conversation, chiefly relative to the Army, PAGE 65
- An Epistle to David Hume, Esq. PAGE 73
- A Political Essay, PAGE 76
- A Breakfast for R—, PAGE 84
- To the People of America, PAGE 88
- To the Gentlemen of the Provincial Congress of Virginia, PAGE 101
- On a famous trial in the Court of Common Pleas, between General Mostyn, Governor of Minorca, and an Inhabitant of that Island, PAGE 107
- A short History of the Treatment of Major General Conway, late in the Service of America, PAGE 111
- Proposals for the Formation of a Body of Light Troops ready to be detached on an emergent Occasion, PAGE 116
- Some Queries, Political and Military, humbly offered to the Consideration of the Public, PAGE 118
- Copy of General Lee's Will, PAGE 122
- LETTERS TO GENERAL LEE from several eminent Characters both in Europe and America, PAGE 126—186
- From the Earl of Pembroke, PAGE 126
- —William Bunbury, PAGE 128
- —Thomas Wroughton, PAGE 129
- —W. Paterson, PAGE 132
- —Edmund Burke, PAGE 135
- [Page vi]From Thomas Gamble, PAGE 137
- — Horatio Gates, PAGE ibid.
- — * * * * * * *, PAGE 140
- — George Lux, PAGE 143
- — An Old Friend, PAGE ibid.
- — Alex. White, PAGE 144
- — Trevor Newland, PAGE 150
- — B. Franklin, PAGE 154
- — John Adams, PAGE 156
- — John Hancock, PAGE 157
- — the Same, PAGE 158
- — Horatio Gates, PAGE 159
- — B. Franklin, PAGE 160
- — John Hancock, PAGE 161
- — G. Washington, PAGE 162
- — Thomas Burke, PAGE 164
- — Geo. Johnson, PAGE 166
- — H. Clinton, PAGE 167
- — John Page, PAGE 168
- — An Old Friend, PAGE 172
- — G. Washington, PAGE 173
- — the Same, PAGE 175
- Resolves of Congress, mentioned in the preceding letter, PAGE 177
- From Joseph Reed, PAGE 178
- — ****, PAGE 180
- — W. Livingston, PAGE 181
- — An Old Friend, PAGE 184
- — E. Edwards, PAGE 185
- LETTERS FROM GENERAL LEE, PAGE 186
- To the King of Poland, PAGE ibid.
- — the Prince of Poland, PAGE 190
- — Mr. Coleman, PAGE 193
- — Mrs. M'Cauley, PAGE 196
- — Louisa C. PAGE 200
- — Lord Thanet, PAGE 201
- — the King of Poland, PAGE 203
- — Sir C. Davers, PAGE 204
- [Page vii]To His Grace the Duke of — PAGE 206
- — Gen. Burgoyre▪ PAGE 208
- From J. Burgoyne to Gen. Lee, PAGE 213
- Gen. Lee's Answer, PAGE 217
- To Gen. Burgoyne, PAGE 218
- — Gen. Gage, PAGE 222
- — the Same, PAGE 224
- — —, PAGE 226
- — John Hancock, PAGE 227
- — the Same, PAGE 229
- — Edward Rutledge, Esq. PAGE 231
- — the Hon. the President of the Council of Safety, North-Carolina, PAGE 232
- — Samuel Purviance, Esq. PAGE 233
- — the Hon. the Pres. of the Committee of Safety, PAGE 234
- — His Excellency John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, PAGE 235
- — John Page, Esq. V. P. of the Committee, PAGE 238
- — Colonel Muhlenburg, PAGE ibid.
- — Edmund Pendleton, Pres. of the Committee of Safety, PAGE 239
- — His Excellency John Hancock, Esq. PAGE 241
- — Edmund Pendleton, Esq. President of the Convention, PAGE 245
- — —, PAGE 246
- Orders, PAGE 247—249
- To the Hon. John Hancock, Pres. of the Continental Congress, PAGE 250
- — The Hon. Edmund Pendleton, Pres. of the Convention of Virginia, PAGE 253
- — —, PAGE 255
- — His Excellency Patrick Henry, Jun. Governor of Virginia, PAGE 257
- — Richard Peters, Esq. Secretary to the Board of War and Ordnance, PAGE 260
- — His Excellency John Hancock, PAGE 265
- — the Board of Ordnance, PAGE 266
- — the Governor of Cape Francois, PAGE 270
- [Page viii]To Doctor Rush, with a character of General Howe, PAGE 273
- — His Excellency Henry Laurens, PAGE 275
- — Miss F—s, PAGE 276
- — the Same, PAGE 279
- — Miss Sidney Lee, PAGE 280
- — the Same, PAGE 282
MEMOIRS OF Major General Lee.
THE family of the Lees is both ancient and respectable, many of them having had connections and intermarriages with the principal families in the English nation; and, from a pedigree done for Mr. Thomas Lee, * distributor and collector of the stamp-duties for the county and city of Chester, North Wales, we learn, that the General's father was John Lee of Dernhall, in the said county, who was some time a Captain of Dragoons, afterwards Lieutenant Colonel of General Barrel's regiment from 1717 to 1742, at which time he was promoted to a Regiment of Foot. He married Isabella, second daughter of Sir Henry Bunbury, of Stanney, in the county of Chester, Baronet: by this lady he had three sons, Thomas, Harry, and Charles, the youngest, who is the subject of these memoirs.
From his early youth he was ardent in the pursuit of knowledge; and being an officer at eleven years of age, may be considered as born in the army; which, though it deprived him of some regularity with respect to the mode of his education, yet his genius led him assiduously to cultivate the fields of science, and he acquired a competent skill in the Greek and Latin; while his fondness for travelling gave him also an opportunity of attaining the Italian, Spanish, German, and French languages.
[Page 2]Having laid a good foundation, tactics became his favourite study, in which he spent much time and pains, desiring nothing more than to distinguish himself in the profession of arms. We find him very early in America, commanding a Company of Grenadiers of the 44th regiment; and he was at the battle of Ticonderoga, where General Abercrombie was defeated. Here, it is said, he was shot through the body; but fortunately his wound did not prove mortal.
When he returned to England from America, after the reduction of Montreal, he found a general peace was in contemplation. The cession of Canada was talked of, which gave great uneasiness to every Americ [...], as it appeared prejudicial to their interest and safety. On this occasion he exerted himself, and published a pamphlet shewing the importance of this country, which was much approved of by all the friends to America. The celebrated Dr. Franklin, in particular, was pleased to compliment him, and said "that it could not fail of making a salutary impression." In the year 1762, he bore a Colonel's commission, and served under General Burgoyne in Portugal; and in this service he handsomely distinguished himself.
The Spaniards had formed a design of invading that kingdom, and had assembled an army on the frontiers of Estremadura, with an intention of penetrating into the province of Alentejo. Count La Lippe was the commanding officer of the Portuguese army, who formed a design of attacking an advanced body of the Spaniards, which lay on their frontiers, in a town called Valentia de Alcantara.
This enterprise was committed to Brigadier General Burgoyne, who effected a complete surprize on the town, took the general who was to have commanded in the intended invasion, with a number of other officers, and one of the best regiments in the Spanish service was entirely destroyed. But notwithstanding this, and several subsequent skirmishes, the Spanish army continued masters of the country, and nothing remained but the passage [Page 3] of the Tagus, to enable them to take up their quarters in Alentejo.
General Burgoyne, who was posted with an intention to obstruct them in their passage, lay in the neighbourhood, and within view of a detached camp, composed of a considerable body of the enemy's cavalry, which lay near a village called Villa Velha. As he observed that the enemy kept no very soldierly guard in this post, and were uncovered both in their rear and their flanks, he conceived a design of falling on them by surprize. The execution of his design was entrusted to his friend Colonel Lee, who, in the night of October 8th, fell upon their rear, turned their camp, made a considerable slaughter, dispersed the whole party, destroyed their magazines, and returned with scarce any loss.
When a general conclusion was at length put to the war, he returned to England from Portugal, after having received the thanks of his Portuguese Majesty for his services; and Count La Lippe recommended him in the strongest terms to the English Court. He had, at this period, a friend and patron in high office, one of the principal Secretaries [...] State; so that there was every reason for him to have expected promotion in the English army. But here his attachment, his enthusiasm for America, interfered, and prevented. The great Indian, or what we called Pondiacks War, broke out, which the ministerial agents thought their interest to represent as a matter of no consequence. The friends of America thought the reverse, and asserted it would be attended with dreadful waste, ravage, and desolation. This brought him once more to publish for the defence and protection of this country, by which he lost the favour of the ministry, and shut the door to all hopes of preferment in the English army. But he could not live in idleness and inactivity: he left his native country, and entered into the Polish service, and was of course absent when the stamp act passed; but although absent, he did not cease labouring in the cause of America, as may be learned from many of his letters. He used every argument, and [Page 4] exerted all the abilities he was master of, with every correspondent he had, in either House of Parliament, of any weight or influence; and at the same time, he had not an inconsiderable number in both.
It must be observed, that this famous act had divided almost every court in Europe into two different parties: the one, assertors of the prerogative of the British Parliament; the other, of the rights and privileges of America. General Lee, on this occasion, pleaded the cause of the Colonies with such earnestness as almost to break off all intercourse with the King's ministers at the Court of Vienna, men that he personally loved and esteemed; but, at the same time, it was thought that he pleaded with so much success as to add not a few friends and partizans to America. These circumstances are mentioned. as they serve to demonstrate that a zeal for the welfare of the Colonies, from the General's earliest acquaintance with them, had been a ruling principle of his life. The present volumes will testify what he sacrificed, what he did, and what he hazarded, in the last and most important contest which separated the Colonies from their parent state:—but there is one circumstance that seems to claim a particular attention; which is, that of all the officers who embarked in the American service, he was the only man who could acquire no additional rank, and perhaps the only one whose fortune could not have been impaired, or at least the tenure by which it was held, changed from its former condition into a precarious and arbitrary one, by the success of the British ministry's schemes; for, had they been completed to the full extent of their wishes, the condition of his fortune had not been altered for the worse: his fortune, though not great, was easy, and, it may be said, affluent, for a private gentleman; a detail of which the editor is enabled to collect from his papers.
1st. The General had four hundred and eighty pounds per annum, on a mortgage in Jamaica, paid punctually.
2dly. An estate of two hundred pounds per annum in Middlesex, for another gentleman's life; but whose life he had insured against his own.
[Page 5]3dly. A thousand pounds on a turnpike in England, [...] four per cent. interest.
4thly. One thousand five hundred pounds, at five per cent..
5thly. His half-pay, one hundred and thirty-six pounds per annum; in all, nine hundred and thirty-one pounds per annum, clear income: besides this, about twelve hundred, pounds in his agent's hands, and different debts.— He had, likewise, ten thousand acres of land in the island of St. John, which had been located and settled at the expence of seven hundred pounds; and a mandamus for twenty thousand acres in East Florida.
This is the state of the General's fortune when he engaged in the late American contest; and this fortune would have been totally unaffected though the prerogative of taxing America without her consent had been established and confirmed: the full possession of it was secure, and independent of her [...]te. But these considerations did not influence his mind▪ he gave up security for insecurity, certainty for uncertainty; he threw into the lap of America, without any chance of winning; he staked all on the die of her fortune: if she succeeded, he could not be bettered; if she miscarried, his whole was lost. His rank, as before observed, acquired no addition; but the contrary, for a stop was put to its progress in the two other services, the Polish and the English.
The General, who could never stay long in one place, during the years 1771, 1772, to the fall pf 1773, had rambled all over Europe; but we can collect nothing material relative to the adventures of his travels, as his memorandum-books only mention the names of the towns and cities through which he passed. That he was a most rapid and very active traveller, is evident: it appears also, that he was engaged with an officer in Italy in an affair of honour, by which he lost the use of two of his fingers; but having recourse to pistols, the Italian was slain, and he immediately obliged to fly for his life. His warmth of temper drew him into many rencounters of this kind; in all which he acqui [...]ted himself with singular courage, [Page 5] springhtliness of imagination, and great presence of mind.
Much dissatisfied with the appearance of the political horizen at London, on the 16th of August 1773, he embarked on board the packet for New-York, where he arrived on the 10th of November following, and had a very severe fit of the gout. At this period, the controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies began to be serious; and the General concerted a design of taking a part in favour of America, in case it came to an open rupture.
The destruction of the British East-India company's tea at Boston, the 16th of December, was a prelude to the calamities that afterwards ensued. At this crisis, General Lee's mind was not inobservant or inactive his conversation, his pen, animated die colonists to a great degree, and persuaded them to make a persevering resistance.
During this winter, he visited Philadelphia, Williamsburgh, and several other places in Virginia and Maryland; and returned to Philadelphia, a few months before the first Congress met in that city, on the 5th of September. Encouraging and observing what was going forward here, he then paid a visit to New-York, Rhode-Island, and Boston, where he arrived on the 1st of August 1774. The most active political characters on the American theatre, now hailed him, and were happy in his acquaintance, not a little pleased with his sanguine, lively temper; considering his presence among them at this crisis, as a most fortunate and propitious omen. General Gage had now issued his proclamation; and though Lee was on half-pay in the British service, it did not prevent him from expressing his sentiments in terms of the most pointed severity against the ministry. In short, he blazed forth a Whig of the first magnitude, and communicated a portion of his spirit to all with whom he conversed.— As he continued travelling, or rather flying from place to place, he became known to all who distinguished themselves in this important opposition: his company and correspondence were co [...]ed, and many occasional political [Page 7] pieces, the production of his pen, were eagerly read, and much admired; and from this popularity, there is no reason to doubt but he expected he should soon become the first in military rank on this Continent.
General Gates was settled on a plantation in Berkley county, Virginia; and having a great friendship for Lee, persuaded him to purchase front a Mr. Hite, a very fine valuable tract of land in his neighbourhood, of about two thousand seven hundred acres, on which were several good improvements.
On this business, he left his friends, in the Northern States, and returned to Virginia, where he remained till the month of May 1775, when he again presented himself at Philadelphia. The American Congress were assembled; and he became daily a greater enthusiast in the cause of liberty. The battle of Lexington, and some other matters, had now ripened the contest; and Lee's active and interprising disposition was ready for the most arduous purposes. He therefore accepted a commission from the Congress, which was offered to him by some of its principal members; but he found it necessary previously to resign that which he held in the British service. This he did without delay, in a letter transmitted to the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Barrington, his Majesty's Secretary at war; assuring his Lordship, that although he had renounced his half-pay, yet, whenever it should please his Majesty to call him forth to any honourble service against the natural hereditary enemies of his country, or in defence of his most just rights and dignity, no man would obey the righteous summons with more zeal and alacrity than himself: at the same time, the General expressed his disapprobation of the present measures, in the most direct terms; declaring them to be "so absolutely subversive of the rights and liberties of every individual subject, so destructive to the whole empire at large, and ultimately so ruinous to his Majesty's own person, dignity, and family, that he thought himself obliged in conscience, as a citizen, Englishman; and a soldier of a free State, to ex [...]t his utmost in defeat them."
[Page 8]Professing these sentiments, he received a Continental commission of the rank of Major General. As he had made war his study from his youth, seen a variety of service, and distinguished himself for his courage and abilities, one might have imagined he would have immediately been appointed second in command in the American army: this was not the case; in all countries, kissing goes by favour; and men will be tenacious of any rank bestowed upon them. General Ward, of Massachusetts Bay, by some means or other, had received a commission of prior date; and on this account, perhaps to the injury of the service, he took rank of General Lee, who was at present content to act under him. Whatever his feelings were on this head, he took care to disguise them; and General Ward, on the evacuation of Boston, grew weary or military honour and service, retired to private life, and sent his resignation to Congress.
On the 21st of June, General Washington and General Lee, having received their orders from Congress, left Philadelphia, in order to join the troops assembled near Boston. They were accompanied out of the city, for some miles, by a troop of light horse, and by all the officers of the city militia, on horseback; and at this time General Lee was accounted, and really was, a great acquisition to the American cause. On the road they received the news of the affair at Bunker's-hill, and arrived at the camp at Cambridge the 2d of July 1775. The people of Massachusetts received them with every testimony of esteem; and the Congress of that Colony not only presented an address to his Excellency General Washington, as commander in chief, but, from a sense of the military abilities of General Lee, presented one to him also, couched in terms of the highest respect. The General remained with this army till the year 1776, when General Washington, having obtained intelligence of the fitting out of a fleet at Boston, and of the embarkation of troops from thence, which, from the season of the year, and other circumstances, he judged must be destined for a Southern expedition, gave orders to General [Page 9] Lee, to repair, with such volunteers as were willing to join him, and could be expeditiously raised, to the city of New-York, with a design to prevent the English from taking possession of New-York and the North-River, as they would thereby command the country, and the communication with Canada. The General, on his arrival, began with putting the city in the best posture of defence the season of the year and circumstances would admit of; disarming all such persons upon Long-Island, and elsewhere, whose conduct and declarations had rendered them suspected of designs unfriendly to the views of Congress. Colonel Ward was ordered to secure the whole body of professed Tories in Long-Island. This gave an universal alarm, that even the Congress of New-York endeavoured to check the General in this business, by informing him, in a letter, that the trial and punishment of citizens belonged to the Provincial Congress, and not to any military character, however exalted. To this the General answered, that when the enemy was at the doors, forms must be dispensed with—that his duty to them, to the Continental Congress, and to his own conscience, had dictated the necessity of the measure— that if he had done wrong, he would submit himself to the shame of being reputed rash and precipitate, and undergo the censure of the public; but he should have the consciousness of his own breast, that the pure motives of serving the community, uncontaminated by pique or resentment to individuals, urged him to the step. The General also remonstrated against supplying th [...] men of war and Governor Tryon with provisions, as the b [...]ats coming to the city must open the means of their receiving every sort of intelligence. "I should," says the General in one of his letters, "be in the highest degree culpable to God, my conscience, and the Continental Congress, in whose service I am engaged, should I suffer, at so dangerous a crisis, a banditti of professed foes of liberty and their country to remain at liberty to co-operate with, and strengthen the ministerial troops openly in arms, or covertly, and consequently more dangerously furnish them [Page 10] with intelligence." He also drew up a Test, which he ordered his officers to offer to those who were reputed inimical to the American cause: a refusal to take this, was to be construed as no more or less than an avowal of their hostile intentions: upon which, their persons were to be secured, and sent to Connecticut, were it was judged they could not be so dangerous. Thus the General excited the people to every spirited measure, and intimidated by every means the friends to the English government. At this time, Captain Vandeput, of the Asia, seized a Lieutenant Tiley, and kept him on board his ship in irons. On the principles of retaliation, Lee took into custody Mr. Stephens, an officer of Government, and informed the Captain what he had done, and that this gentleman should not be released until Lieut. Tiley was returned. This had the desired effect. His determined and decisive disposition had an amazing influence both on the army and people; and the steps he proposed for the management of those who disapproved of the American resistance, struck a terror wherever he appeared.
Congress had now received the account of General Montgomery's unsuccessful expedition against Quebec. As flattering expectations were entertained of the success of this officer, the event threw a gloom on American affairs. To remedy this disaster, they turned their eyes to General Lee, and Congress resolved that he should forthwith repair to Canada, and take upon him the command of the army of the United Colonies in that province. This, though he was just recovered from a fit of the gout, he accepted; but while preparations were making for the important undertaking, Congress changed their determination, and appointed him to the command of the Southern department; in which he became very conspicuous, as a vigilant, brave and active officer. His extensive correspondence, his address under every difficulty, and his unwearied attention to the duties of his station, all evinced his great military capacity, and extreme useful [...]ess to the cause he had espoused, and was warmly engaged in—Every testimony of respect was paid [Page 11] him by the people of the Northern Colonies, and he experienced a similar treatment in his journey to the Southward. On his arrival at Williamsburgh, every one expressed their high satisfaction at his presence among them; and the troops of that city embraced the opportunity of presenting him with an address, expressive of their sanguine hopes and firm resolutions of uniting with him in the common cause. This example was followed at Newbern, North-Carolina; and a committee was appointed by the inhabitants of that town, to wait upon him in their name, and, in an address, to thank him for his generous and manly exertions in defence of American rights and liberties; and to offer him their cordial congratulations for his appearance among them, at a time when their province was actually invaded by a powerful fleet and army; and to express their happiness to find the command of the troops destined for their protection, placed in the hands of a gentleman of his distinguished character.
Great too was the joy in South Carolina, were his presence was seasonable and absolutely necessary, as Sir Henry Clinton was actually preparing for an invasion of that province. The minds of all ranks of people were considerably elevated at the sight of him; it diffused an ardour among the military, attended with the most salutary consequences; and his diligence and activity at Charleston, previous to the attack upon Sullivan's island, will be long remembered. From a perusal of his letters and directions to the officers commanding at that post, we may justly infer, that America was under no small obligations to him for the signal success there obtained.—And here it may be mentioned, as somewhat remarkable, that when General Lee received orders, at Cambridge, to repair to New-York, to watch the motions of the British, he met General Clinton the very day he arrived there;—when he came to Virginia, he found him in Hampton Road—and just after his arrival in North Carolina, General Clinton left Cape Fear —Their next meeting was at Fort Sullivan, which must [Page 12] have made Lee appear to Clinton as his evil genius, haunting him for more than eleven hundred miles, along a coast of vast extent, and meeting him at Philippi.
The affair of Sullivan's island was a most extraordinary deliverance; for if the English had succeeded, it is more than probable the Southern Colonies would at that time have been compelled to have submitted to the English government. Dreadful was the cannonade, but without effect. Porto Bello, Boccochico, and the other castle at Carthagena, were obliged to strike to Vernon; Fort Lewis in Saint Domingo yielded to the metal of Admiral Knowles; but in this instance, an unfinished battery, constructed with Palmeto logs, resisted, for a whole day, the twelve and eighteen-pounders of the British fleet, to the astonishment and admiration of every spectator.
The fleet and army under Sir Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker being repulsed, General Lee then flew to the assistance of Georgia, where he continued for some weeks, planning schemes to put that province in a state of defence, and to make an excursion into East Florida, as their Southern frontiers were suffering considerably by the incursions of Indians and others from that quarter.
About this time, the Congress were informed by General Washington, that Clinton, with the troops under his command, had returned, and joined General Howe at Staten-island. In consequence of this intelligence, the Congress were convinced that the English, by collecting their whole force into a point, were determined to make a most vigorous exertion at New-York; and in order to ensure success there, were disposed for the present to overlook every other object. The getting possession of that city, and the junction of the two armies under General Howe and Burgoyne, it was the Congress's opinion, were the grand objects they had in view, and for the attainment of which they would give up every inferior consideration. Lee's success in the Southern department had increased the good opinion they had conceived of him: his reputation was in its zenith; and [Page 13] they now applied to him for assistance, in the present important situation of their affairs. An express was dispatched to Georgia, directing him to repair as soon as possible to Philadelphia, there to receive such orders as they might judge expedient. He returned with great expedition, the beginning of October, and waited on Congress immediately on his arrival, who, after consulting him, resolved that he should without delay repair to the camp at Haerlem, with leave, if he should judge proper, to visit the posts in New-Jersey.
He arrived at General Washington's army just time enough to prevent it from being blockaded in York-island, the circumstance of which had been thus related. General Washington was at that time under a necessity of consulting his council of officers, before he could take any step of consequence; and they, contrary to his opinion, were for waiting an attack in their own lines on York-island—Extensive barracks had been erected, and large preparations made for such a step. Sir William Howe, finding the Americans too strong to be attacked with safety from the side of New-York, leaving Lord Piercy with a body of troops opposite the river, embarked the rest in his flat boats, passed safely the dangerous passage of Hell-Gate, and landed on Frog's Neck, an island separated by a small creek from West Chester. Here he remained a week, under a pretence of waiting for stores and provisions; while the Americans, in consequence of their resolutions, continued on the Island. The very evening before General Howe made a movement, General Lee arrived at General Washington's camp; his opinion of their dangerous situation convinced the council of war; and, that night, a precipitate movement extricated them from the danger. The next morning, General Howe landed on Pell's Manor, a point separated from Frog's Neck by a channel of scarce 200 yards: he then extended his army across to Hudson's-river; but there was then no enemy to intercept. Had he, instead of trifling away his time, crammed up on Frog's Neck, landed only on Pell's Point, not a soul of [Page 14] the American army would have escaped. Hitherto General Lee had been successful, and was universally esteemed; but fortune now began to reverse the scene. On the 13th of December 1776, at the head of all the men he could collect, he was marching to join General Washington, who had assembled the Pennsylvania militia, to secure the banks of the Delaware.—From the distance of the British cantonment, he was betrayed into a fatal security, by which, in crossing the upper part of New-Jersey from the North river, he fixed his quarters, and by carelessly guarded at some distance from the main body. This circumstance being communicated to Colonel Harcourt, who commanded the British light horse, and had then made a desultory excursion at the head of a small detachment, he conducted his measures with such address and activity, that Lee was carried off, though several guarded posts and armed patroles lay in the way. Great was the joy of the British, and equal the consternation of the Americans, at this unexpected event. The making of a single officer prisoner, in other circumstances, would have been a matter of little moment; but in the present state of the continental forces, where a general deficiency of the military skill prevailed, and the inexperience of the officers was even a greater grievance, the loss of a commander whose spirit of enterprize was directed by great knowledge in his profession, acquire [...] by actual service, was indeed of the utmost importance. The Congress, on hearing this news, ordered their President to write to General Washington, desiring him to send a flag to General Howe, for the purpose of enquiring in what manner General Lee was treated; and i [...] he found that it was not agreeable to his rank an [...] character, to send a remonstrance to General Howe o [...] the subject. This produced much inconvenience to bot [...] sides, and much calamity to individuals. A cartel had some time before been established for the exchange o [...] prisoners between the Generals Howe and Washington [...] which had hitherto been carried into execution as far a [...] time and circumstances would admit. As Lee wa [...] [Page 15] particularly obnoxious to Government, it was said that General Howe was tied down by his instructions, from parting with him upon any terms, if the fortune of war should throw him into his power. General Washington not having at this time any prisoners of equal rank with Lee, proposed to exchange six field officers for him, the number being intended to balance that disparity; or if this was not accepted, he required that he should be treated suitably to his station, according to the practice established among polished nations, till an opportunity offered for a direct and equal exchange. To this it was answered, that as Mr. Lee was a deserter from his Majesty's service, he was not to be considered as a prisoner of war; that he did not at all come within the conditions of the cartel, nor could he receive any of its benefits. This brought on a fruitless discussion, whether General Lee, who had resigned his half-pay at the beginning of the troubles, could be considered as a deserter; or whether he could with justice be excluded from the general benefits of a cartel, in which no particular exception of person had been made. In the mean time, General Lee was guarded with all the strictness which a State criminal of the first magnitude could have experienced in the most dangerous political conjuncture. This conduct not only suspended the operation of the cartel, but induced retaliation on the American side; and Colonel Campbell, who had hitherto been treated with great humanity by the people of Boston, was now thrown into a dungeon.
Those British officers who were prisoners in the Southern Colonies, though not treated with equal rigour, were, however, abridged of their parole liberty. It was at the same time declared, that their future treatment should in every degree be regulated by that which General Lee experienced, and that their persons should be answerable, in the utmost extent, for any violence that was offered to him. Thus m [...]tters continued till the capture of the British army under General Burgoyne at Saratoga, October 17th, 1777. A change of conduct towards him then took place; he was allowed his parole in New-York, [Page 16] lodged in the same house with Lieutenant Colonel Butler of the 38th, dined with General Robertson commandant of the town, and with many principal officers and families, and a short time after was exchanged.
The first military scene in which General Lee appeared after his liberation, was the battle of Monmouth, which determined his career in the American army. Before this affair, his character in general was very respectable; many of the warm friends of America, highly valued the important services he had rendered to the United States.
From the beginning of the contest, he had excited and directed the military spirit which pervaded the continent; his conversation raised an emulation among the officers, and he taught them to pay a proper attention to the health, cloathing, and comfortable subsistence of their men: add to this, his zeal was unwearied in inculcating the principles of liberty among all ranks of people; hence it is said, that a strong party was formed in Congress, and by some discontented officers in the army, to raise Lee to the first command; and it hath been suggested by many, that General Lee's conduct at the battle of Monmouth, was intended to effect this plan; for, could the odium of the defeat have been at that time thrown on General Washington, and his attack of the British army made to appear rash and imprudent, there is great reason to suppose he would have been deprived of his command. It hath been observed by some writers on this subject, that when General Lee was taken prisoner, the American army was on no par with the Royal forces; but the case was much changed on his return from his captivity. He found them improved, and daring enough to attack even the British grenadiers with firmness and resolution. Had not this been the case, and General Lee, when ordered to attack the rear of the Royal army, seen his men [...] back with disgrace, unwilling to rally, and acting with fear and trepidation, his retreat would have been necessary, his conduct crowned with applause, and his purposes effected; [Page 17] but, disappointed in this view, the retreat hath been imputed to himself, as he could not alledge the want of spirit in his troops for the justification of his conduct.
The British army, early on Thursday the 25th of June, compleated their evacuation of Philadelphia, having before transported their stores and most of their artillery into the Jersies, where they had thrown up some works, and several regiments were encamped;—they manned the lines the preceding night, and retreated over the commons, crossing at Gloucester Point. A party of the American horse pursued them very close; however nothing very material happened till the 28th, when, about three o'clock in the morning, the British army moved on their way to Middletown Point. About eleven o'clock, the American van, commanded by General Lee, overtook them; but he soon retreated, and was met by General Washington, who formed on the first proper piece of ground near Monmouth Court-House. While this was doing, two pieces of cannon, supported by Colonel Livingston and Colonel Stewart, with a picked corps of 300 men, kept off the main body of the English, and made a great slaughter. Very severe skirmishing ensued; and the American army advancing, the British made their last efforts upon a small body of Pennsylvania troops at and about Mr. Tennant's house; they then gave way, leaving the field covered with dead and wounded. General Washington's troops pursued for about a mile, when, night coming on, and the men exceedingly fatigued with marching, and the hot weather, they halted about half a mile beyond the ground of the principal action.—The British took a strong post in their front, secured on both flanks by morasses and thick woods, where they remained until about twelve at night, and then retreated. In consequence of this action, General Lee was put under arrest, and tried by a Court Martial at Brunswick, the 4th July following. The charges exhibited against him were,
1st. For disobedience of orders in not attacking the enemy on the 28th of June, agreeable to repeated instructions.
[Page 18]2dly. For misbehaviour before the enemy on the same day, by making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retre [...].
3dly. For disrespect to the commander in chief in two [...]tters, dated the 1st July, and the 28th June.
The letters, on which the third charge is founded, are as follows:
FROM the knowledge I have of your Excellency's character, I must conclude, that nothing but the misinformation of some very stupid, or misrepresentation of some very wicked person, could have occasioned your making use of such very singular expressions as you did, on my coming up to the ground where you had taken post: they implied, that I was guilty either of disobedience of orders, want of conduct, or want of courage. Your excellency will therefore infinitely oblige me, by letting me know, on which of these three articles you ground your charge, that I may prepare for my justification; which I have the happiness to be confident I can do, to the Army, to the Congress, to America, and to the World in general. Your Excellency must give me leave to observe, that neither yourself, nor those about your person, could, from your situation, be in the least judges of the merits or demerits of our manoeuvres; and to speak with a becoming pride, I can assert, that to these manoeuvres the success of the day was entirely owing. I can boldly say, that had we remained on the first ground, or had we advanced, or had the retreat been conducted in a manner different from what it was, this whole army, and the interests of America, would have risked being sacrificed. I ever had, and I hope ever shall have, the greatest respect and veneration for General Washington; I think him endued with many great and good qualities: But in this instance, I must pronounce, that he has been guilty of an act of cruel injustice, towards a man who had certainly some pretensions to the regard [Page 19] of every servant of his country; and I think, sir, I have a right to demand some reparation for the injury committed; and unless I can obtain it, I must, in justice to myself, when the campaign is closed, which I believe will close the war, retire from a service, at the head of which is placed a man capable of offering such injuries: —but at the same time, in justice to you, I must repeat, that I, from my soul, believe, that it was not a motion of your own breast, but instigated by some of those dirty earwigs, who will for ever insinuate themselves near persons in high office; for I am really convinced, that when General Washington acts from himself, no man in his army will have reason to complain of injustice and indecorum.
I RECEIVED your letter, dated, through mistake, the 1st of July, expressed, as I conceive, in terms highly improper. I am not conscious of having made use of any very singular expressions at the time of my meeting you, as you intimate. What I recollect to have said, was dictated by duty, and warranted by the occasion. As soon as circumstances will admit, you shall have an opportunity either of justifying yourself to the Army, to Congress, to America, and to the World in general, or of convincing them that you are guilty of a breach of orders, and of misbehaviour before the enemy on the [Page 20] 28th instant, in not attacking them as you had been directed, and in making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat.
I BEG your Excellency's pardon for the inaccuracy in misdating my letter.—You cannot afford me greater pleasure than in giving me the opportunity of shewing to America, the sufficiency of her respective servants. I trust that the temporary power of office, and the tinsel dignity attending it, will not be able, by all the mists they can raise, to offiscate the bright rays of truth. In the mean time, your Excellency can have no objection to my retiring from the army.
SINCE I had the honour of addressing my letter by Colonel Fitzgerald to your Excellency, I have reflected on both your situation and mine; and beg leave to observe, that it will be for our mutual convenience, that a Court of Inquiry should be immediately ordered; but I could wish it might be a Court Martial: for, if the affair [Page 21] is drawn into length, it may be difficult to collect the necessary evidences, and perhaps might bring on a paper-war betwixt the adherents to both parties, which may occasion some disagreeable feuds on the Continent; for all are not my friends, nor your admirers.
I must entreat, therefore, from your love of justice, that you will immediately exhibit your charge; and that on the first halt, I may be brought to a trial.
THE Court met, by several adjournments, till the 12th of August, when they found the unfortunate General guilty of the several charges brought against him, and sentenced him to be suspended from any commission in the armies of the United States of North America for the term of twelve months. But it was usual in America, and thought necessary, that the sentence of every Court Martial should be ratified or confirmed by Congress; the proceedings, therefore, of the Court, were accordingly transmitted to them, and the General repaired to Philadelphia to await their decision. During his stay there on this business, he was involved in several disputes; and though his affair might be considered as yet sub judice, yet the conversation of the city was rather against him, which induced him to publish, as it were, a second defence; and as this may not be so well known to the public as the elegant and masterly defence in his trial, which hath been republished in Europe, I shall insert it in this place.
GENERAL LEE's Vindication to the Public.
THE different commentators on the orders I received from General Washington, on the 28th of June, have, I think, construed them into no more than three different senses. I shall, therefore, for argument's sake, give the world leave to suppose them to have been any one of these three: *—1st. To attack the enemy in whatever situation, and in whatever force I found them, without considering consequences.
2. To contrive the means of bringing on a general engagement.
3. To annoy them as much as possible, without risking any thing of great importance; that is, in fact, to act with a great degree of latitude, according to my own discretion.
Now, I say, granting any one of those three to have been the orders I received, it is manifest, that I did literally and effectually comply, as far as depended on myself, and on human means. As to the first, notwithstanding the attempt, by a low evasion, to prove that the orders I gave were only to advance on the enemy, it is clear from Captain Mercer's evidence, that General Wayne and Colonel Butler were ordered, not only to advance, but in precise terms to attack;—it is clear, that I did, with the three brigadiers on the right, make the only movement possible to accomplish this end; it is clear that I did not wish, or give any orders for a retrograde manoeuvre from the first point of action, and that, even when I was informed of our left being abandoned, the retreat, however necessary, was, I am ashamed to own it, done contrary to my orders, and contrary to my intentions. I say I am ashamed to own it; for if the British cavalry had vigorously pushed on [Page 23] our right, they might have turned our flank, taken us in reverse, and we had been lost. There is one supposition, and indeed only one (and that, for the General's honour, is too monstrous to be admitted) that would render me criminal; it is, that he had positively commanded me, that after the attack commenced, whatever were my circumstances, or whatever were my numbers, from thence I should not, from any consideration, recede an inch. Now, if such I had conceived to have been his intention, so great is my opinion of the valour, zeal, and obedience of the troops, and so well I think I know myself, that I do really believe we should all have perished on the first spot; but I never had, and it is almost impossible I should have an idea that such was his plan; and it i [...] [...]dent that it was not; consequently, in seeking a bett [...]r [...] [...]n in our rear, I could be guilty of no disobedience▪ Upon the whole, admitting the orders I received to have [...] (as it has been insinuated) to attack, without any consid [...]ration of the force or situation of the enemy, they w [...]re as fully and rigidly obeyed, circumstanced as I was, as it was possible for any human officer to obey orders of such a nature, In the next place, if the General's instructions are construed to be, that I should find the means of bringing on a general engagement, it is difficult to imagine a more efficacious method than that which was pursued. But I must here beg leave to observe, that those gentlemen who talk so familiarly of bringing on a general engagement, must understand themselves as little as they can be understood by others: —to bring on a general engagement, is not always in our power. An enemy of any capacity will take such measures as not to be under the necessity of fighting against his inclinations; and, however it may be received, I cannot help being persuaded, that some of the British generals are not deficient in this great essential. Clinton, Grey, and Erskine, were bred up, and considered no despicable officers in one of the best schools in Europe. Prince Ferdinand and his nephew, the heriditary prince, think, it is said, and do most certainly [Page 24] speak very honourably of them. Now, although it must be supposed that men of this stamp will make it a rule to retain the power of refusing a general engagement, there are strong grounds for believing, that on this day (whether from our manoeuvres, or from the often ungovernable impetuosity of the British troops) they would have been put under the necessity of committing the most considerable part of their army to the decision of arms, if the opportunity on our side had been availed of. They were tempted to pass three of the great ravines winch traverse the plain; and there is room to flatter ourselves they would have passed the last, if they had been wisely suffered. They would then have been actually in our power; that is, they would have been under the necessity of fighting against unequal force; for they had scarcely the possibility of retreating, and it was at our option to engage whatever part of the army we thought proper, whether the whole, one half, or only a third, as they had immediately emerged from the ravine, and before they could have had time to develop and form; our rear was, on the contrary, quite clear and unembarrassed, and were, in fact, entire masters of our manoeuvres; at the same time, Colonel Morgan, and the militia on the flanks, by this separation of the major part of the enemy's army to so great a distance from their baggage, and the body covering the baggage, would have had a much fairer apportunity of making their respective attacks, than if they had remained more compact: thus, if any thing is meant by finding the means of bringing on a general engagement, it was done, and in the most salutary manner, to the utmost extent of human possibility.
We come now to the last supposition, viz. That the orders I received (which in fact is the truth, unless they they had no meaning at all) were to annoy the enemy, strike a partial blow, but without risking any thing of great importance; or in other terms, to act in a great measure discretionally. * And here I defy the most acute [Page 25] military critic of the world, to point out a more effectual method than what was pursued; for, had we taken post on the hither or western margin of the first ravine, as General Wayne seems to think we ought to have done, (and admitting that in this position our flanks could have been secure, which they certainly were not) or on the margin of any of the other ravines in our rear, the last not excepted, if the last had been tenable, how could we possibly have annoyed the enemy, or struck a partial blow? The consequence would at most have been this, that we might have remained gazing on and cannonading each other for some time, and the moment they chose to retire, they could have done it at their leisure, and with impunity; for, by all the rules of war, and what is more, by all the rules of common sense, we could not have ventured to pursue them, because we should have put, if not impracticable, at least very dangerous, defiles in our rear; and if they had turned back upon us, we should have been effectually in their power, unless we could have insured victory to ourselves with very unequal numbers; but by drawing them over all the ravines, they were as much in our power; besides, it must occur to every man who is not destitute of common reason, that the further they were from their ships and the heights of Middletown, the point of their security, the more they were (to use the military language) in the air.
To these considerations may be added, that the ground we found them on, was extremely favourable to the nature of their troops; and that we drew them into, as favourable to ours. The ground we found them on, was calculated for cavalry, in which they comparatively abounded; and that which we drew them into, as much the reverse. In fine, admitting that the order I received was any one of the three referred to, and supposing we had been as perfectly acquainted with every yard of the country as we were utterly ignorant of it, I am happy to be able consciously to pronounce, that were the transactions of that day to pass over again, there is no one step [Page 26] I took which I would not again take. There is no one thing I did which does not demonstrate that I conducted myself as an obedient, prudent, and, let me add, spirited officer; * and I do from my soul sincerely wish that a court of inquiry, composed of the ablest soldiers in the world, were to sit in judgment, and enjoined to canvas with the utmost rigour every circumstance of my conduct on this day, and on their decision my reputation or infamy to be for ever established. There is, however, I confess, the strongest reason to believe (but for this omission I am no ways responsible) that, had a proper knowledge of the theatre of action been obtained, as it might, and ought to have been, its nature and different situations, with there references studied, and, in consequence, a general plan of action wisely concerted and digested, a most important, perhaps a decisive blow might have been struck, but not by adopting any one measure that any one of my censurers has been fortunate enough to think of. I have already said, that had we remained on the ground where the attack commenced, or on the margin of the first ravine, which General Wayne seems to think was a good position, we should probably have been lost; and I believe I may safely assert that had we attached ourselves to the second position, in front of Carr's house, reconnoitred by Mons. Du Portail, on the hill which Colonel Hamilton was so strongly prepossessed in favour of, and allowing our flanks to be secure in any of these positions, which it is evident they were not, security is the only thing we could have had to boast of. The security of the enemy would have been equally great; but any possibility of annoying them we certainly had not I assert, then, that if we had acted wisely, it was our business to let one, two, or three thousand pass the last ravine, in the rear of which, and on the eminence pointed out to me by Mr. Wikoff, and to General Washington by [Page 27] Colonel Ray, * the main body of our army was posted, fresh and unfatigued; whereas those of the enemy were extremely harassed, or, indeed, worn down to so low a degree of debility, that had they once passed, they had little chance of repassing; the ground was commanding, and, to us, in all respects advantageous. A fort of natural glacis, extending itself in our front, from the crest of the eminence quite down to the ravine, over which there was only one narrowed pass, the plain so narrowed as to give no play to the manoeuvres of their cavalry; and at two or three hundred yards distance in the rear, a space of ground most happily adapted to the arrangement of a second line. ‡ This ground, from the nature of its front, is almost entirely protected from the annoyance of the enemy's cannon; and, of course, well calculated for the respiration of a body of troops, such as my detachment was, fatigued, but not dispirited by action, and the excessive heat of the weather; here they might have taken breath; here they might have been refreshed, and, in a very short time, refitted at least to act as a line of support, which was all that in these circumstances, could be necessary. I proposed to the General to form them as such, but was precipitately ordered, and, I confess, in a manner that extremely ruffled me, to three miles distance in the rear.
Thus, in my opinion, was a most glorious opportunity lost; for what followed on both sides was only a distant, unmeaning, inefficacious canonnade; and what has been so magnificently stiled a pursuit, was no more than taking up the ground which the British troops could not possibly, and were not (their principle being retreat) interested to maintain.
P. S. A thousand wicked and low artifices, during my tryal, were used to render me unpopular. One of the principal was, to throw out that I had endeavoured, on every occasion, to depreciate the American valour, and the character of their troops. There never was a more impudent falsehood; I appeal to my letters addressed to Mr. Burgoyne—to the whole tenor of my conversation, both previous and subsequent to the commencement of the present war, and to all my publications. It is true, I have often heavily lamented, as to me it appears, the defective constitution of the army; but I have ever had the highest opinion of the courage and other good qualities of the Americans as soldiers; and the proofs that my opinion was just, are numerous and substantial.
To begin with the affair of Bunker's hill, I may venture to pronounce that there never was a more dangerous, a more execrable situation, than these brave and unfortunate men (if those who die in the glorious cause of Liberty can be termed unfortunate) were placed in; they had to encounter with a body of troops, both in point of spirit and discipline, not to be surpassed in the whole world, headed by an officer of experience, intrepidity, coolness, and decision. The Americans were composed, in part, of raw lads and old men, half armed, with no practice or discipline, commanded without order, and God knows by whom. Yet what was the event? It is known to the world, that the British troops, notwithstanding their address and gallantry, were most severely handled, and almost defeated. *
The troops under the command of General Montgomery, in his expedition against St. John's, Chambly, and into Canada, who were chiefly composed of native Americans, as they were from the Eastern States, displayed, [Page 29] by his own account, in a letter I received from that illustrious young man, not only great courage, but zeal and enterprize.
The assault under Arnold, on the lower town of Quebec, was an attempt that would have startled the most approved veterans; and, if they miscarried, it cannot be attributed to a deficiency of valour, but to want of proper information of the circumstances of the place.
The defence of Sullivan's-Island, by Colonel Moultrie, might be termed an ordeal. The garrison, both men and officers, entirely raw; the fire furious, and of a duration almost beyond example; their situation extremely critical and dangerous, for the rear was in a manner open; and if General Clinton could, as it was expected, have landed on the island, there were no resources but in the last desperate resolutions.
With respect to the transactions on York and Long-Island, I must be silent, as I am ignorant of them; but, from some observations after I joined the army, I have reason to think the fault could not have been in the men, or in the common bulk of officers.
Even the unhappy business of Fort Washington, which was attended with such abominable consequences, and which brought the affairs of America to the brink of ruin, when the circumstances are well considered, did honour to the officers and men, devoted to the defence of this worthless and ridiculous favourite.
The defence of Red-Bank, by Colonel Green, and Mud-Island, by Colonel Smith, forced a confession, even from the most determined infidels on this point, of the British officers, to the honour of American valour. I have often heard them allow, that the defence of these two places were really handsome things—that no men could have done better; which, from unwilling mouths, is no small panegyric.
The victory gained by Stark, at Bennington, and the capture of Mr. Burgoyne's whole army, by Gates and Arnold, are, above all, convincing arguments of what [Page 30] excellent ingredients, in all respects, the force of America is composed.
The detail of what passed lately on Rhode-Island is not yet come to my knowledge; but, from all I have been able to collect, the men and officers exhibited great valour and facility, as did their General, discretion, calmness, and good conduct. Upon the whole, I am warranted to say, what I always thought, that no disgrace or calamity has fallen on the arms of America through the whole course of the war, but what must be attributed to some other cause than to the want of valour, of disposition to obedience, or to any other military defect in the men, or the general mass of their officers in their different ranks; and I solemnly declare, that was it at my choice to select from all the nations of the earth to form an excellent and perfect army, I would, without hesitation, give the preference to the Americans. By publishing this opinion, I cannot incur the suspicion of paying my court to their vanity, as it is notoriously the language I have ever held.
I have been told, that one of the crimes imputed to me, is by entertaining a high opinion of the British troops. If this is a crime, I am ready to acknowledge it. There were times, I confess, when the promulgation of such an opinion would have been impolitic, and even criminal; but in these times, it is notorious to the world that my conduct was the reverse. Every thing I wrote, every thing I said, tended to inspire that confidence in their own strength, which it was thought the Americans wanted; and it is believed, that what I said, and what I wrote, had no inconsiderable effect; but now, circumstanced as we are, I cannot conceive the danger, or even impropriety, in speaking of them as they deserve, particularly as their excellence redounds to the honour of America. I could not help, whilst I was prisoner, being astonished at the bad policy and stupidity of some of the British officers, who made it their constant business to depreciate the character of the Americans in point of courage and sense. I have often expressed my astonishment, [Page 31] making a very natural observation to them, that if the persuasion of their opponent's cowardice and folly were established in the world, the great merits they themselves pretended to must, at the same time, be utterly destroyed. That I have a very great opi [...]on of the British troops, I make no scruple to confess; and unless I had this opinion of them, I do not see what ground I could have for my eulogiums on American valour. This is a truth, simple and clear as the day; but be it as it will, it is now most certain, let the courage and discipline of the British troops be as great as imagination can paint, there is at present no danger from either the one or the other. The dangers that now threaten, are from other quarters; from the want of temper, moderation, oeconomy, wisdom, and decision amongst ourselves; from a childish credulity; and, in consequence of it, a promptness to commit acts of the highest injustice on those who have deserved best at the hands of the community; but above all, from the direct opposites to those qualities, virtues, and principles, without which it is impossible that the mode of government established should be supported for the tenth part of a century. These, I assert, are now the proper objects of our apprehensions, and not any real or supposed excellence in the armies of Great Britain, who has infinitely more reason to fear for her own independence, than to hope for the subjugation o [...] yours.
General Clinton's letter, which has just appeared, has so wonderful an accord with the above essay, that I make no doubt but that some acute gentleman, may insinuate that it furnished the hint: but I can appeal to more than fifty gentlemen of this city, or officers of the army, to whom it was read, previous to the publication of General Clinton's letter, whether a single syllable has been added or varied, the conclusion of the postscript excepted, which has no reference to the affairs of Monmouth.
[Page 32]IT was a considerable time before Congress took the General's trial under their consideration, during which our unfortunate hero continued smarting under the frowns of fortune and the malignant tongues of men; and to add to his sufferings in this state of suspense, he received a letter from Colonel Laurens, one of General Washington's aids, informing him, "that, in contempt of decency and truth, he had publicly abused General Washington in the grossest terms;" that, "the relation in which he stood to him, forbade him to pass such conduct unnoticed; he therefore demanded the satisfaction which he was entitled to; and desired, that as soon as General Lee should think himself at liberty, he would appoint time and place, and name his weapons." Without hesitation this was accepted; and the General made choice of a brace of pistols, declining the small sword, because he was rather in a weak state of body, having lately received a fall from a horse, and also taken a quantity of medicine to baffle a fit of the gout, which he apprehended. They met according to appointment, and discharged their pistols, when General Lee received a slight wound in his side; and it hath been said, that on this occasion, he displayed the greatest fortitude and courage.
Shortly after, the proceedings of the Court Martial on his trial came under consideration in Congress, and produced debates for several evenings; but, finally, the sentence was confirmed. The General was much dissatisfied with it, and his mind extremely embittered against one of the members, Mr. William Henry Drayton, of South Carolina. This gentleman's conduct was vituperated by Lee in the severest language, because he opposed in Congress a division of the several charges brought against him, but argued and insisted upon lumping them all together, to be decided by one question. In this he was ingeniously and warmly opposed by a very amiable and worthy gentleman, Mr. William Paca, a late governor of Maryland. Here we must observe, that prior to this, Mr. Drayton was by no means one of the General's [Page 33] favourites; he had taken some unnecessary liberties with his character, in a charge which he delivered as chief justice to a grand jury in Charleston, South-Carolina. His temper thus exasperated, he could no longer refrain from emphatically expressing his sense of the injuries he had received from Mr. Drayton. These were delivered, intermixed with threatening language, to Mr. Hutson, his colleague and friend, who communicated the same. A correspondence ensued, so remarkable for its poignancy of reply, as may be worth preserving in these memoirs.
MY colleague, Mr Hutson, hath this day mentioned to me, a conversation you had with him, in which you expressed your self as injured by a misrepresentation of your conduct immediately preceding your captivity by the enemy, in a charge I had the honour to deliver, as Chief Justice, to the Grand Jury of Charleston, South Carolina.
I must inform you, Sir, that, on the one hand, I have been repeatedly assured the representation I then made was a true one; and that, on the other hand, I have also been assured, that it was not founded on fact; and that, immediately upon this latter assurance in South Carolina, I took that step which was most likely to lead me to a certainty on the subject, with the avowed design, that if I had injured your reputation, I might be enabled to make the most ample reparation; but I did not receive the necessary materials. Those sentiments of propriety which dictated the first advance on my part then, to acquire them now dictate a like conduct when another opportunity seems to open itself for my arriving at truth, and to do that justice which the case may require. And I do assure you, that if I can be enabled to declare, that you did not violate the orders of the commander in [Page 34] chief, respecting your junction with him, when he had retreated to the Delaware in 1776, I shall not only do so in the most pointed terms, but beg your pardon for having, through error and misrepresentation, published the contrary.
To this purpose, I wrote to Major Eustace on the 6th of January 1778, when I was in Charleston, and had no prospect of coming to this part of the Continent; and a copy of the correspondence between him and myself on the occasion I will lay before you, if you desire to see it.
Those principles of honour which must make you feel an injury, make me feel even an idea of having done an injury, and impels me to make a reparation where it is due.
I SHOULD have done myself the honour of answering your letter yesterday, but was prevented by a variety of business. If I have violated any orders of the commander in chief, to him, and the Congress only, am I responsible; but certainly am not amenable to the tribunal of Mr. William Henry Drayton. I shall therefore remain entirely indifferent whether you are pleased to think or dream that I designedly threw myself into the hands of the enemy, or whether I was not taken by 2 concurrence of unfortunate circumstances, such as happen in the course of all wars. The only remark I shall make on your extraordinary requisition, that I should clear myself on this point to you simply, Mr. William Henry Drayton, whom I consider but as a mere common member of Congress, is, that you pay a very ill compliment to the General. You must suppose him either miserably deficient in understanding, or in integrity as a [Page 35] servant of the public, when you suppose that he would suffer a man, for a single day, to act as his second in command, whom he knows to be guilty of such abominable military treason. This ingenious supposition, therefore, is, in my opinion, a greater affront to the General than to myself.
I am sincerely concerned that my friend Eustace should have degraded himself so far as to enter into any discussion of this matter with Mr. William Henry Drayton; and I shall reprimand him for not understanding his own dignity better, I shall now only take the trouble of adding, that if you can reconcile your conduct in stepping out of the road (as I am informed you did in your charge to the grand jury) to aggravate the calamities of an unhappy man, who had sacrificed every thing to the cause of your country, and, as he then conceived, to the rights of mankind; who had sacrificed an ample, at least an easy and independent fortune, the most honourable connections, great military pretentions, his friends and relations▪ I say if you can reconcile your stepping out of the road to aggravate the calamities of a man who had notoriously made these sacrifices, and who, at the very time you was displaying your generous eloquence, had no less than five centinels on his person, and was suffering extremely in body and mind—If you can, I repeat, reconcile such a procedure to common humanity, common sense, or common decency, you must still be a more singular personage than the public at present consider you.
AT nine o'clock last night, I received yours of the fifth instant, in answer to mine of the third. But as I [Page 36] have neither time or inclination to enter into a competition, whether Mr. Charles Lee, or Mr. William Henry Drayton, can raise the most ingenious supposition, say the keenest thing, and pen the most finished period with parenthesis; nor ambition to correspond with you in your simple character of Mr. Charles Lee, whom I cannot consider but as legally disgraced for being guilty of abominable military treason against a community of the most liberal, just, and generous, and, I must add, merciful people on the face of the globe: I say, perfectly satisfied with my simple character of Mr. William Henry Drayton, "a mere common member of Congress," and "a mere Chief Justice of South Carolina," I shall do myself the honour, out of breath as I am with parentheses, to make only one observation in reply, absolutely terminating the correspondence on my part, That I verily believe we equally remain entirely indifferent with respect to what either is "pleased to think or dream." And now finally, taking my leave of Mr. Charles Lee, with common decency from respect to my simple character,
AS I have now settled all my affairs, and as I am given to understand that you probably may soon set out for South Carolina, I take the liberty of addressing this letter to you, which is to close our correspondence for ever. Until very lately, I was taught to consider you only as a fantastic, pompous dramatis persona, a mere malvolio, never to be spoke or thought of but for the sake of laughter; and when the humour for laughter subsided, never to be spoke or thought of more. But I find I was mistaken; [Page 37] I find that you are as malignant a scoundrel as you are universally allowed to be a ridiculous and disgusting coxcomb.
You are pleased to say, that I am legally disgraced; all that I shall say in reply is, that I am able confidently to pronounce, that every man of rank in the whole army, every man on the Continent, who had read the proceedings of the Court Martial (perhaps, indeed, I might except Mr. Penn of North Carolina, and Dr. Scudder of the Jersies, with a few others about their size in understanding) is of the opinion, that the stigma is not on him on whom the sentence was passed, but on those who passed this absurd, iniquitous, and preposterous sentence; for, to be just, I do not believe you quite blockhead enough to think the charge had a shadow of report; and if, by some wonderful metamorphosis, you should become an honest man, you will confess it. As to the confirmation of this curious sentence, I do not conceive myself at liberty to make any comments on it, as it is an affair of Congress, for which body I ever had, and ought to have a profound respect. I shall only lament that they are disgraced by so foul a member as Mr. William Henry Drayton. You tell me the Americans are the most merciful people on the face of the earth: I think so too; and the strongest instance of it is, that they did not long ago hang up you, and every advocate for the stamp-act; and do not flatter yourself, that the present virtuous airs of patriotism you may give yourself, and your hard laboured letters to the Commissioners and the King, will ever wash away the stain. If you think the terms I make use of harshor unmerited, my friend Major Edwards is commissioned to point out your remedy.
THIS correspondence, which produced nothing but inkshed, being finished, the General retired to his plantation in Berkley county, Virginia, where, still irritated [Page 38] with the scurrilous attacks he had met with from several writers and others in Philadelphia, he could not forbear giving vent to the bitterness of his feelings; and in this misanthropic disposition, composed a set of queries, which he styled Political and Military. These he sent by one of his aids to the printers of Philadelphia, for publication; but they thought it imprudent to admit them into their papers, as General Washington possessed the hearts and admiration of every one: he therefore applied to the editor of the Maryland Journal, at Baltimore, who indulged him with their insertion. The queries no sooner made their appearance, but a considerable disturbance took place among the citizens of Baltimore: the printer was called upon for the author, and obliged to give up his name. General Reed, then President of the State of Pennsylvania, conceiving himself to be injured, published the subsequent piece for his justification.
THE aspersions which have been thrown on my own character from the press, I have ever despised too much to take the least notice of them; but when a most valuable and amiable character is attacked through me, I think it in my duty to remark it, and guard the public from error, even in opinion.
In a set of queries, designed to lessen the character of General Washington, in a late paper, I am alluded to so particularly as not to be mistaken, and quoted, as having furnished evidences under my own hand, that General Washington was not the distinguished character the addresses of the Council of this State had represented; from which an inference is to be drawn prejudicial to the General in point of ability, and the Council in consistency, so far as I had any share in those addresses. This insinuation I therefore think it my duty to contradict; and, though the sanctity of private and confidential correspondence has been grossly violated on this occasion, I should have passed it by, if the fact had not been as grossly mis-stated.
[Page 39]The only ground on which this insinuation can be made, arose from the following circumstance: In the fall, 1776, I was extremely anxious that Fort Washington should be evacuated; there was a difference in opinion among those whom the General consulted, and he hesitated more than I ever knew him on any other occasion, and more than I thought the public service admitted. Knowing that General Lee's opinion would be a great support to mine, I wrote to him from Hackinsack, stating the case, and my reasons, and, I think, urging him to join me in sentiment at the close of my letter; and, alluding to the particular subject then before me, to the best of my recollection, I added this sentence: "With a thousand good and great qualities, there is a want of decision to complete the perfect military character."
Upon this sentence, or one to this effect, wrote in haste, in full confidence, and in great anxiety for the event, is this ungenerous sentiment introduced into the world. The event but too fully justified my anxiety; for the fort was summoned that very day, and surrendered the next. I absolutely deny that there is any other ground but this letter; and if there is, let it be produced. I have now only to add, that though General Washington soon after▪ by an accident, knew of this circumstance, it never lessened the friendship which subsisted between us. He had too much greatness of mind to suppose himself incapable of mistakes, or to dislike a faithful friend, who should note an error with such circumstances of respect, and on such an occasion. I have since been with this great and good man, for such he is, at very critical moments; and I hope I shall not be suspected of unbecoming adulation, when I assure my countrymen, (so far as my opinion is thought of any consequence) that they may repose themselves in perfect confidence on his prudence and judgment, which are equal to any circumstances;— and that repeated experience of the value of his opinions, have inspired him with more dependance on them than his modesty and diffidence would in some cases formerly admit. Time [Page 40] will shew, whether his enemies will not find themselves disappointed in their attempts to shake the public confidence, and lessen a character of so much worth, to gratify private, violent resentments.
TO judge of the propriety of General Reed's performance, it will be necessary to refer the reader to his letter in page 277, which is a true copy from the original, in his own hand writing.
Lee remained at his retreat, living in a style peculiar to himself, in a house more like a barn than a palace. Glass windows and plaistering would have been luxurious extravagance, and his furniture consisted of a very few necessary articles; indeed he was now so rusticated, that he could have lived in a tub with Diogenes: however he had got a few select valuable authors, and these enabled him to pass away his time in this obscurity. In the fall, 1782, he began to be weary with the sameness of his situation; and experiencing his unfitness for the management of country business, he came to a determination to sell his estate, and procure a little settlement near some sea-port town, where he might learn what the world was doing, and enjoy the conversation of mankind.
His farm, though an excellent tract of land, rather brought him in debt at the end of the year, and added to the difficulties he laboured under. It is no wonder, then, he was inclined to relinquish his present system of life. He left Berkley, and came to Baltimore, where he staid near a week with some old friends, and then took his leave for Philadelphia.
It is presumed he now found a difference between a General in command, and one destitute of every thing but the name; for we do not find him entertained at the house of any private citizen. He took lodgings at an inn [Page 41] the sign of the Convestigoe waggon, in Market-street. After being three or four days in the city, he was taken with a shivering, the forerunner of a fever, which put a period to his existence, October 2d, 1782.
A friend of the Editor's was at the inn when he took his departure from this world. The servants informed him that General Lee was dying: upon which he went into the room; he was then struggling with the king of terrors, and seemed to have lost his senses; the last words he heard him speak were, "Stand by me, my brave grenadiers!"
The citizens of Philadelphia, calling to remembrance his former services, appeared to be much affected at his death. His funeral was attended with a very large concourse of people, the clergy of different denominations, his excellency the president of Congress, the president, and some members of the council of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, his excellency the minister plenipotentiary of France, M. Marbois secretary to the embassy, the minister of finance, General baron de Viominil, duke de Lausam, the minister of war, and several other officers of distinction both in the French and American army.
From what hath been observed in these memoirs, we may with justice affirm, that General Lee was a great and sincere friend to the rights and liberties of mankind, and that it was this grand principle which led him to take part on the side of America. It appears, that, from his youth, he was bred up with the highest regard for the noble sentiments of freedom; his education and reading strengthened them; the historians and orators of Greece and Rome, with whom he was considerably conversant, added to the sacred flame; and his travels in many parts of the world did not tend to diminish it.
When a boy, he was sent to an academy in Switzerland, and he has frequently said to his friends, that he was there struck with the general happiness, affluence and ease diffused throughout that country, notwithstanding its natural disadvantages of soil and climate. In one of his letters, he expresses himself in this manner: "When [Page 42] I was quite young in Switzerland, I could not help comparing the robust well clothed commonalty of this country, with their miserable neighbours of France, a spot upon wich nature seems to have taken pains to confer her favours. To France, Nature has given the most fruitful soil, which produceth not only every necessary, but every luxury of life. She has given to its people a lively, active, enterprising genius, a climate upon the whole the best of the world—To the Swiss, she bequeathed rocks, mountains, and, as it is thought, very inferior mental faculties; and yet the Swiss are rich, happy and respectable; the French, starving and contemptible. In Italy, the contrast betwixt the free, and those who are not free, is still more remarkable; I know very well, that the republics of Genoa and Venice are not in general allowed to be free states. Monsieur Montesquieu has demonstrated that they are not free; but there is undoubtedly some excellence in them, which has escaped this wise man—shall I beg leave to hazard a conjecture? They have no king: They have no court."
The General had read both men and books; his reading and travels were extensive, and of course his manners easy and free of embarrassment; so that he was frequently accustomed to deliver his sentiments and feelings without disguise, from the first impressions, according to the nature of the objects which presented.
This liberality of conduct, and openness of disposition, in a young country, caused many to doubt of his belief in revealed religion; the common people, at last, considered him as an atheist; while those of a higher class were more indulgent to his principles. If we were to form a judgment on this subject, from his private correspondence, we should not accuse him as totally destitute of religious notions, for it appears that he entertained some grand and sublime ideas of the Supreme Being, and was strongly persuaded that no society could exist without religion.
He has often asserted, that he thought the Christian religion, unincumbered of its sophistications, the most [Page 43] excellent, as comprehending the most divine system of ethics, consequently of a divine nature; but at the same time he disapproved of the length and tediousness of the liturgies of the various sects. As to [...]he dogmas, he considered many of them absurd, if not impious, and derogatory to the honour, dignity and wisdom of the Godhead, or omniscient ruler and moderator of the infinity of worlds that surround us.
The General, in his person, was of a genteel make, and rather above the middle size; his remarkable aquiline nose rendered his face somewhat disagreeable. He was master of a most genteel address; but, in the latter part of his life, became excessively negligent of the graces, both in garb and behaviour. A talent for repartee, united with a quickness of penetration, created him many enemies. A character so eccentric and singular, could not fail of attracting the popular attention. His small friends frequently passed severe criticisms on his words and actions. Narrowly watched, every little slip or failure was noticed, and represented to his disadvantage. The objections to his moral conduct were numerous, and his great fondness for dogs brought on him the dislike and frowns of the fair sex: for the general would permit his canine adherents to follow him to the parlour, the bed-room, and sometimes they might be seen on a chair next his elbow at table.
As the ladies are commonly against any transgressions of the laws of decency and cleanliness, it is no wonder a shyness commenced between them and the General. This hath given some persons an idea of his being averse to women, which in reality was not the case; for his life and posthumous papers will furnish several examples of his early attachment to them; and a letter to him, from a British officer in Montreal, in 1774, convinces the Editor of his having been susceptible of the same feelings with other men, and of his having frequently indulged himself in gallantry with the ladies. "During the winter," says this officer, who was the General's intimate friend, "I took a trip to Quebec, [Page 44] where I passed several agreeable days with your queen. I delivered your compliments to her, and she enquired particularly about you, desiring me to return them most sincerely whenever I wrote—She is the same amiable creature, whose disposition neither climate nor country can alter, and as strongly attached to you as ever." And his letter from Warsaw to Louisa, demonstrates the same fact.
There is great probability the General was the first person who suggested the idea that America ought to declare herself independent. When he was sent by the commander in chief to New-York, he behaved with such activity and spirit, infusing the same into the minds of his troops and the people, that Mr. John Adams said, "a happier expedition never was projected; and that the whole Whig world were blessing him for it." About this time Doctor Franklin gave Mr. Thomas Paine, the celebrated author of Common Sense, an introductory letter to him, in which were these words: "The bearer, Mr. Paine, has requested a line of introduction to you, which I give the more willingly, as I know his sentiments are not very different from yours." A few days after, the Doctor writes again, "There is a kind of suspense in men's minds here at present, waiting to see what terms will be offered from England—I expect none that we can accept; and when that is generally seen, we shall be more unanimous and more decisive. Then your proposed solemn league and covenant will go better down, and perhaps most of your other strong measures adopted." In a letter to Edward Rutlege, Esq. in the spring of 1776, then a member of the Continental Congress, the General thus expresses himself. "As your affairs prosper, the timidity of the senatorial part of the continent, great and small, grows and extends itself. By the Eternal G—d, unless you declare yourselves independent, establish a more certain and fixed legislature than that of a temporary courtesy of the people, you richly deserve to be enslaved, and I think far from impossible that it should be your lot; as, without a more [Page 45] systematic intercourse with France and Holland, we cannot, we have not the means of carrying on the war." There are other epistles of his, of a similar spirit and diction.
The more we investigate the General's character and conduct, the more conspicuous his services will appear. In the infancy of the American dispute, we all find him continually suggesting and forwarding plans for the defence of the country; and though he was a professed enemy to a standing army, he was always recommending a well regulated militia. This he considered as the natural strength of a country, and absolutely necessary for its safety and preservation.
He has frequently asserted, that a more pernicious idea could not enter into the heads of the citizens, than that rigid discipline, and a strict subjection to military rules, were incompatible with civil liberty; and he was of opinion, that when the bulk of a community would not submit to the ordinances necessary for the preservation of military discipline, their liberty could not be of long continuance.
The liberty of every commonwealth must be protected ultimately by military force. Military force depends upon order and discipline: without order and discipline, the greatest number of armed men are only a contemptible mob; a handful of regulars must disperse them. It follows then, that the citizens at large must submit to the means of becoming soldiers, or that they must commit the protection of their lives and property to a distinct body of men, who will naturally, in a short time, set up a professional interest, separate from the community at large. To this cause we may attribute the subversion of every free State that history presents to us. The Romans were certainly the first and most glorious people that have figured on the face of the globe; they continued free longest. Every citizen was a soldier, and a soldier not in name, but in fact; by which is meant, that they were the most rigid observers of military institutions. The General therefore thought it expedient [Page 46] that every State in America should be extremely careful to perfect the laws relative to their militia; and that, where they were glaringly defective, they should be made more efficient; and that it should be established as a point of honour, and the criterion of a virtuous citizen, to pay the greatest deference to the common necessary laws of a camp.
The most difficult task the Editor met with in collecting and arranging these Posthumous Papers, arose from his desire of not giving offence to such characters as had been the object of the General's aversion and resentment. Unhappily his disappointments had soured his temper; the affair of Monmouth, several pieces of scurrility from the press, and numerous instances of private slander and defamation, so far got the better of his philosophy, as to provoke him in the highest degree, and he became, as it were, angry with all mankind.
To this exasperated disposition we may impute the origin of his political queries, and a number of satirical hints thrown out both in his conversation and writing▪ against the Commander in Chief. Humanity will draw a veil over the involuntary errors of sensibility, and pardon the sallies of a suffering mind, as its presages did not meet with an accomplishment. General Washington, by his retirement, demonstrated to the world, that power was not his object; that America had nothing to fear from his ambition; but that she was honoured with a specimen of such exalted patriotism as could not fail to attract the attention and admiration of the most distant nations.
The reader will not wonder that General Lee, disappointed in his career of glory, should be continually inculcating an idea of the extreme danger of trusting too much to the wisdom of one, for the safety of the whole; that he should consider it as repugnant to the principles of freedom and republicanism, to continue for years, one man as commander in chief; that there should be a rotation of office, military as well as civil; and though the commander of an army possessed all the virtues of [Page 47] Cato, and the talents of Julius Caesar, it could not alter the nature of the thing; since by habituating the people to look up to one man, all true republican spirit became enervated, and a visible propensity to monarchial government was created and fostered; that there was a charm in the long possession of high office, and in the pomp and influence that attended it, which might corrupt the best dispositions.
Indeed it was the opinion of Marcus Aurelius, whose virtues not only honoured the throne, but human nature, that to have the power of doing much, and to confine that power to doing good, was a prodigy in nature. Such sentiments of this divine prince, who was not only trained up in the schools of austere philosophy, but whose elevated situation rendered him the most able judge of the difficulty there is in not abusing extensive power, when we have it in our hands, furnish substantial arguments for not entrusting it to any mortal whatsoever. But while we are convinced of the justness of these sentiments, we are led the more to respect and reverence our most disinterested Commander in Chief, who stands conspicuous, with unrivalled glory, superior to the fascinations which have overthrown many a great and noble mind.
The editor conceives his present labours, in the compilation of this work, will be useful, and throw some light on the history of the late revolution—a monument of the arduous struggle, exhibiting a faithful and valuable collection of military and political correspondence.
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES, FROM THE PAPERS OF THE LATE MAJOR GENERAL CHARLES LEE.
A SKETCH OF A PLAN FOR THE FORMATION OF A MILITARY COLONY.
I WILL suppose the number to consist of ten thousand men, with their full proportion of officers of different ranks, and children. There shall be no distinction made in the distribution of lands, betwixt the general officers and colonels; but as it appears that there should, for the sake of order, be some difference of property in the different classes of men, I would propose the following plan of distribution.—When the capital is once fixed, immediately round it by lot—Every colonel to have two thousand five hundred acres; every lieutenant-colonel, two thousand; major, fifteen hundred; captain, one thousand; lieutenants and ensigns, seven hundred each; each serjeant three hundred; every rank and file two hundred. Another circle drawn round it, containing the same number of acres, shall be in common, for the use of the whole community; where cattle shall have the liberty of ranging. Beyond this circle another shall be drawn, of an equal number of acres, with the same proportion of acres for every member of the community. So that every colonel will, in fact, be master of five thousand acres, every lieutenant-colonel of four, every major of three, every captain of two thousand, and every rank and file of four hundred; one half within the capital precinct, and the other half in what I call the [Page 49] pomoerium of the State; the intermediate shall be allotted to the rearing of horses for the public service, and cattle, to form magazines for w [...] [...]
The lots in the pomoerium are intended for the children of the State, when they are of an age to settle and marry. As the colony is military, (as every colony ought to be, if they intend to be free) a constant exercised militia shall be kept up, but by annual rotation: for which purpose, the fifth part of the men fit to bear arms, from seventeen to forty-five, shall be embodied for two months of the year, their manoeuvres as simple as can be devised: but no substitutes are to be allowed, on any pretence, but absolute infirmity; and even those who are not embodied, shall, in their certain districts, be obliged to assemble every week, practice some simple evolutions, such as marching in front, retreating and rallying by their colours, and all firing at marks.
A standing small body of horse, and of artillery, shall be constantly kept up at the public expence, as these species of troops are not to be formed in an instant.— An Agrarian law shall be passed, and rigidly observed, restraining absolutely every member of the community from possessing more than five thousand acres of land, not only within the precincts of the community, but any where else. No member of the community, unless he comes into the world deformed, or too weak to undergo the manly labours, shall be suffered to exercise sedentary trades, such as taylors, barbers, shoemakers, weavers, &c. &c. These effeminate and vile occupations shall be alloted to women, to the weak, deformed, and to slaves. Agriculture, hunting, and war, to be the only professions of the men; to which may be added, the trade of smiths, carpenters, and those which do not emasculate.
But as there is reason to apprehend, that a nation merely of warriors, hunters, and agricultures, may become extremely ferocious in their manners, some method should be devised, of softening, or counteracting this consequential ferocity: I know of none equally efficacious with a general cultivation and study of music and [Page 50] poetry; on which principle, I would propose, that music and poetry should be the great regimen of the two most important articles of government, religion and war; all other good qualities might follow of course: for, without religion, no warlike community can exist; and with religion, if it is pure and unsophisticated, all immoralities are incompatible. Music and poetry, therefore, which ought to be inseparably blended, are the grand pivots of a real, brave, active, warlike and virtuous society. The doctrine I am conscious may shock quakers, puritans, and rigid sectarists of every kind; but I do not speak to quakers, puritans, and rigid sectarists. At the first, and from the bottom of my heart, I detest and despise th [...] I speak to men and soldiers, who wish and are able to assert and defend the rights of humanity; and, let [...] add, to vindicate the character of God Almighty, and real christianity, which have been so long dishonoured by sectarists of every kind and complexion; catholics, church of England men, presbyterians, and methodis [...] I could wish, therefore, that the community of soldier [...] (who are to be all christians) should establish one common form of worship, with which every member [...] acquiesce, at least in attendance on divine worship, [...] the observation of the prescribed ceremonies; but [...] so contrived as not to shock any man who has been [...] up in any of the different sects. For which reason, [...] all expositions of the scripture, and all dogmas, be for ever banished. Let it be sufficient that he acknowledge the existence, providence, and goodness of God Almighty; that he reverences Jesus Christ: but let the question never be asked, whether he considers Jesus Christ as only a divine person, commissioned by God for divine [...] poses, as the son of God, or as God himself. [...] sophistical subtilties only lead to a doubt of the [...] let it be sufficient, therefore, that he believes in God [...] his providence and in the mediation of Jesus Christ whether a real God; or only a divinely inspired [...] for which reason, to prevent the impertinence [...] consequences of dogmatising, no professional priests [...]o [Page 51] any sort whatever shall be admitted in the community. But still I am of opinion, that a sacred order, or hierarchy, should be established, and in the following manner: that this hierarchy are not to be expositors of the divine law, which ought to be understood by every member of common capacity; but as the servitors, or administrators of the solemn ceremonies to be observed in the worship of the Supreme Being, of his Son, or missionary.
The grand hierophant, pontifex maximus, or supreme servitor of the ceremonies of divine worship, is to be chosen out of the community, and to be not under the age of fifty; the principal qualification requisite in him, to be sanctity of manners, a reverend aspect, but above all, a distinct and melodious voice. A body, or rather chorous of under priests, is to be selected likewise, for their integrity of manners, and skill in music; for as all dogman, and of course all expositions, are banished, superior learning, or what is improperly understood to be learning amongst the theologians of the modern world, will be so far from a qualification, that it will rather be a disqualification, particularly as the ceremonies are to consist in poetical hymns of praise and thanksgiving, set to music; such for instance as Pope's Universal Prayer, part of the Common Prayer, and many pieces selected from the Psalms of David; for these long prayers with which all the churches of the different sects are infested, entering into such minute details with God Almighty, as if he was your factor in a foreign country, have been justly deemed by many wise men, not only tiresome, but impious impertinencies.
Ablutions, such as are practised in the religions of the East, seems to me to be really a divine institution. These Easterns wisely say, that a pure soul cannot inhabit a filthy body; that a purified body is the best symbol of a clean spirit; that it is indecent and wicked to present yourself before your Creator in a dirtier condition than you ought to appear in before an earthly superior. Admitting these figures to be hyperbolical, the institution certainly is extremely wise, as it contributes so essentially [Page 52] to health, and the agreement of society. Baths, or little fountains, at least such as are in use amongst the Turks, to be established near the temples of worship; and every communicant to wash his hands, face, feet and teeth, before he enters the sacred abode. The temples to be as magnificent as the circumstances of the society will admit. A grand religious concert of thanksgivings to be performed every Sunday; and two other days in the week, we will suppose Tuesdays and Fridays, but shorter, and with less pomp; for there is nothing so impolitic, as to make pomp and ceremony too frequent—they entirely lose their effect. The thanksgivings or hymns, therefore, on these common days, to be extremely short, but sensible and energetic: long prayers, such as the morning services of the church of England, with the addition of a long unmeaning sermon, hummed through the nose perhaps of a crop-sick person, who can scarcely read his own writing, or the still more insufferable cant of the puritan preachers, must be the bane of all religion; and I verily believe there is scarcely any one person, if they had the honesty to confess to, man, woman, or child, who would not rather suffer considerable inconvenience than go either to a church, or a presbyterian meeting-house. In short, the ceremonies of divine worship must be made solemn, pompous and elevating—but we will quit the subject of religion, and pass to the law.
As an Agrarian law is to be established, and rigidly observed, restraining every member of the community to the possession of five thousand acres; and as the children of both sexes are to inherit an equal portion (for this is to be a fundamental maxim) the most simple code may be extracted, for civil cases, from the common laws of England, or from those of Denmark, which appears to be excellent. A professional lawyer therefore will be totally unnecessary; indeed, I should as soon think of inoculating my community for the plague, as admitting one of these gentleman to reside among us: all requisite knowledge of the law will be a common accomplishment [Page 53] of every gentleman. The Romans, in the ages of their simplicity, virtue and glory, had certainly none; the same men were their consuls, pontifices, generals, and juris-consul [...] ▪ With respect to criminal matters, I would adopt Beccaria's sol [...]e▪ its excellencies have been demonstrated on the Tuscan dominions. When the present Grand Duke acce [...]ed to the ducal throne, he found Tuscany the most abandoned [...]ople of all Italy, filled with robbers and assassins. Every [...], for a series of years previous to the government of [...] excellent prince, were seen gallows, wheels and tortures [...] very kind; and the robberies and murders were not at all less frequent. He had read and admired the Marquis o [...] Beccaria, and determined to try the affects of his plan. He put a stop to all capital punishments, even for the greatest crimes; and the consequences have convinced the world of its wholesomness. The galleys, slavery for a certain term of years, or for life, in proportion to the crime, have accomplished what an army of hangmen, with their hooks, wheels and gibbets, could not. In short, Tuscany, from being a theatre of the greatest crimes, and villanies of every species, is become the safest and best ordered State of Europe.
It is a known fact, that since the adoption of this plan, there have been but two murders committed: one by a little boy of eleven years old, in a stroke of passion; and the other, not by a native Italian subject, but by an Irish Officer. But if we had not this example, and that of the Empress Elizabeth, (who adopted the same plan, which had the same good effect) before our eyes, the inculcating an idea in a military people that death is the most terrible of all punishments, is certainly the most absurd of solecisms. Nothing great can be expected from a community which is taught to consider it as such. On the contrary, death ought, as far as human nature will admit, to be made a matter of indifference; or, if possible, (and I think it very possible) of comfort.
I have often laughed at the glaring contradiction in the proceedings, in this article, in the British armies, and [Page 54] others in which I have served. I have seen two or three wretches, who had the misfortune to be detected in marauding, or attempting to desert, taken out with awful form, encircled by a multitude who had been guilty of, or had intended to have committed the same crimes, but happily had not been discovered; the chaplain, in his canonicals, telling them how dreadful a thing it was for their souls to be divorced from their bodies, and to be urged on to the tribunal of their Maker, with these horrid sins on their heads. A few hours afterwards, some desperate expedition ordered to be executed by the very men who had been present at the execution, who had committed, or had intended to commit, the very same horrid crimes; and the officer appointed to command the expedition, as usual, harangues the soldiers; assures them that death is not a serious affair; that, as all men must sooner or later die, it is of little moment when it happens. Thus it may be said, we blow hot and cold with the same breath. I am therefore absolutely and totally against capital punishments, at least in our military community. Let the loss of liberty, and ignominy, be inculcated as the extreme of all punishments: common culprits therefore are, in proportion to the degree of their delinquency, to be condemned to slavery, for a longer or shorter term of years; to public works, such as repairing highways, and public buildings, with some ignominious distinction of habit, denoting their condition. As to those who have been guilty of crimes of a very deep dye, such as wanton murder, perjury, and the like, let them be mutilated, their ears cut off, their faces stamped with the marks of infamy, and whipped out of the State.
I pass now to trade.—The persuasion that extensive trade is the source of riches, strength, happiness and glory, is perhaps one of the greatest mistakes and misfortunes which modern societies labour under. Without doubt certain cities, both of antiquity and the present world, from their peculiar situation and circumstances, owed their existence entirely to their commerce; such [Page 55] as Tyre, Venice, and Holland: but I cannot conceive how a community of soldiers and agriculturers, who have lands enough to cultivate, not only for their own subsistence, but in a great measure for others, should have occasion for what is called great and extensive commerce. I think, on the contrary that it must emasculate the body, narrow the mind, and in fact corrupt every true republican and manly principle; nay, I think it must destroy all sensibility for real pleasure and happiness. Let any man of taste or sensibility associate only for a few months with commercial men, or reside in a commercial city, he will find their conversation dull, languid, and stupid; their pleasures confined to gross eating and drinking; their only idea of mirth, to the roaring of some vile hoarse singer; and of wit, to the story-teller of the club, or some wretched punster, who lives on catches and crotchets. True music, [...]levating poetry, liberal history, and all polite leterature; a competent acquaintance with these, is necessary for those who have any share of the legislature: I mean those who are immediately entrusted with the executive or judicial powers. It is absolutely requisite to qualify every man of a liberal community for social conversation. But although I object to professional merchants being permitted to reside in our government, it is certain that some degree of commerce or barter must be carried on, or agriculture and hunting stand still, and of course idleness and all its attendant evils ensue.
I would therefore propose, that on the frontiers of the State, at least once in the year, a great fair should be established, to which merchants and pedlars of all sorts and nations should be encouraged to resort. This fair to continue three weeks or a month.
AN ESSAY ON THE COUP D'OEIL.
IT is the general opinion, that the c [...]p d'oeil does not depend upon ourselves; that it is a present of Nature; that practice will not give it to us; in a word, [Page 56] that we must bring it into the world with us, without which, the most piercing eyes see nothing, and we must grope about in utter darkness. This is a mistake: we have all the coup d'oeil in proportion to the degree of understanding which it has pleased Providence to give us. It is derived from both; but what is acquired, refines and perfects the natural, and experience insures it to us▪ It is manifest from the actions and conduct of Amilca [...], that he had it to a great and fine degree; for he possessed all the qualities requisite for it, and in the greatest point of perfection that perhaps ever any general carried them; as may be remarked in the war of Eryce, and that of the rebels of Africa.
Before I enter into the explication of the method that should be pursued to acquire this talent, falsely thought to be a gift of Nature, it is necessary to define it.—The military coup d'oeil, then, is nothing else than the art of knowing the nature and different situations of the country where we make and intend to carry the war; the advantages and disadvantages of the camp and posts that we mean to occupy; as likewise those which may be favourable or disadvantageous to the enemy. By the position of our army, and the consequences drawn from it, we may not only form with precision our designs for the present, but judge of those we may afterwards have. It is alone by this knowledge of the country into which we carry the war, that a great Captain can foresee the events of the whole campaign, and, if it may be so expressed, render himself master of them; because, judging from what he himself has done, of what the enemy must necessarily do, forced as they are, by the nature of the places, to regulate their movements to oppose his designs, he conducts them from post to post, from camp to camp, to the very point he has proposed to himself to insure victory. Such, in a few words, is the military coup d'oeil, without which it is impossible that a General should avoid falling into a number of faults of the greatest consequence. In a word, there are little hopes of victory if we are destitute of what is called the coup [Page 57] d'oeil of war; and as the military science is of the same nature with all others that require practice to possess them in all the different parts that compose them, this which I treat of, is, of all others, that which requires the greatest practice.
Philopoemen, one of the greatest Captains that Greece produced, and whom an illustrious Roman has called the last of the Grecians, had the coup d'oeil in an admirable degree; but we ought not to confides it as a gift of Nature, but as the fruit of study, application, and his extreme passion for war. Plutarch informs us of the method he used to enable himself to see with his own eyes, rather than those of other people, when he was at the head of armies. The passage deserves to be quoted.
"He willingly listened," says the Greek author," to the discourses, and read the treatises of the philosophers; not all, but only those which could aid him in his pursuit of virtue; and of all the great ideas of Home [...], he fought for, and retained those alone which could wh [...]t his courage, and animate him towards great actions: and of all other lecturers, he preserved the treatises of Evangel [...], called the Tactics, that is, the art of ranging troops in order of battle; and the histories of the life of Alexander; for he thought that language was of no further use than its reference to action, and that the only and of [...]ding was to learn how to conduct ourselves; unless we chuse to read merely to pass the time, or to furnish ourselves with the means of keeping up idle and fruitless chat.
"When he had read the precepts and rules of the tactics, he did not trouble his head about seeing the demonstration of them by plans on paper, but made the application of them in the very scenes of action, and in open field; for, in his marches, he accurately observed the eminences and low places, the breaks and irregularities of the ground, and all the forms and figures which battalions and squadrons are obliged to take in consequence of rivulets, ravines, and defiles, which force them to close or extend themselves. In general, it appears, that [Page 58] Philopoemen had a very strong passion for arms; that he embraced war as a profession that gave greater play to his virtues; in a word, he despised all those as idle and useless members of the community, who did not apply themselves to it."
These, in abridgment, are the most excellent precepts that can be given to a prince, the general of an army, and every officer who wishes to arrive at the highest degree of military rank. This is the only method; and, as the translator has very judiciously observed, renders the putting the precepts into practice, on occasion, more easy than by studying the plans on paper. Plutarch accuses, and even severely censures Philopoemen for having carried his passion for arms beyond the bounds of moderation. Mons. Dacier does not fail to chime in with him; but, both the one and the other, without well knowing what they say, have passed an unfair judgment on this great captain; as if the science of war was n [...]t immense, and did not comprehend all others in its vo [...] tex; and as if, to acquire a perfect knowledge of it, a long and laborious application was not necessary. Pl [...] tarch was no soldier; his translator less so: it escaped both the one and the other, that Philopoemen was [...]s learned as the greatest part of the Grecian Generals, and that he applied himself to the study of philosophy and history, so necessary for military men. Why, then, be offended that a man should apply and give himself entirely up to the study of the sciences which have a [...] lation to his profession?—That of arms is not only most noble, but the most extensive and profound; consequently it demands the greatest application. What this gre [...] Captain did to acquire the coup d'oeil, is extremely necessary and important for the command of armies, on which depend the glory and safety of the State.
There is no doubt but that tactics, or the art of ranging armies in the order of battle, of encamping and fighting them, is a most royal attainment. What could be the reason that Hannibal ranked Pyrrhus king of the Epirots, before Scipio, and immediately after Alexander, [Page 59] although the latter was certainly the ablest man? It was, doubtless, because the first excelled all mankind in this great part of war, although Scipio did not yield to him in this point, as he made appear at the battle of Lama. Hannibal was less practised in this branch than the two others. Philopoemen saw that the study of tactics, and the treatises of Evangelus, were of no use to him, unless he joined to them the coup d'oeil, so necessary to the general of an army. His method always pleased me, and it is what I have ever practised in my journeys, and in the camp; for we ought not to wait for the opportunity of war to acquire the caup d'oeil, but it may be learnt and obtained by the exercise of hunting.
To attain this science, many things are necessary. Severe application to our profession is the basis; then a certain method is to be adopted: Although that of this Grecian Captain is good, I think I have improved upon it, or at least discovered that which the Greek author has omitted to teach us more particularly. We are not always at war, nor is it to be supposed that we can render ourselves able by experience alone, on which indeed the capacity of the greater part of military men in these ages is founded: it serves to perfect us, but is scarcely of any use unless the study of the principles accompany it; because war being a science, it is impossible to make any progress without beginning with the study of the principles. Two ages of perpetual war would scarcely suffice to furnish lights for our conduct: from the experience of facts, this ought to be left to souls of an ordinary stamp, and more compendious methods be provided for great Captains to mount to the summit of glory, without being indebted for it to the capacity of others, which is not always to be met with. It is, then, necessary to study war before we engage in it, and to apply ourselves incessantly after we are engaged in it. I have before said, that we are not always at war; and I may add, that armies are not always drawn together in a body, or in motion. They are for six months at least quiet in winter quarters; and six months are not sufficient [Page 60] to form the coup d'oeil of war. It is true, that a great deal more is to be learnt in marches, in forages, and in the different camps and posts which armies occupy: the ideas become more clear and capable to judge of, and reflect on, the country we see; but this does not prevent us from making use of it, by the assistance of good sense, on other occasions than when in armies; or from refining our jugdment and eye, either by hunting, or on our journeys:—this I can speak of from experience.
Nothing contributes more to form the coup d'oeil, than the exercise of hunting; for, besides giving us a thorough knowledge of the country, and of the different situations; which are infinite, and never the same, it teaches us a thousand stratagems and other things relative to war. But the principle is the knowledge of the objects that form the coup d'oeil, without our being sensible of it; and if we practice it with this intention, we may with the addition of a very few reflections, acquire the greatest and most important qualification of a general of an army.
The great Cyrus, in giving himself entirely up to hunting in his younger years, had the pleasure of it less in view than the design of qualifying himself for war and the command of armies. Xenophon, who wrote his life, does not leave us in the least doubt on this head. He says, that this great man, on his preparing for war with the king of Armenia, reasoned upon this expedition as if the question had been of a party of hunting in a mountainous country. He explained himself thus to Chrysantes, one of his general officers, whom he had detached into the roughest parts, and the most difficult vallies, in order to gain the entrances and issues, and to cut off all retreat to the enemy. "Imagine," says he, "that it is a chace we are engaged in, and that it is allotted to thee to watch at the toils, whilst I beat the country. Above all, remember not to begin the chace before all the passages are occupied, and that those who are placed in ambuscade be not seen, lest they should frighten the game. Take care not to engage thyself too [Page 61] far in the woods, from whence thou mightest find it difficult to extricate thyself; and command your guides, unless they could indeed shorten the distances, to conduct you by the best roads, which, with respect to armies, are always the shortest."
Whether or not Xenophon, in his history of Cyrus, has run into romance in order to give us an abridgment of the military science treated historically, is a matter of no great importance, provided that all it contains relative to this science be just and solid. His intention is to convince us that hunting leads us to the knowledge of many things necessary to be known—that it is a becoming amusement, and extremely necessary to those who are either born to command or to obey; because it enures us to bear the fatigue of war, strengthens the constitution, and forms the coup d'oeil; for an exact knowledge of a certain extent of country, facilitates that of others, if he but sees it in the slightest manner. It is impossible, although they are widely different, that there should not be some conformity betwixt them; and the perfect knowledge of one (says Machiavel in his political discourses) leads to that of another. On the contrary, those who are not trained in this practice, have the greatest difficulty to acquire it; whilst the others, by a single glance of the eye, can ascertain the extent of a plain, the height of a mountain, the depth, breadth, and termination of a valley, and all the circumstances of the nature of the different grounds to which they are accustomed by habit and experience. I do not believe that any other author, than this I have quoted, has treated of this matter. The remainder is excellent; I shall beg leave to transcribe it.
"Nothing is more true," continues he, "than what I here advance, if we may give credit to Titus Livius, and the example he presents to our eyes in the person of Publius Decius, who was Tribune in the Roman army, commanded by the Consul Cornelius, against the Samnites. It happened that this General suffered himself to be pushed into a valley, where the enemy might have [Page 62] pent him up. In this extremity, Decius says to the Consul, "Don't you perceive yonder eminence, which commands the enemy? This is the post that alone can extricate us, if we do not lose a single moment in making ourselves master of it, as the Samnites have been so blind as to abandon it." But before Decius addressed himself in this manner to the Consul, he had discovered through the wood, a hill which commanded the camp of the enemy; that it was steep, and of a pretty difficult access for heavy armed troops, but practicable enough to the light infantry. That the Consul ordered the Tribune to take possession of it with three thousand men, that he had consigned to him; which having happily executed, the whole army retreated in order to put themselves in a place of safety. That he ordered some few of his people to follow, whilst there was yet some remains of day-light, in order to discover the passes guarded by the enemy, and those by which a retreat might be made; and he went to reconnoitre, disguised in the habit of a common soldier, that the Samnites might not perceive taht it was a general officer who was on the scout."
"If we reflect," continues Machiavel, "upon what Titus Livius here says, we shall see how necessary it is for a good General to be able to judge of the nature of a country; for if Decius had not possessed this talent, he would not have known how advantageous the possession of this hill must have been to the Romans; and he would have been incapable of discovering, at a distance, whether it was of easy or difficult access. When, afterwards, he had made himself master of it, and when the point was to rejoin the Consul, he would not have been able, at a distance, to discover which posts were guarded by the enemy, and those by which a retreat was practicable. Decius, therefore, must certainly have been very intelligent in these sort of matters; for otherwise he could not have saved the Roman army by possessing himsel [...] of this hill, and afterwards extricated himself from the enemy, who had surrounded him."
[Page 63]There are very few military men who are capable of drawing, from an historical fact, such observations as these I have cited from Machiavel: the most consummate master in the profession could do no more. I am not at all surprized at it; a profound and well digested study of history necessarily leads us to the knowledge of an infinity of things, which enable us to judge soundly and solidly of all. The study of politics, of which history is the basis, is a powerful means of perfecting our understanding and judgment.
The political and military discourses of this author, on the Decades of Livy, are an immortal work. I think them worthy the curiosity of all military men——of being attentively read and well digested. His life of C [...]trucciom, one of the greatest Captains of his age, though not very much known, is not less admirable. It is every where ornamented with curious and very instructive facts; and filled with military reflections and observations which few people are capable of making. So happy a turn had this man for the profession of arms, (excepting his book on the article of war, which does not do him a great deal of honour, although it is pillaged from Vegetius) he is admirable in all. He lived at a time when Italy was so agitated with trouble, intestine and foreign wars, that we must not be surprised if a man of sense and judgment, and learned besides, was equal to so noble a performance; because, as he was on the scene of action, he had the means of obtaining the most excellent materials, and of conversing with officers who had served in these wars.
A PICTURE OF THE COUNTESS OF —
THE Countess has, what we see seldom united in the same woman, vivacity and tenderness, dignity of person and feminine softness. She is tall, and exquisitely shaped. She is of an amiable and commanding aspect. Her eyes are of the languishing English blue, but [Page 64] of the Grecian largeness and contour. Her forehead is of a polish and formation not to be matched. Her lips are full and ripe, from which issues a breath which would create desires in age and coldness. Her neck is of such a colour and symmetry as to make us curse invidious custom for preventing us gazing on the whole of so amiable a piece of workmanship. Her skin is of a smoothness that the slightest contact of it thrills through every pore, and beats alarm to a thousand wishes. Her person is rather ample; but we could not consent to its diminution, lest some grace or beauty should be lost.
No man has seen her laugh; but she smiles frequently. Her smiles seem rather to be the result of an inclination to make those about her cheerful and happy, than of any inherent gaiety of disposition in herself. She has, at times, a dash of melancholy in her countenance, which is more becoming than her smiles. These short symptoms of melancholy I should attribute to her vacancy of heart, to her want of some one object upon which she may for her affections; a necessity which Nature has imposed upon Woman for a wise purpose—the perpetuation of the human race.
She has faults; but her faults seem to be acquired— her virtues a native inheritance. She is so general, that it almost amounts to coquetry. She makes too little distinction betwixt the men of merit and sense, and the foolish and undeserving. She can cruelly suffer the sincere respectful lover to languish without a glimmer of hope, and give encouragement to the assured, indifferent coxcomb, who would boast of favours which she is, perhaps, determined to confer on no man. She has the appearance of being so satisfied with these reptiles, that you would suspect her understanding, did not every sentence which she utters correct this mistake. She may be accused in this, of ingratitude towards her benefactress, Nature, who bestowed on her such uncommon talents, not to be hebetated by the galimatias of fools, but, by a proper application of her time, to be perfected into mental endowments proportionable to her personal [Page 65] charms. She acts wisely in being cautious of a second marriage, as the great fortune which she is possessed of, must render it difficult for her to distinguish who courts her riches, who herself. But the man who shall be happy enough to obtain her, will do well to hurry his prize to some retreat from the great world, as the facility which I complain of might create him much uneasiness; for it is an eternal truth, that great love, and some degree of jealousy, are inseparable. There thou mightest, O envied mortal! enjoy perpetual happiness; if candour, frankness, good nature, understanding and beauty could make thee happy.
AN ACCOUNT OF A CONVERSATION, CHIEFLY RELATIVE TO THE ARMY.
SOME time ago, I made one of a company of officers, whose conversation was not confined, as is too much the custom of gentlemen of our profession, to buckles, buttons, garters, grenadier-caps, or, what is little better, the figure that such or such a regiment made in their puerile reviews for the amusement of royal masters and misses, great and small, in Hyde Park, or on Wimbleton Common; our discourse fell upon the history of England, and the respective merits of the different historians.
A young subaltern, who seemed to have great fire and sentiment, and with more reading than young subalterns are generally masters of, was extremely bitter on Mr. Hume: he loaded him with a thousand opprobriums; he stiled him a sophist, a jesuit, a theistical champion of despotism, who had dethroned the God of Heaven, and deified the sceptered monsters of the earth. The young man was taken up by a grey-headed field-officer, who was so warm a partizan of Mr. Hume's, that he leaned not only towards absolute (or in his favourite author's terms) pure unmixed monarchy, but visibly towards jaccbitism. He spoke of Charles the First with an idolatrous reverence, and of all his opponents with the greatest [Page 66] horror and indignation: this led him to a great deal of abuse on Mrs. M'Cawley; he lamented that a composition of this nature was suffered to be published, which must instil the most damnable republican principles into the minds of our youth; that it already had diminished that respect to royalty so necessary to be kept up: and that the young gentleman who spoke last had furnished us with an instance, that the army had not escaped the contagion—a most alarming consideration! as their disrespect to crowned heads was not manifested alone by opinions injurious to the royal martyr, but that several of them had frequently in their conversations declared their disapprobation of some part of the present reign; that such sentiments, and such language, were not only repugnant to the spirit of our military laws, but indecent and ungrateful in those who eat his Majesty's bread.— This he uttered with so much emphasis, that the greatest part of the company was terrified into silence; and the young subaltern began to think he had been guilty in some measure of treason, and, I believe, would have prevaricated himself into other sentiments than those he had professed, had I not taken up his cause, justified all he had advanced, and encouraged him to foster the noble principles he had imbibed. I demanded of our veteran to explain his meaning in saying that we eat his Majesty's bread; whence had his Majesty drawn funds to feed so many mouths? Were coffers of gold transported from his personal estates in Germany? or, had he discovered in his gardens at Kew, treasures sufficient for such prodigious munificence? Were the officers of the army forlorn and starving in the streets, without patrimony, relations and friends; cut off, by their country, from all means of supporting themselves; in a word, precluded from all possibilities, presented to other members of society, of procuring a livelihood? Had his Majesty found the whole body of us in this wretched, desperate situation, and out of the vast benevolence of his soul, and at his own individual expence, without the least incumbrance to the nation, redeemed us from hunger and nakedness, [Page 67] fed us comfortably, clothed us in smart red coats, put swords by our sides, and erected us into the condition of gentlemen? I said, if these things could be proved, but on no other terms, I would agree with the gentleman who spoke last, that we really did eat the king's bread, and that we were perhaps in duty bound to approve all his measures, and all those of his ministers, whether right or wrong, glorious or inglorious, salutary or pernicious.—But on the other hand, if we considered ourselves, as we really were, only as a class of one great free people, segregated from the rest into this distinct class, and subjected to particular laws necessary for the maintenance of military order and discipline, without which we could not answer the ends of our institution, that is, the immediate defence of our mother country against foreign invaders, and the preservation of our colonies and external possessions, the great basis and support of our commerce, wealth, and marine, consequently our national importance and independence: I said the King might be considered, partly in the same predicament with the officers of the army, or the fleet, viz. a great servant of the community, or mass of the people, ordained and subsisted for the public service; with this difference, that each individual of the army, or fleet, contributed as a citizen, and one of the people, to his subsistence, as a soldier, or servant of the great aggregate, of which he himself, in another sense, formed a part; whereas the king was simply a receiver; in no respect a contributor; so that it might in fact be said with more propriety, that the king eat the officers of the army's bread, than that the officers of the army eat the king's. I confessed that his Majesty, as one branch of the legislature, and executive magistrate, was entitled to a very high degree of reverence from soldiers as well as other citizens, as long as he fulfilled the duties of his station; but that still a higher degree of reverence and attachment was due to the freedom, laws, prosperity and glory of our country, than personally to the first magistrate, let him fill his office ever so worthily. When it was remembered, I added, that the present reigning family [Page 68] had been taken from a German electorate, not the most considerable, exalted to the head of a mighty empire, endowed with adequate revenues, and invested with the g [...]dlike powers of executing justice, but softening its rigours of dealing out mercy, but restrained from evil; I said, when these things were remembered, should his present majesty, or any of his successors, pervert the power granted by the generosity and confidence of the people, to the prejudice or dishonour of the people, the officers of the army, no more than any other class of citizens, could not be taxed with ingratitude, or indecency, in censuring their prince, but the prince in furnishing matter of censure.—The old field-officer began to soften: he confessed that his expression with respect to the officer's eating his Majesty's bread was improper; but still insisted, that the army ought to be more reserved in their censure than any other order of men, as they seemed to be held in higher esteem by the present Court than any other order. In this again I totally differed from the old gentleman. I asserted it was the reverse: that the army had been treated through the whole present reign, both individually and collectively, with more contempt and ingratitude than in any reign of any age or any country; that the ill usage of the army had not been confined to the living, it had extended to the dead. To begin with Mr. Wolfe, to whose valour and conduct we owed the acquisition of a mighty empire, how irreverently had his ashes been treated by government! The nation had indeed gratefully and generously voted a monument to their hero; the nation had paid the money, but unfortunately his majesty's ministers were the trustees: to this day therefore we see no monument erected; the money raised on the people for this purpose, having probably been converted to the use of some living worthies, not very far distant from Westminster Abbey. But they were not satisfied with depriving the hero of these trophies; they had piqued themselves in adding every insult to his memory. The man who had served, or rather disserved, under him; who had shewn activity [Page 69] only in embarrassing his counsels, impeding his measures, and labouring to defeat his purposes; who had strained his hardbound wit to throw a ridicule on his conduct; who, whenever he could find an audience passive and base enough to his mind, had poured forth torrents of abuse, and endeavoured to raise a spirit of faction and mutiny in others, equal to that stirred up in his own breast, by the daemon of envy; who, after his glorious death, had not paid the slightest tribute of respect to his memory, or of ceremony to his remains; who had attempted to filch his laurels off the shelf, and put them in his pocket: This man, I said, had been loaded with the highest preferments, and the greatest honours, (if any thing which flows from such a court can be deemed honours) which our court has to bestow.—Let us next observe how the brave Band, who conquered under him, and indeed the whole American army, had been recompensed, officers and soldiers. The first instance of gratitude exhibited by our government, was the depriving them of their provision, without which it is almost impossible that an American soldier should subsist: the vast consumption of necessaries occasioned by the nature of that hard service, from clearing communications, building bridges and forts, but above all from transporting provisions, ammunition and artillery up the rivers, and the enhanced price of these necessaries, as they all come from England, by the freight and profit of the merchants, put an American soldier, although allowed provision, in a worse condition than an European without it; particularly when we consider, that an European soldier is paid for all king's or public works, which in America was not the case. But the cruelty of this measure was not all: it was flagitious; it was a breach of compact, at least with respect to a great part of the army—the volunteer drafts from England, the whole body of royal Americans, and every man recruited in America, were engaged on absolute express conditions of being allowed provision. Travelling from North America to the West Indies, the tenderness of the present [Page 70] reign displayed towards the soldiery is still more striking; the distribution of the plunder of the Havannah is so notorious that it would be impertinent to mention it; but the motives of this distribution are so curious, that it is difficult not frequently to recur to them. They were these: The Earl of Bute and his great adjunct lived in perpetual apprehensions of the late Duke of Cumberland; the firmness of the man, his known courage, his good sense, but above all his principles and attachment to the welfare and honour of his country, rendered him an object of terror to those who were determined to sacrifice every thing to the maintenance of their own power and authority—after having revolved in their minds what was the most probable method of softening this bar to their schemes into some complacency, it was concluded, that to win this favourite, was the plan of the most promising aspect.
The expedition against the Havannah was at this time resolved upon; the troops and fleet were in readiness; my lord of Albemarle was on this principle appointed to the command, and on this principle so enormously enriched at the expence of the labour, health and blood of the most noble deserving army that this, or perhaps any other country, has been ever served by. His lordship and his family were indeed aggrandized; but the great views of the distributers were happily disappointed. The Duke of Cumberland persisted in his integrity, and continued an honest zealous citizen until the fatal moment when he was snatched away from his country. I think, without rant or exaggeration, it may be termed a fatal moment:—he was indisputably a valuable true Englishman: he had, in the early parts of his life, through an over zeal for reforming the army from the miserable condition in which he found them, projected schemes not unexceptionable; but this must be ascribed to a deference which he paid to the opinion of men infinitely inferior to himself, both in virtue and talents: but in his latter years, his great and good qualities demonstrated themselves so fully, that we may fairly conclude, had [Page 71] fate spared him, he might at least have checked the torrent of those bitter waters broke in upon us from their accursed source of Carleton-House.—But before I take leave of America, I cannot help observing the extraordinary attention paid to the officers and soldiers in the allotment of lands; it would be endless to enter into the detail of the royal or ministerial (for these terms have been of late so confounded together that it is puzzling to distinguish them) bounty in this particular; I shall instance one or two which may suffice for the whole.
It had long been supposed that the island of St. John's in the gulph of St. Lawrence, would have been a profitable possession. A set of officers of the land and sea service, laid out a plan for the settlement of it. They presented it to Government, and petitioned a grant of it. The grant was promised. The officers dangled from day to day for the fulfilling of this promise. They were shuffled from the Admiralty to the Board of Trade, from the Board of Trade to the Admiralty, from an Egmont to an Hillsborough, from an Hillsborough to an Egmont, for the space, I believe, of three years. Egmont accuses Hillsborough as the cause of this delay; Hillsborough accuses Egmont; his Majesty stands neuter betwixt these two righteous personages.
The Officers danced attendance until they found themselves on the threshold of a jail; but at length it is decided: The officers who were the original petitioners, got half a lot. Mr. Touchit, or Touchat (for I have not the honour of knowing how he spells his name) some court surgeons, and every kind of court retainer, who thinks it worth his while to hint that he has no objection to an American possession, is gratified with a whole lot.
Another society of officers had solicited a grant of lands on the river St. Lawrence, which they undertook to settle; this was flatly refused.
Another society solicited for lands on the lower parts of the Illinois, Ohio, or on the Mississippi: that was likewise rejected; but from what motives it is impossible to define, unless they suppose that soldiers invested with [Page 72] a little landed property, would not be so readily induced to act as the instruments of the oppression of their fellow subjects, as those whose views are solely turned, if not reduced, to farther promotion; and if reduced, to full pay. And here I am afraid the understandings of our profession must appear dreadfully low, when they can be dupes to the hopes of promotion.
Let them reflect for a moment on the mode of bestowing, since the peace, the only commissions which by military men can be esteemed objects; I mean regiments, and lieutenant colonelcies; and I will venture to affirm, that not four of each have been bestowed on men who, in the opinion of those who have served with them, have the semblance of a title. That the army on the English and on the Irish establishment, and the fleet on the home and foreign stations, have been considered by our court as the precious means of corrupting us from our duty as citizens; that a plea of merit in general, or any particular action, of wounds, loss of health or limbs by a course of hard services, has been considered as a symptom of lunacy. And I have heard say, our incomparable Secretary at War values himself not a little for his humanity, in not suing for statutes to confine the wretches who can push their extravagance to such a height as to make these pleas. It will perhaps be said, that jobs are not the growth of this reign; that jobs ever were, and ever will be, in a government like ours. But allowing jobs to have been, I cannot think iniquity is to be justifyed by precedent, and surely iniquitous precedents are very ungracefully quoted in a reign which was announced from its commencement to be that of virtue, purity, and righteousness.
As to the army that served in Germany, it is true they have not been so very grossly treated as the American. There were moments when Lord Granby would not cede to our gracious Secretary at War. There were moments when, as our ingenious court termed it, he was obstinate and impracticable; that is, there were moments when he insisted on some regard being paid to [Page 73] those who had deserved of their country; but these moments unfortunately occurred but too seldom. His facility and complacence to the wickedness of the Court, preponderated over his natural love of justice. In short, the patronage of the army was left to a Barrington, by whom valour, sense and integrity must naturally be proscribed, as he must suspect that no man can possess them without being an enemy to their contraries, which are the undisputed attributes of his Lordship.
From this long digression on the obligations of the army to the present Court, on the extraordinary esteem in which the military has been held through the whole course of the present reign, we returned to our original topic, the merit of the different historians.
I joined the young subaltern in his encomiums on Mrs. M'Cawley. I challenged the old field-officer to point out a suspicious authority that she had quoted; to produce a single comment which did not correspond with the facts. I asserted, that her inferences were fairly drawn from her premises; and that there could not be traced the shadow of partiality in the long series of her history, unless a zeal for true liberty, and the rights of her country and of mankind, may be termed partiality. I asserted, that Hume was the reverse in all respects; that he produced little, and that very suspicious, authority; that his comments did not agree whith his facts, the effects not deducible from the cause. Upon the whole, what I said on the subject of James's history, and of the character of his favourite Charles, was so satisfactory to the company, that they requested me to digest what I offered, and to present it to the public.
AN EPISTLE TO DAVID HUME, ESQ.
IN reading history, nothing has so frequently shocked me as the disrespectful and irreverent manner in which divers writers have spoke of crowned heads. Many princes, it must be owned, have acted, in some instances, [Page 74] not altogether as we could wish; but it is the duty of every honest man, and friend to royalty, the great source of human happiness, to draw a veil over their weakness; and if not able entirely to justify some parts of their conduct, he may at least, by the aid of certain managed terms, and decent softenings, in a great measure prevent the evil effects which a coarse, and I may say barbarous relation of facts is apt to have on weak and vulgar minds. The passion, prejudice, and party heat of several who style themselves historians, have, I make no doubt, been the principal causes of the numberless murmurs, insurrections, rebellions, dethronements, expulsions, regicides, which have disgraced the history of mankind, and more particularly of this infatuated country.
On this principle, Sir, you will readily believe, that the satisfaction I have received from your incomparable History of the House of the Stuarts, is of the highest kind; that I have perused it, and re-perused it a thousand times, and always with fresh pleasure; and that I ardently wish the youth of our country were never suffered to read any other; a rule which I am charmed to hear is observed by the most exalted personage in the kingdom, as well in virtue as in rank, whenever he condescends to unbend his mind from his severe studies and occupations by dipping into the annals of his predecessors; and it is to this rule, perhaps, that we are indebted for the prodigious enlargement of his mind, in so tender an age that all Europe stands astonished at it.
How complaisant, how gentle, how guarded, how humane, how polite are your phrases, in laying before us the transactions of those good, though perhaps misguided, princes! How calculated are your comments to mitigate the seditious spirit of the mad multitude! Had you written an hundred years ago, I am persuaded you would not only have prevented the growth of those horrible opinions, (alas! too prevalent) That kings are not only responsible, but punishable for their delinquencies toward their people; that Charles the First met with no harder fate than he deserved, and that his two sons [Page 75] ought, in justice, to have made the same exit. I say, Sir, had you written an hundred years ago, you might not only have prevented the growth of such monstrous notions, but, probably, have checked those furious principles, which ended in driving from the throne of his ancestors, to the indelible disgrace of these nations, a prince replete with every royal virtue.
In short, Sir, I am so much in love with the scheme of your history, I am so convinced that no task can be equally laudable in a philosopher, an historian, and a gentleman, as to endeavour to eradicate from the minds of our youth all prejudices and prepossessions against the memory of deceased, and the character of living princes; and, by obviating the cavils and malice of republican writers, to inspire mankind with more candour in judging of the actions and government of sovereigns, that I am determined to follow so bright an example, and exert the utmost of my zeal, skill, and abilities (indeed far short of yours) to rescue from the unmerited odium under which they lie, two much injured characters in history; I mean the Emperor Claudius Caesar, and his immediate successor Nero, whose foibles and indiscretions have been swelled up into vices, by the austerity and malevolence of Tacitus, Suetonius, and others (the Rapins, Ludlows, and M'Cawleys of those days) who wrote under succeeding monarchs of a different family; but as the motives for such virulent proceedings are now ceased, and as men's minds ought to be a little cooler, we may venture to pronounce the disposition of these princes (though I do not think they were faultless, or altogether well-advised) to have been good.
Should the ungenerous and bigots in party raise a clamour, should they exclaim that its being a pander to despotism, and an enemy to the rights of humanity, the endeavouring to gloss over vices and enormities so manifest, as they pretend, by a concurrence of facts, vouched by the most authentic records, I shall console myself, Sir, with your approbation, and that of the generous few who think with you, and shall flatter myself [Page 76] that the attempt, whatever may be the merit of the execution, will recommend me, along with the Smollets, Scotts, Murphys, and Johnsons, to the notice of a court, which seems to pique itself in rewarding the champions and apologists, of unpopular men and measures, in proportion as their labours are unsuccessful with the narrow-minded public.
A POLITICAL ESSAY.
ON leaving school, I thought it right to get some acquaintance with the history of England; for the school where I was brought up was guilty, in common with all other schools, of the shameful neglect of suffering the boys to remain in utter ignorance of the laws, constitution, and transactions of their own country; some knowledge of which is certainly of more importance, at least in a government like ours, than the being able to scan the flattering versifyers of Augustus's age.
Rapin, accidentally, was the fi [...]st historian that fell into my hands. Notwithstanding his length, I read him through with great attention, which was more particularly engaged when I came to those parts which treat of our several civil wars; but the great one of the year 1640, interested me more sensibly than the antecedent. And I cannot express how much I was amazed in finding the character of Charles the First so little agree with the notions I had conceived of him, from his being styled a Martyr; from the solemn observance of the 30th of January, in order to avert the wrath of the Almighty for that horrible parricide; from the epithets of good, virtuous, pious, blessed, which were perpetually bestowed on him, not only by the old house-keeper, the maid-servants, but by the master, usher, and all the clergy who happened to discourse on this subject in my hearing. In the holidays, when we went home, my mother, grandmother, and all their female acquaintance, rung the same in my ears.
[Page 77]On the perusal of Rapin I was, therefore, strangely puzzled and confounded to find this virtuous, pious, blessed, holy martyr, metamorphosed into an obstinate, dissembling, perfidious tyrant; and that the men whom I had been taught to execrate as rebels, traytors, parricides, should, for the greater part, appear the champions of the laws of their country and the rights of mankind, fraught with truth, valour, integrity, and every attribute which can render mortal men the objects of veneration.
I had no method of accounting for this, but by concluding my historian guilty of the most egregious partiality, that he must have mistated, or disguised the facts to an enormous degree; for as to his comments, they appeared judicious, natural and fair, allowing the facts to be justly stated. I desired all those whom I thought more knowing and wise than myself, to solve these difficulties. Some few of them averred that Charles was not at all better than what he was represented by Rapin; but far the greater number assured me, that Rapin was a lying French Presbyterian, partial, unjust, malicious, that no credit was given to him by men of judgment and knowledge, and that he was never spoke of with common patience by those who have any generous sentiments. They advised me, by all means, to go to the fountain-head of information on this subject, the great Clarendon; that there I should see the facts related clearly and honestly, the comments sensible and candid, the causes and effects congruous, the spring of every action laid open, the views and characters of the actors painted in their proper colours, by one who had himself played a principal part, or, at least, seen every thing that had passed behind the scenes; one, whose authority was incontestible from his character for truth and integrity.
I accordingly procured a Clarendon, not only read him with attention, but studied him with accuracy: and, behold the result! it was an entire, complete disappointment in every circumstance: instead of carrying the conviction which I expected, it appeared to me one [Page 78] eternal periphrasis subdivided into assertions without authority, childish ifs without probable suppositions, and tortured inferences from mistated or defalcated facts, with endless begging the questions. The epithets candid, sincere, virtuous, pious, were very liberally bestowed on him, whose cause he intends to plead; and not a single instance of candor, sincerity, or virtue is given through the whole course of his history, unless excessive bigotry to episcopacy, and a spirit of persecuting all other protestant sects, is to be construed piety. In short, my aversion to Charles was rather confirmed than transferred to the other party by the perusal of Lord Clarendon. I here discerned very plainly, why the episcopal clergy should have made a Saint and a Martyr of him. His excessive attachment to their order, and the great sacrifices he made to them, are undoubtedly very substantial titles to canonization, and the crown of martyrdom; but the zeal and reverence with which a multitude of others, who are quite indifferent to modes of worship, and some who seem desirous there should be none at all, still continue to speak of this prince, and the indignation and horror with which they speak of his opponents, I confess is with me a matter of wonder. I know very well, that the impressions we receive in our childhood sink deep, and that these impressions, whether we receive them from our nurses, grandmother, or the parson of the parish; whether they concern ghosts, or hobgoblins, a devil, or a saint, a tyrant, or a martyr, are with difficulty effaced; but that those who have got rid of those narrow superstitious prejudices, should still retain, in their utmost force, their prepossessions with respect to their royal master, is something supernatural. I have long endeavoured to account for this, and am apt to conclude, that it must be ascribed to the singularity of his fate.— A king tried and condemned by his own subjects is certainly a singular case, the singularity of his fate has created pity, and pity ever generates love and affection.— The Marquis of Beccaria, in his incomparable treatise on Crimes and Punishments, is of opinion, that a community [Page 79] ought to punish with death such criminals only whose existence is absolutely pernicious to the community; if his reasoning is just, a criminal king is almost the only criminal on whom death ought to be inflicted, as his existence (if not always absolutely destructive) is undoubtedly highly dangerous to society. Tarquin was only expelled; Tarquin's existence was nearly destructive to Rome; an eternal war and conspiracies within the walls, which brought Rome into the extremest peril, were the consequences of the tyrant's existence; and the death of the tyrant simply, unless it hath been accompanied with that of his sons, would not have injured the tranquillity and security of Rome.
On this principle, some of the Grecian States had laws levelled, not only against the lives of those who should erect themselves into the tyrans of their country, but enjoining the extirpation of their whole race; and these were wise and humane laws, because they were necessary for the good of the whole, for the sacrifice of a single family for the preservation of millions is indisputably humanity. James the second was expelled like Tarquin, but he and his sons were suffered to escape with their lives; the consequences of their being suffered to escape were three rebellions, which not only threatened immediate destruction to these nations, but endangered the liberties of Europe. It is true, these rebellions were defeated in their immediate purposes, but the existence of the Stuart race hath laid, too certainly, I am afraid, the seeds of our destruction. Their existence has furnished the ministers of the family, which was called in for our preservation, with pretexts for arming the family of our preservers, with the means of destroying us; for it is impossible to suppose that the nation could have been brought to acquiesce in mortgaging the national property, without any visible national purposes, unless they had imagined that national debts were a security against the return of the dreaded Stuarts; and it is impossible to suppose, that the people could have been so far imposed upon, as to suffer their representatives to vote [Page 80] themselves septennial from triennial, unless they had been persuaded, that a septennial parliament formed a stronger barrier against the return of the Stuarts than a triennial; and it is still a greater absurdity to suppose, that a majority of landed gentlemen, of really well meaning honest Englishmen, could be infatuated, to so great a degree, as to sit down contentedly under the establishment of a standing army, the gradual augmentation of it to an enormous bulk, the interweaving of it (as it may be said) into our constitution, had not the spectre of the Stuarts return continually danced before their eyes. Hence, I think, without straining, it may be inferred, that the pecuniary influence of the crown, septennial parliaments and a standing army, (which unless some great national calamity falls out to draw us back to our first principles, before the minds of our soldiery are totally debauched) must inevitably end in the destruction of our liberties; and perhaps national independence, have been the fruits of our mistaken cruel moderation, in suffering a single individual of the expelled family to remain in existence. But to return from this long digression to the question, whether the singularity of Charles the First's fate, tryed and condemned by his own subjects, is not one of the principal causes of his memory's being treated with such tenderness and reverence. We will suppose a case; but first admitting Beccaria's position to be just, that a community ought not to punish with death any criminal whose existence is not absolutely pernicious, or highly dangerous to the community; and further, admitting that a criminal king is the only criminal whose existence can be pernicious or highly dangerous. We will suppose, then, that there should hereafter be formed a community, one of whose fundamental laws should be, That capital punishments should be confined to delinquent kings alone; that all other delinquents, let their crimes be what they will, should be sent into exile; their estates, money, and goods confiscated to the use of the community. I will venture to affirm, that an hundred kings, less guilty than Charles the First, put to death on the scaffold, would not shock the humanity of the tenderest nature.
[Page 81]We will farther suppose, that after a series of years adherence to this law, they should at length, from a concurrence of accidents, on some very great emergency, deviate from it, and inflict the punishment levelled against royal delinquents alone, on delinquents of an inferior order, I will venture to affirm that the spectacle, from its novelty, of a Jonathan Wild, a S—h, [...] * * *, dangling on a gallows, would affect the passers-by with compassion, and prompt their ingenuity to devise apologies for the poor sufferers; though, previously to their execution, the whole world had agreed on the transcendency of their flagitiousness, the incorrigibility of their natures, and that no fate could be too severe for their merits. But although the singularity of Charles's destiny, the prejudices fostered by the pious care of our nurses and the clergy, have greatly contributed to the false light in which his conduct, morals, and general character are seen, it could not have operated so wonderfully alone: the address and sophistry of a succession of our corrupt citizens have been set at work, to co-operate in misleading our judgment and blinding our understandings; and of this tribe the pre-eminence must indisputably be given to Mr. David Hume; for the pompous anility (as I think it may be termed) of Clarendon, the more than priestly fury of Carte, much less the pert patch work of Smollet, or the drivelling of poor Goldsmith, could not have brought any mighty miracles; but with Hume, the case is different; the philosophical, or rather sceptical character of the man antecedent to his appearance as an historian, and a speciousness of style render him so infinitely more dangerous than his fellow labourers, that it is much to be lamented that some person (for instance, a Lord Littelton) eminent for parts and learning, has not thought it worth his while professedly (but I would have it compendiously, for a reason I shall hereafter give) to expose to public view the incongruities, artifices, and pernicious intention of this sophist. But when I lament that no man of a superior stamp has set himself the task, I do not mean that extraordinary learning or talents are absolutely [Page 82] necessary: on the contrary, I think an attentive perusal must qualify every man of common sense full as well for the purpose, if we could suppose that an equal degree of regard would be paid to him; but it is certain, that the name and signature of a person in high repute gives, to manifest eternal truths, greater force than when uttered by a common or unknown writer, although the essence of truth cannot be altered by the greater or lesser reputation of him who utters it.
It is true, a more effectual antidote to the poison of Hume's history cannot be desired than Mrs. M'Cawley's, if they are but read and compared together with their respective authorities; but the misfortue is, the perusal and comparing of two so bulky writers cannot be expected from the laziness of modern readers; and it is on the notions and principles of the lazy class of readers that the present welfare of our country and the fate of posterity, in a great measure, depend. In fact, of what importance would it be to the community, if those very few, who have inclination and perseverance to work through volumes, should enlarge their minds to even the standard of an ancient Roman, when the young nobility, gentry, and men of property, who compose the lazy class, still remain perverted, uncorrected, an uninformed?
For these reasons, I think that some works so compendious as not to terrify by its bulk, confined simply, and bearing the import of such in its title, to a refutation of Hume's tenets, and demonstration of his partiality and pernicious principles, would be more beneficial than a full, complete body of history, digested methodically, supported by the best authority, and animated by the noblest sentiments. But until some eminent person will be persuaded to take up the employment, it is the duty of every common citizen to exert whatever force he has in the common cause.
A jealous spirit in the people, of those who govern, and the principles of resistance, from the palladium of liberty, particularly in a limited monarchy. An abhorrence [Page 83] of tyrants, or even of those who have a semblance of tyrants, (and it will scarcely be disputed that Charles had a semblance) is inseparable from this jealous spirit and principle of resistance: whoever would extinguish the one, would extinguish the other. When we see therefore, a junto of notorious court-retainers, clubbing their labours to reconcile us to the despotic administration of Charles, to his duplicity, to his breach of faith, and violation of the most solemn compacts, we may safely conclude, that a design is lodged to extinguish the necessary jealous spirit of liberty, and inculcate the principles of non-resistance. It may be said, that a too great jealousy of liberty is equally dangerous with a too great confidence; that as the latter may plunge us into slavery, the former may into anarchy: I should allow some weight to this objection, if in the whole course of our history, a refutation, in a single instance, could be produced of these positions; That the spirit of liberty is slow to act, even against the worse princes, and exerts itself in favour of the best with more effect than any other spirit whatsoever. I must therefore repeat, that the keeping alive the jealous spirit of liberty is a common cause; That a detestation of tyrants, or even of those who lean to tyranny, is inseparable from this spirit; That Charles the First was a tyrant in principle and in action; That those who labour to reconcile us to his conduct and character, would destroy the spirit of liberty, and ultimately establish the principle of non-resistance; That a junto of mercenaries and court retainers do labour to these purposes; That it is, therefore, the duty of every common citizen, who has the interest of his country at heart, to exert continually whatever force he has to defeat their purposes; or, at least, weaken their influence; for, in mechanics, the smallest force continually applied will overcome the most violent motions communicated to bodies.
From these considerations, I purpose to offer to the public, hereafter, some cursory remarks on Mr. Hume's History of the two first Stuarts: if they are well received, [Page 84] I shall continue them through the reigns of the two last. If they have, in any degree, the effect which I could wish, I shall think myself amply recompensed, the only recompence which I can promise myself. I cannot hope for any glory from the composition; the little reading which a soldier can snatch up at intervals will scarcely qualify him to reap laurels in the field of literature; and it will easily be believed, that the sentiments which I avow, will not procure a place or a pension.
A BREAKFAST FOR R********.
AS Mr. R— has given the public to understand, that he does not chuse to deal with any writers, but those of the most accurate and elegant kind, and who have passed through a regular course of education; and as I cannot flatter myself, that I am one of this class, I do not presume to offer this little performance to him, though it is intended for his vindication; but, as I understand, from the same authority, that you admit into your paper even the lowest trash, I find myself under the necessity of applying to you. Mr. R— has I know, like other great men, his calumniators and enemies;—envy and malice ever were attendant on exalted genius and merit. It is inconceivable, what numbers are endeavouring to detract from this wonderful personage; how they strain their little wits to throw a ridicule upon his talents, his style, his integrity, and even his erudition. This last, one should imagine, if any thing of human attainment can, is unquestionable, as he has given such eminent and manifold proofs of it: however it does not escape them. I found myself the other night (for as a studier of men and characters I associate with all sorts) amongst a set of the most flaming factious enemies to all order and government; where the most respectable characters of the age were treated with scandalous freedom. Lord Mansfield [Page 85] was a Jeffries, Lord Bute a solemn, empty, pedantic Jacobite, and Mr. R— a ridiculous, pragmatical, slip [...]op coxcomb: they said, that he had not decency enough for the porter of a bawdy-house, learning enough for a barrack washer-woman, nor imagination sufficient for a Christmas-bellman:—that at the age of fifteen he was turned out of the blue-school, where he had been bred, as too incorrigible a dunce to make a scavenger of; that they had, by way of jocular experiment, for some time tried him in this capacity; but that he always, in windy days, swept the dust up against the wind. By persisting in this practice he was very near losing his eyes, and that you may observe they are still extremely weak from its effects. At this, Sir, I own my blood boiled. I said, they must be driven to great straits indeed, if they could object nothing worse to a gentleman's character than his having been bred at a charity-school; for that it had been the case of some of the most illustrious men the nation had produced; the late Lord Hardwicke, and Mr. Prior, had been educated in the same manner. As to the story of the weakness of his eyes, proceeding from sweeping the dust against the wind, I know it to be a falshood; for that it had been contracted, to my knowledge, by poring into a Johnson's dictionary of his own printing, late at nights, to find out decent polysyllables, of sufficient sound and dignity, to dress up an advertisement of Scotch herrings, lumber, and pickled oysters.
I asserted, that his compositions were incomprehensibly fine, his language sonorious and musical; although, perhaps, he did not always apply words to their legitimate meaning; as who does in such an immensity of business; and that he should round a period with any bookseller in Christendom: That he was a Latin scholar, I thought must be allowed by all unprejudiced men, when they considered his numberless and apt quotations from Horace. Upon my mentioning his knowledge of Latin, the whole company burst out into a horse-laugh, which I thought was very indecent, and, when the uproar subsided, demanded the explanation. They insisted [Page 86] upon it, that he was so totally ignorant of it, that he did not know the meaning, nor could he conjugate the verbs mentior, nor vapulo, though he so generally practised the former, and has so often experienced the latter:—that his patches of Horace were always furnished by his friend the Doctor—that when he had finished one of his pieces, he always applied to the Doctor for a motto to dignify his performance; that, for instance, the four lines from Horace, prefixed to his late Epistle to Mr. Sears, (which I really think one of the smartest things I ever read) were pointed out by the Doctor; and that a blunder whimsical enough happened on this occasion, though it was fortunately rectified in time for the press. They related, that when he went as usual for his motto to the Doctor, the Doctor wrote him down these lines:
saying, "R— you may transcribe the Latin at your leisure, as you have Horace in your shop; remember, it is the first epistle." R— went home vastly happy, but unluckily mistook the first satire for the first epistle. When the Doctor went to revise it the next morning, he found these lines very fairly written— Qui fit Maecenas ut nemo quam, &c. and under, the above translation. They added, that though the Doctor was that morning in an horrible ill humour (as he had just been reading the Bishop of St. Asaph's speech) he could not refrain from laughing; but, however, after having bestowed some anathemas on the skull of his friend, he, for the honour of the common cause, took the pains to transcribe the lines with his own hand, to prevent any further blunders. They then proceeded to fall foul upon his English; they said that when he first set up his press, and before he was under the correction of the Doctor, he used always to write musketeers, musk-cat-ears—dragoons, [Page 87] dragons—battalions, battle lions; and that he really thought these strange things were made use of in war; that all the words ending in tion, as flaggellation, castigation, salivation, words he is best acquainted with, he spelt with an sh. I hate the story they told of him, which, although I was cursedly enraged, I confess made me smile; that writing to his niece, who was going to be married to an eminent pawnbroker in St. Martin's Lane, he began his letter thus: "My dear Kitty, as you are going to be married, and are so very young a girl, I would advise you by all means, at least, at first, to act with a little cushion," meaning it for caution. Now I would appeal to all mankind, who are not totally blinded by party and faction, whether it is credible, whether it is possible, that a gentleman, who has from his cradle been in some sort a retainer of the Muses, should be guilty of such gross, such ridiculous blunders. When I say Mr. R— has been a retainer of the Muses, I do not mean, Sir, in your paltry sphere, a mere dealer in indexes and title pages. No, Sir, his sphere has been more enlarged. It is notorious, that when he had finished his studies, he was invited into a society of eminent intinerary comedians; I know very well, that his enemies give out, that he only amputated the luminaries betwixt the acts; but I could bring authentic proofs of his distinguishing himself in some important characters.
February 3, 1775. A PAMPHLET, * ENTITLED, ‘A friendly Address to all reasonable Americans, on the Subject of our Political Confusions,’ gave birth to the following Performance, addressed TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA.
A PAMPHLET, entitled, A friendly Address to all reasonable Americans, advertised and sold by Mr. James Rivington, of New-York, is of so extraordinary a nature, that it is difficult for any man who is interested in the welfare of the community (whatever contempt he may have for the performance) to remain silent. I know not whether the author is a layman or ecclesiastic, but he bears strongly the characters of the latter: he has the want of candour and truth, the apparent spirit of persecution, the unforgiveness, the deadly hatred to dissenters, and the zeal for arbitrary power which has distinguished churchmen in all ages, and more particularly the high part of the Church of England. I cannot help, therefore, considering him as one of this order.
The design of his Reverence's pamphlet, is manifestly to dissolve the spirit of union, and check the noble ardour, prevailing through the continent; but his zeal so far outruns his abilities, that there is the greatest reason [Page 89] to think that he has laboured to little effect. His discretion seems to be still less than his genius; a man of common judgment would not so wantonly have attacked the general reigning principle and opinions of the people, whom he intends to intimidate or seduce out of their rights and privileges. For instance, I believe there are at least ninety-nine Americans in a hundred, who think that Charles the First was an execrable tyrant; that he met with no harder fate than he deserved; and that his two sons ought, in justice, to have made the same exit.
To descant, therefore, on the criminality of the resistance made to that tyrant; to affect, on every occasion, giving the title of rebellion to the civil war which brought him to justice, is a degree of weakness which no man who is not blinded by the daemon of Jacobitism could possibly be guilty of. But to preach up in this enlightened age, as he does in almost express terms, passive obedience, is a mark of lunacy, or at [...]east it proves that the moment a head begins to itch for a mitre, it loses the faculty of reasoning; for if the principle of passive obedience is admitted, the gracious prince, for whom his Reverence professes so great a devotion, is a downright usurper, and the parliament, of which he speaks so respectfully, Lords and Commons, are rebels and traitors.
The doctrines he aims to inculcate are as follows: "That the parliament has a right to tax you without your consent; that the duty upon tea is no tax; that this duty is your only grievance; that the cause of Boston is their own concern; that it is not your cause; that the punishment of Boston is a just punishment; that it is lenient; that it is not equal to their crimes; that the Bostonians are rebels, traitors, and pampered fanatics; that the Congress are little better; that no misconduct of administration can justify or excuse open disrespect; that submission is to be paid to the higher powers, whatever character they be; that an apostle enjoined submission to the tyrant Nero; that of all people under heaven, the king's American subjects have the least cause for complaint; that the present confusion of the Colonies [Page 90] have been occasioned by false alarms; that none of your legal rights have been invaded; no injury has been done you; and, consequently, that you can never be justified in resenting that of which you have no reason to complain; that you are no judges of the rights of Parliament; that the Parliament ought to act according to their own judgment, not according to yours, even in things which concern you principally or solely; that they assert they have the right in question; that you have never proved they have not; that you have always believed or allowed they have, until the present occasion; that the Quebec Bill is a just and constitutional bill; that the Canadians are likely to prove the best and most loyal subjects in his Majesty's American dominions; that there is too much reason to believe, that the minds of the Americans are unprincipled, and their hearts disposed for rebellion; that, since the reduction of Canada, they have been bloated with a vain opinion of their own power and importance; that the island of Great Britain is able to govern (that is, to dragoon) ten Americans; that the moment it is known that America is no longer under the protection of Great Britain, all the maritime powers of Europe would join to ravage your sea-ports, plunder and seize your ships, merely for the pleasure of ravaging; * that all the maritime powers of the world [Page 91] would not dispossess Great Britain of the empire of the sea, even when America is separated from her." Now I challenge the world to produce so many wicked sentiments, stupid principles, audaciously false assertions, and monstrous absurdities, crouded together into so small a compass. All his positions, indeed, are so self-evidently absurd and false, that it would be an insult to American understanding, seriously to attempt refuting them. I shall only beg leave to take notice of the curious argument he uses to prove the duty on tea to be no tax: it is, that unless we consent to the tax, we are not to pay the duty; we may refuse purchasing it if we please. The same logic would demonstrate that a duty on beer, candles, or soap, would be no tax: as we are not absolutely obliged to drink beer, we may drink water; we may go to bed before it is dark, and we are not forced to wash our shirts. His assertion that Great Britain, when divorced from her colonies, will still hold the empire of the seas, in spite of all the powers of the world, is still more ingenious. It amounts to this, that without the possible means of procuring timber, iron, planks, masts, pitch, tar, or hemp, to furnish out a single frigate, they may build more ships than all the world put together; that when her nursery for seamen is destroyed, and all the commerce on which the existence of seamen depends is annihilated, they will then be able to man more fleets than the whole universe put together. But I am ashamed of trespassing on the public patience, in making strictures on such ridiculous articles; I shall therefore pass to some questions which have not been so much agitated, and on which, if I mistake not, his Reverence lays the greatest stress; for, as he modestly declares, that he has no opinion of your courage, it was natural for him to consider intimidation and terror, as the most powerful figures of rhetoric. Regular armies from Great Britain, Hessians, Hanoverians, royal standards erected, skilful generals, legions of Canadians, and unnumbered tribes of savages, swords flaming in the front and rear, pestilence, desolation, and famine, are all marshalled in a most dreadful order by this [Page 92] church militant author. But let us somewhat minutely examine the picture, and see whether, stripped of its false colouring, it has any thing really terrifying. His Reverence begins with assuring us, that there is no room to doubt but that such an army as was employed in the reduction of Canada (that is, an army of 7000 men) would be more than sufficient for the conquest of all the disaffected American colonies, which are, in fact, all the colonies, should such a resolution become necessary in order to reduce them to obedience. For my own part, I think there is a very great reason to doubt that 7000, even of the best troops, are able to conquer 200,000 of the most disorderly peasantry upon earth, if they are animated in defence of every thing they hold most dear and sacred; and there is still greater reason to doubt that 7000 very indifferent troops, composed of the refuse of an exhausted nation, few of whom have seen action of any kind, should be able to conquer 200,000 active, vigorous yeomanry, sired with the noble ardour we see prevalent through the continent, all armed, all expert in the use of arms, almost from their cradles. The success of Quebec, it is true, does infinite honour to the English arms; the army was, I believe, only 7000; the enemy were perhaps more than double, but 16,000 men are not 200,000. The fate of Canada depended upon one decisive action, but it is impossible to calculate how many victories must be gained before the Colonies could be subdued; whereas a single victory gained by the Colonies must decide the contest in their favour. In the affair of Quebec, there is another circumstance to be considered; it was a Wolfe who commanded, a man of the most wonderful talents, formed to level all difficulties, to render the most despicable soldiery almost instantaneously an army of heroes. In short, the genius of the man was so extraordinary, the event was so extraordinary, that no inferences can be drawn from it; but this, without presumption, may be asserted, that no general, now existing in the British service, would, with double or treble his number, have succeeded in the same circumstances.
[Page 93]One thing more I must add in honour of that illustrious personage, that the same greatness of soul which qualified him to conquer the natural hereditary enemies of this country, would have made him reject with horror the hangman's office; which others, who are not endowed with conquering attributes, will, with readiness, accept.
It is notorious, that Mr. Wolfe was not only that [...]rst of soldiers, but that he was a most liberal virtuous citizen; that he was passionately attached to the liberties of his country, and of mankind; and that he was particularly an enemy to large standing armies, in time of peace. It is, on the other hand, remarkable, that all the advocates for standing armies, all those who are the fondest of the faddling and parade of war, are the most active in avoiding real service.
This tremendous soothsayer, on the supposition, that so great a miracle should happen in our favour, as that the trifling body of 500,000 men, though firmly united (for every man in America, firmly united, would not amount to less) should be able to withstand his 7000, goes on to rattle in our ears armies of Hessians and Hanoverians. I wish to Heaven he had for once deviated into probability and truth: I wish 10,000 of them could possibly be transported to-morrow. The purpose they would answer, is a purpose devoutly to be wished for, they would be an addition to this continent of just so many useful and excellent citizens; for I will venture to affirm, affirming is infectious, that in less than four months not two of these 10,000 would remain with their colours. But does not this reverend Gentleman know, that in the year 1764, a convention was formed by most of the princes of the empire, at the head of which convention were the emperor himself and the king of Prussia, to prevent the alarming emigrations which threatened depopulation to Germany? Does he not know, that no troops can march out of the empire without the consent of the Emperor? Does he not know, that the Elector of Hanover and the Emperor are upon exceeding ill terms? Does [Page 94] he not know, that the Elector of Hanover and the King of Prussia are still upon worse? Is he sure that the Landgrave of Hesse would sell his troops? For, as not one man would return back to their country, he must consider them as for ever sold. Is he sure that, as the finances of Great Britain stand, the vast sum necessary for this purchase would be conveniently found? Is he sure that the state of Hanover would consent to such a draining of their country? I know not how it is; but his most excellent Majesty George the Third, who in England is justly esteemed the most gracious of sovereigns, the wisest, greatest, and best of kings, is not very popular in the Electorate of Hanover. These people seem to think it hard, that 270,000l. should annually be drawn from them, for the purposes, as they conceive it, of corrupting the members of St. Stephen's Chapel, in order to support the power and authority of a set of men, who, from the beginning, have been enemies to the succession of the Hanover line, and who shewed a particular animosity to their last and favourite prince George the Second. But these difficulties (great and unsurmountable as to a common mortal they appear) our divine exorcist has, in an instant, conjured down; and by a single motion of his enchanted wand, has transported whole armies in spite of their respective princes, and without the consent of their respective states, from the interior parts of Germany, across the Atlantic into the plains of New England and Pennsylvania; but he does not confine himself to the introduction of his Germans. He proceeds next to erect the royal standard, to which he tells us, that all who have the courage to declare themselves now friends to government, will undoubtedly resort; and these, he says, in a good cause, will be of themselves formidable to their opposers. Dreadfully formidable they must be indeed! There would resort to it; let me see, for the respectable town of Rye, have declared themselves a kind of neutrals. rather than friends to government; there would resort to it, Mr. Justice Sewell, the honourable Mr. Paxton, Brigadier Kuggles, and about eight or ten more mandamus [Page 95] council-men, with perhaps twice their number of expectants, and not less than twenty of the unrecanted Hutchinsonian addressers; these the four provinces of New England alone would send forth. New York would furnish six, seven, or probably eight volunteers, from a certain knot, who are in possession or expectation of contracts, and the fourth part of a dozen of high-flying Church of England Romanised priests. I represent to myself the formidable countenance they will make, when arranged under the royal or ministerial standard; but what will add to the terror of the appearance will be their Reverend Pontifex himself, whom I conceive marching in the front, an inquisitorial frown upon his brow, his bands and canonicals floating to the air, bearing a cross in his hands, with the tremendous motto, in hoc signo vinces, flaming upon it in capital letters of blood, leading them on and exciting them to victory. It is impossible that men, who are not under an infatuation by the judgment of Heaven, should flatter themselves, that forty thousand American yeomanry; for we are assured by the same great authority, that more than forty thousand cannot be brought to action, should stand the shock of this dreadful phalanx.
But I should beg pardon for attempting to be ludicrous, upon a subject which demands our utmost indignation. I shall now, therefore, on the presumption that the people of England should be so lost to sense, virtue and spirit, as to suffer their profligate mis-rulers to persevere in their present measures, endeavour to state to you what is their force, and what is yours. I shall endeavour to remove the false terrors which this writer would hold out in order to intimidate you from the defence of your liberties and those of posterity, that he and his similars may wallow in sinecures and benefices, heaped up from the fruits of your labour and industry. Great Britain has, I believe, of infantry at home, comprehending Ireland, and exclusive of the guards, fifteen thousand men. They find the greatest difficulty in keeping the regiments up to any thing near their establishment: What they [Page 96] are able to procure are of the worst sort. They are composed of the most debauched weavers, apprentices, the scum of the Irish Roman Catholics, who desert upon every occasion, and a few Scotch, who are not strong enough to carry packs. This is no exaggeration; those who have been lately at Boston, represent the soldiers there (one or two regiments excepted) as very defective in size, and apparently in strength. But we shall be told they are still regulars, and regulars have an irresistible advantage. There is, perhaps, more imposition in the term regular troops, than in any of the jargon which issues from the mouth of a quack doctor. I do not mean to insinuate, that a disorderly mob are equal to a trained disciplined body of men; but I mean, that all the essentials, necessary to form infantry for real service, may be acquired in a few months. There cannot be a stronger illustration of the truth here advanced, than the Prussian army. They are composed of about one-third of the King's subjects, two-thirds foreigners. The third consisting of his own subjects, are, when the exercising season is over, which lasts six or seven weeks, suffered to return to their families, and attend to the business of husbandry. Half of the other two-thirds, consisting of foreigners, are not only permitted, but encouraged to work at their trades in the garrison towns, and never touch a musquet for the rest of the year. So that, in fact, only one-third are, in the modern language, to be called regular soldiers: these generally make their escape the first opportunity. It may be said, therefore, that the King of Prussia has gained all his victories with a sort of militia. I mean, that it is very possible for men to be cloathed in red, to be expert in all the tricks of the parade, to call themselves regular troops, and yet, by attaching themselves principally or solely to the tinsel and show of war, be totally unfit for real service. This, I am told, is a good deal the ease of the present British infantry. If they can acquit themselves tolerably in the puerile reviews, exhibited for the amusement of royal masters and misses in Hyde Park, or Wimbleton Common, it is sufficient.
In the beginning of the late war, some of the most esteemed regular regiments were sent over to this country; they were well dressed, they were well powdered, they were perfect masters of their manual exercise, they [Page 97] fired together in platoons; but fatal experience taught us that they knew not how to fight. While your militia were frequently crowned with success, these regulars were defeated or baffled for three years successively, in every part of the Continent. At length, indeed, after repeated losses and disgraces, they became excellent troops, but not until they had absolutely forgotten every thing which, we are assured, must render regulars quite irresistible. The corps sent from this country, under General Monkton, was, I believe, for its number, one of the best armies that ever was led to conquest; and yet, if I have been rightly informed, there was not a single regiment of them that could go through the manual exercise, or, at best, they performed it most wretchedly. It is likewise said, that when, after their glorious and rapid conquest of Martinico, they were joined by the spruce regiments from Europe, such was their uncooth appearance, that they were scarce honoured with the title of soldiers by those gentlemen. Upon the whole, it is most certain that men may be smartly dressed, keep their arms bright, be called regulars, be expert in all the anticks of a review, and yet be very unfit for real action. It is equally certain, that a militia, by confining themselves to essentials, by a simplification of the necessary manoeuvres, may become, in a very few months, a most formidable infantry. The yeomanry of America have, besides, infinite advantages over the peasantry of other countries, they are accustomed from their infancy to fire arms; they are expert in the use of them; whereas the lower and middle people of England, are, by the tyranny of certain laws, almost as ignorant in the use of a musquet, as they are of the ancient catapulta. The Americans are likewise, to a man, skilful in the management of the instruments necessary for all military works, such as spades, pick-axes, hatchets, &c. Taking, therefore, all circumstances into consideration, there will be no rashness in affirming, that this continent may have formed in action, in three or four months, one hundred thousand infantry; for as to the assertion of our friendly [Page 98] adviser, that no more than forty thousand could act to advantage, I confess I do not understand it, nor does he, I believe, understand it himself. If he means, that sixty thousand men cannot be ranged in a field, capable of containing only forty thousand, we shall all agree with him; but how, in the operation of a war, upon a vast continent, double this number should be a disadvantage, I can have no conception.
Let one simple general plan be adopted for the formation and subdivision of your battalions; let them be instructed only in so much of the manual exercise as to prevent confusion, and accidents in loading and firing; let them be taught to form, to retreat, to advance, to change their front, to rally by their colours; let them be taught to reduce themselves from a line of fire to a line of impression, that is, from two deep to four, six, or eight. This is all so easy and simple, that it may be acquired in three months. Let some plan of this sort be adopted, I say, and there is no doubt but that, in the time I have ascribed, you may have an army on foot of seventy, eighty, or an hundred thousand men, equal to all the services of war.
Should this be admitted, it will be still objected that you have no able officers to conduct you. I do not know that you have, but is it certain that those sent to dragoon you have better? I have taken some pains to inform myself what methods these gentlemen, said to be bred to arms, take to qualify themselves in a superior degree for the profession. What is their rotine of instruction? Do they read much? I am assured that they do not. From books alone the theory of war can be acquired, and the English service, in times of peace, affords them no practical lessons! for mounting guard once or twice a week, or the preparation for the review of a single regiment, can never be esteemed as such It is much to be lamented, that the gentlemen of the army do not apply more of the many leisure hours they have upon their hands, to reading. The majority of them are of a generous disposition, which did they cultivate, by conversing with the great historians and orators of antiquity, and the more liberal political writers of our own country, a handing army would be something less an object of jealousy to all virtuous citizens. We might perhaps see them, instead of being advocates and partizans of the present ministry, a check upon their wickedness. I am inclined to think that few, or none, of the officers have condescended to inform themselves of the merit of the present contest. Let me conjure them, for once, to read coolly and candidly the whole process; afterwards to lay their hands upon their hearts, and answer, whether the people of America in general, and of Boston in particular, are most sinnest against, or sinning? Now I am upon the subject of the officers of the army, I take the opportunity of mentioning, with the respect due to him, one gentleman of high rank among them. His general conduct while in command was so liberal, and his letters quoted in the House of Commons, were so fair, candid and friendly to the Continent, that he is entitled to the thanks of America. He is indeed of a country that owes not only its prosperity, but its existence, to the same principles, which actuate America..
[Page 99]Another cir [...]umsta [...], A [...]rican [...], may be added for your comfort; it has been allowed by some of the most candid of the regulars themselves, that during the last war upon this continent, your countrymen, the provincial field officers, were in general more understanding and capable than their own of the same rank. But the history of the civil war in the year 1641, furnishes us with the strongest instances, that excellent officers may be soon formed from country gentlemen, citizens, lawyers, and farmers. The parliament's army, or as our priestly writer would call them, the rebellious republicans, were chiefly composed of this class of men. In the beginning of this war, they were treated with the same affected contempt, and almost in the same opprobrious terms as you, the people of America, are by your friendly and decent adviser.
Whoever would infer from the tenor of these papers, that the writer is desirous of precipitating, or could look with indifference upon the calamities of a civil war, does him great injustice. He considers them with all the horror natural to a feeling man and honest citizen. He execrates the memory of those men, to whom they may be justly attributed; but he is persuaded that they never [Page 100] originated! at least in states of any considerable extent, in the turbulent dispositions of the people, nor in the arts of demagogues, but in the oppression of their rulers, in the wantonness, folly, pride, or avarice of kings, ministers, or governors. The Gris [...]ers of Switzerland, the Granvels of Holland, the Lauds and Staffords of England, were the undoubted authors of the tragedies, acted in their respective countries; and if this continent should be stained with the blood of a single citizen, it can never be charged to the unreasonable pretensions of the people, but to the Barnards, Hutchinsons, and some other traitors of a similar stamp.
He is convinced, that being prepared for a civil war is the surest means of preventing it; that to keep the sword of your enemies in their scabbards, you must whet your own. He is convinced, that remonstrances, petitions, prayers, and supplications, will make no impression on our callous court, and abandoned parliament. England, Ireland, America, even Guernsey, Jersey, and Minorca, are witnesses of their inefficacy. He is convinced, that fear alone can operate; there are symptoms that it already begins to operate. The monster, Tyranny, begins to pant; press her now with ardour, and she is down. Already the ministry have expressed in their letter an inclination to make some concessions, to meet you half-way, which I suppose, may be construed thus, "that as they find they have it not in their power to establish, by force, the despotism which they aimed at, they shall be very well satisfied if you will just cede so much of your rights and privileges as will enable them, by extending their pecuniary influence, and sapping your virtue, to take away the rest at their leisure."
There now remains, people of America, one consideration, which, however it may be taken, I think it my duty to offer. History tells us, that the free States of Greece, Thebes, Sparta, Athens, and Syracuse, were all in their turns, subjugated by the force or art of tyrants. They almost all, in their turns, recovered their liberty and destroyed their tyrants. The first act, upon [Page 101] the recovery of their liberty, was to demolish those badges of slavery, citadels, strong-holds, and military tenements; the Switzers did the same; the people of England, lost in corruption and lethargy as they are, could never be prevailed upon to suffer barracks amongst them; even the courtly Blackstone is startled at the idea. No separate camps, no barracks, no inland fortresses, says he, should be allowed; in fact, wherever bricks are, freedom cannot be said to exist, or she exists so lamely, as scarcely to deserve the name.
It is worthy your consideration, Americans, whether these badges should remain or no. I shall now conclude, brave citizens, with invoking the Almighty God, from whom all virtues flow, to continue you in that spirit of unanimity and vigor which must insure you success, and immortalize you through all ages, as the champions and patrons of the human race.
TO THE GENTLEMEN OF THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF VIRGINIA.
THE addresses presented to their lieutenant governor by the Council, and eleven polluted members of the Assembly of New-York, are, to every sensible thinking American, of infinitely a more alarming nature, than the threats of the minister, the brutum sulmen of the king's speech (if that can properly be termed the king's speech) which the minister has publicly avowed to be his own composition, The affected friends to Government often complain, that his Majesty is not treated with the respect due to his character and station; but it appears to me that a minister's declaring, in an open senate, that the speech from the throne is not the king's, but his own, is going beyond disrespect: it is a most outrageous insult; it is representing his Majesty as a mere puppet, that squeaks just as the prompter breathes. or the echoing back this speech by a hireling majority of the peers to their pay-master; for as long as a spirit of union subsists through this continent; and as long as the people at home [Page 102] have reason to think that this spirit does subsist; these threats of the minister, although vibrated from the sounding-board of the throne, and the echoing it back by a hired chorus of peers, must cast more ridicule upon those by whom they are uttered than give terror to those at whom they are levelled. But the supposition or report of any defection amongst ourselves, is a matter of most serious concern; it behoves you, therefore, gentlemen, it behoves every Provincial Congress of the continent, to consider immediately of some effectual means to prevent the mischievous consequences, intended by these abandoned and senseless men. Have we then formed a general association of our provinces? Have we pledged ourselves to each other, to our posterity, to mankind? Have we made so great, temporary at least, sacrifices in the glorious cause of liberty? Have we confounded our enemies by a strain of virtue, scarcely credible in these modern ages, and with a spirit of harmony that has surpassed the most sanguine expectation? Have we acted this noble part? And shall the council, and eleven comtemptible Assembly-men of New-York, attempt to tender all we have done abortive? Contemptible in all respects, in numbers, in understanding, in knowledge, and in principles! For what other tendency can their addresses to their lieutenant-governor possibly have, but to counteract the resolves of the Congress, and render every thing you have done, abortive? These compositions of pusillanimity, abject servility, and disgusting folly, amount simply to this: That the utmost exertion of this united continent, consisting of half a million of fighting men, can have no effect; that all the resistance, civil or military, which they can make, must be in vain; but that redress alone must be sought, and can be expected from the magnanimity of the British nation, and the known goodness and virtue of the King. Gracious Heaven! grant us patience to be told, that we are to expect any thing from the magnanimity of a people who, for twelve years successively, have suffered themselves to be insulted, disgraced, trampled upon, plundered, and butchered with impunity! [Page 103] Or to be told, that we are to look up to the goodness and virtue of a king, who for the same number of years has been in [...]enced to make incessant war upon the property [...]ights, privileges, laws, honour, and integrity of his people in every part of the Empire, is enough to drive moderation itself into violence.
But, continue th [...]e admirable senators, what opens still a surer prospect of [...] [...] is, that his excellency governor Tyron is now near the [...] so it seems, that what the petitions, supplications, [...]strances of the whole colonies, of the city of London, [...] the great commercial towns, of the leading counties of E [...]nd, what the voice of policy, reason, justice, and hum [...]ity, could not effect, Colonel Tryon's being in England will accomplish.
I know not whether this Colonel Tryon is a man of so extraordinary talents, eloquence, and influence, as to work these mighty miracles: I never understood that he was; but I am sure, if he has common sense, and any manly feelings, he cannot help being somewhat disgusted, at this ill-timed impertinent flattery; and that he must conceive the greatest contempt for the parasites who, regardless of the most important concerns of their country and humanity, and at the very crisis which is to determine whether themselves and their posterity are to be freemen or slaves; could step out of their way to offer up incense to an unimportant individual. It may be said, this is all declamation; it may be so, but it is a declamation which an honest zeal in the public cause has forced me into. It is now time, gentlemen, to devise some means of putting a stop to this cancer before it spreads to any dangerous degree. You, gentlemen, of Virginia, and your neighbours of Maryland, have perhaps these means in your hands. I would propose then, that after a spirited manifesto expressing your abhorrence of the council, I cannot persuade myself that the council were unanimous in this infamous address; there are individuals amongst them of known probity, sense, and patriotism. But these gentlemen, so far from objecting to the obligation of purging themselves by oath of having any share of the guilt, will rejoice in the opportunity of acquitting themselves. [Page 104] and prostitute eleven of New-York, you should proceed to punish the individuals of this wicked junto who are in your power. Some of them have great contracts for wheat and corn in these provinces, from Norfolk, Alexandria, Chester, Baltimore, and other parts. They export prodigious quantities, and enrich themselves considerably by this commerce. I would propose that all commerce with these assassins should be laid immediately under an interdict; that not a single ship belonging to a counsellor of New-York, unless he purges himself by oath from having consented to the address, or of one of the prostitute eleven, should be furnished with a freight within the capes Henry or Charles; and I have that opinion of the virtue of these provinces, to think your injunctions would be efficacious. But here I must beg leave to pause for an instant, and ask pardon of the public for my apparent presumption. An individual who offers his thoughts to so respectable a body, as a Congress, delegated by the voice of a whole people, has certainly the air of presumption. It is in some measure attributing to himself superior lights and abilities; but, on the other hand, it is allowed, that an individual has frequently been fortunate enough to chalk out lines in which the most sagacious and respectable bodies have not disdained to walk. If his proposals, or hints, be weak and absurd, they will naturally be laughed at; but if his intentions be honest, the consciousness of having acted from motives of rectitude and the love of his country, will sufficiently compensate for any ridicule which his schemes can incur. I would therefore wish, that what I offer should rather be understood as hints than advice. If these hints are attended to, I shall reap no personal glory; if they are despised, I shall be no personal sufferer, as my name will probably never be known. But to proceed with my proposals, or hints, in which letter light I am most desirous they should be considered, I could wish, to the above-mentioned manifesto, was subjoined the warmest letter of thanks to the virtuous ten of the Assembly of New-York, for their endeavours [Page 105] to stem the profligacy and wickedness of the majority, and for the noble part they have acted as true Americans and excellent citizens; that another address, no less warm, should be presented to the gentlemen and people of New-York at large, expressing your opinion of their honesty and public spirit, and lamenting their peculiar circumstances; which to those who are strangers to these circumstances, may inculcate a belief that they done are exceptions to the character of patriotism, which the Americans are now indisputably entitled to. But above all, I could wish that it were recommended to every province of the continent, more particularly to their immediate neighbours of Pennsylvania, the Jersies, and Connecticut, not to suffer one of this depraved undecemvirate to set his [...]ot on their territories, until he invokes the forgiveness of his country, and solemnly engages, that his future life shall be employed in making compensation for his present conduct, of so obviously a mischievous tendency. The opithets prostitute, profligate, &c. which I have so freely made use of, may probably appear illiberal; but, when we consider the mischievous consequences which the conduct of these Council and Assembly-men of New-York are fraught with, it must be allowed, that no language can furnish opprobrious terms adequate to their delinquency. I am far indeed from apprehending that their weight and influence are sufficient to shake the virtue of the continent, or occasion any defection. I do not believe that an individual, much less a set of men, will be found who will be stupid and wicked enough to tread in their steps; the infamous *** of Philadelphia, and a small perverse drivelling knot of Quakers, who form his Senate and Court, excepted.
This Worthy fixed his residence at New-York, with the professed intention of working, with some congenial spirits in that city, towards the ruin of the whole fabric which the Congress had been raising. Indeed, it is most probable that he was the principal compiler, if not the dictator, of these wretched addresses. The style and sentiments [Page 106] are certainly his: the same mist, fog, and darkness, which overcast all his productions, envelop these addresses; and the same narrow, crooked politics, low cunning, malignancy, and treachery, discoverable through the mist, fog, and obscurity of all his works and actions, betray themselves in these addresses.
It may now be asked, as I have represented the character, weight and credit of these eleven Assembly-men, of the majority of the Council of New-York, and their Philadelphian coadjutor, or, more properly, dictator, in so despicable a light, wherefore should I found the alarm? What mischiefs can possibly result from the utmost such men can do? I answer, that although they can neither occasion any defection, nor present the least prospect of success to the enemies of America and liberty, they can do very considerable mischief; they can procrastinate the issue; they can, and most probably will, prolong the inconveniencies which we must, more of less, feel during the contest. There is nothing more certain than thee the ministry have proceeded to the enormous lengths they have done upon the presumption, that the attacks upon Boston would not have been taken up by the other provinces as the cause of the whole. * There is, therefore, nothing more certain, than that the appearance of our firmness and unanimity, must soon have overthrown them, or forced them into a total change of measures; but the least appearance, that this firmness and unanimity no longer subsists, will encourage them to persist, and will enable them to keep their ground some time longer. These addresses of New-York will give this appearance; so that whatever the gentlemen, that merchants, the tradesmen, the mechanicks, and the people of America at large, suffer from the prolongation of the contest, whatever shall be added to the distresses and burthen of the people at home, whatever shall further impair the commence, strength, credit, and reputation of the mother country, [Page 107] and bring her still nearer to total bankruptcy and ruin; whatever shall farther alienate the affections of the child from the parent, may justly be imputed to this abject Council and eleven prostitute Assembly-men of New-York.
ON A FAMOUS TRIAL IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, BETWEEN GENERAL MOSTYN, GOVERNOR OF MINORCA, AND AN INHABITANT OF THAT ISLAND.
IT is a maxim with the Emperors of China, when the people of any of their provinces offer up complaints of their governors, immediately to recal them, to hear the charges brought against them, and, if they are found guilty, to punish them in proportion to their delinquency; and such is the parental complacency of those eastern monarchs for their subjects, that even when the grievances complained of prove ill-founded, the governor who has had the misfortune, though innocently, to incur the ill-opinion of the people, is never more employed, in the same capacity, over that or any other province, his having been suspected of mal-administration being deemed a total disqualification. Though the justice of this maxim may not be universally admitted, it certainly is a wife one, as it is founded on a respect and deference of the public wishes; to which, when it can be done compatibly with the public safety, that prince ought to pay the greatest regard. But, how different has been the rule of conduct observed through the whole present reign! Does a governor render himself completely odious to the people over whom he is set to preside?—he is that instant adopted a favourite at court. The infamous Bernard, who was not only arraigned, but stands convicted, in the opinion of all mankind, of one continual series of misrepresentation, falsehoods, treachery, and every species of treason to the people of his government, was continued until the last possible moment; and, when recalled, [Page 108] so far from meeting with the censures he had merited, that he was exalted to the rank of a baronet, and had an ample provision made for him in Ireland. And this public reward for delinquency has had the effect which must naturally be expected; for his successor in office, it is reported, pitches many bars beyond him in perfidy and wickedness, for which he probably expects an Irish peerage. And, to say the truth, if our court acts consistently with itself, they are obliged, as his merits are still greater, to confer on him a higher title, and a more ample provision than on the boronet, his predecessor.
If we turn our eyes towards Ireland, the dencency and kindness exhibited by the court for that people is still more striking. The late viceroy, by talents peculiar to himself, almost on his first landing, incurred the contempt and detestation of the whole kingdom, to a man, This was a sufficient, and, apparently, the only motive of his being continued for a long five years in his station; for, what other motive can be conjectured? As it is agreed, on all hands, that even the wretched expedients from day to day, little jobs and larcenies, as well as the more substantial plundering, called, in the cant of courtiers, business of government, were never so miserably bungled through as by this ridiculous mock-majesty. At length, however, a successor is appointed: at length, under the protection of the whole military, he is withdrawn from the just resentment of the people whom he had oppressed, beggared, and insulted; and at length, thus circumstanced, he is presented to his sovereign, by whom he is caressed, smiled upon, and preferred in so distinguished a manner, that a stranger who had been present, would have been apt to imagine him returned loaded with the spoils of some ancient inveterate enemy of his country, and not with the injuries and execration of a whole nation of loyal and affectionate subjects.
Such has been the mode of treating the grievances of our natural brethren of Ireland and the Massachusetts-Bay, and a still more comfortable prospect is opened to our fellow subjects who are not of a British extraction. [Page 109] The Canadians, the inhabitants of the ceded islands, and of Minorca; these people are told, that if their property is invaded, or their persons insulted, they are to seek redress from the King and Council. Are some late occurrences calculated to give them confidence in those from whom they are to seek redress? Let us, without exaggeration or perversion, state the case of General Mostyn and Mr. Fabrigas. General Mostyn is accused by Fabrigas of violently and illegally throwing him into prison, and afterwards banishing him the island, for no other crime than petitioning against a regulation which he conceived to be prejudicial and grievous. The cause is tried: the allegation not only proves just in its full extent, but aggravated with a variety of wanton, cruel circumstances.—Fabrigas, a substantial farmer, is thrown into the dungeon appropriated to fellons convicted of capital crimes; the sentinels receive strict orders not to allow the least refreshment to be conveyed to him; oven the air-hole is guarded, lest some of his children or friends should drop a loaf of bread, or a bunch of grapes.
Having lain in this miserable dungeon for some days, he is at length, hand-cuffed and pinioned, drawn forth, and, by the simple fiat of this smart, lively miniature of God's vicegerent on earth, John Mostyn, Esq. hurried on board a ship * prepared for the purpose, and interdicted from the fire and water of his native island, until it should please the said little, mighty John Mostyn, Esq. to suspend the interdict. And it was thought a wonderful act of clemency, not only by his visier, the most accurate, judicious, liberal, veracious Mr. Wright, ‡ but by another illustrious member of the divan, in thus commuting the bow-string or hatchet into the gentle sentence of banishment; [Page 110] for these worthy ministers gave it as their opinion, openly in an English court, that strangling and beheading was a part of his Highness's prerogative. But I should beg pardon for attempting to be ludicrous upon an occasion so very serious, not indeed because a man of Mr. Mostyn's stamp, a contemner, and, as far as a very little wit will enable him, a ridiculer of all publick spirit and sentiment, a deserter of his noble friend and patron, ‡ on the first appearance that he no longer possessed the power of serving him farther.
That a man of this stamp should be intoxicated with authority, and run into violence and absurdity, when removed from immediate checks, is not to be wondered at, nor that such a governor should be furnished with a dull mercenary secretary, ready to execute the mandates of his principal, be they ever so iniquitous and preposterous; but that there should he found a single officer of rank, of no despicable parts, and some reading, to encourage, advise and justify measures so repugnant to the spirit of our constitution and the rights of mankind, is astonishing, and in the highest degree alarming: for, if such notions become fashionable amongst the military, our laws are but a parapet of paper, which the sword is ready to cut through on the first hint from a dictator. The idea, I say, of such principles becoming fashionable in the army, must give the most serious alarm to every individual who does not wish annihilation to the present liberties of these islands, and enslavement to their posterity. But what follows, is more particularly a matter of melancholy concern to our fellow subjects, the colonists of America, the Canadians, and the people of Minorca. They are, it seems, if aggrieved, to seek redress from the king and council; but if they have reason to think that their redressers will become partisans of those who oppress them, what must be the situation of their minds? Will they not naturally despair, and resign themselves [Page 111] passively to the hand of power, or bravely attempt to redress themselves? To one of these alternatives, a circumstance immediately subsequent to Mr. Mostyn's trial, must tend to reduce them. Reeking with the infamy of being convicted by an honest jury of his country, he dared to present himself at the levee of her first magistrate, where he, who is the head, and in fact creates and uncreates this court from which redress and equity are to flow, he, who should consider himself as the corrector of abuses, and avenger of wrongs, could attempt to be facetious on the occasion. Well, General, says the King, so you have been cast; and who were the council employed by your doughty adversary? The General, a veteran courtier, long accustomed to royal waggery, smartly replied, the learned serjeant Glynn, and the profound duke of Richmond. This was prodigiously witty, that the whole circle, lords of the bed-chamber, maids of honour, and privy council, all burst into a loud laugh. *
This may be a very excellent joke at St. James's; but I can assure Saint James's, that in other places it favours but of shallow wit, and that it only serves as a proof, for which there was no occasion, of the weakness of the heads, and corruption of the hearts, within those walls. And I can further assure them, that did such noblemen, and such lawyers, as the duke of Richmond, and serjeant Glynn, form the circle of the drawing room, it would be more for the honour of his Majesty, and the satisfaction and safety of the nation, than one composed of the Grafton's, Sandwiches, Nortons, and Wedderbu [...]nes.
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TREATMENT OF MAJOR GENERAL CONWAY, LATE IN THE SERVICE OF AMERICA.
ON Monday the 23d of November last, the honourable Major General Conway set out from this city, [Page 112] on his return to France. The history of the treatment this gentleman had received, is so singular that it must make a figure in the anecdotes of mankind. He was born in Ireland, but at the age of six was carried into France; was bred up from his infancy to the profession of arms; and, it is universally allowed, by the gentlemen of the nation, that he has, in their service, the reputation of being what is stiled un tres brave major d' infanterie, which is no small character. It implies, if I comprehend the term right, a man possessed of all the requisite qualities to fill the duties of a general officer in the secondary line, but by no means ranks him among those favoured mortals to whom it has pleased God to give so large a portion of the ethereal spirit, as to render reading, theory and practice unnecessary; but with the spectacle of this phaenomena Heaven entertains the earth but very seldom; Greece, as historians report, had but one; * Rome none; England and France, only one each.— As to this hemisphere, I shall be silent on the subject, left I should be suspected of not being serious. But be this as it may, it is past doubt that General Conway is a man of excellent understanding, quick and penetrating, that he has seen much service, has read a great deal, and digested well what he has read. It is not less certain, that he embarked, with the warmest zeal, for the great American Cause, and it has never been insinuated, unless by those who have the talent of confounding causes, that his zeal has diminished. His recompence has been, What? he has lost his commission; he has been refused the common certificate, which every officer receives at the expiration of his services, unless his delinquencies have been very substantial indeed. And for what crime? [Page 113] For none, by any law, or the most strained construction that can be put on any law; the reasons given are so far from being substantial, that they really ought to reflect honour on his character. It seems he has been accused of writing a letter, to a confidential friend, communicating an opinion that the commander in chief was not equal to the great task he was charged with. Is this a crime? The contrary. If it was really his opinion, it was decent, it was honest, it was laudable, it was his duty. Does it come under any article of war? I may venture to affirm, that it does not. God help the community that should be absurd enough to frame a law which could be construed into such a sense; such a community could not long subsist. It ever has been, and ever ought to be, the custom in all armies, not absolutely barbarians, for the officers of high rank minutely to canvass the measures of their commander in chief; and if his faults or mistakes appear to them many and great, to communicate their sentiments to each other; it can be attended with no one bad consequence; for if the criticisms are unjust and impertinent, they only recoil on the authors; and the great man who is the subject of them, shines with redoubled lustre. But if they are all well founded, they tend to open the eyes of the Prince or state, who, from blind prejudice, or some strange infatuation, may have reposed their affairs in hands ruinously incapable. Does any man of sense, who is the least acquainted with history, imagine that the greatest generals the world ever produced have escaped censure? Hanibal, Caesar, Turene, Marlborough, have all been censured; and the only Method they thought justifiable of stopping the mouths of their censors, was by a fresh exertion of their talents, and a perpetual series or victories. Laissons parler ces hableurs l'espere, que nous leur fermerons la bouche a force des victoires, was the answer of the king of Prussia to those worthy Gentlemen, who thought to recommend themselves by informing him, that some of his measures were made very free with by certain officers in his army. Indeed, it is observable, that in proportion to the capacity [Page 114] or incapacity of the commander in chief, he countenances or discountenances the whole tribe of talebearers, informers, and pickthanks, who ever have been, and ever will be, the bane of those courts and armies where they are encouraged, or even suffered. Allowing General Washington to be possessed of all the virtues and military talents of Epaminondas, and this is certainly allowing a great deal, for whether from our modern education, or perhaps the modern state of human affairs, it is difficult to conceive that any mortal in these ages should arrive at such perfection; but allowing it to be so, he would still remain mortal, and of course subject to the infirmities of human nature: sickness or other casualties might impair his understanding, his memory, or his courage; and, in consequence of the failure, he might adopt measures apparently weak, ridiculous, and pernicious. Now, I demand, supposing this certainly a possible case, whether a law, the letter or spirit of which should absolutely seal up the lips and restrain the pens, of every witness of the defection, would not, in fact, be denouncing vengeance against those who alone have the means in their power of saving the public from the ruin impending, if they should dare to make use of these means for its salvation. If there were such a law, its absurdity would be so monstrously glaring, that we may hardly say, it would be more honoured in the breach than in the observance. In the English and French armies, the freedom with which the conduct and measures of commanders in chief are canvassed is notorious, nor does it appear that this freedom is attended with any bad consequences; it has never been once able to remove a real great officer from his command. Every action of the Duke of Marlborough (every body who has read most know) was not only minutely criticised, but his whole conduct was dissected, in order to discover some crime, blunder, fault, or even trifling error; but all these impertinent pains and wicked industry, were employed in vain; it was a court intrigue alone that subverted him; the low military cabals passed as the idle wind.
[Page 115]General Wolfe, with whom to be compared, it can be no degradation to any mortal living, was not merely criticised, but grossly calumniated by some officers of high rank under him; but that great man never thought of having recourse to the letter or construction of any law, in order to avenge himself; he was contented with informing his calumniators, that he was not ignorant of their practices, and that the only method he should take for their punishment, would be an active perseverance in the performance of his duty, which, with the assistance of God, he made no doubt would place him beyond the reach of their malice. As to what liberties they had taken with him personally, he should wait till he was reduced to the rank of a private gentleman, and then speak to them in that capacity.
Upon the whole, it appears, that it never was understood to be the meaning of the English article of war, which enjoins respect towards the commander in chief; and of course it ought not to be understood, that the meaning of that article of the American code (which is a servile copy from the English) is meant to proscribe the communication of our sentiments to one another, on the capacity or incapacity of the man on whom the safety or ruin of the state depends; its intention was, without doubt, in part, complimentary, and partly to lay some decent restrictions on the licence of conversation and writing, which otherwise might create a diffidence in the minds of the common soldiery, detrimental to the public service. But that it was meant to impose a dead, torpid, idolatrous silence, in all cases whatever, on men, who, from their rank, must be supposed to have eyes and understanding, nothing under the degree of an idiot can persuade himself: but admitting, in opposition to common sense and all precedents, the proceeding to be criminal; admitting Mr. Conway guilty of it, to the extent represented, which he can demonstrate to be false; in the name of God, why inflict the highest, at least negative punishment, on a man untried and unheard. The refusal of a certificate, of having honestly served, is considered [Page 116] as the greatest of negative punishments; indeed in the military idea, it is a positive one.
And I sincerely hope, and do firmly believe (such is my opinion of the justice of Congress) that when they have coolly reflected on the merits and fortunes of this gentleman, they will do him that justice, which nothing but the hasty misconstruction of a law hastily copied from another law, never defined nor understood, has hitherto prevented.
PROPOSALS FOR THE FORMATION OF [...] BODY OF LIGHT TROOPS, READY TO BE DETACHED ON AN EMERGENT OCCASION.
COUNT Polaski is certainly a good soldier, or he is not; for my own part, I believe him a very good one. In the first place he is a Polander, whose genius is adapted to the light or expedite war. In the second place, he has had much practice in the best schools, and is undoubtedly brave and enterprising. If he is not a good soldier, as his corps is expensive, he ought not to be detained; therefore, it is expedient, either to send him about his business entirely, or to make the proper use of him; but on the supposition that he knows his trade, I would propose the following scheme—That his legion should be immediately completed to twelve hundred men, four hundred cavalry, and eight hundred light infantry—for these eight hundred infantry, that a draft should be made, without loss of time, from every regiment of the continent, entirely of natives; not so young as to be unable to resist the fatigues of this sort of service, but of the proper age for violent exercise and forced marches. Major Lee, who seems to have come out of his mother's womb a soldier, should be incorporated in this legion, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and to command specifically the whole cavalry. If Major Lee's corps (for I know not their strength) will not, added to the cavalry Polaski already has, complete them [Page 117] to four hundred, let there be a draft made from the other regiment of cavalry, Moilands, Blands, and Sheldons, all of natives, and the very youngest men; because on Polaski's principle of exercise (which I believe to be the best in the world) none but very young men are capable of being trained to the manoeuvres; but as it is not certain that either Count Polaski or Major Lee understand the detail of cavalry, on which so much depends, let some Quarter-Masters, or Serjeants, who have served in the British cavalry, (and there are many on the continent) be found out, encouraged with rank and emolument, and employed. A corps thus composed, with brave and understanding officers at their head, such as are Polaski and Lee, with a few subordinate officers, knowing, in the detail, will render more effectual service than any ten regiments on the continent. It would likewise put a stop, for the future, to that odious, pernicious practice of picking the best men from every battalion, on what are called extraordinary occasions; which practice has absolutely no other effect than disgusting the greater part of the officers of the army, and rendering the whole dispirited and unfit for action. I could quote a strong instance of the bad consequences of this custom. Some days before the affair of Monmouth, General Scott was detached with a corps of picked men and officers, to the no small disgust of those who were left behind, who could not help considering it as a sort of stigma on their character. After this, the Marquis de la Fayette was detached with another corps of one thousand, picked out in the same manner. This body, now consisting of twenty five hundred men, instead of falling on the enemies' flanks, did, from some fatality, absolutely nothing at all. I was afterwards ordered to march to sustain them, with three scanty brigades, composed entirely of the refuse; and of this refuse I was under the necessity of forming my van-guard on the day of the action of Monmouth; for the picked corps, by the blunders committed, were so fatigued that they could scarcely move their legs.
Philadelphia, July 6th, 1779. SOME QUERIES, POLITICAL AND MILITARY, HUMBLY OFFERED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PUBLIC.
1st. WHETHER George the First did not, on his ac [...]ssion to the throne of Great Britain, by making himself king of a party, instead of the whole nation, sow the seeds not only of the subversion of the liberties of the people, but of the ruin of the whole empire?
2d. Whether, by proscribing the class of men, to which his ministry were pleased to give the appellation of Tories, he did not, in the end, make them not only real tories, but even Jacobites?
3d. Whether the consequence of this distinction, now become real, was not two rebellions; and whether the fruit of those rebellions, although defeated, were not septennial parliaments, a large standing army, an enormous additional weight and pecuniary influence thrown into the scale of the crown, which in a few years have borne down, not only the substance, but almost the form of liberty, all sense of patriotism, the morals of the people and, in the end, overturned the mighty fabric of the British empire?
4th. Whether the present men in power, in this state, do not tread exactly in the steps of this pernicious ministry, by proscribing and disfranchising so large a proportion of citizens as those men whom they find it their interest to brand with the denomination of Tories?
5th Whether liberty, to be durable, should not be construed on as broad a basis as possible; and whether the same causes, in all ages, and in all countries, do not produce the same effects?
6th. Whether it is not natural, and even justifiable, for that class of people (let the pretext be ever so plausible) who have been stripped of their rights as men, by the hard hand of power, to wish for, and endeavour to bring about, by any means whatever, a revolution in that state, which they cannot but consider as an usurpation and tyranny?
[Page 119]7th. Whether a subject of Morocco is not, when we consider human nature, a happier mortal, than a disfranchised citizen of Pennsylvania, as the former has the comfort of seeing all about him in the same predicament with himself; the latter, the misery of being a slave in the spacious bosom of liberty? The former drinks the cup, but t [...]e latter alone can taste the bitterness of it.
8th. Whether an enlightened member of a French parliament is not a thousand times more wretched than a Russian cirf or peasant? As to the former, the chains, from his sensibility, must be extremely galling; and on the latter, they sit as easy as the skin of his back
9th. Whether it is salutary or dangerous, consistent with, or abhorrent from, the principles and spirit of liberty and republicanism, to inculcate and encourage in the people, an idea, that their welfare, safety, and glory, depend on one man? Whether they really do depend on one man?
10th. Whether, among the late warm, or rather loyal addressers, in this city, to his Excellency General Washington, there was a single mortal, one gentleman excepted, who could possibly be acquainted with his merits?
11th. Whether this gentleman excepted, does really think his Excellency a great man; or whether evidences could not be produced of his sentiments being quite the reverse?
12th. Whether the armies under Gates and Arnold, and the detachment under Starke, to the Northward, or that immediately under his Excellency, in Pennsylvania, gave the decisive turn to the fortune of war?
13th. Whether, therefore, when Monsieur Gerard and Don Juan de Miralles, sent over to their respective courts the pictures of his Excellency General Washington at full length, by Mr. Peal, there would have been any impropriety in sending over, at the same time, at least a couple of little heads of Gates and Arnold, by M. de Simitiere.
[Page 120]14th. On what principle was it that Congress, in the year 1776, sent for General Lee quite from Georgia, with injunctions to join the army under General Washington, then in York-Island, without loss of time.
15th. Whether Congress had reason to be satisfied or dissatisfied with this their recall of General Lee, from what subsequently happened on York-Island, and at the White-Plains?
16th. Whether Fort Washington was or was not tenable? Whether there were barracks, case-mates, fuel, or water, within the body of the place? Whether in the out-works, the defences were in any decent order? And whether there were even platforms for the guns?
17th. Whether, if it had been tenable, it could have answered any one single purpose? Did it cover, did it protect a valuable country? Did it prevent the enemy's ships from passing or repassing with impunity?
18th. Whether, when General Howe manifestly gave over all thoughts of attacking General Washington, in the last strong position in the rear of White-Plains, and fell back towards York-Island, orders should not have been immediately dispatched for the evacuation of Fort Washington, and for the removal of all the stores of value from Fort Lee to some secure spot, more removed from the river? Whether this was not proposed and the proposal slighted?
19th. Whether the loss of the garrison of Fort Washington, and its consequent loss of Fort Lee, with the tents, stores, &c. had not such an effect on the spirits of the people, as to make the difference of twenty thousand men to America?
20th. Whether, in the defeat of Brandewine, General Sullivan was really the person who ought to have been censured?
21st. Whether, if Duke Ferdinand * had commanded at German Town, after having gained, by the valour of [Page 121] his troops, and the negligence of his enemy, a partial victory, he would have contrived, by a single stroke of the Bathos, to have corrupted this partial victory into a defeat?
22d. Whether our position at Valley Forge was not such, that if General Howe, or afterwards General Clinton, had been well informed of its circumstances, defects, and vices, they might not at the head of ten, or even of eight thousand men, have reduced the American army to the same fatal necessity as the Americans did General Burgoyne?
23d. Whether the trials of General St. Clair, of which Court-Martial General Lincoln was president, and that on General Lee, were conducted in the same forms, and on the same principles? Whether in the former, all hearsay evidences were not absolutely rejected; and in the latter hearsay evidence did not constitute a very considerable part?
24th. Whether if the Generals Schuyler and St. Clair, had been tried by the same Court-Martial as General Lee was, and instead of Congress, General Washington had been the prosecutor, those gentlemen (unexceptionable as their conduct was) would not have stood a very ugly chance of being condemned? And whether, if instead of General Washington, Congress had been the prosecutor, General Lee would not probably have been acquitted with the highest honour?
25th. Whether it must not appear to every man who has read General Washington's letter to Congress, on the affair at Monmouth, and the proceedings of the Court-Martial, by which General Lee was tried, that if the contents of the former are facts, not only General Lee's defence must be a tissue of the most abominable audacious lies, but that the whole string of evidences, [Page 122] both on the part of the prosecution and prosecuted, must be guilty of rank perjury, as the testimonies of those gentlemen, near forty in number, delivered on oath, scarcely in one article coincide with the detail given in his Excellency's letter?
COPY OF GENERAL LEE'S WILL.
I MAJOR GENERAL CHARLES LEE, of the county of Berkley, in the commonwealth of Virginia, being in perfect health, and of a sound mind, considering the certainty of death, and the uncertainty of the time it may happen, have determined to make this my last will and testament, in manner following: that is to say, I give and bequeath to Alexander White, Esq. one hundred guineas, in consideration of the zeal and integrity he has displayed in the administration of my affairs, also the choice of any two of my colts or fillies under four years of age.
Item, I give and bequeath to Charles Minn Thruston, Esq. fifty guineas, in consideration of his good qualities and the friendship he has manifested for me; and to Buckner Thruston, his son, I leave all my books, as I know he will make a good use of them.
To my good friend John Mercer, Esq. of Marlborough in Virginia, I give and bequeath the choice of two brood mares, of all my swords and pistols, and ten guineas to buy a ring: I would give him more, but as he has a good estate and a better genius, he has sufficient, if he knows how to make a good use of them.
I give and bequeath to my former aid de camp, Otway Bird, Esq. the choice of another brood mare, and ten guineas for the same purpose of a remembrance-ring.
I give and bequeath to my worthy friend Colonel William Grayson, of Dumfries, the second choice of two colts; and to my excellent friend William Steptoe, of Virginia, I would leave a great deal, but as he is now so rich, it would be no less than robbing my other friends [Page 123] who are poor. I therefore entreat, he will only accept of five guineas, which I bequeath to him to purchase a ring of affection.
I bequeath to my old and faithful servant, or rather humble friend, Guisippi Minghini, three hundred guineas, with all my horses, mares, and colts of every kind, those abovementioned excepted; likewise all my wearing apparel and plate, my waggons and tools of agriculture, and his choice of four milch cows.
I bequeath to Elizabeth Dunn, my housekeeper, one hundred guineas and my whole stock of cattle, the four milch cows abovementioned only excepted.
I had almost forgot my dear friends, (and I ought to be ashamed of it) Mrs. Shippen, her son Thomas Shippen, and Thomas Lee, Esq. of Belle-View. I beg they will accept ten guineas each, to buy rings of affection.
My landed estate in Berkley, I desire may be divided into three equal parts, according to quality and quantity; one-third part I devise to my dear friend Jacob Morris, of Philadelphia; one other third part to Evan Edwards, both my former aid de camps, and to their heirs and alligns; the other third part I devise to Eleazer Oswald, at present of Philadelphia, and William Goddard, of Baltimore, to whom I am under obligations, and to their heirs and assigns, to be equally divided between them; but these devisees are not to enter until they have paid off the several legacies abovementioned [...]ith interest from the time of my death, and all taxes which may be due on my estate. In case I should sell my said landed estate, I bequeath the price thereof, after paying the aforesaid legacies, to the said Jacob Morris, Even Edwards, Eleazer Oswald, and William Goddard, in the proportions abovementioned.
All my slaves, which I may be possessed of at the time of my decease, I bequeath for Guisippi Minghini and Elizabeth Dunn, to be equally divided between them.
All my other property of every kind, and in every part of the world, after my decease, funeral charges, and necessary expences of administration are paid, I give, [Page 124] devise, and bequeath to my sister Sidney Lee, her heirs and assigns for ever.
I desire most earnestly, that I may not be buried in any church or church-yard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist meeting-house; for since I have resided in this country, I have kept so much bad company when living, that I do not chuse to continue it when dead.
I recommend my soul to the Creator of all worlds and of all creatures; who must, from his visible attributes, be indifferent to their modes of worship or creeds, whether Christians, Mahometans, or Jews; whether instilled by education, or taken up by reflection; whether more or less absurd; as a weak mortal can no more be answerable for his persuasions, notions, or even scepticism in religion, than for the colour of his skin.
And I do appoint the above-mentioned Alexander White and Charles Minn Thruston, executors of my last will and testament, and do revoke all other wills by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this [...] day of [...] in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two.
At a court held for Berkley county, the 15th day of April, 1783, this last will and testament of Charles Lee, deceased, was presented in court by Alexander White, one of the executors therein named, who made oath thereto according to law, and the same being proved to be executed on the 10th day of September, 1782, by the oaths of James Smith and Samuel Swearingen, two of the witnesses thereto, and ordered to be recorded; and on the motion of the said executor, who entered into bond with Adam Stephen, Esq. his security, in the penalty of twenty thousand pounds, conditioned for his true and faithful administration of the said estate, certificate is granted him for obtaining a probate thereof in due form of law.
A COPY.
LETTERS TO AND FROM MAJOR GENERAL LEE. LETTERS TO GENERAL LEE, FROM SEVERAL EMINENT CHARACTERS BOTH IN EUROPE and AMERICA.
YOUR American posts are excessive hard upon me, and mal reglèe's. You and Montgomery are so good as to write to me often from thence. I have been, upon honour, very exact in my answers, without having been lucky enough that either of you should have heard from me. This time I hope to be more fortunate, having recommended my letter to the best hand. I envy you all the service you have seen whilst I have been in the most sluggish inactivity. I have indeed got a son, but cela ne conte gueres. Our good fortune, and that of our friends, has been indefatigable this year, To-day, we have the news of the surrender of Munster, and the French in Germany retiring, probably into winter quarters. Daun is doing the same, and is likely to leave the amazing King of Prussia once more in possession of Saxony. The Russians, we flatter ourselves, will move no more. The Brest fleet is out; Hawke after them, and a good account of them hoped for, and expected every moment. [Page 127] Next year I hope to have something to do in Germany, where they talk of sending us. I believe you already know my trade—Lieutenant Colonel to George Elliott's Light Dragoons. Being as horse-mad as ever, and having the rank of Colonel before, by being the King's aid de camp, I preferred that to a young regiment of foot. So many children have of late been made Generals, that we Children-colonels are already very high in the list. The riding of this new corps has kept me fully employed this whole summer, and I am now come up to town for winter quarters, which the season makes much more pleasant than the country ones. We are all here in grief for the loss of poor Wolfe. Nobody of that age can be more publicly and privately admired and regretted. The war in America, we are in hopes, will be over very soon; if so, I shall hope then to have the pleasure of seeing you. The French's fighting-days seem to be over, or, at least, suspended. Every day produces a change amongst them, of generals, admirals, and ministry; and every thing speaks them to be in the greatest poverty and disunion. It don't often happen here, or any where else, I believe, but there is certainly at present amongst all here the greatest spirits and unanimity imaginable, and no appearances of want; much debauch, and good living; so pray come amongst us soon. You have the good fortune not only to have seen service enough, but most of it successful. All your friends are well. Adieu, my dear Lee! let me hear from you when you can, and be assured that no one can interest themselves more sincerely about you than,
YOU have obliged me very much by a second letter come lately to my hands, and dated at Niagara. We had before received accounts of the reduction of it, and your being in possession of the glorious country around; which, by your description, must be a paradise indeed; and it is much to be wished, it may never again go out of your hands. Our acquisition this year have been so great and important, that it has been thought proper to appoint to-morrow a public thanksgiving-day: and th [...] Amherst has not got so forward as was expected, yet he sends word he is Master of Lake Champlain; which, as we are possessed of the other side of Quebec, must bound the enemy between the two in such a manner, as, we conclude here, will distress them extremely, if not oblige them to make submission, and surrender. In Europe, you will have heard Boscawen fell in with the Toulon fleet, and took four of them; and we are now in hourly expectation of Hawke's overtaking the Brest fleet, which stole out of the harbour the other day, in order, as it is supposed, to cover a descent, either upon Ireland or this country, which they have long threatened us with; but it must be a very desperate game they are playing, since, if our ships have the luck to come up with them, we have little fear here of their giving them such a blow as will put an end to the naval force of France for some time to come.—But I will talk no more of public affairs; it will probably be of greater satisfaction to you, to hear of the welfare of your friends and relations, which I am happily enabled at present to assure you of; for I know not of any exception amongst them all. My son is gone to Turin, and I hope we may presume upon his health, though we have not lately heard from him; he is to stay here five or six months, and afterwards to ramble about Italy another twelve-month. Your sister Sidney complains you do not write so often as she wishes. I gave her the satisfaction of knowing you had favoured me lately with a letter, and that you were well and happy, [Page 129] as I am willing to suppose by the strain of your stile, which is very lively and entertaining. The books and chocolate you desired, have been sent to Mr. Calcroft near a month ago, who has taken the charge of them; and I hope they will get safe to your hand: But sure you are not to stay on that continent for ever: We wish you to come again amongst your friends, and probably some change might be procured, as well as advance, on this side of the water, if you desire it. Lord Granby commands in Germany at present, and is likely to be at the head of the army on this side of the water too, if Ligonier drops; and it is supposed he cannot last a great while longer. The taking of Munster, which we had advice of the other day, will be of great importance to our allied army, and secure them good winter quarters. A great many matches are talked of here in town, so that if you do not come soon, all our fine young ladies will be disposed of; but I know of none of your more particular acquaintance that have, or are about, changing their state. Pray go on writing to us; nobody better qualified to entertain by their letters: I wish I had as good a knack on my side, for the sake of your amusement. Your aunt and cousins beg to live constantly in your memory and good wishes; they desire I will assure you, you have theirs most heartily; and I hope I need not add, that you will invariably have those of your affectionate and obliged uncle,
I ADMIRE, very much, the subtilty of your reasoning, and the arguments you run after, to prove me in [...]ault for the silence you have long observed, which, I confess, has furnished me often with subject for reflections. The receipt of your letter has given me so much pleasure, that I ought in gratitude to forget every uneasy thought [Page 130] that I have permitted to torment me whilst I was in expectation of it; and therefore shall proceed immediately to thank you for the intelligence it brings me, and the assurances it renews of your affection and friendships.
I should have been heartily glad to have heard, my dear Colonel, that his Majesty's recommendation had been more successful in procuring you an establishment equal to your merit and wishes; but am not at all surprised that you find the door shut against you by the person who has such unbounded credit; as you have ever in freely indulged a liberty of declaiming, which many infamous and invidious people have not failed to inform him of. The principle on which you thus openly speak your mind, is honest and patriotic, but not politic; and is it will not succeed in changing men or times, common prudence should teach us to hold our tongues, rather than to risque our own fortunes without any prospect of advantage to ourselves or neighbours. Excuse this scr [...]p of advice, my dear Colonel, and place it to the vent of a heart entirely devoted to your interest.
I remember my promise, to inform you of the transactions of this place; and had I received a line from you upon the road, should have endeavoured to find time during the diet to have given you a sketch of the critical and unexpected affairs that agitated us; it will be needless now, as the public papers and your other correspondents here have, doubtless, not failed to instruct you. The important affair of the dissidents was rudely and insolently refused; and you cannot be ignorant that those gentlemen have formed two confederations in Poland and in Lithuania, supportd by a Russian army of thirty or forty thousand men, and that we expect a diet extraordinary in the months of August or September, for terminating their demands, to the satisfaction of the powers who interest themselves in their behalf: and though it is impossible to say how it will end, yet the appearances at present are much in their favour, and we have all reason to think, that it will be conducted without any interruption of the tranquillity of the republic.
[Page 131]You must not imagine, that however important this negociation is, that our great men cannot find time for other amusements and engagements. The object that engrosses our attention at this moment, [...] love, and the family of Clavereau (you remember the French actor and his two daughters:) Prince Gaspar Lubomirski mar [...]ies the youngest daughter to-day, and the eldest ran away, and married a musician, two days ago, having received from R— a considerable sum; as a recompence for so infamous a part, and as serving only for a cloak to his views of getting her out of her father's house. The father has acted, on this occasion, like a prince, and the ambassador like a comedian; the latter laughs, and is content with his dexterity, and his flatterers tell him, he is an habile negotiateur: but every prudent and impartial man must condemn a person of his rank and character —father of many children, and past the heat of youth— for having committed such an extravagance.
The chart du pais remains pretty much the same as when you left us: the same friendships and the same quarrels. You have been the instrument of making Lind's fortune; M— has given him the absolute direction and education of Mons. Chambellan's son, with a pension for life; and he is to travel with him in a couple of years; and I cannot but congratulate both parties; for Lind has great merit as a scholar, and a man of principles and worth.
I am much obliged to you, my dear Calonel, for your offers of service, and am convinced, that you would seize any opportunity of being useful to me; I don't know in what manner you can do me a greater, than in the conservation of your sentiments for me. Take care of your health, and husband well your fortune, which is sufficient to make you happy; and in your happiness, I shall always find a sincere satisfaction. Adieu, my dear Colonel! I am and shall be, to the end of my life,
OF all men on earth, you are the last from whom I expected to hear, unless it was in a paragraph of a foreign Gazette, that such a day Mons. General Lee, [...] Anglois, was cut to pieces, defending his Polish Majesty, or in some desperate uncommon attack; or, which was fully as likely, that you was hanged for treason, in some of the damned arbitrary governments you have been wandering through. But, how surprised! when, in the place of this, I received a flattering letter from you, dated Dijon. Surely, Lee, the climate of France has produced this wonderful effect. I am sure in Old England you would never flatter any man, much less one whom you honoured with your friendship. Do you not know how apt we all are to forget ourselves when in power, or upon any sudden elevation; and how very ready we are to believe all the handsome things that even the most abject sycophants are pleased to bespatter us with? Then, my friend, how much more dangerous must it be from a man, of whose understanding I have always had the highest opinion? And who is so remarkable for his candor and freedom of speech, that they are, to the disgrace of our day, well known to be his greatest enemies. In spite of what I say, I will acknowledge I am proud of your good opinion, though delivered in too flattering a stile; but I hope it will have no other effect than to make me endeavour to deserve it.
Taking it for granted, that you will like to know how I bear my promotion, I will give you as impartial an account of it, in as few words as it is possible for a man to give of himself. I feel myself independent, and a slave to slaves, obliged to court and flatter men whom I despise, both for their want of abilities and want of honesty. I hate power, and those in it, more and more every day. I am plainer in my table and apparel than you ever knew me, without an attempt or wish to be rich. I have children and I feel they may one day be under another governor, on the spot where their father once presided. [Page 133] This helps to make me careful, and as tender as possible of those entrusted to my care. My actions are as public as they can possibly be made; and I hope my children and friends will never have reason to blush, or be ashamed to hear of them. I find the care of a people a more difficult thing than I imagined it to be, and I found myself very defective as a legislator: the former, perhaps, time may render more easy, and I am endeavouring to remedy the latter, by as close an application, to study the spirit of the laws of my country, as is in my power; in the mean time, I am cautious of doing much, lest I may do more evil than good. This, if I know any thing of myself, is truth. How you will like the daubed portrait, I know not, nor whether or not, I may not forfeit a part of your good opinion, by the badness of the attempt.
Having said so much of myself, I now come to your business; and in the first place, I promise you, if it be in my power to do any for you, I will, and with more pleasure than you can ask me. In the mean time, I can answer you some of your queries to a greater certainty, by being here, than if I had received your letter in Suffolk Street, where you directed it to me. You desired to know if it is worth your while to lay out any money on your lands in this island; I answer, yes. You have half of the very best lot on this island, or at least as good as any, and were I in your circumstances, I would be proprietor of the whole of it; in that manner I would lay out the first money. There are a good many French who live upon it already; but for want of title to the land, they do not improve it as they might: these would commence a small rent immediately, for which reason you ought to appoint an agent; and if you do not like to purchase the other half, you ought to come to some agreement with Sir Francis M Leane, either to have a division made of it, or to bear a share of the expences; [...] it I would by all means recommend the former, that is to b [...]y, to purchase the whole, or to have it divided.
[Page 134]The kind of man, I would recommend to you as an agent, would be an English farmer, an active fellow, with a genius a little above the common run of them; one that would not be so much guided by old customs, as to attempt p [...]oughing here in February, because he was used to do so at home: in short, a man who can think a little and accommodate both himself and his labour to the climate. As you have a plentiful fortune, no matter whether or not he has, perhaps better not. To such a man you might give, at an easy rent, as much land as he thought would make him a compleat farm. He ought to bring some servants with him, who ought to be bound for three or four years, he paying them yearly wages, something more than they get in England. He ought to bring likewise all the iron parts of every kind of farming utensils, and all the necessary iron work for building himself a house; and, beside that, either money, or a credit to purchase cattle and a year's provisions.
If you had such a man well settled; and it should be done in such a manner, that he might feel as few inconveniencies as possible; he would soon bring you more; for you may depend upon it, the soil and climate both would please him. He ought to have a power of attorney to let your lands, and indeed as extensive a one as you, from your knowledge of the man, would think prudent to entrust him with.
But after all, dear Lee, what is there to hinder you from taking a view of the place yourself, nay, of being your own agent. Do not you think the cultivating your lands, and improving your constitution and fortune, i [...] [...] much more rational, and, perhaps, I might say, sensible employment, than scampering over all the continent of Europe, in search of damned Hungarian fevers. Come, Lee; and leave Hume to cram his history down the throats of his countrymen, for few others read it. You wi [...] find your gall bladder decrease in size very much, wi [...]out writing strictures upon any thing; or even abusin [...] a king or a Barrington, as soon as you set foot upon this our free and hospitable coast: and to encourage [Page 135] you, as I know you like good living, I will engage to give you as good beef, mutton, poultry, and salt fish, as you ever met with, and, as my countrymen say, a hundred thousand welcomes. And now, taking it for granted, that you will be as tired with reading as I am with writing, by the time you get thus far, I will finish, by assuring you, that I am your affectionate friend, and servant,
I RECEIVED two letters from you; one by Mr. Hey, the other by the pacquet: I thank you most sincerely for both. Your first was particularly acceptable, as it gave me an opportunity of renewing and of improving my acquaintance with a gentleman, for whose character I have always had an high esteem. My particular friends were the first who took notice of his merit. They imagined, that they could not do a better service to government, in a newly acquired F [...]h country, th [...]n to send them one of the best samples we were able to furnish of plain manly English sense and integrity. I wish those who rule at present may shew, by the provision they make for him here, that such qualities are still in some request among ourselves.
It was extremely kind of you to remember your friends in our dull worn out hemisphere, among the infinite objects of curiosity, that are so exuberantly spread out before you, in the vast field of America. There is, indeed, abundant matter, both natural and political, to give full scope to a mind active and interprising like yours; where so much has been done and undone; and where still there is an ample range for wisdom and mistake. Either must produce considerable effects in an affair of such extent and importance. It will be no light mischief, and no trivial benefit. When one considers, what might be [Page 136] done there, it is truly miserable to think of its present distracted condition: But as the errors which have brought things into that state of confusion are not likely to be corrected by any influence of ours, upon either side of the water, it is not wise to speculate too much on the subject; it can have no effect, but to make ourselves uneasy, without any possible advantage to the public.
Here, as we have met so we continue, in the most perfect repose. It has been announced to us, that we are to have no business but the gold coin; this has not appeared as yet: And if there be nothing further than we hear of intended, it will come on time enough. The politics of the continent, which used to engage your attention so much, attract no part of ours. Whether the American affairs will be brought before us is yet uncertain.
Saturday, I heard the Massachusetts petition against their governor and deputy, discussed before council. It was spoken to, very ably, by the council on either side; by Messrs. Dunning and Lee, for the province; by Mr. Wedderburn for the governors. The latter uttered a furious Philippic against poor Doctor Franklin. It required all his Philosophy, natural and acquired, to support him against it. I heard that the petition will be rejected. The council was the fullest of any in our memory; thirty-five attended.
I hope, as you say nothing of it in your last letter, that you fit of the gout was but gentle, and rather a sharp remedy than any thing that deserves to be called a disease. With many thanks for your obliging remembrance, and all good wishes for an agr [...]eable journey and safe return, I am,
I SHOULD have done myself the pleasure to have wrote to you before; but really did not know where a letter would find you; sometimes we heard you were gone to the West-Indies; at another, that you were gone on to Carolina; by Mr. Bird, I am informed you are still in Virginia.
I expected before now to have heard from governor Chester, relative to your land in West Florida, but suppose I shall shortly. I set out in a few days to join our worthy friend General Gage at Boston; he is come out with very extraordinary powers, and has wrote for me: It is a very fortunate circumstance, that the power both civil and military hath fallen into the hands of so moderate a man as General Gage; I hope he will gain great credit on this critical occasion; his abilities are good, and with respect to his heart, you who know him so well, will allow him to be possessed of one of the best kind.
Your things are all left with Mrs. Aire, who will take care of them. I inclose you a letter from Dunbar, and one I picked up in the coffee-house for you. Dagworthy has got a company in the 48th regiment, through Colonel Vaughan's interest.
I RECEIVED your welcome letter by Mr. Wormly, and live in daily expectation of seeing you at my hut. I now wish more than ever for that satisfaction, as the [...] of the times make me earnest to consult, and converse with you thereupon. Until actions convince me of the contrary, I am resolved to think Mr. Gage has some secret medicine in his pocket, to heal the wounds [Page 138] that threaten the life of American liberty. Surely a man so humane, so sensible, so honourable, so independent in his circumstances, and so great from family expectations, would never undertake a business, fit only for an abandoned desperado, or a monster in human shape, a General Murray, a Macro, or a Ravilliac.
I cannot think what detains you so far to the Southward, at this season of the year; without any disparagement to Williamsburg, health, and such as you like for associates, are more certainly to be met with to the Northward; I know not, how you find it, but the older I grow, I become less and less inclined to new acquaintance: Selfishness and sycophantry possess so generally the minds of men, that I think the many are best avoided, and the few only who are liberal and sincere, to be sought for and caressed. I therefore stick steadily to the cultivation of my farm, am intimate with few, read when I have time, and content myself with such domestic comforts as my circumstances and fortune afford me. I wish therefore, most anxiously, you would come to my retreat, and there let us philosophize on the vices and virtues of this busy world, the follies and the vanities of the great vulgar and the small.
Mrs. Gates is earnest in desiring to see you under her roof, where a good bed is provided for you, two or three slaves to supply all your wants and whimsies; and space enough about us for you to exercise away all your spleen and gloomy moods, whensoever they distress you. In any neighbourhood there is this moment as fine a farm mill, and tract of land to be fold as any in America, and provided it is convenient to you to pay down half the price, I am convinced you may have it a very great bargain. It is altogether two thousand four hundred acres, at thirty shillings sterling an acre; I am satisfied you might have it so. By paying down about one thousand eight hundred pounds sterling, you may be put in possession [Page 139] of an estate, that ten years hence will be worth seven thousand pounds sterling; and I take it for granted, that you may have the payment of the rest of the purchase money, at easy installments, and that too without interest; so by laying out a thousand pounds sterling more, in stocking and improvements, your produce will yield you a fine living, and wherewithall to pay your annual installment, bargained for in the purchase. I suppose you have procured from Lord Dunmore his warrant for your five thousand acres upon the Ohio, that will be very soon of considerable value. As to the Indians, the behaviour of certain of the white people is beyond all comparison abominable towards those unhappy natives; not content with quiet possession of all the land on this side the Ohio, they demand as a preliminary to a peace, all the land between that river and the Missisippi—but this story is too long for a letter, you shall know the whole of this iniquitous affair when we meet—the gentleman who does me the favour to present you this letter, has the pleasure of your acquaintance, and can very fully inform you of the exceeding wickedness and absurdity of the measures pursued, and pursuing, against the Indians. I have read with wonder and astonishment Gage's proclamations; surely this is not the same man, you and I knew so well in days of yore; but that men should change, neither you nor I will be surprised at; it is rather matter of amazement when they do not.
August the seventeenth: I am this instant returned from Baltimore, and hoped to have crossed upon you, in your route to the Northward, but, like Swis [...]'s Mordando, you were vanished. I was sorry for it, as I might have prevailed upon you to have tempered your zeal with caution, before all such persons as may reasonably be suspected to watch your words and actions, where your zeal in the noble cause you mention can be exerted to effect, too much cannot be shewn; but be careful how you act, for be assured Gage knows you too well, and knows you know him too well not to be glad of any [Page 140] plausible pretence to prevent your good services in the public cause. Farewel, my friend; remember I am, what I have always professed myself to be, and that I am ready to risque my life to preserve the liberty of the Western world.
I RECEIVED your long letter with great pleasure, and will answer it as fully as I am able. You must have misunderstood me, in what I said of the bill to alter the Massachusetts government, if you imagined I had either concurred in, or even forborn to express my fullest disapprobation of it, when it was depending in the house. The fact is so much otherwise, that I fought it through every stage, almost alone, when most of the opposition were attending the New-Market meeting, or other occupations, equally entitled to be preferred to that duty. I may have said indeed, that I prefer the form of the English government to that of any other country upon earth, because it appears to me most calculated to reconcile necessary restraint and natural liberty, and to draw the line between them. It is the government I was born under, I am happy to live under, and would willingly die to preserve and transmit entire; but I look upon the first principle of that constitution to be, that the whole must be governed by the will of the whole, and that any government where the authority residing with the few is supported by any other power than that of the many, in consequence of their free concurrence and full approbation, is the worst of tyranny. Judge [Page 141] then, my dear friend, whether I could approve of tearing from a free and happy people that form of government which had been purchased with the blood, and established by the wisdom of their ancestors; and of subverting that excellent polity, endeared to them by their prosperity, and sanctified by the most laudable of human predilections, a veneration for their ancestors, and an enthusiasm for the permanence of their liberties. Nolumus Leges Angliae mutari, was the noblest expression that ever bore testimony to the spirit of a free legislature. I think it as laudable at Boston now, as in London some centuries ago. So far I stand upon the ground of natural right and manly feeling—thus much, I say, because— Homo s [...]—but to descend to the humbler ground of policy, nothing can be so absurd, or impolite, as to shake a frame sanctified by long possession, for the caprice of a moment, or the fancies of a few; to sacrifice the wisdom of ages to the presumption of an hour; and to divert the stream of government, which has fertilised the country and enriched the people, by ch [...]n [...]ls which it has gradually formed for itself, by surmounting or eluding all the obstacles it has met with in its course; from those channels by dame raised by strange hands unacquainted with the country, which if they are not borne down by the torrent must deluge the country and destroy the ancient land-marks. If therefore I prefer in speculation the government of Virginia to that of Massachusetts-Bay, it is not from thinking that what appears best in the abstract, should be imposed on all: on the contrary, I am convinced that the minds of individuals and the manners of a people form and adapt themselves naturally and imperceptibly as the mode of government, under which they are born. The modifications of municipal institutions are in themselves indifferent, provided they are approved by the people; but it is of the essence of freedom, and common to all free governments, that the people should be convinced the laws they live under are of their own chusing; and that there is no power on earth that can prolong their existence, [Page 142] or give force to their injunctions one hour, after the disapprobation of the mass of the people is signified.
I have been the more full upon this subject, because I would not willingly he mistaken in my principles upon so material a point. Now I am upon the subject of Massachusetts, I cannot help expressing my surprize that you should have been so far misinformed, as to have believed that I, amongst the rest, could speak with "approbation of that scoundrel Hutchinson," so far from it, that I agree with you in the epithet, and was the only person in the house that declared my detestation of his character, and my conviction that his whole conduct had been that of a parricide, who had attempted to ruin his country, to serve his own little narrow selfish purposes. This I did in such printed terms that I was informed he [...] afterwards waited upon a friend of mine, who did not see his character in so just a light, to thank him for what he was pleased to call, defending him against me. [...]e assured, I shall never speak well of a man who recommends an abridgement of English liberties, in any part of the globe, where one spark remains unsmothered by corruption, and unextinguished by violence. As to the Quebec Bill, I can, with pleasure, assure you, that I opposed it, with activity throughout; and though I could not overset it, I was at least fortunate enough to set a defeated bound to despotism; and say, so far shall thou go, and no farther, by drawing the line which protected New-York and Pennsylvania; though I have since been told, that Burke takes the merit to himself, but upon what grounds I know not, as I proposed the line without any communication with him,
As to myself, I am out of Parliament, without any prospect of being in; and though I should have thought it infamous to have deserted my post and not endeavoured to get in, yet I hardly can say, that I much regret any being out there is so little prospect of doing good.
YOUR civilities to me when at Prospect-hill, were such as I expected from the soldier and the gentleman, and demand my warmest thanks. I hope I shall ever bear a grateful remembrance of them.
I see by the papers, that you are removed to Newport, in Rhode-Island, and therefore suspect that the ministerialists, unable to hear the pressure of want, and the inde [...]encies of the season, intend to remove from Boston, and make Rhode-Island their head quar [...]ers, at least for same time; but of this you can best judge, whose experience, in some degree, enables you to penetrate the designs of those in power.
The King's speech to both Houses of Parliament, at the opening of the session, clearly evinces the necessity of speedy and affectual exertions on the part of this continent, for the purpose of opposing, with force of arms, the infamous plan adopted by a venal ministry, for subverting our most inestimable privileges. We should immediately unite, and call forth every spark of virtue in so great and important a contest, as all hopes of an accommodation are now lost. America is happy in having for generals, gentlemen experienced in military operatitions.
With ardent wishes that America may rise superior to all oppressions, and become independent, I take the liberty of subscribing myself,
FORTUNE seems to be in a good humour with you. It is not enough that you have triumphed over external and internal enemies at New-York, but you are about to enjoy new triumphs in another part of the continent. [Page 144] I tremble only at the price of victory on the plains of Abraham.
I presage the surviving your conquests from one part of your character, and that is, you have a wonderful talent of infusing your spirit into the minds of your troops. Should your blood mingle with the blood of Wolfe. Montcalm, and Montgomery, posterity will execrate the plains of Abraham to the end of time.
Your appointment to the Canada expedition gave all your friends here great pleasure. I think it is more than probable, the principal force of our enemies will be sent to that quarter. Canada is dearer to the king than all the other colonies put together, as it is the only part of the British empire in which arbitrary power is established by law. Should that province become the seat of war, we shall have no reason to complain; for our sea-coasts and sea-port towns are in a poor situation to receive our enemies.
The Gulph and River St. Laurence, it is to be hoped, will concur with the elements in embarrassing them. Mr. Pitt conquered America in Germany; who knows but General Lee may conquer Britain in America?
I need not tell you, how much pleasure it will give me to receive a few lines from you by all the expresses you send to the Congress. I shall write to you most faithfully by the return of each of them. Colonel Thompson speaks in raptures of you in all companies.
The bearer of this letter is Mr. Paine, the celebrated author of Common Sense.
YOUR favour of the tenth ultimo, did not reach me till the twenty-second instant. I that day wrote you an answer by one Mr. Campbell who was on his way, and who promised to give my letter a conveyance, if he did [Page 145] not see you. I informed you, that I saw no objections to your paying off the incumbrances on your land, and the future payments whenever it is convenient for you to do so.
I should be happy to see the important subject of the independence of North America, discussed in the perspicuous and able manner you are capable of. I have troubled you with some of my crude thoughts, to afford you an opportunity when leisure will permit, and inclination lead you, to explain my mistakes and correct my errors. From the commencement of the present unhappy dispute, I considered the shedding of blood, if that event should take place, as the aera, at which would terminate the Bri [...]ish empire in America; or the colonies be subjugated to the absolute dominion of parliament; and when hostilities commenced, my mind was only agitated with the means of defending ourselves, and forming a constitution which would secure substantial liberty to the people; when I found the Congress entertained different views, that they had again petitioned the king for reconciliation, and declared to their fellow subjects throughout the empire, that their only end in taking up arms was to procure a redress of grievances and secure their properties and constitutional rights, solemnly disclaiming every idea of establishing an independent empire, it gave a different turn to my thoughts. I reflected that our ancestors have fought many battles, and shed torrents of blood in support of their constitutional rights, and whatever may have been the fate of arbitrary princes, the constitution was ever held sacred, the instance of Charles's reign only excepted. The Whigs were then obliged to join with the Tories, in restoring royalty in its lustre to get rid of a phantom which the Independents had raised under the name of liberty. The hope of a re-union with our brethren of Great Britain, and of the increasing grandeur and prosperity of the whole empire, to me, I confess, had something agreeable in it. I therefore with eagerness investigated the proposed plan of operations, to enable me to judge of the probable event, [Page 146] and I found, or thought I found, the security of our liberties, in connection with Great Britain almost certainly attainable; at any rate more practicable than the establishing an independent state; for the following among other reasons; that the people of America were determinately united in support of that measure; that every insult and injury from administration only tended to animate and cement; that the greatest trading cities and most respectable characters in England are our friends; that even our enemies in parliament dare not stand the attack on the proper ground; but, in order to carry their point, have always insisted we were aiming at independency. That the belief of this is the sole reason we have any enemies among the people of England, and though I am of opinion, the governing powers of Britain would rather lose the colonies totally, than yield one iota of their pretensions, the people will think very differently when convinced our views extend no further than to the security of those rights, which they themselves hold essential to liberty. That it would be impossible for government to carry on a war against the inclinations, and so destructive to the interests of the people, as the present must obviously appear, when it is remembered, the cause of our contest is the assumed power of parliament, to tax the colonies, to alter our forms of government, to transport us to Britain for the trial of supposed offences, and to make laws, regulating our internal police. That the sword would even drop from the hand of a British soldier, if he believed it pointed against the breast of a man contending for his birth-right. That an attempt to establish an independency would unite England as one man against us; and though she is burdened with an enormous debt, and deprived of a most valuable branch of commerce, she has still great resources; and it is not easy to foresee the consequences of the utmost exertions of her power. Besides, it appears to be the interest of Europe, that America should remain dependent. The power and importance of England, which by a defection of the colonies, she would lose, is necessary in the European [Page 147] system. Holland and Portugal, I think, owe their political existence to her; and even those states which might wish to see her depressed, were their interests confined to Europe, would dread greater evils from the establishment of an independent empire in North America, the certain consequences of which would be, I apprehend, the loss of Mexico, South America, and the West India Islands, to whomsoever belonging. But it is a necessary enquiry, on what terms can our difference be adjusted which will secure us from future contests? I answer, it is impossible. The nature of human affairs is such, that no political system can be established which the folly of weak, or ambition of wicked men will not in time subvert. Let Great Britain relinquish her claim of internal legislation and taxation; let stated times be limited for the holding and duration of assemblies, and counsellors, dependent on the Crown, he deprived of legislative powers, or hold their places during life; and let supreme judges be appointed in each colony, to hold their places during good behaviour, with certain and adequate salaries. All this would be no real injury to England, the only advantage she ever did, or ever can receive from America is her commerce, an equitable share of which ought to be secured to her by a grand commercial system, to be agreed on by the legislators of the two countries, and to remain unalterable, except by mutual consent. Such a plan of accommodation, I think, offers as fair for the permanent security of peace, wealth, and liberty, as any I have heard, or can devise for the government of America in an independent state. I take it for granted, as I have never heard it disputed, that a popular or democratic government must take place, which in its most perfect state, I think much inferior to the mixed government of Britain; for I hold it as maxim, that wherever the supreme power is vested in one man, or one body of men, the liberty of the subject is at best precarious. It appears from history, that popular fury is as formidable, and often exercised with as much injustice as royal indignation. Frequent elections are no security [Page 148] in this case, the spirit of the people always influences the representative body, and if a man becomes unpopular, however innocent, his ruin is inevitable. To you I need not give instances; neither is it possible in such a constitution, to render the judicial powers totally independent. The same body of men who have the appointment of the judges, having also the power of removing them, will carry popular prejudice even to the seats of justice. In this respect, England has the advantage of all other nations. In cool dispassionate hours, the three branches of the legislature concur in enacting laws for the general good of the community. The meanest subject cannot be punished unless he transgresses those laws, neither can the judges be displaced for faithfully executing them, without the like concurrence. This protects individuals equally from popular violence, and the arbitrary measures of kings and courtiers. But is America capable of receiving a democratic government? Have we that industry, frugality, oeconomy, that virtue which is necessary to constitute it? Laws and constitutions must be adapted to the manners of the people; they do not, they cannot form them. Whenever the manners change, the laws change with them, or lose their force. Is not North America too extensive for a popular government? But I find the spirit of the times is against a union; we must then become a confederacy of republics, each having supreme powers within itself. Does not this afford a prospect of perpetual wars and internal feuds, till some one colony, or perhaps one man, becomes master of the whole continent? Recur to the historic page, and point out the age and country where this, under similar circumstances, has not been the case? The united provinces being surrounded by more powererful states, materially distinguishes their situation from that of these colonies. A congress or general council for regulating the affairs of the whole confederacy will hardly be sufficient to maintain peace. There was a general council of the English Heptarchy, yet that island was an uninterrupted scene of blood and slaughter, till united under one head. There is a general diet of the German [Page 149] empire, yet every one knows that the princes of the empire submit to its decrees, just as far as suits their own purposes. Greece had her Amphictyons, yet was not without intestine wars.
The country being called to arms for the express purpose of defending and securing her constitutional liberty, is there not an inconsistency in employing those arms to quite different p [...]rposes, at leas [...] till it is known whether the original and be a [...]ainable? and surely the most sanguine could not expect that point so soon determined? Or that we could force England to a compliance with our terms in the course of one campaign.
An apology might well be expected for this trouble; if I had a good one to offer, you should have it. Some slight touches on the subject, with several expressions of regard interspersed through your letters of business, emboldened me to take this liberty, and further, to request an answer.
I am one of those who have ever wished and gloried in the honour and prosperity of the British empire; but if a separation takes place, interest, inclination, every consideration will induce me to take part with my native land, and my best endeavours shall not be wanting to render the Americans a free, happy and independent people. Any lights which you may throw on the subject, shall be faithfully improved to that purpose, as far as my narrow sphere (and it is a very narrow one) permits. The arguments of pamphleteers, and newspaper scribblers, on both sides of the question, have been so absurb, fallacious, or at least superficial, that very little instruction or pleasure, could be derived from reading them. Heartily wishing you success in every patriotic exertion of your abilities, I remain with esteem, Sir,
IMMEDIATELY after I had waited upon you at Philadelphia, I proceeded to New-York, and finding much difficulty in pursuing my intended journey, I delivered your dispatches to Mr. Lewis, by direction of Mr. Van B. Livingston, and wrote to you at my return, acquainting you therewith. I have not wrote to you so frequently as I would do, imagining that your time might be employed better, in matters of greater moment to the public; and where public utility is in question, apologies become unnecessary; be pleased therefore to accept the following hints from one who has seen service. I am amazed at a ship or two laying at New-York for some time past; I never saw two vessels that lay in more danger were they attacked, and they also know it. The Asia lay long in the North-River, and refused to go into the Sound, until Parker, a senior captain, was sent with a ship to reinforce him, with positive orders from the admiral to join; it may also be seen by their writing to the mayor, and by Parker's threatening and bullying the town. There are three ways of taking or destroying these ships, could it be kept secret: First, by boarding; for as the Asia must ground at low water, the springs upon cables would be of no use; and, I apprehend, that her lower guns could not range over the wharf when aground, therefore a few guns with grape-shot, run down upon the wharfs, upon her bow and quarters, would effectually sweep and clear her decks, while the people boarded. Secondly, if there were mortars of even guns to throw combustible matter on the decks, into the rigging, to stick on her sides, with grape as before, to prevent extinguishment, the guns with the grape would be out of the power of her guns while aground. The third and best method, as I imagine, I would undertake myself, with a reasonable person to command the detachment, as second in command, or engineer, or conductor of the works, or, as I told you, in any character, so that I might be serviceable to the cause.
[Page 151]The method I will here lay down to the best of my ability; there is Long-Island and Nutten-Island, well situated to place guns; and, I imagine, three or four hundred men would be sufficient to compleat in one night all the necessary works: The greatest difficulty would be, to get cannon to Nutten-Island, but they might come from the Narrows by night in flats. [...] would be impossible to point out either the facilities or difficulties of the undertaking in the course of a letter; the greatest difficulty will be, to keep it secret from the people of Staten-Island, Long-Island, and New-York. If this matter is not soon put in execution, they will be reinforced, or they will fall into the North-River; but if there was lodgment with some guns upon Nutten-Island, with the town battery to assist, they could not get out without running aground.
As soon as the batteries upon Long-Island begin to play, there should be some of the Connecticut men, or some others, ready to run down upon the wharfs, with some few guns a-head and a-stern, with grape, to clear the decks, and fire into the ports. While loading, the batteries will have this advantage, that they can play by night if clear; this method will so harrass and disable them that they must strike quickly or they will be boarded. When this affair is finished the men should immediately march to the Narrows, and erect a battery that would keep all out, and all in; twenty guns, properly disposed, would sink any vessel that would dare attempt to go up, and would be out of the range of all shot from the shipping. Your cruisers would find shelter and a good harbour. Had this been done last summer, our enemies at Boston would have starved before now. There should be a camp formed there early in the spring, and two strong forts erected with retrenchments to cover them; for you may depend upon it, there will be a vigorous push made early to get up the North River; works upon each side would greatly retard and delay their operations; and I doubt not, but defeat the design of the campaign. To attack both they must divide their [Page 152] army, which would greatly harrass them; and if they wait to attack them one after another, the campaign is los [...], besides, the attacks made upon them at landing within the vicinity, and perhaps under cover of these forts and retrenchments; also the attacks on their rear, while they are attacking the works. In short, we have every thing in our favour, to defeat the ensuing campaign, if we only begin in time, and conduct matters properly.
You want nothing but experienced officers, five h [...]ndred at least. But to return to the men of war,—that I find so much intimidates the people of this country, is a well constructed floating battery, formidable and powerful in her own element at sea, no doubt; but when opposed to the land, only an egg-shell. Batteries and guns properly placed will soon silence them. I will here describe, as well as I can, the batteries of late made use of against shipping; the old batteries in our ports and harbours at home are found almost useless. As they are all built similar or like that at New-York, very low and near the water, whereby the vessel has all the power over them that she could wish, not only from her great guns, but small arms; whereas, quite the reverse ought to be the case; the batteries should be fixed at a distance from the water and vessel, no nearer than two hundered yards if the ground will admit, from the channel, or where the vessel is to anchor or sail, and upon ground high enough to be out of the range of her shot, if such ground cannot be found take the highest you can get, and sink, or let in your platforms and guns upon the top or summit of the hill, the muzzels of the guns, as it were, peeping out of the hill. Thus the men will work their guns when thus situated with facility and safety, and out of the reach of all shot. There is no ship in the world that would dare offer to attack or pass such a battery, if twenty guns were mounted. These are the kind of batteries that I would propose for all attacks upon vessels, and what I would make use of, upon Long-Island and Nutten-Island, and though the land is not so high as may be wished, yet the sinking and letting in the guns into [Page 153] the firm [...] highest ground will answer the purpose no doubt [...] [...]ips fire very slow, and fire at random; neither can it be imagined that men can stand to their guns, where shot and splinters are continually flying, much less level and point guns accurately. In short, they must do as the French did on board of four sail of the line at Louisburg, in a short time they must strike, or jump into the [...]old, notwithstanding we never had more than two guns playing upon any ship at a time. Twelve guns would b [...] sufficient, six upon Long-Island and six upon Nutten-Island, and twelve pounders would be heavy [...]gh, as the distance is but short, and less than three pound of powder would be sufficient for a charge. There ought [...] be two men to each gun, that understand loading and [...] the rest may be raw. I would im [...]e that Lord Ste [...]h [...] would be a very proper person t [...] [...]ommand the detachme [...]t, and would readily accept it. I make no doubt, the troops might keep moving, some at the Narrows, some at the Ferry at York, some even might go to Jamaica, Flat-B [...], &c. until guns and other matters are in readiness. The commanding officers and engineer at the Ferry, off and on, to reconnoitre the ground, and view the position of the vessels. I have here thrown a few matters together, in a rough manner; however, I shall not needlessly make any apology for troubling you, as the intention is good. I can assure you, that these hints, as I call them, are no whim, or production of my own, but are drawn from real practice and experience, which I have often seen and helped to execute in rivers, lakes, and harbours, during twenty-eight years service. I cannot dismiss the Narrows; the enemy should not be allowed to slip into the heart of the country, without gaining it by inches: the Narrows are centrical, and the people thereabouts disposed to be troublesome; it is a most desirable situation for an army, as they can act either to the Eastward, or Westward, together, or separate, and supplies can come from all quarters either by land or water. A battery placed as beforementioned has great power and command of shipping; one shot fired in this [Page 154] angular manner from an eminence, will do more execution than twenty fired horizontally; for if the shot strike the vessel on one side, between wind and water, they will come out on the other side some feet below water: in short, their powder-room and all is in danger, nor will the men's lying flat upon the decks screen them. I have had experience of this, acting as a marine officer on b [...]rd men of war: You want, as I have said before, experienced officers, who have explored the country, rivers, lakes, and difficult passes; in short, that know every inch of ground, that have drubbed, and been drubbed; for drubbing brings men to reason and reflection. I beg you would offer my service to the honorable the Congress, as one that has seen service both in horse, foot, and marines. There is not an officer in America this day has seen more service than I have, both abroad and at home, during both the late wars. Nothing would prevail with me to engage again, but the present cause; my all is now at stake, the die is thrown: I must conquer or die.
THE bearer, Mons. Arundel, is directed by the Congress to repair to General Schuyler, in order to be employed by him in the Artillery service. He proposes to wait on you in his way, and has requested me to introduce him by a line to you. He has been an officer in the French service, as you will see by his commissions; and professing a good-will to our cause, I hope he may be useful in instructing our gunners and matrosses: perhaps he may advise in opening the nailed cannon.
I received the enclosed, the other day, from an officer, Mr. Newland, who served in the two last wars, and was [Page 155] known by General Gates, who spoke well of him to me when I was at Cambridge. He is desirous now of entering into your service. I have advised him to wait upon you at New-York.
They still talk big in England, and threaten hard; but their language is somewhat civiller, at least, not quite so disrespectful to us. By degrees they come to their senses, but too late, I fancy for their interest.
We have got a large quantity of salt-petre, one hundred and twenty ton, and thirty more expected. Powder-mills are now wanting; I believe we must set to work and make it by hand. But I still wish, with you, that pikes could be introduced, and I would add bows and arrows: these were good weapons, not wisely laid aside:
1st. Because a man may shoot as truly with a bow as with a common musket.
2d. He can discharge four arrows in the time of charging and discharging one bullet.
3d. His object is not taken from his view by the smoke of his own side.
4th. A flight of arrows seen coming upon them, terrifies and disturbs the enemies' attention to his business.
5th. An arrow striking in any part of a man puts him hors du combat till it is extracted.
6th. Bows and arrows are more easily provided every where than muskets and ammunition.
Polydore Virgil, speaking of one of our battles against the French in Edward the Third's reign, mentions the great confusion the enemy was thrown into, sagittarum nube, from the English; and concludes, Est res profecto dictu mirabiles, ut tantus ac potens exercitus a solis ferè Anglicis sagittariis victus fuerit; adeo Anglus est sagitti potens, et id genus armorum valet. If so much execution was done by arrows when men wore some defensive armour, how much more might be done now that is out of use!
I am glad you come to New-York, but I also wish you could be in Canada. There is a kind of suspense [Page 156] in men's minds, here at present, waiting to see what terms will be offered from England. I expect none that we can accept; and when that is generally seen, we shall be more unanimous and more decisive: then your proposed solemn league and covenant will go better down, and perhaps most of your other strong measures adopted.
I am always glad to hear from you, but I do not deserve your favours, being so bad a correspondent. My eyes will now hardly serve me to write by night, and these short days have been all taken up by such variety of business, that I seldom can sit down ten minutes without interruption.—God give you success.
THE Congress have seen such a necessity of an able commander in Canada, as to destine you to that most arduous service. I tremble for your health, yet I hope the campaign will rather promote it than otherwise. We want you at New-York; we want you at Cambridge; we want you in Virginia; but Canada seems of more importance than any of those places, and therefore you are sent there. I wish you as many laurels as Wolfe and Montgomery reaped there, with an happier fate. Health and long life after a glorious return.
But I am ashamed to go on in such a strain when writing to you whose time is so much better employed than in reading it, since I took up my pen only to introduce to your acquaintance a countryman of yours, and a citizen of the world, to whom a certain heretical pamphlet, called Common Sense, is imputed. His name is PAINE. He is travelling to New-York for his curiosity, and wishes to see a gentleman whose character he so highly respects.
[Page 157]A luckier, a happier expedition than yours to New-York never was projected. The whole Whig world are blessing you for it, and none of them more than,
I HAVE the honour to inclose you sundry resolutions of Congress, by which you will perceive, it is the desire of Congress, that you should repair to Canada, and take upon you the command of the army of the United Colonies in that province. I need not mention the importance of the trust reposed in you, and the happy effects it will have in securing the liberty of America, if you should be so fortunate as to drive our enemies, the enemies of liberty and the rights of mankind, out of it. I heartily pray, that the Disposer of Events may grant you success equal to your merit and zeal.
As you will want battering cannon, which are not to be had in that province, you are to apply to the Convention, or Committee of Safety of New-York; to whom by this opportunity, I send the recommendation of Congress to supply you with twelve, such as you shall judge most suitable, and some mortars, if they have or can procure them; with balls, shells, and other necessaries; and also to assist you in forwarding them. Eight tons of powder are now on the way to Albany, for the forces in Canada; and as a very considerable quantity of salt-petre is sent to the mills of Mr. Wisner and Mr. Livingstone, should there be occasion for more, you will be supplied from thence.
You will readily perceive the necessity of conferring with General Schuyler, and with him consulting on the best methods of having necessaries conveyed to you across the lakes. The Congress have a full confidence that you will co-operate in securing the possession of the lakes, [Page 158] and mutually assisting each other as occasion may require; and, as far as in your power, give mutual aid in supporting the cause of freedom and liberty. I expect the deputies will in a short time be ready to proceed to Canada.
AFTER a warm contest, occasioned by the high estimation the members of Congress have of your worth and abilities, every one wishing to have you where he had most at stake, the Congress have at length determined to superseded the orders given you to proceed to Canada, and have this day come to a resolution that you shall take the command of the continental forces in the southern department, which comprehends Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia.
The Congress have also appointed six new Brigadier Generals; viz. John Armstrong, William Thompson, Andrew Lewis, James Moore, Lord Sterling, and Robert How. Esqrs. four of whom you are to command in the southern department, and two in the middle. By this conveyance I have forwarded the commission for his Lordship. As soon as your health and the necessary orders you may think proper to give, for putting New-York in a state of defence, will permit, I have it in charge to direct that you repair to the department put under your immediate command.
In expectation of seeing you soon in this place, on your way, I need not add, but that
I am, with every sentiment of regard and esteem,
Last night I had the pleasure to receive yours of the 15th. I am rejoiced you have weathered this fit of the gout; I don't think you will have another this winter, if you was careful in letting that pass off: it may probably be of much service to your constitution. When I mentioned Canada, I did not mean you should winter there; if you can secure the entrance into it, by getting Quebec, and possessing it this summer, you may leave the care of that province to your Brigadiers for the winter to come. The General was pleased you wrote to him, as he began to think you tardy. He writes to you by this express. I like your intention of making the fort an open redoubt; I think some heavy guns upon the south and west sides, with good sod merlons, will make the men of war keep aloof. It is a pretty high situation, and battering it at a distance, over the lower batteries, would have but little effect. We have lately had reasons to suppose Mr. Howe had thoughts of leaving Boston; the General will tell you his reasons for thinking that was intended. Clinton, I am satisfied, went to see how affairs were circumstanced at New-York, to consult with Tryon, and to prepare the way for Howe's reception. Unless the enemy repossess Canada, they cannot reinstate the king's affairs on this continent; there is no way to recover Canada, but by the Rivers of St. Laurence and Hudson. The St. Laurence is not practicable until late in May; therefore, the first attempt would most assuredly be made at New-York: for these reasons, I think your hands should be strengthened as much, and as expeditiously as possible. I am afraid you are deficient in gun-carriages; employ all the hands you can procure to make them. I am glad you express yourself so well pleased with the Captains, Smith and Badlam; the former has good talents, and will, I hope, prove as faithful as he is capable. Ere long it will be known if I am right in my conjecture, that the great body of the enemy mean to endeavour to take post at, or near, New-York. Should that happen to be attempted, be assured we shall march with the utmost expedition [Page 160] to support you. I expect soon to see Palfrey, in consequence of what I wrote to him, when I hope to hear you are in perfect health. Little Eustace is well, but nothing is done for him as yet. You know the more than Scotch partiality of these folks. I have had much to do to support the lad you put into Colonel Whitcomb's regiment. They have no complaint in nature against him, but that he is too good an officer. What, in the name of reason, can Hite have trumped up to commence a suit in Chancery upon? Mrs. Gates and I have puzzled our brains to find it out. The inclosed I desire you will order to be immediately delivered to the postmaster. Mrs. Gates joins me in every good wish for your health and success.
I REJOICE that you are going to Canada. I hope the gout will not have the courage to follow you into that severe climate. I believe you will have the number of men you wished for. I am told there will be two thousand more, but there are always defiencies.
The bearer, Mr Paine, has requested a line of introduction to you, which I give the more willingly, as I know his sentiments are not very different from yours: he is the reputed, and, I think, the real author of Common Sense, a pamphlet that has made great impression here. I do not enlarge, both because he waits, and because I hope for the pleasure of conferring with you face to face in Canada. I will only add, that we are assured here on the part of France, that the troops sent to the West-Indies have no inimical views to us or our cause. It is thought they intend a war without a previous declaration.
[Page 161]God prosper all your undertakings, and return you with health, honour, and happiness.
YOUR [...]vour of the second instant, containing the very agreeable intelligence of the success of the American army under your command, I had the honour of receiving, and immediately laid the same before Congress.
The same enlarged mind, and distinguished ardour in the cause of freedom that taught you to despise the prejudices which have enslaved the bulk of mankind, when you nobly undertook the defence of American liberty, will entitle you to receive from posterity the fame due to such exalted and disinterested conduct.
That a handful of men, without the advantage of military experience, animated only with the sacred love of liberty, should repulse a powerful fleet and army, are circumstances that must excite gratitude and wonder in the friends of America, and prove a source of the most mortifying disappointment to our enemies.
Accept, therefore, Sir, the thanks of the Independent States of America, unanimously declared by their delegates to be due to you and the brave officers and troops under your command, who repulsed with so much valour the attack that was made on the state of South-Carolina, on the 28th of June, by the fleet and army of his Britannic Majesty; and be pleased to communicate to them this distinguished mark of the approbation of their country.
I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect,
YOUR favour of the 5th ult. from Williamsburgh, the first I have received from you since you left this city, came to my hands by the last post. I thank you for your kind congratulations on our possession of Boston. I thank you for your good wishes in our future operations, and hope that every diabolical attempt to deprive mankind of their inherent rights and privileges, whether made in the East, West, North, or South, will be attended with disappointment and disgrace, and that the authors in the end will be brought to such punishment, as an injured people have a right to inflict.
General Howe's retreat from Boston was precipitate, beyond any thing I could have conceived. The destruction of the stores at Dunbar's camp after Braddock's defeat was but a faint image of what was seen at Boston; artillery carts cut to pieces in one place; gun carriages in another; shells broke here; shot buried there, and every thing carrying with it the face of disorder and confusion, as also of distress.
Immediately upon their embarkation, I detached a brigade of five regiments to this city, and upon their sailing, removed with the whole army hither except four regiments at Boston, and one at Beverley, &c. for the protection of those places, the stores and barracks there, and for erecting works for defending the harbour of the first. Immediately upon my arrival here I detached four regiments by order of Congress to Canada (to wit, Poor's, Patterson's, Treaton's, and Bond's) under the command of Brigadier Thompson, and since that, by the same authority, and in consequence of some unfavourable accounts from that quarter, General Sullivan and six other regiments, namely, Stark's, Reed's, Wain's, Irvine's, Wind's, and Dayton's, have moved off for that department; the four last regiments are of Pennsylvania, and New-Jersey. The first brigade arrived at Albany the twenty-fourth ultimo, and were moving on, when accounts came from thence the twenty-seventh. The other brigades must all be at Albany before this, as some [Page 163] of the regiments sailed ten days ago, and the last four, and the winds very favourable. This has left us very weak at this place, whilst I have my fears that the reinforcement will scarce get to Canada in time, for want of teams to transport the troops, &c. to Fort George, and vessels to convey them on afterwards.
We have done a great deal of work at this place. In a fortnight more, I think the city will be in a very respectable posture of defence. Governor's-Island has a large and strong work erected, and a regiment encamped there. The point below, called Red-Hook, has a small, but exceeding strong barbet battery; and several new works are constructed, and many of them almost executed at other places.
General Ward, upon the evacuation of Boston, and finding there was a probability of his removing from the smoke of his own chimney, applied to me, and wrote to Congress for leave to resign. A few days afterwards, some of the officers, as he says, getting uneasy at the prospect of his leaving them, he applied for his letter of resignation, which had been committed to my care; but, behold! it had been carefully f [...]rwarded to Congress, and, as I have since learnt, judged so reasonable ( want of health being the plea) that it was instantly complied with. Brigadier Fry, previous to this, also conceiving that there was nothing entertaining or profitable to an old man, to be marching and counter-marching, desired, immediately on the evacuation of Boston (which happened on the 17th of March) that he might resign his commission on the 11 th of April: the choice of the day became a matter of great speculation, and remained profoundly mysterious till he exhibited his account, when there appeared neither more or less in it, than the completion of three calendar months; the pay of which he received without any kind of compunction, although he had never done one tour of duty, or, I believe, had ever been out of his house from the time he entered till he quitted Cambridge.
[Page 164]So much for two Generals: I have next to inform you, that the Pay-master-general, Colonel Warren, not finding it convenient to attend the army, from the various employments and avocations in which he was engaged, also resigned his commission, and is succeeded by your old aid, Palfrey.
When I was speaking of the distressed situation of the king's troops, and the Tories, at their evacuation of Boston, I might have gone on, and added, that their misfortunes did not end here. It seems, upon their arrival at Halifax, many of the former wore obliged to encamp, although the ground was covered deep with snow; and the latter, to pay six dollars a week for sorry upper-rooms, and stow in them, men, women, and children, as thick, comparitively, as the hair upon their heads. This induced many of these gentry to return, and throw themselves upon the mercy and clemency of their countrymen, who were for sending them immediately back, as the properest and severest punishment they could inflict, but death being preferred to this, they now wait, in confinement, any other that may be thought due to such parricides.
All the ships of war have left this place, and gone down to the Hook, except the Asia, which lays five miles below the Narrows, and about twelve or fourteen from hence. I could have added more, but my paper will not admit of it. With compliment, therefore, to the gentlemen of my acquaintance with you, and with the most fervent wishes for your health and success,
This moment yours of the 1st instant came to my hand. The note inclosed, directed to the commanding officer [Page 165] of the corps of Virginia forces, intended for the station of Hillsborough, I will use my best endeavour to transmit so soon as I can learn who he is, or for what par [...] of Virginia they are ordered; of both I am now entirely uninformed, having heard nothing of such destination until I received your letter. If I can get no information in my neighbourhood, I will send your note t [...] the commanding officer of Halifax or Mecklinburgh county; which, lying contiguous to this, are most likely to have received orders to march hither.
I cannot say, Sir, that I rejoice that the enemy have abandoned their design on this colony. Their force could not have effected much against us, but they may prove troublesome to some of our southern neighbours, who are probably not so well provided for defence as we are.
I beg leave, Sir, to wish you all possible success in your generous efforts for the defence of the undoubted rights of mankind. Had the scene of action been where we first expected, I intended to have put myself a volunteer under your command, and to have contributed my little assistance towards that success which I am assured would have attended your command. Remote as the scene may be, I shall not bear absence from it with much patience; and were it not almost ruin to my private affairs, no campaign should pass without receiving the little assistance I could personally give; for though I am no military character, nor ambitious of such distinction, the cause in which we are now engaged, and in which I have unremittingly struggled since the stamp act, makes me anxious to be a witness and an actor, however inconsiderable, in every scene of importance, whether military or civil, which may relate to it.
I have the honour to be, with singular respect,
I HEARTILY thank you for you letter, and regret that I cannot have the pleasure of meeting you; the great wish of my life is to see peace between two countries I almost equally love, while it is a question whether this or an inexterminable war is to take place. I meant in words I had learnt from you, to set before you the many and mutual advantages both would derive from an agreement; and as the terms now offered are more for the interest of your favourite America than you ever hoped to obtain, I should have made no scruple to ask your good offices, and to engage my own, to remove any obstacles that might obstruct the peace.
I should think it a greater honour to contribute in the smallest degree to this, than to have the greatest share in bringing about victory: these, to a thinking man like you, who has many friends on both sides, subject him to a double regret.
I may not find another occasion of meeting you easily, but I would travel far to have the pleasure of embracing you, as a fellow subject of the same empire, and a friend. You will see by some speeches in the House of Commons, that others whom you value have the same wish. A celebrated poem, just published, says, ‘By virtue, captive Lee is doubly bless.’
A pamphlet wrote by Governor Johnstone's brother is much applauded by the nation, where a spirit prevails like that between tender relations who are more disposed to love and respect, after a quarrel has convinced both, of the advantage and value of friendship. I send you the pamphlet.
You do Sir H. Clinton great justice in believing him incapable of an inhuman or illiberal measure; you may, with great confidence, assert, that he had no share in the havock you say has embittered people's minds to a degree of madness. Your letter to me is the only notice he has▪ of the burnings you mention. If any other houses besides magazines were destroyed, it must have been by the [Page 167] wantonness of soldiers; as the officer who formed the plan for destroying the preparations for the invasion of the island, confined it to this object. The destruction of houses was no part of his project; otherwise he would [...]e mentioned the success of it, which he has not done. I will deliver the messages you give me, and will ever seek every occasion to shew that I am with regard,
P. S. Sir Henry Clinton bids me thank you for your letter, and charges me to inclose one he has received for you, from England.
ON my return to the fleet, I found a letter from you by a flag of truce, with some refreshments you were pleased to send me, in return for which, I must beg your acceptance of a cask of porter, and some English cheese.
I have made enquiries concerning the person mentioned in your letter, who, it seems, has occasioned this correspondence between us, but can learn nothing further about him, than that he is not a master of a vessel, as he has represented himself to you; and you will have been already informed by Mr. Byrd that Ethan Allen, and those that were with them, are gone to the Northward.
YOUR kind concern for my health made me happy, and the high approbation you express of my public conduct highly gratified my pride. I had the pleasure of receiving your letter which did me so much honour, about the 9th of last month. I was then at Mr. Harrison's near Petersburgh, where I had gone with Mrs. Page for the recovery of her health. Our trip happily has answered our wishes, and we are once more fixed at Williamsburgh. It is now four weeks since we have received any certain account of the situation of affairs in either of the Carolinas. Even your letter to brigadier Lewis countermanding the march of the troops did not arrive here till four weeks after it was written. The regiments had just began their march; but had they not been scattered abroad on distant stations, and badly provided with necessaries for such an expedition, they would have reached the place of their destination before your express could have stopped them. It will be worth your while to examine into the occasion of this. I thought it a matter of so much importance to have such orders communicated with dispatch, that I advised the brigadier to send an express to you immediately, to inform you of the unaccountable delay that yours had met with, and to recommend it to you to establish a post throughout your district; but he was preparing for an expedition against Gwynn-Island, The brigadier set out last Monday on his way to our camp, attended by the Coloness Woodford, Stephens, Buckner, Weedon, and some others, intending to examine into the strength of the enemy, and submit the propriety of an attack to a council of war. They reached the camp that night, and the next day finding that the Dunmore had changed stations with the other, and had exposed herself very prettily to the very place where he had been preparing a battery for the Otter, they determined not to lose this good opportunity of beginning their cannonade, in which they might severely and principally chastise the noble Earl. At eight o'clock, A. M. Captain Arundel and Lieutenant [Page 169] Denny saluted the Dunmore and Otter, with two eighteen pounders; the very first shot at the Otter, though a full mile from our battery, struck her, as it is supposed, between wind and water, for she did not return the fire, but was towed off on the careen. The Dunmore fired a broadside, and then was towed off, having received four shot through her sides; whilst she was in tow, she received a fifth through her stern which raked her; scarcely a shot was fired which did not do execution in some part of the fleet. A schooner lost one of her masts. Whilst lieutenant Denny was firing on the fleet, their battery on the island began to play on him, and a ball passed through the embrasure; on which he immediately turned his cannon on their battery; for he had taken the precaution to have scope enough to take in the fleet, and that part of their battery; and fired three times successively into their embrasure, which three rounds compleatly silenced that part of the battery; the other part facing our lines on the haven was almost as soon silenced by our battery erected against with four nines and three six pounders. Part of their camp was a little exposed to both of our batteries which fired a few rounds into it. This fire was as well directed as that against their ships; for it beat down many of their tents, and threw their camp into the utmost confusion. When this was discovered, the brigadier ordered canoes to be brought down, to enable the men to pass over into the island; for, unhappily, we had not a boat on the shore: these could not be procured till the next day, when a smart cannonade began between the batteries; but as soon as our men had manned their boats, their fire ceased, and they retired with precipitation to their boats, and escaped safely to their ships, having first broken off the [...]mons, &c. of their cannon. There were three tenders up the haven which could not pass our batteries; these they abandoned; they endeavoured to burn one, but our men boarded it, and extinguished the [...]ames. I understand that all these tenders have their swivels in them; but it is reported that they had thrown the guns [Page 170] overboard. We are now in possession of the island. The fleet has retired, but is in sight. This might have been a compleat affair, if proper measures had been preconcerted, and the whole tell conducted. Our men, however, behaved well, our artillery was admirably served, and we have disgraced and mortified our enemies. In this affair we lost not a man; but most unhappily poor Captain Arundel was killed by the bursting of a wooden mortar, with which he was endeavouring to throw shells into the fleet. His loss is irreparable. He behaved with great spirit and activity, and was so hearty in our cause that he is universally lamented. Colonel Stephens is just returned from Gwynn's-Island; he says the enemy carried off all their cannon from their batteries, except one six pounder, which they spiked. They left six carriage guns in one of the tenders; several negroes and a few whites were taken; two negroes and one of the fourteenth regiment deserted to us. The prisoners inform, that Lord Dunmore's mate was cut in two by a double headed eighteen pounder, which also took off one man's arm and another's leg, and drove a splinter into his lordship's leg. Tom Byrd was ill of a fever, and was carted off to a boat just before our people landed. They were obliged to burn two fine small vessels that day, and at night, in the mouth of the river, they burnt also a large ship, supposed to be the Dunmore, as she was not with the fleet next morning. The Fowey, it is said, was with the fleet, but did not chuse to come within reach of our guns. The Roe-buck was at the mouth of Rappahannock. The Colonel says, when he came away, the whole fleet had sailed, and were out of light, and it was uncertain where they are gone; suppose to Maryland? They went off in a bad plight, with out biscuit or water. Their works were found of excellent construction and considerable extent; they were preparing to build houses and a wind-mill: the had made a [...]ast collection of materials for different works; their tents, which they moved off except one marquee, which was left in their hurry, and through which a cannon [Page 171] ball had passed, were capable of containing about seven or eight hundred men. From many circumstances it is evident they meant to stay there a considerable time. I have been interrupted in writing, and before I could return to my scrawl, I had the happiness to receive your letter of the third of July. I most heartily congratulate you on your success; it was a most glorious affair—a noble defence! The British navy has been happily checked in her proud career, and has received a most just and complete chastisement. What must the king think now? The whole continent in arms against him, seven hundred and fifty of his favourite highlanders, in our possession, and his fleets repulsed and disgraced along our coasts for two thousand miles! I hope he will repent and be contented to put up with the loss of America, or, if he does not, that he may meet with repeated disappointment. The Marylanders were roused by the resolve of our Convention, and have lectured their representatives so well, that they have unanimously voted for independence—they have no occasion for our rifle-men on that account: However I can assure you, on the Eastern shore of Maryland there has been a considerable insurrection of Tories, insomuch that Colonel Fleming has been obliged to march with a hundred and twenty men to quell them. We have not yet heard the event of that affair. I have just now received another letter from you, and am delighted with your description of the bravery of Colonel Moultrie and the garrison of Fort-Sullivan. It is not flattery, my dear General, when I tell you, that most of us here attribute the glorious display of bravery on that day, to the animating presence of a commander, who, independent of his great military abilities and experience, appeared to be the evil genius of Clinton, who had followed him, and from whose presence he had seemed to retire and retreat along the coast, from Boston to Charleston. All that I could do, as there were not gentlemen enough in town, to make a council, was to desire brigadier Lewis to send immediately [Page 172] to North-Carolina, all the powder that could be spared out of the magazine. About four thousand pounds will be sent.
It would take a volume to tell you how many clever things were said of you, and the brave troops under you command, after hearing of your late victory. It has given a wonderful turn to our affairs. The loss of Canada had struck the spirits of many people, who now begin to think our cause is not abandoned, and that we shall yet triumph over our enemies.
The declaration of independence has produced a new aera in this part of America. The militia of Pennsylvania seem to be actuated with a spirit more than Roman. Near two thousand citizens of Philadelphia have lately marched towards New-York, in order to prevent an incursion being made by our enemies upon the state of New-Jersey. The cry of them all is for bottle. I think Mr. Howe will not be able to get a footing in New-York, and that he will end the present, or begin the next campaign in Canada, or in some one of the Southern colonies;—the only places in which America is vulnerable. We depend upon Gates in the North, and you oblige us to hope for great things from the South.
The Tories quiet, but very surly. Lord Howe's proclamation leaves them not a single filament of their cobweb doctrine of reconciliation.
The spirit of liberty reigns triumphant in Pennsylvania. The proprietary gentry have retired to their country seats, and honest men have taken the seats they abused so much in the government of our state.
The papers will inform you, that I have been thrust into Congress. I find there is a great deal of difference [Page 173] between sporting a sentiment in a letter, or over a glass of wine upon politics, and discharging properly the duty of a senator. I feel myself unequal to every part of my new situation, except where plain integrity is required.
My former letters to you, may pass hereafter for a leaf of the Sibyls. They are full of predictions; and, what is still more uncommon, some of them have proved true. I shall go on, and add, that I think the declaration of independence will produce union and new exertions in England in the same ratio that they have done in this country. The present campaign, I believe, is only designed to train us for the duties of next summer.
NOTWITHSTANDING I shall probably feel the effect, I do most cordially and sincerely congratulate you on your victory over Clinton and the British squadron at Sullivan's-Island. A victory undoubtedly it is, when an enemy are drubbed, and driven from a country they were sent to conquer. Such is the case of Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, who are now with the fleet and army at Staten-Island, where General Howe and the troops from Halifax have been ever since the last day of June, and Lord Howe since the twelfth of July. Some Hessians and a pretty many of the Scottish laddies have got in, and the residue of the fleet parted with, off the banks of Newfoundland, hourly expected. When the whole arrive, matters will soon come to a decision, every thing bong prepared on both sides for the appeal, and on ours, I hope it will be obstinate, if not successful.
The latter, it is not in the power of mortals to command; but they may endeavour to deserve it; and this I am persuaded, our troops will more than ever aim at, [Page 174] as I have impressed upon their minds the gallant behaviour of the brave few, who defended Sullivan's-Island.
At present, the enemy can bring more men to a point than we can, and when reinforced by the Hessians without number, as unless the militia (faster than heretofore) come into our aid, their numbers, when the Hessians arrive, cannot, by the best intelligence we can get, fall short of twenty-five thousand men. Ours are under twenty, very sickly, and posted on Governor's-Island, Long-Island, at Powles-Hook, Horn's-Hook, and at the pass near King's-Bridge; more militia are expected, but whether they will be in time, time only can tell, as also where the point of attack will be. An opinion prevails, countenanced by hints from some of the principal Tories, and corroborated by intelligence from Staten-Island, that part of the enemy's fleet and army will go into the Sound, whilst another part of it runs up the North-River, thereby cutting off all communication by water with this place, whilst their troops form a chain across the neck, and stop an intercourse with Connecticut by land: others think, they will not leave an army in their rear, whilst they have the country in their front, getting by that means between two fires, unless it is extended as a feint to withdraw our troops from the city, that they may slip in and possess themselves of it: all this is but a field of conjecture.
Our affairs in the North have been growing from bad to worse, till I hope they will mend, as one great source of the evil is in a way of being removed, I mean, the small pox; but the army have retreated from place to place, till they are now got to Ticonderoga, opposite to which, on the East side of the Lake Champlain, they are about to establish a post, which they say will be invulnerable; but whether it may be somewhat like the man who built a mill on account of a beautiful fall, and then had to consider whether it was practicable to bring water to it, remains in some measure to be determined, as it is the opinion of some (I know nothing of the country myself) that the enemy may pass this post and [Page 175] get into Lake George, without receiving the least annoyance from this work. Whether they would chuse to leave a post in their rear without establishing one themselves, sufficient to keep it in awe, is the point in question.
It gives me a very singular pleasure to hear of the gallant behaviour of your young aids, and Mr. Jenefer, as also of Colonels Moultrie and Thompson; to be the means at any time, of rewarding merit, will add greatly to my happiness; and whenever you can point out a mode that can be abopted consistently, you shall find me [...]ery ready: but you know the temper of the troops in this quarter, as well as I do, and how impracticable it is to bring in a person, let his merit be ever so great, without throwing a whole corps into confusion. This will also apply to Captain Bullet. What vacancies there may be in your department that he has his eye to, and could be appointed to with propriety, you must know better than I. That there is none here, I can undertake to say. I have no doubt but the Congress would annex the rank of colonel to his office of adjutant. I believe they have done it in the instance of Griffin, who is appointed deputy-adjutant to the flying camp. If this would add any thing to his satisfaction, I should have no objection to the mention of it. With every wish for your prosperity and success, I remain with sincere regard,
YOU will see by the inclosed resolves, that Congress have entered into some new regulations respecting the enlistment of the new army, and reprobating the measures adopted by the state of Massachusetts-Bay for raising their quota of men.
As every possible exertion should be used for recruiting the army, as speedily as may be, I request that you immediately [Page 176] publish, in orders, that an allowance of a dollar and one-third of a dollar will be paid to the officers for every soldier they shall enlist, whether in or out of camp.
Also, that it will be optional in the sold [...]r to enlist during the continuance of the war, or for three years, unless sooner discharged by Congress. In the former case, they are to receive all such bounty and pay as have been heretofore mentioned in orders; those who engage for the latter time, that of three years, are not to receive the bounty in land.
That no mistakes may be made, you will direct the recruiting officers, from your division, to provide two distinct enlisting rolls; one for those to sign who engage during the war, the other for those who enlist for three years, if their service shall be so long required.
I am sorry to inform you, that this day, about twelve o'clock, the enemy made a general attack upon our sines about Fort-Washington, which having carried, the garrison retired within the fort. Colonel Magaw, finding there was no prospect of retreating a-cross the North-River, surrendered the post. We do not yet know the loss of killed and wounded on either side; but I imagine it must have been pretty considerable, as the engagement, at some parts of the lines, was of long continuance, and heavy. Neither do I know the terms of capitulation. The force of the garrison, before the attack, was about two thousand [...].
Before I left Peek's-kill, I urged to General Heath, the necessity of securing the pass through the Highlands next to the river, as well on that as this side, and to the forts above; but as the preserving of these and others which lay more easterly, and which are equally essential, is a matter of the last importance, I must beg you to turn your attention that way, and to have such measures adopted for their defence as your judgment shall suggest to be necessary. I do not mean to advise adandoning your present post contrary to your own opinion, but only to mention my ideas of the importance of those passes, [Page 177] and that you cannot give too much attention to their security, by having works erected in the most advantageous places for that purpose.
THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS MENTIONED IN THE PRECEDING LETTER.
In CONGRESS, November 7th, 1776.
RESOLVED, That the resolution passed the 14th of October last, That the allowance to officers of one and one-third of a dollar for enlisting soldiers, be not extended or given on the re-enlistment of the soldiers in camp, be repealed.
Nov. 12th, 1776.
RESOLVED, As the opinion of this Congress, that if the soldiers to be raised by the state of Massachusetts-Bay, be enlisted on the terms offered to them (which are more advantageous than what are offered to other soldiers serving in the same army) it would much retard, if not totally impede, the enlistment of the latter, and produce discontent and murmur, unless Congress should equally increase the pay of these; which it is the opinion of this Congress would universally be reprobated as an immoderate expence, and complained of, as a grievous burden, by those who must bear it; and therefore, that the committee from the state of Massachusetts-Bay, be desired not to enlist their men on the additional pay offered by the Assembly of that state.
Upon reconsidering the Resolution of the 16th of September last, for raising eighty-eight battalions, to serve during the present war with Great Britain, Congress being of opinion, that the readiness of the inhabitants of [Page 178] the states to enter into the service for limited times, in defence of their invaluable privileges, on all former occasions, gives good ground to hope the same zeal for the public good will appear in future when necessity calls for their assistance; and the uncertain length of time which forces raised during the continuance of the war may be compelled to serve, may prevent many from enlisting who would otherwise readily manifest their attachment to the common cause, by engaging for a limited time, therefore,
RESOLVED, That all non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who do not incline to engage their services during the continuance of the present war, and shall enlist to serve three years, unless sooner discharged by Congress, shall be entitled to, and receive, all such bounty and pay as are allowed to those who enlist during the continuance of the present war, except the one hundred acres of land, which is to be granted to those only who enlist without limitation of time.
And each recruiting officer is required to provide two distinct enlisting rolls; one for such to sign who enlist during the continuances of the war, and the other for such as enlist for three years, if their service shall be so long required.
THE letter you will receive with this contains my sentiments with respect to your present station; but besides this, I have some additional reasons for most earnestly wishing to have you where the principal scene of action is laid. I do not mean to flatter nor praise you at the expence of any other, but, I confess, I do think that it is entirely owing to you, that this army and the liberties [Page 179] of America, so far as they ate dependant on it, are not totally cut off. You have decision, a quality often wanting in minds otherwise valuable; and I ascribe to this our escape from York-Island, from King's-Bridge, and the Plains; and I have no doubt, had you been here, the garrison of Mount-Washington would now have composed a part of this army: and from all these circumstances, I confess I ardently wish to see you removed from a place where I think there will be little call for your judgment and experience, to the place where they are likely to be so necessary. Nor am I singular in my opinion, every gentleman of the family, the officers, and soldiers, generally, have a confidence in you: the enemy constantly enquire where you are, and seem to me to be less confident when you are present.
Colonel Cadwaliader, through a special indulgence, on account of some civilities shewn by his family to General Prescot, has been liberated from New-York without any parole. He informs, that the enemy have a southern expedition in view; that they hold us very cheap in consequence of the late affair at Mount-Washington, where both the plan of defence and execution wore contemptible. If a real defence of the lines was intended, the number was too few; if the Fort only, the garrison was too numerous by half. General Washington's own judgment, seconded by representations from us, would, I believe, have saved the men and their arms: but, unluckily, General Green's judgment was contrary. This kept the General's mind in a state of suspense till the stroke was struck. Oh, General! an indecisive mind is one of the greatest misfortunes that can befal an army: how often have I lamented it this campaign!
All circumstances considered, we are in a very awful, alarming state, one that requires the utmost wisdom and firmness of mind.
As soon as the season will admit, I think yourself and some others should go to Congress, and form the plan of the new army, point out their defects to them, and, if possible, prevail on them to bind their whole attention [Page 180] to this great object, even to the exclusion of every other. If they will not, or cannot, do this, I fear all our exertions will be vain in this part of the world. Foreign assistance is soliciting, but we cannot expect they will fight the whole battle.
I intended to have said more, but the express is waiting, and I must conclude with my clear and explicit opinion, that your presence is of the last importance.
I AM shocked, confounded, and exceedingly chagrinted to hear the court have adjudged you guilty of all the charges alledged against you, and have suspended you one year on account of it. The sentence is as unaccountable to me, as that they should find you guilty.
Matters have been so cursedly represented against you in this place, that I have been almost mobbed in defending you. Ten thousand infamous lies have been spread, that I never heard before, to bias the friends of the people against you. In the name of God, what are we come to?—So much for our republicanism.
I am beyond description unhappy, I feel for the injury of a man I so sincerely esteem—a man whose merit is so conspicuous throughout the world; and more particularly for a man, who, if justice was to take place and facts properly known, merited the thanks of the continent, for the transactions of that day, in a most singular manner.
I have not been able to see Mr. Lee; I called twice, but he was not at home; to-morrow morning I shall have the pleasure, I expect, as I intend to call again.— [Page 181] General Mifflin will be in town to-morrow, whom I shall likewise visit.
My sincere affection you will ever command, and I shall never esteem myself so happy as when I can have it in my power to render you a service.
I will, in two or three days, set out for camp, in order to have an interview with you.
I AM honoured with your favour of the 18th ult. and can assure you, that of the merit or demerit of your conduct in the affair of Monmouth, on the 28th of June, I have not to this day framed any opinion. I have so little leisure to attend to the military operations of America, and am so incompetent a judge of the qualifications necessary to constitute the character of a general, that I make no judgment at all. But without admitting or denying that you have made greater sacrifices in the cause of American freedom than any officer of our whole army, without a single exception, and that it is not less certain that you have saved our whole army more than once from destruction (the proofs of which are not in my possession) I can assure you, that I heartily disapprove of all publications containing personal reflections on the character of any gentleman, and especially on those of your rank, in the American army. And if what was presented to the public, as a mere republication of a paper formerly printed by a Virginian, has been, as you say, republished with many malicious alterations and additions, it is still the more inexcusable; because all such alterations and additions, besides their particular malignity against you (for which alone I should condemn them) are an imposition upon the world; and it must be considered, [Page 182] by every man of honour, be the legal construction what it will, as a downright forgery. I can further assure you, that I cannot but disapprove of Mr. Collins's inserting the paper you refer to in his Gazette, not only because no printer ought to make his press a vehicle for personal slander, but because he set out with a professed declaration against diverting his paper to such purposes, and has so tenaciously adhered to that maxim till the publication in question, as to reject, if my information be true, several pieces on account of the personal reflections they contained on gentlemen in the service of the enemy, and which the law of retaliation would clearly have warranted him to insert. And I must declare, in justice to him, and from what I personally know of his humane disposition, and his disinclination to convey thro' the channel of his press any thing injurious to the reputation of others, that I firmly believe, he has taken the paper, presented to him as a copy of a republication in Virginia, for a true copy. And it is generally supposed, by virtue of what law I know not, but perhaps by one as rational as that of deciding controversies by private combat, in civil communities which reprobate that mode of decision, that a printer, by the bare republication of a paper, is not presumed to adopt the sentiments; and that, by disclosing to the party aggrieved, at whose instance it was republished, he always averts the indignation of the sufferer from himself to that person. I should, however, be very sorry to find any of our printers imitate the [...]actice of the British subjects in New-York, who, whether they excel us in military discipline and courage or not, have, to my certain knowledge, hitherto surpassed us in printed calumny and detraction.
From these my sentiments respecting the printers of defamatory papers, I hope, Sir, you will not question my disapprobation both of the original authors, and the secondary propagators, of slander. But neither Mr. Boudinot's appointment to, nor deposition from, his office, as commissary of our state prisoners, being in my department, it is not in my power to do you the justice [Page 183] which you seem to expect in that line; nor is there any authority in this state by which he can be-cashiered, till the next meeting of our assembly, which stands adjourned to the 19th of May. But the law of the state is always at every one's service; and in the case of libels, if we are to credit the British lawyers, so peculiarly favourable to the prosecutor, that the scandal is not the less penal for being true, than if it was utterly false; which, I think, is giving a man as great a chance as can reasonably be desired; and perhaps, if you thought proper to publish your letter to me on the subject under consideration, it would be as ample satisfaction against Mr. Boudinot, as the nature of the offence requires; but that I entirely submit to your better judgment. In a word, Sir, whenever it shall be pointed out to me in what manner I can, with any propriety, interfere in the matter, either as governor of this state, or as a private gentleman, I shall not hesitate a moment to do you all the justice which I conceive you deserve. In the mean time, I embrace this opportunity to re-acknowledge my grateful sense of your friendly intimations, some time since, of the enemy's peculiar resentment against me, and your kind concern for my personal safety on that account. I must, however, take the liberty to say, as a man detached from all parties and wholly devoted to what he thinks the true interests of his country, that I should be extremely unhappy in having reason to believe what is frequently, and perhaps injuriously, reported of you, that you endeavoured to lessen the estimation in which General Washington is held by the most virtuous citizens of America; and which estimation, not, Sir, from a blind attachment to men of high rank, nor from any self-interested motive whatsoever, but from a full conviction of his great personal merit and public importance, I deem it my duty to my country to use my utmost influence to support.
I AM distressed to think that all your friendly letters and messages to me have met with such ungrateful returns. I have written two letters to you, one of which was inclosed under a cover, directed to Mr. Wolford, and put into the Post-Office; the other was mislaid and lost before I could hear of an apportunity of sending it. You see from this, that I have not been unmindful of you. You have wounded me in supposing that I am carried away by the tide of the times. I would as soon be suspected of picking a pocket, as of infidelity in friendship, or idolatry in politics.
Major Eustace informed me of your reply to President Reed's publications. Our printers refused to give it a place in their papers: it was best for you they did so. Have patience; time and posterity will do you justice. The summer flies that now din our ears must soon retire. Nothing but virtue and real abilities will finally pass muster, when the public cool a little from the ferment into which the great and sudden events of the late revolution have thrown us. I would rather be one of your dogs in a future history of the present war, than possess the first honours that are now current in America, with the characters which I know some of our great men merit. Poor Pennsylvania has become the most miserable spot upon the surface of the globe. Our streets, alas! have been stained already with fraternal blood; a sad prelude, we fear, of the future mischiefs our constitution will bring upon us; they call it a democracy, a mobocracy in my opinion would be more proper. All our laws breathe the spirit of town meetings and porter shops: but I forget that I am not safe in committing my opinion of men and measures to paper. Oh, Liberty! Liberty! I have worshipped thee as a substance!—But —it is near twelve o'clock at night, and I am much fatigued with an unusual share of business, for, in the true stile of the subject of a monarch, my family and my business now engross all my time and attention—my country I have long ago left to the care of Timothy Matlack, [Page 185] Charles Wilson Peale, and Co. I must therefore bid you good night, wishing you at the same time all possible health and happiness, and am, my dear Lee,
THERE are few circumstances, that give me equal pleasure to that of hearing from my friends; and as my esteem for you has ever increased in proportion to your misfortunes in the road of persecution, I am always made happy in a line from you, as it announces your present situation.
Your being robbed of your horses is a common evil, and its falling harder on you than any other person is what I should have expected, from the disposition of wretches always disposed to heap coals on the head of the injured. I am happy ever in having it in my power to inform you of the good esteem in which you are held in the army; and that they are not now, whatever they have been, inclined to pursue the track of persecution, beaten so bare as it is by creatures whose praise would be a dishonour to any honest man.
Poor Fleury, the other day, called me a-one-side to whisper to me, and after looking round, to prevent a possibility of being over-heard, he asked me what had become of you? I could not help smiling, and, in my reply, telling him you was very well, and that he need not be afraid of acknowledging an acquaintance with General Lee in the most public assembly in America; that I esteemed it an honour to call myself his friend; that my sincere attachment to him was amply rewarded by the universal approbation of all good and sensible men. He answered me, he was very glad of it: it was every where known in France that you had been ill-treated, and that every person lamented your misfortune.
[Page 186]The surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his army will reach you before this letter. I think this is a circumstance which must secure to America her independence. What will follow, I leave to time. It must have been a mortifying circumstance to my lord, to have solicited terms, as no demand of a surrender was made. We had just completed our second parallel, at two hundered yards from his main works. In the capitulation he was not permitted to uncase his colours, or to beat an American or French march. You will probably see your friend O'Hara, who is a prisoner.
We expect now to go on to Charleston, to invest that place. The moment I can obtain permission to leave the army, I will repair to your hermitage, and spend some time with you, when I promise myself much satisfaction. In the mean while, believe me,
LETTERS FROM MAJOR GENERAL LEE.
YOUR Majesty will better imagine than I can express the pleasure I have received from your kind and gracious letter: the assurances it gives me of your good opinion and regard, I shall ever consider as the happiest, the most honourable circumstance of my life. They make ample amends for the enmities I have drawn upon myself from certain powerful quarters in my own country, where, perhaps, from some just judgment of God, the same qualities which would recommend to your Majesty are highly obnoxious. I devoutly wish, and proudly hope, for my own honour, that I may ever possess a place in the [Page 187] esteem of your Majesty, and remain the aversion of those who so widely, so totally, differ from you.
I am concerned I cannot more fully, and in a more satisfactory manner, answer the several questions of your Majesty on the state of our country, than what I am able to do. Of some of these articles, the cause, though generally treated of, appears not in the least understood; on others, opinions are so various that it is presumption to decide; but some are, I think, obvious to every man of common understanding; and of this class may be reckoned Mr. Pitt's quitting the stage, and the conduct of the American colonies towards the mother country.— With respect to the first, it is manifest, from a thousand circumstances, that with the health and frame of this extraordinary man, the understanding is likewise worn out. Before I came to England, I did not lay much stress on those parts of his conduct which the newspapers have so worried; and I recollect your Majesty was of the same way of thinking, that there was nothing very monstrous in his acceptance of a peerage, but that it might be imprudent, and argued a senselessness of glory, to forfeit the name of Pitt for any title the king could bestow. But since I am a little more behind the scenes, and am made acquainted with several circumstances previous, concomitant, and subsequent to this event, I am apt to agree with the majority of the better sort, that this once noble mind is quite overthrown. Can it be reconciled to reason, that the same man who had rendered his name so illustrious and so tremendous to the greatest part of the globe, should split upon ribbons and titles; that when he had arrived at a higher pinnacle of glory than ever citizen did since the days of Epaminondas, he should be captivated by such a bauble, even though it should be attended with no ill consequences to the affairs of his country? but when such terrible ones were visible, it must be construed downright madness. Mr. Pitt, say they, was the only man who had capacity, spirit, and power to assert the honour and interest of the nation with foreign states, correct the abuses, and stem the torrent of corruption [Page 188] at home. His power was not founded on vast property or cabinet favour, but on his popularity. By sinking into a peerage, his popularity would vanish of course, and with it all power of rendering, at a most critical time, any farther services to his country. If it is objected that it is possible to accept a title and retain the integrity of the citizen, they allow it; but that, unfortunately, the bulk of the people will not be persuaded of it; that a popular minister must, therefore, not only be strictly virtuous, but, like Caesar's wife, his virtue must not be suspected; that this persuasion of the people, ridiculous as it may appear at first sight, is founded on too much justice; for they observe, that from the time of Wentworth down to that of Pulteny, not one instance can be produced of a man's changing his seat from the lower to the upper house, without a thorough renunciation of all principles and public virtue; but whether this opinion is well or ill founded, as it is a prevalent one, this revolt, error, folly, or madness, of such a man has some direful effects; it taints with jealousy all public affiance, establishes a doubt, whether such a thing as public virtue can exist: in short, it makes the bulk of mankind indifferent who are in, who are out, as they are almost persuaded that all men are, or will prove, in the end, equally vain apostates to the common cause, either through interestedness, vanity, or madness.
Such are the arguments not only made use of by the majority of Mr. Pitt's once admirers, but they were started to him by those who were supposed to have the greatest weight with him. Lord Camden, in particular, concluding this resolution to be a short sit of compliance, and that his friend would soon see the danger of the measure, delayed the signing of the patent for two days. But his lordship was mistaken, the disorder had taken deeper root than he imagined; no girl could shew more impatience for a new toy, than this first of men did, till the testimony of his folly was signed and sealed to the whole world. Your Majesty will probably object, that though Mr. Pitt played the child in one article, it is no [Page 189] proof of the general failure of his understanding; that no man was ever blessed with so entire faculties, as not, on some particular occasion, and in some unlucky moment to betray weakness.
But this is not the case with Pitt, the decay of his parts is not only indicated by the act itself, but confirmed by his conduct in public and private character: In public the doctrines he broaches are diametrically the reverse of what he has, through the whole course of his life, asserted: In private, he is totally metamorphosed; from the extreme of plainness and simplicity, he is all parade, magnificence and ostentation. But I might have spared your Majesty this prolix detail, when in a few words, it would have sufficed to have said, that he has fits of crying, starting, and every effect of hysteric; it is affirmed, indeed, that ten years ago, he was in the very same condition, that therefore a possibility of his recovering once more his nerves, and with them all his functions; but from the age of the man, the generality consider the piece as finished; the honest and well wishers of their country lament over him, the corrupt and profligate sing Te Deum, as the Devil probably did for the fall of man. Your Majesty asks who is to mount the stage in his room? I am so far from seeing any man so qualified in all points, as to fill his part in time of distraction and confusion, that I know no set of men who have a chance of being called to it, who will not, by ignorance, obstinacy, or timidity, throw things into ten times greater confusion than they are at present. My Lord Rockingham is indeed an honest, worthy, and spirited man, and possesses the good opinion of the people in general, but these attributes will probably exclude him. The Thane, who is still all powerful, will never admit of a man so endowed. He requires a certain degree of subserviency and complaisance; in short, he requires a minister of his own jobs and partialities, and not an administrator of the national affairs. As to the rest, who form what is called the opposition, they are so odious, or contemptible, that the favourite himself is preferable to them; such as [Page 190] Grenville, Bedford, Newcastle, and their associates. Temple is one of the most ridiculous order of coxcombs I ever heard of, he is eternally appealing to the public, forgetting that the public never considered him farther than they would an old pair of boots, which Mr. Pitt might, through a whim, have set a value upon, which when he chose to throw aside, it mattered not if they were thrown into a lumber room or the fire. Nothing could make the American colonists cast off their obedience, or even respect to their mother country, but some attempt on the essence of their liberty; such as undoubtedly the stamp act was, which, if it had remained unrepealed, and admitted as a precedent, they would have been slaves to all intents and purposes, as their whole property would lie at the mercy of the Crown's minister and the minister's ministers, the House of Commons, who would find no end to the necessity of taxing these people, as every additional tax would furnish the master with means of adding to their respective wages; but it would be impertinent in me to enter into a discussion of the propriety or impropriety, the justice or injustice, of this measure, when it is so fully and clearly treated in some tracts which are bound up together, and which I have ordered to be sent to your Majesty. If the humours which this accursed attempt has raised, are suffered to subside, the inherent affection which the colonies have for the mother country, and clashings of interests one amongst another, will throw every thing back into the old channel; which indeed is the case already: but if another attack of the same nature should be made upon them, by a wicked blundering minister, I will venture to prophecy, that this country will be shaken to its foundation in its wealth, credit, naval force, and interior population.
YOU will do me great injustice if you attribute my silence for so many months to a want of sense of your [Page 191] excessive goodness and friendship, or even to carelessness, which, considering the obligations I lie under to your highness, would be one and the same thing. The truth is, that I was unwilling to trouble you with a fulsome letter of acknowledgments, as I hope you are no stranger to my sentiments on the subject; but I thought a few lines which would give you a sketch of the state of this country, of the parties, and of our prospect in relation to foreign and inferior affairs, would be the only possible method of making your Highness some return for the thousand instances of friendship which I have received at your hands; but the most reasonable schemes are frequently defeated: so it fares with me; for, although I have been in London eight days, which in this political and communicative town is sufficient, one should think, to make a man master of every thing necessary to be known; but my evil stars have disappointed me, and your evil stars have dictated to me, that, notwithstanding the insignificancy of all I have to say, it would be a pretty treason to remain any longer silent. You must therefore accept the will for the deed; in a few posts I hope to be able to amuse you better. The King and his ministers are out of town, or more properly, I should have said the ministers and their King, for I do not find that the latter is any more a principal than when I left England. Lord Chatham is supposed to be absolute in all affairs which concern the state; Bute in his corner, retains influence to a sufficient degree, for the provision of his creatures and countrymen, in subordinate offices; he disclaims all concern with business; but this is like the rest of his conduct, a most impudent and ineffectual hypocrisy; for he is, as usual, not credited. A formidable opposition is expected, but the conjectures on its success are too vague to be attended to. Some men of weight and reputation are embarked in it; but the heads are too odious to the nation in general in my opinion, to carry their point. Such as Bedford, Sandwich, G. Grenville, and, with submission, your friend Mansfield. He lately drew upon himself the laugh of the House of Lords, [Page 192] making use of the word Liberty of the Subject; and expressing great regard to it, it was called Satan preaching up sanctity. Conway is still secretary of state, and much regarded as a man of ability and integrity. Lord Shelburne, the other secretary, has surpassed the opinion of the world; he speaks well, and is very distinct in office. The Duke of Grafton is an absolute orator, and has a fair character. An Irishman, one Mr. Burke, is sprung up in the House of Commons, who has astonished every body with the power of his eloquence, his comprehensive knowledge in all our exterior and internal politics and commercial interests. He wants nothing but that sort of dignity annexed to rank, and property in England, to make him the most considerable man in the Lower House.
A dispute with Portugal, on some commercial points, seems at present chiefly to occupy the thoughts of the ministry. It is thought, that an ambassador extraordinary, with an escort of ten ships of war, which is the best ultima ratio, will be sent to Lisbon. I have had some conversation with our ministry on the affairs of Poland; but as this letter goes by the common post, I cannot send you the particulars. The character of his Majesty is high in their esteem. I intreat your Highness to present my duty to him, to assure him of my zeal, veneration, and love; in a few days, I shall take the liberty of writing to him, or to Mr. Ogroudski. I wait till I have had a conversation with the King. Could your Highness procure me a copy of his Majesty's picture, either in miniature, or otherwise? I ask for a copy, as I would not presume to trouble him to sit. You would likewise make me very happy with your own. I was much pleased with an acquaintance with Lavisa at the Hague. His warm attachment to our incomparable master has much endeared him to me. We have some books published here, which I fancy you would be glad to have, particularly, the whole letters of Swift. They are the best history of the times, and read with great avidity. When the Baltic is open, I shall send to his Majesty a [Page 193] considerable number, as he has done me the honour to trust to my judgment, and drawn on Mr. Tipper for the cost.
I have not heard from our friend Lind; I beg you will chide him for this abominable neglect. Wroughton too deserves abuse; I shall write to him in a few posts. The reason of Lord Thanet's delay in regard to the horse, was delicacy. He could not find any he thought good enough; but in the spring he will send a couple, which will, in all respects, suit his Majesty.
I entreat you, my dear prince, to pay my humble respects to your father, mother, the prince, chancellor, and all your house, to which I have so great obligations, and for which I have a sincere love and honour, and that you will steal a few moments to give me under your hand what I am already convinced of, that I possess some share of your love and friendship.
YOU must undoubtedly think me a very extraordinary person, that, on a slender acquaintance, I should have saddled you with the curation of my affairs, and afterwards not think it worth my while to write you even a civil note, such as a common acquaintance, who had conferred no obligation, might have expected. The truth is, I have every day expected to be ascertained of my destiny, and then intended to have given you a circumstantial plan of my operations; but as this day is as remote, in all appearance, as ever, I should be guilty of a monstrous neglect, in any farther delaying, to pay the tribute of friendship which I so sensibly owe. Believe me, my dear Sir, that I most sincerely love and honour you; and this love and honour is founded on so solid a [Page 194] basis, that I have dared to neglect a form which would not be pardoned by a person who is not really an object of esteem.
I have been in this place two months waiting for an opportunity to join the Russian army, and I am afraid I shall be obliged to wait a month longer. The communications are so filled with the offals of the confederates, who are themselves a banditti, that it is impossible to stir ten yards without an escort of Russians: the English are less secure than others, as they are esteemed the archenemies of the holy faith. A French comedian was the other day near being hanged from the circumstance of his wearing a bob wig, which, by the confederates, is supposed to be the uniform of the English nation. I wish to God the three branches of our legislature would take it into their heads to travel through the woods of Poland in bob-wigs.
The first opportunity that will offer will be the present ambassador, who, it is said, will now be succeeded in ten days; but this has been so long said, that I begin to despair of any opportunity at all; if none should offer, I have made a wise journey of it: I believe it would break my heart. I have an unspeakable curiosity of seeing this campaign, though, in fact, I believe it will be a ridiculous one; if not like that of Harlequin and Scapin, it will resemble the battle of Wilks and Talbot. The Russians can gain nothing by beating their enemy, and the Turks are confoundedly afraid. I wish by practice, to make myself a soldier for purposes honest, but which I shall not mention. If I am defeated in my intention of joining the Russians, I think of passing through Hungary, and spending the ensuing winter in the south of Italy, Sicily, or some of the islands in the Aegean sea. As you are a scholar I venture to talk this cant. As to England, I am resolved not to set my foot in it, till the virtue which I believe to exist in the body of the people can be put into motion. I have good reasons for it. My spirits and temper were much affected by the measures which I was witness of, measures absolutely moderate, laudable and [Page 195] virtuous, in comparison of what has been transacted since. To return solemn thanks to the Crown for the manifestly corrupt dissipation of its enormous revenues and impudent demand on the people: to repair this dissipation, to compleat their own ruin, is pushing fervility farther than the rascally senate of Tiberias was guilty of. In this light it is considered by all those I converse with, of every nation, even those who have the least idea of liberty. The Austrians and Russians hoot at us. In fine, it is looked upon as the ultimatum of human baseness, a conp de grace to our freedom and national honour.
You will say, it is being a pleasant correspondent, giving you my comments on what passes under your own eyes, and being entirely silent on the transactions of this country, which you may be supposed to have some curiosity of being acquainted with. You will not think me serious when I assure you, that I am as totally a stranger to them as yourself or any man in England. Humphrey Gates, I am sure, must know fifty times more of the matter. I see that the country is in one general state of confusion, filled with devastation and murder. I hear every day of the Russians beating the Confederates; but as to what the Russians, what the Confederates, what the body of the nation propose, I am utterly ignorant, though no move, I believe, than they are themselves. The method of carrying on the war is equally gentle with what our's was in North-America; the Confederates hang up all the Russians who fall into their hands, and the Russians put to the sword the Confederates. The Russian Cossacks have an admirable sang froid in these executions. The other day, at a place called Rava, forty or fifty Confederates were condemned to the bayonet; but as they were tolerably dressed, they were obliged to strip for the ceremony, the Cossacks chusing not to make any holes in their cloaths. The situation of the K— is really to be lamented, notwithstanding he wears a crown. He is an honest, virtuous man, and a friend to the right of mankind. I wish he could persuade a prince of my acquaintance, who is taught (as far as he can be [Page 196] taught any thing) to hate them, to exchange with him. I know a nation that could spare a whole family, mother, and all to the Poles, and only take in exchange this one man. I could say many things on this subject, digna literis nostris, sed non committenda ejusmodi periculo, ut aut interire, aut aperiri, aut intercipi possint.
I hope your kindness has not entailed any trouble upon you with respect to my affairs. I hope Mr. Ayre has been punctual in his payment. I wrote to him from London, acquainting him with your powers. If you shall pass by Mr. Hoares, I beg you will tell him, that I wrote to him from Munich, requesting him to send me, if possible, a letter of credit to Warsaw, and to give credit to a Captain William Spey, for surveying my land in St. John's. How does the hallowed Juliet? It is inconceivable how deeply I am interested for the success and welfare of that girl. If she does not succeed, let her marry me, and settle in America. My respects to Mrs. Coleman, and that,
P. S. My love to Rice, that when he can find time and matter I wish he would write. What will give me the greatest pleasure is to hear of his being married to the widow Wales, or to any good party. He is the only fine gentleman I ever loved. Direct to me. Chez le Prince General de Podolia, Varsovia. Let your letters be as long as possible, and let them have in them as much of Juliet as possible.
I SHOULD write to you with more ease and pleasure, had you not given me to understand that you looked upon me as an able letter-writer. The ambition of coming, [Page 197] up to your expectations lays me under a constraint which will inevitably make me fall short of every correspondent. To render myself tolerable, I must endeavour to forget your sex, your beauty; but, above all, the high opinion which you are pleased to conceive of my talents in this article. That I may not run into compliment, that I may divest myself of awe and vanity: the first you would despise as fulsome, and the second and last would be productive of reserve and petulance.
Your understanding and the care you have taken to cultivate it, cuts me off from some of the most fruitful subjects to female correspondents; the dress, intrigues, and diversions of the women in the several places we pass through: but, on the other hand, it affords me ample liberty of pouring out my mind upon subjects which, unfortunately for my own ease, engross it entirely; the dreadful situation of all the honest part of mankind, and particularly of our own country. How miserably fallen she is in the eyes of every state! How sunk are we (in a few months I may say) from the summit of glory, opulence, and strength, to the lowest degree of poverty, imbecility, and contempt. Europe is astonished at the rapidity of the change; high and low, men of every order, from the ministers of state to the political barbers, make it the subject of their admiration. How can it happen, say they, that Great Britain, so lately the mistress of the globe, with America in one hand, Asia and Africa in another, instead of the glorious task of giving laws and peace to nations, protecting the weak and injured, checking the powerful and oppressive, should employ her time in trampling on the rights of her dependencies, and violating her own sacred laws, on which her superiority over her neighbours is founded? It was some consolation, say they, for the generous few of the Romans who survived the liberties of their country, that it was a Julius Caesar, a man with more than mortal talents, who was their subverter: and the patriots of England had some mitigation for their spleen, that it was a Cromwell who had over-reached them; but that * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [Page 198] should be able to encompass the enslaving of a spirited nation, whose every law seems dictated by Liberty herself, is too much to bear. They compare the noble remonstrances of the French parliaments against the oppressions of their court, with the slavish addresses of ours. I must confess, that instead of sending for cooks and hair-dressers from that country, I have long wished that we were to supply ourselves with members of Parliament. What it will come to, I know not, but it is time something should be done, and I flatter myself it will: there is much spirit in the body of the people; but I will endeavour to quit this subject; it makes me mad.
This country is the reverse of ours; they have an honest, patriot k—g, but a vicious nation. If God delights in seeing a virtuous man (as Seneca supposes he does) struggling with adversities, he has a charming spectacle in the king of Poland: and I hope God will in the end, recompence the instrument of his pleasure, by extricating him out of his distresses; nothing else can, I am sure. You must excuse me entering into a detail of these difficulties, as this letter may possibly fall into the hands of the Confederates, and be published to the nation, as several others, full as insignificant, have already been, to the no small detriment of this good man's affairs. I shall reserve them for some future letter, or our evenings chat in Queen Anne Street, or Langham.
Our station here, I mean those who are about the king's person, is whimsical enough. We have few troops, the bulk of these totally disaffected, and the town is full of (though not declared, far from being concealed) Confederates. We have frequent alarms, and the pleasure of sleeping every night with our pistolson our pillows. I at present only wait for an opportunity to join the Russian army: this does not offer every day, as a strong escort is necessary, the communications being filled with banditties of robbers, who are the offals of the Confederates. I believe it will be but a ridiculous campaign, something like that of Wilks and Talbot. The Russians can gain nothing by beating their enemy, and the Turks are confoundedly afraid.
[Page 199]I have heard of Lady S—h's flight. I cannot say I ever liked the match. It is impossible to have the least connection with Fox, eit [...]r of a political or a private nature, without smarting for it▪ every thing he touches becomes putrid and prostitute. I hope your brother will have the grace to break this accursed connection, which has diverted such excellent parts from their true use, blasted all the hopes which his real friends and his country had a right to entertain of him; that he will see, in its proper colours, the odiousness of dependency and venality, particularly in a man of fortune; and that he may, by his future conduct, make an ample recompence to the opulent country which has chosen him for their hitherto disappointment. I am convinced you will not think what I am saying as too great a liberty with your brother; I am convinced your sentiments correspond with mine; if I thought they did not, I solemnly declare, were your beauty and understanding greater than they are, I would not write to you. I have no doubt of Mr. Blake's doing his duty. He is not only well disposed himself, but in the hands of one who might transform a Maccaroni into a Cato. He must be the devil himself, whom a young, beautiful, English woman, with the sentiments of a Spartan matron, cannot lead into the way of political righteousness. If women in general were like you, men could not possibly be such rascals. I have long lamented the accursed prevailing notion, that women ought to have defective educations. It was the most cunning fiend in hell who first broached this doctrine; which had it not prevailed, the better part of the globe would not have groaned in the wretched state of slavery we at present see it. For God's sake, Madam, have as many daughters as possible, and make them as much like yourself as possible, and some descendant of Catharine M'Cauley may attribute the salvation of the state to your progeny.
WHEN you first requested me to give you lessons in English, I esteemed myself happy to demonstrate my gratitude to Madam Kreithin for her singular kindness to me. I have been so used to converse with myself and a few favourite books, that I never found it necessary to attend the toilets of women, merely as the generality do, to fly from themselves, and kill the time which they have no other means of employing. This was my original motive; but on one or two conversations with my scholar I entertained a sort of ambition of adding something to the means of enlightening so excellent an understanding as I perceived her to be possessed of. A little knowledge of the English language I conceived to be one of the means, as it abounds with so many excellent and instructing books. For a few days my views were confined to this; but, O Louisa! you ought, you must, have seen this ambition giving place to another less tranquil sentiment. Why did not you check it in its birth, by affecting to find difficulties in the task you had undertaken? Why did you not, on some such humane pretext, remove me from your side before the flame had acquired such inextinguishable fierceness? This you should in charity have done, as you was determined to treat me as an enemy the moment I declared I loved. Your resentment at my pretending to more than common friendship, is futile and vain, or, what is worse, hypocritical and deceitful. You know your own charms, your own power too well. You have proved them with an unhappy success on several, not to be conscious that it is impossible to see you often, and to hear you voice, without being forced beyond the bounds of friendship. But, to speak proudly, I do not see why the declaration of my passion should so heniously offend you. To inspire you with an equal passion for an object destitute of any kind of charm, would be ridiculous presumption: and were I furnished with every charm that could captivate womankind, to entertain any hopes which might affect your happiness or reputation would be the highest [Page 201] villany; but as I am born of a reputable family, I hope my character is rather a fair one; and as my fortun [...] is sufficiently ample to make an honest man independent and an honest woman content, I cannot see the mighty crime in wishing to unite your fortune with mine. I had flattered myself, that time and an unwearied attention to please, would have supplied in me what you might sad amiss in my person or the arts of conversation.
I WROTE a sort of scrap of a note to you by the hands of Fawkner, and flattered myself that I should have found at this place a scrap in return. I know your indolence too well, to expect a letter of a sheet of paper, and do not expect it; but if you know how much pleasure a scrap signed by your hand, certifying your health, welfare, and good spirits, affords me, I am confident you would from time to time muster up resolution to write me a few lines, three will be sufficient, which I insist on, as a tribute due to friendship, which on my side I can affirm to be as pure and genuine as the spawn of such a rascally planet as this is capable of; and I have the strongest reason to think it is not less so on yours. I must therefore repeat it, that I expect a tribute of this sort every fifth or sixth post. I have been in this happy capital five weeks, waiting for an apportunity to join the Russian army, which does not offer every day, for the communications are filled by a set of gentlemen who are called Confederates, but why or wherefore they are pleased to style themselves Confederates, I cannot find out. They give no reasons, they propose no plan, but they rob, strip, and generally murder every body who fall into their hands.
[Page 202]You used to dine formerly with very knowing wise politicians, such as Hansa, Stanley, and others, who are acquainted with all the schemes of all the nations, and all the individuals in Europe; I would request you to give me some hints of what these worthies intend: You will scarcely believe me serious, but I do assure you, that I knew, before I left London, the state of this country, full as well, if not better than I do here on the spot. If Gates is in the way, you will much oblige me, in procuring his opinion. I have greater reason every day to congratulate my prudence in having left England; I am persuaded, had I stayed, I should have brought myself into some cursed scrape; even here, at so great a distance, I am thrown into strange agitations of passions on the sight of every newspaper. Heavenly God! is it possible we should be so far sunk? to return solemn thanks for a manifestly corrupt dissipation of such enormous revenues, and an impudent demand on the public to repair this dissipation, is pushing servility to its ultimatum. Those nations who have the least idea of liberty, as the Austrians and Russians, laugh and hoot at us;— compare, say they, the remonstrances of the French parliaments with the addresses of yours, and then dare to pride yourselves in the superiority of British spirit over their neighbours. It is impossible to make the least reply to these charges—I choak with grief and indignation. When I attempt to assure them that the body of the nation is still untainted, that they have still sentiments of freedom; they answer, that such sentiments are of little consequence, when courage is wanting to put them in motion. Is not every of your most boasted laws trampled upon, or eluded? Is not perjury, desolation, and murder, encouraged and rewarded with the national money? Are not your magistrates, from the sole merit of being declared enemies of the law, become factious partizans? Is not the choice of your people in their representatives, treated with contempt and annulled? Are not your citizens massacred in the public streets, and in the arms of their houshold gods, by the military, and the military [Page 203] thanked for their friendlike alertness? If these things are borne with by a people, who possess sentiments of liberty, we have [...]ost the meaning of words. Such, my dear and, is the language of these people, and it is fortunate [...], that they are ignorant of the state of our American politics. They can have no idea of our carrying out abo [...]inations so far, as to disfranchise three millions of people [...] the rights of men, for the gratification of the revenge of a blundering knavish Secretary, and a scoundrel Atto [...]e [...] General, a Hillsborough, and a Barnard. Were they informed of these facts, their opinion of us would be still more mortifying. I had the other day a conversation with [...]he gentleman to whom you gave the horse; he lamen [...] with great energy, the weak and wicked conduct of our administration, not only on our own account, but on that of all Europe. He says, did they barely possess common sense, and common honesty, Great Britain must have been the Empress of the world; that she might have kept on the muzzles of the dogs of war, which must now inevitably be slipped off, to the devastation of the greater part of the globe. He desires his respects to you, and thanks you again and again for the horse, which turns out nobly. I beg my compliments to Lady Thanet, and was in hopes to have heard that she had before this, produced you a son.— Adieu, my dear Lord, and write soon a few lines to one▪ who sincerely loves you.
AS an express is this evening dispatched by the governor, I take the liberty of addressing this scribble to your Majesty. As it is in English, I am in hopes no bad consequences. can arise, if it falls into the hands of the Confederates. Your Majesty will have heard of our retreat— a thousand reasons will undoubtedly be given, and probably [Page 204] not one founded in justice; I must, it is my duty, to speak freely to your Majesty. The operations have been miserably concluded; they opened with a capital defect—without a certainty of the state of the place, (Chotzim) they were destined to attack it; they with infinite fatigue and expence marched to the certain (in idea,) reduction of it, without the possible means of reducing it. Chotzim is perhaps as secure from assault as any fortress in the universe; but must inevitably be taken, when attacked with the necessary quantity of battering artillery, in forty hours. The hopes of reducing it with our pop-guns soon appeared vain; it was then seemingly determined to blockade it, but the line of blockade was either broken in part, or totally taken away on every alarm. When the blockade was formed, the grand Vizier was expected with an hundred and fifty thousand men. If that number was formidable, they ought not to have formed the blockade, but retired at once over the Neister, without harassing, for no purpose, their met and their horses. If it was not formidable, they ought to have persisted in the blockade. In fact, the Russian army, I mean the infantry, brave as it is, was not sufficient in number to form a line compleat of circumvallation, against so numerous an enemy; but neither the marching without battering cannon, the blockading the place without a resolution to persist in it, nor any blunder committed, are so liable to censure, as the neglect to attack them in their camp. If success in war can be assured, ours was certainly so.
THOUGH I have been a long time in answering your letter, I beg you will not conclude, that the pleasure [Page 205] I received from it, is but small. Believe me, that every fresh assurance of your friendship gives me unspeakable satisfaction, though I have no need of fresh assurances to be convinced of it. The longer I live, my love for you acquires greater force, perhaps from a cynical disposition, in comparing you with other men. I have long been acquainted with your private virtues, and my opinion of your political virtues is now confirmed. I am only concerned at your having thoughts of quitting parliament. I know your reasons, but cannot approve of them. You think, that as you are not a speaker, at you have no turn for business, your attendance will little avail; that it cannot contribute to stem the torrent of corruption and villany which, at present, bears down every thing before it. It is this indolent or despairing method of reasoning, of many honest men, for I cannot help being persuaded that there are still many honest men, that have reduced us to this terrible situation. You know that the God of the Jews, who should have been a judge of Jewish affairs, as he interfered in them so much, was of opinion that five righteous men were sufficient to save the rotten state of Gomorrah; and I do not find that he meant they should be all speakers. Besides, the mass of the people of Gomorrah was all polluted, but the mass of the English people certainly is not. I believe no people was ever possessed of more public virtue, which is manifest from all their proceedings. I beg, my dear friend, you will not in despair quit the deck and get under hatches—work at the pump—hand a rope, doing any thing with good will and firmness—encourage others to do the same, and with so intrepid a pilot, as Sir George Saville, the vessel may perhaps work into harbour, notwithstanding the abominable treason of the major part of the crew.
THE noble part your Lordship has acted in opposing all the diabolical measures of our accursed misrulers, has encouraged me to address these few lines to you. Men who are embarked in the glorious cause of liberty should wave all ceremony. I shall, therefore, neither trouble you nor myself with making apologies. Inclosed I send your Grace a copy of the different resolves of the congress (though it is probable you may have received them before) their address to the people of England, to the people of English America, to the people of Canada, and to the King. They argue so irresistibly, and they breathe so noble an ardor, that if there is the least understanding remaining in your island, and the least virtue latent, the former must be convinced, and the latter roused to action. What could put it into our blockheads heads, that these people could be tricked out of their liberties by their cunning, or bullied by any force which they can send over? What devil of nonsense could instigate any man of General Gage's understanding to concur in bringing about this delusion? I have lately, my lord, run through almost the whole colonies, from the South to the North. I have conversed with all orders of men from the first estated gentlemen to the poorest planters, and cannot express my astonishment at the good sense and general knowledge, which pervades the whole; but their elevated principles, their enthusiasm in the cause of freedom and their country, is still more admirable.
I think I should not be guilty of exaggeration in asserting, that there are two hundred thousand strong bodied active yeomanry, ready to encounter all hazards and dangers, ready to sacrifice all considerations rather than surrender a title of the rights which they have derived from God and their ancestors: But this is not all, they are not like the yeomanry of other countries, unarmed and unused to arms; but they are all furnished and all expert in the use. They want nothing but some arrangement, and this they are now bent on establishing. Virginia, Rhode-Island, and Carolina, are forming corps: [Page 207] Massachusetts-Bay has long had a sufficient number instructed to become instructive to the rest; even this Quakering province is following the example. I was present at a review of some of their companies at Providence in Rhode-Island, and really never saw any thing more perfect; in short, unless the banditti at Westminster speedily undo every thing they have done, their royal paymaster will hear of reviews and manoeuvres not quite so entertaining as those he is presented with in Hyde Park and Wimbledon Common.
I must now, my dear Lord, hasten to the main purpose of this letter: As your Lordship is justly considered as one of the most strenuous advocates, and patrons of this country, and one of the most active assertors of the rights of mankind, I must beg leave to propose to you, what, had you adverted to, I am persuaded you would have already adopted; it is to set on foot a subscription for a relief or an indemnification for the brave sufferers of Boston. These people's sufferings and merit are so transcendent, that men less animated with sentiment and public spirit than your Lordship, would exert themselves in their cause. A town consisting of thirty thousand people, perhaps of more ease and affluent circumstances than any other town of the world, reduced at one stroke to beggary and wretchedness; every individual of them deprived of the means of supplying themselves with a morsel of bread, but what is furnished to them by the precarious hand of charity; to see a whole people struggling with the extreme of distress, not only magnanimously, but cheerfully, rather than comply with the wishes of brutal tyrants, and thereby admit precedents injurious to mankind and posterity, is, I say, a strain of virtue almost too bright for modern eyes to gaze at; and must sill every breast, not totally dead to sentiment and feeling, with rage, indignation, horror, and compassion. But they went further; they made a formal offer to the Congress, to abandon their town, with their wives, children, aged, and infirm, throw themselves on the charity of the inhabitants of the country, or build [Page 208] huts in the woods and never revisit their native walls, until re-established in the full possession of their rights and liberties. Your Lordship will see the Congress's resolve on this head: These instances, I am sure, render unnecessary any thing I could say to incite a man of your Grace's stamp to exertions in their favour, or, more properly, in favour and support of human virtue. I should be very happy in receiving a couple of lines in answer; it must be directed for me, at Richard Penn, Esq. at Philadelphia.
WE have had twenty different accounts of your arrival at Boston, which have been regularly contradicted the next morning; but as I now find it certain that you are arrived, I shall not delay a single instant addressing myself to you. It is a duty I owe to the friendship I have long and sincerely professed for you; a friendship to which you have the strongest claims from the first moment of our acquaintance. There is no man from whom I have received so many testimonies of esteem and affection; there is no man whose esteem and affection could, in my opinion, have done my greater honour. I intreat and conjure you, therefore, my dear Sir, to impute these lines, not to a petulant itch of scribbling, but to the most unfeigned solicitude for the future tranquillity of your mind, and for your reputation. I sincerely lament the infatuation of the times, when men of such a stamp as Mr. Burgoyne and Mr. Howe can be seduced into so impious and nefarious a service by the artifice of a wicked and insidious court and cabinent. You cannot but recollect their manoeuvres in your own select committee, [Page 209] and the treatment yourself as president received from these abandoned men. You cannot but recollect the black business of St. Vincents, by an opposition to which you acquired the highest and most deserved honour. I s [...]all not trouble you with my opinion of the right of t [...]ing America without her own consent, as I am afraid, from what I have seen of your speeches, that you have already formed your creed on this article; but I will boldly affirm, had this right been established by a thousand statutes, had America admitted it from time immemorial, it would be the duty of every good Englishman to exert his utmost to divest parliament of this right, as it must inevitably work the subversion of the whole empire. The malady under which the State labours, is indisputably derived from the inadequate representation of the subject, and the vast pecuniary influence of the crown.
To add to this pecuniary influence and incompetency of representation, is to insure and precipitate our destruction. To wish any addition, can scarcely enter the heart of a citizen who has the least spark of public virtue, and who is at the same time capable of seeing consequences the most immediate. I appeal, Sir, to your own conscience, to your experience and knowledge of our court and parliament, and I request you to lay your hand upon your heart, and then answer with your usual integrity and frankness, whether, on the supposition America should be abject enough to submit to the terms imposed, you think a single guinea raised upon her would be applied to the purpose [as it is ostentatiously held out to deceive the people at home] of easing the mother country? Or whether you are not convinced that the whole they could extract, would be applied solely to keep up still further the enormous fund for corruption which the Crown already possesses, and of which a most diabolical use is made. On these principles, I say, Sir, every good Englishman, abstracted of all regard for America, must oppose her being taxed by the British parliament; for my own part, I am convinced that no argument (not totally [Page 210] abhorrent from the spirit of liberty, and the British constitution) can be produced in support of this right. But it would be impertinent to trouble you upon a subject which has been so amply, and, in my opinion, so fully discussed. I find by a speech given as yours in the public papers, that it was by the King's positive command you embarked in this service. I am somewhat pleased that it is not an office of your own seeking, though, a the same time, I must confess, that it is very alarming to every virtuous citizen, when he sees men of sense and integrity (because of a certain profession) lay it down as a rule implicitly to obey the mandates of a court, be they ever so flagitious. It furnishes, in my opinion, the best argument for the total reduction of the army. But I am running into a tedious essay, whereas I ought to confine myself to the main design and purpose of this letter, which is to guard you and your colleagues from those prejudices which the same miscreants, who have infatuated General Gage, and still surround him, will labour to instil into you against a brave, loyal, and most deserving people. The avenues of truth will be shut up to you. I assert, Sir, that even General Gage will deceive you, as he has deceived himself; I do not say he will do it designedly; I do not think him capable: But his mind is so totally poisoned, and his understanding so totally blinded by the society of fools and knaves, that he no longer is capable of discerning facts as manifest as noonday sun. I assert, Sir, that his letters to the ministry, (at least, such as the public have seen) are one continued tissue of misrepresentation, injustice, and tortured inferences from mistated facts. I affirm, Sir, that he has taken no pains to inform himself of the truth; that he has never conversed with a man who has had the courage or honesty to tell him the truth. I am apprehensive that you and your colleagues may fall into the same trap, and it is the apprehension that you may be inconsiderately hurried by the vigour and activity you possess into measures which may be fatal to many innocent individuals, may hereafter wound your own feelings, and which cannot [Page 211] possibly serve the cause of those who sent you, that has prompted me to address these lines to you. I most devoutly wish, that your industry, valour and military talents, may be reserved for a more honourable and virtuous service, against the natural enemies of your country (to whom our Court are so basely complacent) and not be wasted in ineffectual attempts to reduce to the wretchedest state of servitude, the most meritorious part of your fellow subjects. I say, Sir, that any attempts to accomplish this purpose must be ineffectual. You cannot possibly succeed. No man is better acquainted with the state of this continent than myself. I have ran thro' almost the whole colonies from the North to the South, and from the South to the North. I have conversed with all orders of men, from the first estated gentlemen, to the lowest planter and farmers, and can assure you that the same spirit animates the whole. Not less than one hundred and fifty thousand gentlemen, yeomen, and farmers, are now in arms, determined to preserve their liberties or perish. As to the idea that the Americans are deficient in courage, it is too ridiculous and glaringly false to deserve a serious refutation. I never could conceive upon what this notion was founded. I served several campaigns in America the last war, and cannot recollect a single instance of ill behaviour in the provincials, where the regulars acquitted themselves well. Indeed we well remember some instances of the reverse, particularly where the late Colonel Grant (he who lately pledged himself for the general cowardice of America) ran away with a large body of his own regiment, and was saved from destruction, by the valour of a few Virginians. Such preposterous arguments are only proper for the Rigbys and Sandwichs, from whose mouths never issued, and to whose breast, truth and decency are utter strangers. You will much oblige me in communicating this letter to General Howe, to whom I could wish it should be considered in some measure addressed; as well as to yourself. Mr. Howe is a man for whom I have ever had the highest love and reverence. I have [Page 212] honoured him for his own connections, but above all, for his admirable talents and good qualities. I have courted his acquaintance and friendship, not only as a pleasure, but as an ornament; I flattered myself that I had obtained it. Gracious God! is it possible that Mr. Howe should be prevailed upon to accept such an office! that the brother of him, to whose memory the much injured people of Boston erected a monument, should be employed as one of the instruments of their destruction! But the fashion of the times it seems is such, as renders it impossible that he should avoid it. The commands of our most gracious sovereign, are to cancel all moral obligations, to sanctify every action, even those that the satrap of an Eastern despot would start at. I shall now beg leave to say a few words with respect to myself and the part I act. I was bred up from my infancy in the highest veneration for the liberties of mankind in general. What I have seen of Courts and princes, convinces me that power cannot be lodged in worse hands than in theirs; and of all courts I am persuaded that ours is the most corrupt and hostile to the rights of humanity. I am convinced, that a regular plan has been laid, indeed every act since the present accession evinces it, to abolish even the shadow of liberty from amongst us. It was not the demolition of the tea, it was not any other particular act of the Bostonians, or of the other provinces, which constituted their crimes; but it is the noble spirit of liberty, manifestly pervading the whole continent, which has rendered them the objects of ministerial and royal vengeance. Had they been notoriously of another disposition, had they been homines ad servitudinem paratos, they might have made as free with the property of the East-India Company as the felonious North himself, with impunity. But the lords of St. James's and their mercenaries of St. Stephen's well know, that as long as the free spirit of this great continent remains unsubdued, the progress they can make in their scheme of universal despotism, will be but trifling. Hence it is, that they wage inexpiable war against America. In short, this is the last assylum of persecuted [Page 213] liberty. Here should the machinations and fury of her enemies prevail, that bright Goddess must fly off from the face of the earth, and leave not a trace behind. These, Sir, are my principles; this is my persuasion, and consequently I am determined to act. I have now, Sir, only to entreat, that whatever measures you pursue, whether those which your real friends (myself amongst them) would wish, or unfortunately those which our accursed misrulers shall dictate, you will still believe me to be personally, with the greatest sincerity and affection,
WHEN we were last together in service I should not have thought it within the vicissitude of human affairs, that we should meet at any time, or in any sense as foes: the letter you have honoured me with, and my own feelings combine to prove we are far from being personally such.
I claim no merit from the attentions you so kindly remember, but as they manifest how much it was my pride to be known for your friend: Nor have I departed from the duties of that character, when I will not scruple to say, it has been almost a general offence to maintain it: I mean since the violent part you have taken in the commotions of the colonies. It would exceed the limits and propriety of our present correspondence to argue at full, the great cause in which we are engaged. But, anxious to preserve a consistent and ingenuous character, and jealous, I confess, of having the part I sustain imputed to such motives as you intimate, I will state to you as concisely as I can, the principles upon which, not voluntarily, but most conscientiously, I undertook it.
I have, like you, entertained from my infancy, a veneration for public liberty. I have likewise regarded the [Page 214] British constitution, as the best safe-guard of that blessing to be found in the history of mankind. The vital principle of the constitution, in which it moves and has its being, is the supremacy of the King in Parliament, a compound, indefinite, indefeasable power, co-eval with the origin of the empire, and co-extensive over all its parts: I am no stranger to the doctrines of Mr. Locke and other of the best advocates for the rights of mankind, upon the compact always implied between the governing and governed, and the right of resistance in the latter, when the compact shall be so violated as to leave no other means of redress. I look with reverence almost amounting to idolatry, upon those immortal men who adopted and applied such doctrine, during part of the reign of Charles the First, and that of James the Second. Should corruption pervade the three estates of the realm, so as to prevent the great ends of their institution, and make the power vested in them for the good of the whole people operate like an abuse upon the prerogative of the Crown to general oppression, I am ready to acknowledge, that the same doctrine of resistance applies as forceably against the abuses of the collective body of power, as against those of the Crown, or either of the component branches separately: still always understood that no other means of redress can be obtained. A case, I contend, much more difficult to suppose when it relates to the whole, than when it relates to parts. But in all cases that have existed, or can be conceived, I hold, that resistance, to be justifiable, must be directed against the usurpation or undue exercise of power, and that it is most criminal, when directed against any power itself inherent in the constitution.
And here you will discern immediately why I drew a line in the allusion I made above to the reign of Charles the First. Towards the close of it the true principle of resistance was changed, and a new system of government projected accordingly. The patriots, previous to the long parliament, and during great part of it, as well as the glorious Revolutionists of 1681, resisted to vindicate [Page 215] and restore the constitution; the republicans re [...]is [...]ed, to so [...]t it.
Now, Sir, lay your hand upon your heart, as you have enjoined me to do on mine, and tell me, to which of these purposes do the proceedings of America tend? Is it the weight of taxes imposed and the possibility of relief after due representation of her burthens, that has induced her to take up arms? Or is it a denial of the legislative right of Great Britain, to impose them, and consequently a struggle for total independency? For this idea of a power that can tax externally and not internally, and all the sophistry that attends it, though it may catch the weakness and prejudices of the multitude in a speech or a pamphlet, is too preposterous to weigh seriously with a man of your understanding, and I am persuaded you will admit the question fairly put.
Is it then for a relief from taxes? or from the controul of parliament "in all cases whatsoever," that we are in war? If, for the former, the quarrel is at an end. There is not a man of sense and information in America, who does not see it is in the power of the colonies to obtain a relinquishment of the exercise of taxation immediately and for ever. I boldly assert it, because sense and information must also suggest to every man, that it can never be the interest of Britain to make a second trial.
But if the other ground is taken, and it is intended to wrest from Great Britain a link of that substantial, and, I hope, perpetual chain, by which the empire holds, think it not a ministerial mandate; think it not a mere professional ardour; think it not prejudice against any part of our fellow subjects, that induces men of integrity, and among such you have done me the honour to class me, to act with vigour. But be assured it is conviction, that the whole of our political system depends upon preserving entire its great and essential parts; and none is so great and essential as the supremacy of legislation. It is conviction, that as the king of England never appears in so glorious a capacity as when he employs the executive power of the state to maintain the laws, so, in the present exertions of [Page 216] that power, his Majesty is particularly entitled to our zeal and grateful obedience, not only as soldiers, but as citizens.
These principles, depend upon it, actuate the army and fleet throughout: and let me at the same time add, there are few, if any, gentlemen among us who would have drawn his sword in the cause of slavery. But why do I confine myself to the fleet and army? I affirm, the sentiments I here touch, to be those of the great bulk of the nation. I appeal even to those trading towns which are sufferers by the dispute, and the city of London at the head of them, notwithstanding the petitions and remonstrances that the arts of parties and factions have extorted from some individuals; and last, because, least in your favour, I appeal to the majorities of the last year upon American questions in parliament. The most licentious news-writer wants assurance to call these majorities ministerial; much less will you, when you impartially examine the characters of which they were in a great degree composed; men of the most independent principles and fortunes, and many of them professedly in opposition in their general line of conduct.
Among other supporters of British rights against American claims, I will not speak positively, but, I firmly believe, I may name the men of whose integrity and judgment you have the highest opinion, and whose friendship is nearest your heart; I mean Lord Thanet, from whom my aid de camp has a letter for you, with another from Sir C. Davers. I do not inclose them, because the writers [little imagining how difficult your conduct would render our intercourse] desired they might be delivered into your hands.
For this purpose, as well as to renew "the rights of our fellowship," I wish to see you; and, above all, I should think an interview happy if it induced such explanations as might tend, in their consequences, to peace. I feel, in common with all around me, for the unhappy deluded bulk of this country: they foresee not the distress that is impending. I know Great Britain is ready [Page 217] to open her arms upon the first reasonable overtures of accommodation: I know she is equally resolute to maintain her original right; and I also know, that if the war proceeds, your hundred and fifty thousand men will be no match for her power. I put my honour to these assertions as you have done to others; and I claim the credit I am willing to give.
The place I would propose for our meeting, is the house on Boston Neck, just within our advanced sentries, called Brown's House; I will obtain authority to give you my parole of honour for your secure return. I shall expect the same on your part, that no insult be offered me. If the proposal is agreeable to you, name your day and hour;—and at all events, accept a sincere return of the assurances you honour me with, and believe me,
P. S. I have been prevented, by business, answering your letter sooner. I obeyed your commands in regard to General Howe and Clinton; and I likewise communicated to Lord Percy the contents of your letter and my answer. They all join with me in compliments, and authorise me to assure you they do the same in principles.
GENERAL LEE'S compliments to General Burgoyne: would be extremely happy in the interview he so kindly proposed; but as he perceives, that General Burgoye has already made up his mind on this great subject, and that it is impossible that he (General Lee) should ever alter his opinion, he is apprehensive that the interview might create those jealousies and suspicions so natural to a people struggling in the dearest of all causes, that of their liberty, property, wives, children, and their future generations. He must, therefore, defer the happiness of embracing a man whom he most sincerely loves, [Page 218] until the subversion of the present tyrannical ministry and system, which he is persuaded must be in a few months, as he knows Great Britain cannot stand the contest. He begs General Burgoyne will send the letters which his aid de camp has for him. If Gardiner is his aid de camp, he desires his love to him.
AS I am just informed you are ready to embark for England, I cannot refrain from once more trespassing on your patience. An opportunity is now presented of immortalizing yourself as the savio [...] of your country. The whole British empire stands tottering on the brink of ruin, and you have it in your power to prevent the fatal catastrophe; but it will admit of no delay. For Heaven's sake avail yourself of the precious moment: put an end to the delusion: exert the voice of a brave, virtuous citizen; and tell the people at home, that they must immediately rescind all their impolitic, iniquitous, tyrannical, murderous acts; that they must overturn the whole frantic system, or that they are undone. You ask me, in your letter, if it is independence at which the Americans aim? I answer, no; the idea never entered a single American's head, until the most intolerable oppression forced it upon them. All they required was, to remain masters of their own property, and be governed by the same equitable laws which they had enjoyed from the first formation of the Colonies. The ties of connection which bound them to their parent country, were so dear to them, that he who would have ventured to touch them, would have been considered as the most impious of mortals; but these sacred ties, the same men, who have violated or baffled the most precious laws and rights of the people at home, dissipated, or refused to account for their treasures, tarnished the glory, and annihilated the importance of the nation: these sacred ties, I say, so dear to every American, Bute and his Tory administration are now rending asunder.
[Page 219]You ask, whether it is the weight of taxes of which they complain? I answer, no: It is the principle they combat, and they would be guilty in the eyes of God and men, of the present world, and all posterity, did they not reject it; for if it were admitted, they would have nothing that they could call their own; they would be in a worse condition than the wretched slaves in the West-India islands, whose little peculium has ever been esteemed inviolate. But, wherefore should I dwell on this? Is not the case with Ireland the same with theirs? They are subordinate to the British empire; they are subordinate to the Parliament of Great Britain, but they tax themselves. Why, as the case is similar, do you not begin with them? But you know, Mr. Burgoyne, audacious as the ministry are, they dare not attempt it. There is one part of your letter which, I confess, I do not understand. If I recollect right, [for I, unfortunately, have not the letter by me,] you say, that if the privilege of taxing themselves is what the Americans claim, the contest is at an end. You surely cannot allude to the propositions of North. It is impossible that you should not think, with me and all mankind, that these propositions are no more or less than adding to a most abominable oppression, a more abominable insult. But, to recur to the question of Americans aiming at independence: Do any instructions of any one of the provinces to their representatives, or delegates, furnish the least ground for this suspicion? On the contrary, do they not all breathe the strongest attachment and filial piety to their parent country? But if she discards all the natural tenderness of a mother, and acts the part of a cruel step-dame, it must naturally be expected that their affections will cease; the ministry leave them no alternative, aut serviri, aut alienari jubent; it is in human nature; it is a moral obligation to adopt the latter. But the fatal separation has not yet taken place, and yourself, your single self, my friend, may, perhaps, prevent it. Upon the ministry, I am afraid, you can make no impression; for, to repeat a hackneyed quotation,
But, if you will at once break off all connections with these pernicious men; if you will wave all consideration, but the salvation of your country, Great Britain may stand as much indebted to General Burgoyne, as Rome was to her Camillus. Do not, I entreat you, my dear Sir, think this the mad rhapsody of an enthusiast, nor the cant of a factious designing man; for, in these colours, I am told, I am frequently painted. I swear by all that's sacred, as I hope for comfort and honour in this world, and to avoid misery in the next, that I most earnestly and devoutly love my native country; that I wish the same happy relation to subsist for ages betwixt her and her children, which has raised the wide arch of her empire to so stupendous and enviable a height; but at the same time I avow, that if the parliament and people should be depraved enough to support any longer the present ministry in their infernal scheme, my zeal and reverence for the rights of humanity are so much greater than my fondness for any particular spot, even the place of my nativity, that, had I any influence in the councils of America, I would advise not to hesitate a single instant, but decisively to cut the Gordian knot, now besmeared with civil blood.
This, I know, is strong emphatic language, and might pass, with men who are strangers to the flame which the love of liberty is capable of lighting up in the human breast, for a proof of my insanity; but you, Sir, unless I have mistaken you from the beginning, will conceive, that a man in his sober senses, may possess such feelings. In my sober senses, therefore, permit me once more most earnestly to entreat and conjure you to exert your whole force, energy, and talents to stop the ministry in this their headlong career. If you labour in vain (as, I must repeat, I think will be the case) address yourself to the people at large. By adopting this method, I am so sanguine, as to assure myself of your success; and your [Page 221] public character will be as illustrious as your personal qualities are amiable to all who intimately know you. By your means the colonists will long continue the farmers, planters, and shipwrights of Great Britain; but if the present course is persisted in, an internal divorce must inevitably take place. As to the idea of subduing them into servitude, and indemnifying yourselves for the expence, you must be convinced long before this of its absurdity.
I should not, perhaps, be extravagant, if I advanced, that all the ships of the world would be too few to transport force sufficient to conquer three millions of people, unanimously determined to sacrifice every thing to liberty; but, if it were possible, the victory would not be less ruinous than the defeat. You would only destroy your own strength. No revenue can possibly be exacted out of this country. The army of place-men might be encreased, but her circuitous commerce, founded on perfect freedom, which alone can furnish riches to the metropolis, would fall to the ground. But the dignity of Great Britain, it seems, is at stake. Would you, Sir, if in the heat of passion you had struck a single drummer of your regiment, and afterwards discovered that you had done it unjustly, think it any forfeiture of your dignity to acknowledge the wrong? No: I am well acquainted with your disposition, you would ask him pardon at the head of your regiment.
I shall now conclude (if you will excuse the pedantry) with a sentence of Latin: Justum est bellum quibus necessarium, et pia arma quibus nulla, nisi in armis, relinquitur spes. I most sincerely wish you a quick and prosperous voyage, and that your happiness and glory may be equal to the idea I have of your merits, as,
IN my letter, lately sent into Boston, all political disquisition was designedly avoided. I did not avail myself of the advantages which the sacred cause of my country, of liberty, and of human nature, manifestly gave me over Mr. Gage. I remonstrated with you in decent terms, with respect to the hard and unworthy treatment shewn, as I have been informed, to the soldiers and citizens of America, whom the fortune of war, chance, or an erroneous opinion of your honour, had thrown into your hands. In answer to this remonstrance, we are insulted with the most outrageous language, and abusive epithets. Were we, Sir, the worst of traitors; had we conspired to subvert the liberties of our fellow subjects; had we conspired to re-establish on the throne the expelled tyrants of the Stuart house; or, could we be charged with any notorious breach of faith; had we, for instance, seduced some part of the troops under your command, upon certain conditions, into a surrender of their arms, and afterwards violated our engagement, the style which you assume would scarcely be justifiable.
You affect, Sir, to despise all rank not derived from the same source with your own; to speak, as I think, with becoming pride, it is impossible to conceive a more honourable source than that to which I owe my present station. I was called to it by the voice of the freely chosen delegates of a virtuous and uncorrupt people. Yours, for aught I know, and, as I am told, is frequently the case, might have been obtained by connections with some prostitute part of a prostitute House of Commons.
You threaten us, Sir, with a cord: Begin, Sir; I dare you to it. Although my nature shudders at the thought, necessity will force us to retaliate; and we have it in our power, Mr. Gage, to make a ten-fold retaliation.
You have the confidence to appeal to that Almighty God whose every law you have violated. Let that Almighty God, to whom the rights and happiness of his creatures cannot be indifferent, judge then between us. When the great and tremendous day shall arrive; when [Page 223] all mortals are to render a strict account, which, do you apprehend, Sir, will have the greatest reason to tremble? The virtuous citizen, now forced to arms by the hands of tyranny; in arms not to rob, spoil, and invade; not as mercenary instruments to gratify the lust, ambition, avarice, or revenge of sceptered robbers or wicked ministers, but to defend their wives, children and household goods, and to deliver down to their posterity the bright inheritance of freedom they received from their fore-fathers: which, I once more demand, shall, on that dreadful day, have the greatest reason to tremble? The citizens engaged in this righteous cause, or those men, who by artifice, misrepresentation, and falsehood, have not only stained this fair continent with the blood of her children, but shaken the mighty empire of Britain to her foundation.
I shall now, Sir, close my correspondence with you, perhaps for ever, assuring you, that the intelligence you have received, with respect to the harsh treatment of the prisoners in our possession, is as remote from fact, as that which you have constantly transmitted to the ministry, when speaking of the principles and designs of America. Not only the officers and soldiers have been treated with the tenderness due to fellow-citizens and brethren, but even those execrable parricides, born amongst us, who have aimed their daggers at the vitals of their parent, have been protected from the fury of a most justly enraged people.
I shall now, Sir, only add, that for the future, whatever mode of conduct you shall think proper to observe towards those of our people who are in your custody, such exactly are the ministerialists to expect in return.
I LITTLE thought the time could ever arrive when I should not run with eagerness to embrace Mr. Gage. Whether it is from a cynical disposition, or a laudable misanthropy, whether it is to my credit or discredit, I know not; but it is most certain, that I have had a real affection for very few men; but that these few I have loved with warmth, zeal, and ardour. You, Sir, amongst these few, I swear by all that is sacred, have ever held one of the foremost places. I respected your understanding, liked your manners, and perfectly adored the qualities of your heart. These, Sir, are my reasons, paradoxical as they may appear to many, that I now avoid what I heretofore should have thought an happiness. Were you personally indifferent to me, I should, perhaps, from curiosity, appear in the circle of your levee; but I hold in such abhorrence the conduct, temper, and spirit of our present court; more particularly their present diabolical measures with respect to this country fills me with so much horror and indignation, that I cannot bear to see a man, from whom my affections can never be weaned, in the capacity of one of their instruments; as I am convinced that the court of Tiberius, or Philip the Second, were no more treacherous and hostile to the rights of mankind than the present court of Great Britain. I cannot help thinking it one of the greatest curses fallen on mankind, that they should be endued with sufficient art to seduce or delude men of the best hearts and heads. My Lord Chatham himself was for a time their dupe; and poor York was entrapped for his destruction. I believe, Sir, I know the tricks and insidiousness of the Cabinet better than you do. I have no doubt, but they were hard set to work upon you. May God Almighty extricate you, with honour and safety, from their clutches! I know not whether the people of America will be successful in their struggles for liberty; I think it most probable they will, from what I have seen in my progress through the colonies. So noble a spirit pervades all orders of men, from the first estated gentlemen to the lowest [Page 225] planters, that I think they must be victorious. I most devoutly wish they may; for if the machinations of their enemies prevail, the bright goddess, Liberty, must, like her sister Astraea, utterly abandon the earth, and leave not a wreck behind. She has, by a damned conspiracy of kings and ministers, been totally driven from the other hemisphere. Here is her last asylum; here I hope she may fix her abode.
I have now, Sir, only to entreat, that as knaves and fools will probably, from design and misunderstanding, exaggerate, disfigure, and distort what I do, and what I say, you will be upon your guard, particularly when it relates to yourself. Though it is difficult to separate the man from the office, should it be reported that I ever speak of you in terms of disrespect, I entreat, that you will slight the report. I am not capable of it. A personal friendship for Mr. Gage has taken too deep root in my breast; though, were you my brother, twinned at a birth, I must wish to defeat the purposes of those by whose instructions Governor Gage must act.
As to North, my opinion of him is this, [and I have known him a long time] that did he hear of a single freeman in the remotest part of the world, he would willingly put his country to the expence of furnishing forth an army and fleet for the sole pleasure of destroying that single freeman. I know, Sir, you will do me the justice to believe that I am not acting a part; that no affectation has place in my conduct. You have known me long enough, I flatter myself, to be persuaded, that zeal for the liberties of my country and the rights of mankind, has been my predominant passion. May God Almighty bless you, Sir, and, with honour to you, dissolve the spell which has charmed you into a situation so incompatible with the excellence of your natural disposition. Excuse the length, and, if it appears to you, the impertinence, of this epistle, and believe me,
I HAVE not for a long time read any performance with so much pleasure, as the paragraph in the public papers announcing your safe return. I congratulate your country, your friends, and particularly myself, on this happy event. As I most sincerely love and honour you, I should have been pleased, in common with all mankind, had your hopes and expectations been answered in their full extent; but, as your individual friend, I am completely satisfied; for the attempt is sufficient to immortalize you. A young man of your rank and affluent circumstances, giving up his ease, pleasure, and connections, to encounter mountains, and even to risk the taking up his residence in the thrilling regions of thick Ribbedia, for the public benefit, would have appeared heroic in any age or nation; but the inglorious insipid character of the present age heightens the lustre of the enterprize.
Once more, my dear Phipps, I congratulate you and all your friends on your safe return; and the honour which is your due, and which is not paid you at home; come to this country, where your praises are sung daily; but your political parliamentary conduct has the largest share of the [...] panegyrick. Their opinion of your integrity, talents, and consistency, is very high; and I hope you will believe that I do not labour to weaken it. By all that is sacred, these are a fine people, liberal, enlightened, sensible and firm. Your Mansfields and Norths may play over their wretched tricks, have recourse to their paltry finesses, may bluster and bellow, but they will never be able to trick or frighten these men out of their liberties. They are too acute and vigilant for the former to avail, and much too strong for the latter. Twelve thousand fresh colonists, half Germans, half Irish, were imported this year into Philadelphia alone, and not a much less number into the colonies of Virginia and New-York. The banks of Hudson's-River, of the Mohawk, Susquehannah, Juniatta, and the Ohio, from the Monongahela downwards thirty miles, which at the peace were totally a desert, are become one continued chain [Page 227] of villages. Four large military townships are immediately to be established on the Mississipi. I leave to judge, whether it will be easy to dragoon so numerous a people for any length of time. Ships of war, it is true, may insult, and put to inconvenience some of their capital ports; but these teasings and insults will only serve to shew the absurdity of your minister's policy in a more striking light, by giving a unanimity to these people equal to their effectual strength, when they may set at defiance the machinations, not only of an earthly, but of the infernal petentate himself and his ministry. Egregious blockheads! their folly encreases every day; no sooner are they out of one bad scrape, but they get into a worse.
This blessed tea project meets with a resistance full as vigorous, though more regular and temperate than the stamp act. The colonists, one and all, have entered into the most solemn obligations to send it back to its exporters, and continue furnishing themselves from the Dutch; so that by the ingenuity of our ministry, smuggling is rendered an — ‘Caetera desuni.’
AS General Washington has informed the Congress of his motives for detaching me, it is needless to trouble you upon the subject; I am therefore only to inform you, that I have collected a body of about twelve hundred men from the colony of Connecticut, whose zeal and ardour, demonstrated on this occasion, cannot be sufficiently praised. With this body I am marching directly to New-York, to execute the different purposes for which I am detached. I am sensible, Sir, that nothing can carry the air of greater presumption, than a servant's intruding his opinion, unasked, upon his master; but, at the same time, there are certain seasons when the real danger of the master may not only excuse, but render laudable, the servant's officiousness. I therefore [Page 228] flatter myself that the Congress will receive, with indulgence and lenity, the opinion I shall offer. The scheme of disarming simply the Tories, seems to me totally ineffectual; it will only embitter their minds and add virus to their venom. They can, and will, always be supplied with fresh arms by the enemy. That of seizing the most dangerous will, I apprehend, from the vagueness of the instruction, be attended with some bad consequences, and can answer no good one. It opens so wide a door for partiality and prejudice, to the different congresses and committees on the continent, that much discord and animosity will probably ensue, it being next to impossible to distinguish who are, and who are not the most dangerous. The plan of explaining to these deluded people the justice and merits of the American cause, is certainly generous and humane; but, I am afraid, will be fruitless. They are so rivetted in their opinions, that, I am persuaded, should an angel descend from heaven with his golden trumpet, and ring in their ears, that their conduct was criminal, he would be disregarded. I had lately myself an instance of their infatuation, which, if it is not impertinent, I will relate. I took the liberty, without any authority but the conviction of the necessity, to administer a very strong oath to those of Rhode-Island, that they would take arms in defence of their country if called upon by the voice of the Congress. To this Colonel Wanton, and others, flatly refused their assent; to take arms against their severeign they said was too monstrous. This is not a crisis, when every thing is at stake, to be over complient to the timidity of the inhabitants of any particular spot. I have now under my command a very respectable force adequate to the purpose of securing the place, and purging all its environs of traitors, on which subject I shall expect, with impatience, the determination of the Congress; their orders I hope to receive before or immediately on my arrival.
This instant the inclosed express from the provincial Congress of New-York, was delivered into my hands; but as these gentlemen probably are not fully apprized of [Page 229] the danger hanging over their heads, as I have received intelligence from camp, that the fleet is sailed, and that it is necessary to urge my march, I shall proceed with [...] division of the forces under my command to that [...]ity. A moment's delay may be fatal. The force I shall carry with me is not strong enough to act offensively; but just sufficient to secure the city against any des [...]gs of the enemy. If this is to give umbrage, if the governor and captain of the man of war are pleased to construe this step as an act of positive hostility, if they are to prescribe what number of your troops, and what number not, are to enter the city, all I can say is, that New-York must be considered as the minister's place, and not the continent's.
I must now, Sir, beg pardon for the length of this letter, and more so, for the presumption in offering so freely my thoughts to the Congress, from whom it is my duty simply to receive my orders, and as a servant and soldier strictly to obey, which none can do with greater ardour and affection than,
I RECEIVED your commands on Sunday evening, and should have answered it immediately, but waited for the result of an application I had made to Waterbury's and Ward's regiment, requesting them to remain here until they can be replaced by a certain number of troops from Philadelphia, and the Jersies. They have unanimously consented to stay till the twenty-fifth of this month, which is a fortnight longer than the term they were enlisted for. Before the expiration of this time, I am in hopes that some measures will be taken by the [Page 230] Congress for throwing into the city, its environs, and Long-Island, a force sufficient to dispute the ground with any number of troops we have reason to expect; not that I would imply that these two Connecticut regiments remaining here would be able to prevent the landing and lodging themselves in the island, even five battalions of the enemy, should they choose to attempt it; but those two regiments will enable us at least to lay the foundation of the necessary works. I have ordered a regiment from the Jersies, who will be here I hope in a few days. I shall not, Sir, trouble you with a detail of our intended works, as I shall have the power of paying my respects in person to the Congress in a very few days, for on Thursday it is my intention to set out. I am in very little pain about the execution of what we have concerted, as it is committed to the hands of Lord Sterling, who shews much intelligence and activity. As this place will probably be the scene of a good deal of action, it would be prudent to add something to their present stock of ammunition. I find by their returns, that there is in the whole colony, that sent up to Fort-Constitution included, five tons and an half.
The numerous body of professed Tories in Long and Staten-Islands, with not a few within the walls of the city, is a most alarming consideration; the measures adopted by the Provincial Congress, of obliging them to give bonds as a security for their good behaviour, can answer no purpose, but that of rendering them more bitter and violent. The first regiment of our gracious sovereign's cutthroats which arrive here will indubitably cancel these bonds. I am well assured, indeed, that these bonds are made a public joke of already, by the worthy gentlemen who gave them. In short, the friends to liberty are to a man convinced, that the Tories will take up arms, when encouraged by the appearance of any royal troops. The delicacy of our situation, the dangerous crisis of affairs, have therefore determined me to take a decisive step, which alone, according to my judgment, can secure us: I have proposed to offer to these people a test, drawn [Page 231] up in such terms, that refusal or consent to take it, must be a criterion by which we may be able to distinguish those, whose swords are whetted to plunge into the vitals of their country, and whose, if not drawn in defence of the common righ [...]s, may be expected to remain quietly in their scabbards. The first I have directed to be seized without further ceremony and I should think myself highly criminal, in omitting so salutary a step before it is too late; perhaps I judge wrong; if I do, I must myself take the shame of being reputed weak, rash, and precipitate. The intelligence I have received from General Washington will, at all events, justify, in some measure, my dispensing with forms.
I HAVE nothing of sufficient importance to trouble the Congress with; but shall teaze you with a few words; I am exactly in the same situation I expected, puzzled where to go, or fix myself, from an uncertainty of the enemy's design: I can therefore only act by surmise; the general opinion is, that they will aim at this part of Virginia, viz. York and Williamsburgh, or that they will fix their head quarters in North Carolina: it has been already asserted, that Mr. Clinton was landed with one thousand five hundred men at Wilmington; a letter from Brigadier Howe, dated from Edenton, says, that it is believed, but not ascertained. I wait for further intelligence; in the mean time, I shall employ myself in rendering this place, and York, as inaccessible as possible; for it is my own persuasion, that they will endeavour to possess themselves of the capital, not only as it is really a most tempting and advantageous post, from commanding two rivers, [Page 232] and a most abundant country; but it would give an air of superiority and dignity to their arms, which in this slave country might be attended with important consequences, by the impressions it would make in the minds of the negroes. I wish we had a couple of good regiments more in South-Carolina, it would then be perhaps hors insult. The apathy of this province seems to go passibus aequis, with that of some other provinces, notwithstanding the persuasion and assurances of all the officers, that the Tories about Norfolk will most certainly repair to the King's standard, and have proposed means of securing them; they say, such means would be violent and cruel. In short, as your affairs prosper, the timidity of the senatorial part of the continent, great and small, grows and extends itself. By the eternal God, unless you declare yourselves independent, establish a more certain and fixed legislature than that of a temporary courtesy of the people, you richly deserve to be enslaved, and I think it far from impossible that it should be your lot; as without a more systematical intercourse with France and Holland, we cannot, we have not the means of carrying on the war.
THE subject of this letter appearing to me of exceeding importance, I have resolved to dispatch an express to inform you, that the Roebuck, a king's ship of 44 guns, has for some time left the Capes of Virginia, and, as we hear, is now lying off the Bay of Delaware, with a design to intercept the continental fleet. At Norfolk remain the Liverpool, a 30 gun frigate; the Otter floop of 14 guns, and some tenders; together with a ship, Lord [Page 233] Dunmore on board, of little or no force; and a number of vessels belonging to the Tories, with valuable cargoes and prizes, amounting, by a reasonable estimate, to an hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling. If Mr. Hopkins is at Cape-Fear, would it not be a good measure to inform him, how sure a prey these ships at Norfolk, with their immense treasure of goods, arms, ammunition and other military stores would be to him, were he to come into the Capes of Virginia? It is not probable our fleet can keep the sea much longer, a number of British ships of war being expected soon on the American coast; this last mentioned stroke would then be a glorious conclusion; and if it should be necessary afterwards to keep it a safe harbour, by erecting a battery at the mouth of the river leading to Norfolk, the navy of Great Britain might be, from the nature of the navigation, prevented from getting up. I am extremely anxious to know the state of your province, and of the state, number, and quality of your troops; any assistance which can be afforded you by this province, as far as depends on me, you may command. I should have set out before this, for your province, but the confusion, disorder, and deficiencies of Virginia, oblige me to pass a few more days in my present quarters.
AS I know not to whom I can address this most important note, with so much propriety and assurance of success as to yourself, this crisis will not admit of ceremony and procrastination; I shall, therefore, irregularly address you in the language and with the spirit of one bold determined free citizen to another; and conjure [Page 234] you, as you value the liberties and rights of the community of which you are a member, not to lose a moment, and in my name, if my name is of consequence enough, to direct the commanding officer of your troops at Annapolis, immediately to seize the person of governor Eden; the sin and blame be on my head. I will answer for all to the Congress. The justice and necessity of the measure will be best explained by the packet, transmitted to you by the Committee of Safety from this place.— God Almighty give us wisdom and vigor in this hour of trial.
NOT only propriety and decency, but an earnest desire to act in concert with so respectable a body as the Committee of safety, enjoin me to lay before them my thoughts, on some measures necessary for the defence and very being of the colony.
After having considered the number and quality of your troops, the state and condition of your arms, artillery, and ordinance apparatus, the weakness and disadvantages you labour under from the numerous intersecting rivers, the multitude of your slaves, &c. I suppose to myself, that the enemy, will make this province their immediate object; and since the defeat of their schemes in North-Carolina, by Colonel Caswell, it is the most natural supposition. I say, Sir, after having considered your strength and weakness, no circumstance appears to me so seriously alarming as the disposition and situation of the inhabitants of the lower counties, Norfolk, [Page 235] and Princess Ann; but that I might not rest entirely on my own opinion, I have called together some of the field officers who are best acquainted with that district, and they unanimously agree, that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to secure and preserve the province, unless these inhabitants, thus dangerously disposed, are removed from the very spot where they can do such infinite mischief. I am sensible, Sir, that there removal must be attended with very considerable difficulties, and perhaps much distress to individuals; but when the preservation and being of the province, if not of the whole continent, are at stake, were these difficulties and distresses a thousand times greater, they must be submitted to. I am in hopes, therefore, that the gentlemen of the Committee will immediately devise some means for removing these people, as well as their stock: at least their wives and children should be carried to a place of security, as hostages for the good behaviour of the husbands and fathers. I should be extremely sorry to find myself under the necessity of destroying all their cattle, stores, and granaries, and forcing the inhabitants, at the point of the bayonet, from their homes; but unless their removal can be accomplished by some other means, I shall be constrained to these harsh methods; as otherwise, I cannot be answerable for the execution of the important trust committed to my hands.
THE disagreeable uncertainty I have been in, of the enemies' designs, from the circumstance of their being [Page 236] able to fly in their ships from one spot to another, hath kept me at Williamsburgh. It is evident that their original intention was against North-Carolina, but the apparently total overthrow of their whole scheme by Colonel Caswell's victory, makes it more probable that they will bend their course to some other quarter; whether to this province, or South-Carolina, it is impossible to divine. I am myself more inclined to think that this will be their object, as the numerous intersecting navigable waters present them such superior advantages; though, at the same time, I confess myself in great pain for South-Carolina; the force in that province seems alarmingly small. I wish I could afford to detach from hence at least three battalions; but neither our numbers of men, the state and condition of our arms, nor the vast extent of this province open to attack, will admit of the thought. If Pennsylvania could spare three or four battalions for the defence 'Virginia, Virginia or North-Carolina might detach the same number to South-Carolina; and as the army which was employed in the blockade of Boston is now set at liberty, I should imagine this force might be afforded us.
We are so extremely deficient in arms, that I have been under the necessity of sending an officer into the back parts of the country to purchase all the rifles he can procure for the continental service. The arrangement I have made of arming two companies of each battalion with spears, will render musquets and bayonets less necessary; and the case I find in reconciling the men to these kind of arms, is a flattering symptom of their spirit. The price of these rifles, I am told, will be five pounds each; but as the article of cartouches and bayonets will be saved, upon the whole, they will not be more, if so expensive.
The defence and security of the capital rivets, with their creeks, is an object of so great importance, that I have thought it necessary to direct as great a number of half gallies as possible, to be constructed with the utmost expedition; but as the carpenters and other artificers in [Page 237] this country are so lazy a race of mortals, that it is in vain to expect any fruits from their labours, unless there is a coercive power over them, I thought it the surest and safest method to establish two companies of carpenters on the same terms with those in the Jersies; the measure is absolutely necessary, and I flatter myself it will prove oeconomy.
The nature of the service here is such, the force not being collected into one point, but scattered in fragments, that a greater number of subordinate staff officers are requisite than in the Northern and Eastern armies. I have therefore taken the liberty, till the pleasure of the Congress is further known, to appoint a few who could not be dispensed with: inclosed is a list of them.
The Committee of Safety, I find, Sir, had not apprized you of their having already raised a company of artillery, and appointed officers. Captain Innes, who was placed at the head of it, though he professes himself utterly ignorant of this particular branch, is a man of great zeal, capacity and merit; and as there is a vacant majority in the ninth, or captain Flemming's regiment, I have ventured to appoint him to act in that station, in hopes that the Congress will confirm his commission. A body of horse is a sine qua non in a country circumstanced like this; I take the liberty of enclosing you an address I published to the young gentlemen of this colony on the subject, and wish it may meet with your approbation.
I shall make Monsieur Arundel accountable for the sixty dollars, but at the same time beg leave to submit to the consideration of the Congress, whether the expences of his journey should not be allowed; they amount to thirty dollars: indeed the pay of the artillery officers and engineers is so wretched, that I do not see any chance of procuring men fit for the service on the terms; and if they are procured, they cannot possibly subsist, unless the expences of their frequent journeys are paid; for they are obliged, from the nature of their business, to make more journeys than other officers, and not in corps, but [Page 238] singly; I have been obliged to subsist Baron Massenburg, as likewise to furnish Captain Smith who is now at York, with money for his expences.
AS I am an entire stranger to the character, integrity, and abilities of individuals in this country, I must request the gentlemen of the committee will appoint, or recommend positively, a proper person as commissary. He should be a man of activity without doubt; but his integrity is still more important, as he has it in his power, if inclined, to rob the public most horribly.
YOU are to march this night to Brickels: Leave the entrenching tools under the care of the commanding officer of that post, with directions to fortify, as well as he is able, a post capable of containing three hundred men. To-morrow you are to proceed to Portsmouth with all the waggons; you are to post your party in such an advantageous situation, that no insult from the enemy can be apprehended. You are to secure Shedden's, and Mitchel's effects, and send them up immediately. You are to secure the persons of Jarvia, Muter, and Mitchel, as well as their effects; Mrs. Grimes, with her effects, are likewise immediately to be sent up. You are to procure [Page 239] the best intelligence what men are on board Lord Dunmore's fleet, who have families at Portsmouth; the wives and children of these men are to be sent up to Suffolk immediately. You are to apprize the rest of the inhabitants that they must quit Portsmouth in five days; that waggons shall be allowed for their beds, cloaths, and absolute necessary cooking utensils; their tables, chairs, and other cooking utensils, cannot be carried off at the public expence.
All the negroes capable of bearing arms to be secured immediately, and sent up to Suffolk. Mr. Bownas and Company's property is to be collected and brought out of their present dangerous situation.
You are to order any detachment you shall meet with, from Colonel Fipp's corps, immediately to return to their command.
THE committee will, I hope, excuse my not having yesterday made a report to them (as I think it my duty) of every transaction which is not merely military; but they were so much employed in the business of the Princess Ann petition, that I thought it better not to enter on the subject. As I found that the inhabitants of Portsmouth had universally taken the oath to Lord Dunmore, and as that town was, I believe, justly considered as the great channel through which his Lordship received the most exact and minute intelligence of all our motions and designs, I thought it incumbent on me, and agreeable to the spirit of your instructions, to remove the people without exception; for even the women and children had learnt the art, and practised with address, the office of spies. A considerable quantity of very valuable articles were found in the houses of Mrs. Sprowle, Goodrich, and Nuil Jamieson, such as molasses, salt, and other [Page 240] things much wanted for the public. A list of these articles will be made out by the officer commanding the party, and laid before your board.
As the town of Portsmouth will afford so convenient shelter and quarters, to refresh the enemy, on a supposition that they make this part of the world their object, it would perhaps be politic to destroy it totally; but the houses of some of the most notorious traitors I thought absolutely necessary to demolish, in hopes of intimidating the neighbourhood from trifling any longer, and flying in the face of your ordinances; for it is inconceivable, unless I have been grossly misinformed, into what barefaced, open intercourse with the enemy they had been encouraged, by no examples having been made. Sprowle's, Goodrich's, Jamieson's and Skeddan's houses were on this principle destroyed; the last, Skeddan, now a prisoner at Suffolk, accused, and, I believe, convicted, of having been on board Lord Dunmore's fleet, since his acquittal by the committee of Norfolk. As we had undoubted intelligence that the fleet and army of Lord Dunmore were amply and regularly supplied with provisions and refreshments of every kind, from that tract of country, lying between the Southern and Eastern branches, as well as from Tanner's-Creek, notwithstanding the positive ordinances levelled against this species of treason; and as from a habit of any sort of action, be it ever so heinous, he who commits it, infallibly, in the end, persuades himself there is no crime in it at all: so these worthies not only every day openly and constantly carried on this dangerous commerce, but, it is said, justified it in their conversation; it, therefore, Sir, in my opinion, as well as of the other officers, and the committee of gentlemen from Suffolk, became indispensably necessary to take some vigorous steps on the spot, which might intimidate the whole knot of these miscreants from their pernicious traffic.
A Mr. Hopkins, infamous for his principles and conduct, and who has a son, now a soldier in Dunmore's army, was fortunately the first man detected; he was [Page 241] seized in his return from the fleet. He prevaricated and perjured himself very handsomely on the occasion; but at length the fact was proved, and he confessed. The sentiments of the committee and other officers concurring with my own, we determined, after having seized his furniture, to set his house on fire in his presence: This step was not quite consistent with the regular mode of proceeding: but there are occasions, when the necessity will excuse deviations, and this I hope will appear to the committee to be one of those occasions. I must here, Gentlemen, beg leave to repeat my assurances, that if ever in my military capacity, I should fall into any measure, which is more properly within the province of the civil, it will entirely proceed from mistake, or inadvertency, never from design; and upon these occasions, so far from being offended by the admonition, or even reprimand, of your committees, I shall think myself obliged to them.
I FIND the part I have acted in the business of Mr. Eden, has given great umbrage to the council of Maryland; I take the liberty of enclosing a copy of my letter to that board on the occasion; as I hope it will appear to the Congress, a full explanation and justification of my conduct, I shall not trouble them any more on the subject.
Five transports with troops are arrived at Cape-Fear; I shall therefore set out on Thursday for Wilmington, by the way of Halifax. When we consider, Sir, the vast extent of the vulnerable parts of this country; the numerous navigable intersecting waters, the multitude of [Page 242] slaves; that we have not more than five thousand regulars sit for duty in the province; that of these five thousand not more than three are properly armed; that to arm them, defective as they are, the province has been drove to the necessity of disarming the minute men; I say, Sir, that when these circumstances are considered, I shall appear, I hope, reasonable, in entreating the Congress to spare us, if possible, some battalions, and of those battalions which are best armed. If indeed our minute men were properly furnished with muskets and ammunition; if our rivers were already secured in the manner I propose; I should think myself capable of baffling all their attempts with our present force; but situated as we are, my anxiety for the common safety obliges me to solicit a reinforcement. A letter from one of your members informs me, that five thousand blankets, and five thousand pair of shoes, are on the road for the use of this army; they were much wanted; the number is, I believe, sufficient. We are, as I observed before, wretchedly in want of medicines, as well as of a director to our hospital. Doctor M'Clurg is a very able man, and universally esteemed, qualified for the office; the pay of the regimental surgeons established by Congress is so low, that it is in this part of the world, where the common country practice of surgery is singularly lucrative, impossible to find capable men, who will accept; but I am in hopes that the convention will make such additions out of the provincial purse, as to enable us to fill the commissions with proper and competent persons: Now I am on the subject of pay, Sir, I must beg leave to urge the necessity of considerably increasing that of the engineers. It is impossible that men, qualified for this important office, should be prevailed upon to serve on such miserable terms. You have no American engineers; they must of course be foreigners; and foreigners expect, in their language, de quoi manger, that is, something which will enable them to eat and drink. Twenty dollars per month will not enable them to eat and drink, and wear linen, or indeed any kind of cloaths; [Page 243] besides, it must be considered, that these gentlemen are obliged, by the nature of their duty, to make more journeys than any other officers; that horses must be purchased and fed; that the expences of travelling in these Southern provinces are very high; from these reasons, and many others, the pay of engineers ought to be, as it is in all other services, greater than that of other officers. Upon the whole, Sir, I really do not think that they ought or can do with less than forty dollars per month, and rations at least for their horses. On more moderate terms I am persuaded you cannot procure men equal to the task: as the corps is distinct, and not numerous, this necessary addition of pay will be an expence beneath the consideration of Congress.
Colonel Richard Henry Lee informs me, that it was not the intention of the Congress that Captain Innes's company should be reduced, to make way for Arundel's; but they should both be established. I think, Sir, it would be a useless expence. Captain Innes, who must, I am sure, be an excellent officer in any other department, professed himself ignorant of this branch; his officers were equally ignorant: Arundel has got possession of the company, and by his activity and knowledge will, I am persuaded, make them fit for service. Indeed to establish an artillery company, captain, subalterns, and noncommissioned officers, being entirely composed of novices, can answer no end or purpose. It is my opinion, therefore, Sir, that instead of these two companies proposed, that the addition of thirty or forty men to Captain Arundel's, and two subaltern officers, will not only be better, but that it promises more advantage to the service.
As I am on the subject of Captain Arundel, I beg leave to remind the Congress of what I mentioned on the subject of his expences on the road: There is one circumstance of which, Sir, I could wish to be ascertained, it is the expence of the defence of these rivers, that is, the construction of row gallies, floating batteries, &c. to be brought to the account of the continent or of the [Page 244] province? I wish to be informed on this head▪ if it is at the expence of the latter, I shall regularly propose to the Convention, or Committee of Safety, every scheme which may be attended with expence before it is entered upon. If the quarter-master-general, or his deputies, when they dispatch any teams from Philadelphia with powder, or other necessaries, were to purchase the horses throughout, for the continental use, instead of hiring them, the saving would be considerable; for in this country the hire is intolerably dear; so great indeed, that I have ventured to order a number of teams to be purchased.
I have just received a vague return of the forces of North-Carolina; of their powder and cannon; it does not appear that they have effective regulars, properly armed, more than two thousand; of powder than two ton and an half; and as to cannon, they are almost totally destitute. As the enemy's advanced guard, if I may so express myself, is actually arrived, I must, I cannot avoid detaching the strongest battalion we have to their assistance; but, I own, I tremble at the same time at the thoughts of stripping this province of any part of its inadequate force. I am puzzled how to direct my motions from the uncertainty of the enemies' plan, but not dispirited, as I am confident that the Congress will afford me every relief in their power, and am not in the least diffident of the courage and zeal of the men and officers. I have, as yet, heard nothing of Mr. Stabler the engineer; I ought, in fact, to have at least half a dozen; for we have a variety of posts to throw up, and there is not a man or officer in the army that knows the difference between a chevaux de frieze and a cabbage-garden. I wish the Congress would indulge me with Mr. Smith, whom I know to be an able and active man.
AS I am obliged, by the arrival of the enemy, to repair to North-Carolina, and am not less prompted by my zeal and affection for this province, than obliged by my duty, to take every precaution for its safety before my departure: on this principle I beg leave to lay before the Convention the following measures, which I conceive to be necessary:
1st. To devise some means for establishing a corps of cavalry; without which, an army is so extremely defective in every part of the world, and in none more than in this, for reasons which it might be tedious to enumerate.
2dly. Without delay to order some able pilots of every river, to examine accurately the narrowest part of the channel of each river; what is the nature of the shoals which form these channels; whether they are solid, firm sand, gravel, or rock; what is the distance of the nearest part of the channel from either shore; what is the nature of the shore; whether it is high or low; for I am sanguine enough to hope, when these circumstances are ascertained, the navigation of most of the riv [...]s may be shut up to the enemy, by means of batteries, either floating or fixed.
3dly. As these purposes cannot be effected without a large body of carpenters, smiths, and artificers of every sort, to establish some companies of them, subject to the military laws; for without a coercive power, it is difficult in th [...] part of the world to prevail on them to work.
4thly. As I understand there are prodigious stocks of sheep and cattle on the islands near the eastern-shore, and as my authority does not extend to whatever concerns property, that you will order immediately all this stock to be transported to the continent; and if this is impracticable, to kill them, as otherwise they must indisputably fall into the hands of the enemy.
5thly. As the eastern counties are, from their great abundance of all the necessaries of life, so tempting objects to the incursions of the enemy, and as I understand there will be no difficulty in procuring good men, I [Page 246] would humbly propose to the Convention, to augment Colonel Flemming's regiment to the same strength of numbers with the other battalions.
I must now, Sir, beg leave to mention to the gentlemen of the convention, a very important matter of consideration; no less than the preservation of the lives of our soldiers. The continental allowance to surgeons and surgeon's-mates of the regiments is so miserably small, and, at the same time, the common country practice of surgeons is so very lucrative in this province, that it is not possible to find men qualified for the station who will accept; and as I cannot venture to propose, to the Continental Congress, the increase of the pay of the surgeons of the whole army, merely because this increase is necessary in my division, I must submit it to the judgment of the Convention, whether such an addition, as to bring up the pay of these gentlemen to the original provincial ordinance, will not be money well and necessarily expended.
I KNOW not whether, in the whole course of my life, I ever read any thing which so much moved my pity and indignation as the late declaration, profession of faith, or political creed (for, I confess, I am at a loss what title to give it) of the Convention of Maryland. The instruction of your assembly to their delegates (which, inter nos, was a most wretched piece of business) was Roman magnanimity comparatively with this snivelling production from Annapolis. They declare, that they shall esteem separation from Great Britain as the last of misfortunes.
[Page 247]There is a story of a Morocco slave, in the reign of Mulcy Ishmael, who pushed his loyalty so far, that when the monarch, in the gaite de coeur, had plunged his dagger into his breast, he drew it out, and, most loyally, presented it again to his sacred master, who, as royally, by a second stroke, dispatched him. This story is scarcely credible, but the possibility of the fact is now verified by the conduct of the House of Convention of Maryland. What! when an attempt has been made to rob you and your posterity of your birth-rights; when your fields have been laid waste, your towns have been burnt, and your citizens butchered; when your property is seized and confiscated in all parts of the world; when an inexorable tyrant, an abandoned parliament, and a corrupt pusillanimous people, have formed an hellish league to rob you of every thing men hold most dear; is it possible that there should be creatures who march on two legs, and call themselves human, who can be so destitute of sentiment, courage, and feeling, as sobbingly to protest, they shall consider separation from these butchers and robbers as the last of misfortunes? Oh, I could brain you with your ladies fans!
ORDERS.
AS it now appears almost a certainty (from the intelligence of some deserters) that the enemy's intention is to make an attack on the city; and as the General is confident, that the numbers and spirit of the garrison will prevent their landing, it only remains to guard against the injury which the city may receive from their cannon.
The continental troops, provincials, and militia, are, therefore, most earnestly conjured to work with no less alacrity, than fight with courage. Courage alone will not suffice in war; true soldiers and magnanimous citizens [Page 248] must brandish the pick-ax and spade, as well as the sword, in defence of their country: one or two days labour, at this critical juncture, may not only save many worthy families from ruin, but many worthy individuals from loss of limbs and life. On this principle the General does not, simply in his capacity of commanding officer, order, but entreat the whole garrison [those on the necessary duties excepted] to exert themselves in forwarding the requisite works of protection.
The colonels or commanding officers of the corps are to review their men's arms this evening at roll calling; to take care they are in as good order as possible, and that they are furnished with good flints. The officers commanding the different guards are to do the same with their respective guards.
For the future it must be observed, as an established rule, that no artillery officer fires a single cannon without previously acquainting the General.
GENERAL LEE positively orders, that the screen behind the aperture of the traverse be immediately begun and finished with all possible expedition; that a breast-work of timber, six feet high, be raised on the rampart, so as to form a continuation of the traverse; that a banquet be raised behind the traverse, so as to enable the musquetry to fire over. The present work round the rear-guard room to be considerably strengthened; the parapet raised, and the ditch deeper and wider; a screen to be thrown up behind the entrance; a facade of facines, or old timber, is necessary to keep up the light sand, of which the breast-work of this rear-guard is composed.
IT is a certain truth, that the enemy entertain a most fortunate apprehension of American riflemen. It is [Page 249] equally certain, that nothing can diminish this apprehension so infallibly as a frequent ineffectual fire. It is with some concern, therefore, that I am informed, that your men have been suffered to fire at a most preposterous distance. Upon this principle, I must entreat and insist that you consider it as a standing order, that not a man under your command is to fire at a greater distance than one hundred and fifty yards, at the utmost: in sh [...]rt that [...]hey [...]ver fi [...]e without almost a moral certainty of hitting their object. Distant firing has a double bad effect; it encourages the enemy, and adds to the pernicious persuasion of the American soldiers, viz. That they are no match for their antagonists at close fighting. To speak plainly, it is almost a sure method of making them cowards. Once more I must request, that a stop be put to this childish, vicious, and scandalous practice. I extend the rule to those who have the care of the field pieces; four hundred yards is the greatest distance they should be allowed to fire at. A transgression of this rule will be considered as the effect of flurry and want of courage.
Those who are accused of transgressing, will be proceeded against, as acting from these principles. I have, Sir, the greatest opinion of your good sense and spirit, and flatter myself, that you will not only issue orders of restriction on this head, but that you will be attentive that they are vigorously put in execution.
P. S. I am likewise informed, that your men pass without order, or orders, to Long Island. Is this wise? is it soldier like? Is it to shew the enemy where our weakness is?
I should have done myself the honour sooner of informing the Congress of the attack made by the enemy's squadron on Sullivan's-Island, and their repulse; but conjectured, that by waiting a day or two, I might probably be furnished with the means of sending a more minute, full and satisfactory account. My conjecture was right; for yesterday five seamen made their escape, one of whom is a more intelligent fellow than is commonly found amongst men of his level. Inclosed is a copy of their narrative; some parts of it are, perhaps, too whimsical and trivial to merit the attention of Congress, but I think it my duty to present it as it is, without adding or curtailing a circumstance. I think, Sir, I may venture to congratulate the Congress on the event; not only the abvantages must be considerable, but the affair reflects no small credit on the American arms.
On Friday, about eleven o'clock, the Commodore, with his whole squadron, consisting of two line of battle-ships and six frigates, the rates of which are marked in the inclosed narrative, anchored at less than half musket shot from the fort; and commenced one of the most furious and incessant fires I ever saw or heard. It was manifestly their plan to land at the same time their whole regulars at the east end of the island, and, of course, invest the fort by land and sea. As the garrison was composed entirely of raw troops, both men and officers; as I knew their ammunition was short; and as the bridge by which we could reinforce, or call off the troops from the island, was unfinished, you may easily conceive my anxiety. It was so great, that I was in suspence whether I should evacuate it or no. Fortunately, while I was in this state of suspence, some ammunition arrived from the town, and my aid de camp, Mr. Byrd, returning from the island with a flattering report of the garrison's spirit, I determined to support it at all hazards. On this principle I thought it my duty to cross over to the island, to encourage the garrison by my presence; but I might have saved myself that trouble; for I found, on my arrival, [Page 251] they had no occasion for any sort of encouragement: I found them determined and cool to the last degree: their behaviour would, in fact, have done honour to the oldest troops. I beg leave, Sir, therefore, to recommend, in the strongest terms, to the Congress, the commanding officer, Colonel Moultrie, and his whole garriso [...], as brave soldiers and exc [...]ent citizens; nor must I omit, at the same time, mentioning Colonel Thompson, who, with the South-Carolina rangers and a detachment of the North-Carolina regulars, repulsed the enemy in two several attempts to make a lodgment at the other extremity of the island.
Our loss, considering the heat and duration of the fire, was inconsiderable: we had only ten men killed on the spot and twenty-two wounded; seven of whom lost their limbs, but with their limbs they did not lose their spirits; for they enthusiastically encouraged their comrades never to abandon the standard of liberty and their country. This, I do assure you, Sir, is not in the style of Gasconading romance, usual after every successful action, but literally fact; I, with pleasure, mention the circumstance, as it augurs well to the cause of freedom. At eleven the fire ceased, having continued just twelve hours without the least intermission. What the enemy's intentions are now, it is impossible to divine. I am inclined to think, they will, if they can repass the bar, bend their course to Chesapeak or Hampton-Bay: perhaps shame and rage may prompt their land forces to some attempt before their departure: on my part, I shall spare no pains to discover their intentions and baffle their schemes.
As Georgia is a district of the command with which you have honoured me, I thought it prudent to request some of their members to a conference with the president of this province, and myself. They accepted the invitation, and gave us great satisfaction from their intelligence and good sense. Inclosed is the substance of their deliberation.
The province is certainly of the last importance to the common cause, and the mode of protecting it, pointed [Page 252] out by these gentlemen, is, in my opinion, in all its parts, wise and necessary. They had conceived a notion that I had powers to augment their establishment; I assured them I had no such powers; but both Mr. Rutledge and myself gave it as our opinion, that any expences manifestly beyond their faculties which they might incur in the common cause, would be repaid by the Congress: and in this persuasion we ventured to enco [...]rage them to augment their cavalry, without loss of time, and make the proposed present of cattle to the Indians. Indeed, Sir, without a strong corps of cavalry, I do not see how it is possible to protect these Southern colonies, and with one thousand good cavalry, I think I could insure their protection. From the want of this species of troops, Charleston and its dependencies had certainly been lost, if the enemy had acted with the vigor and expedition we had reason to expect; but a most unaccountable langour and inertness on their parts have saved us. If the scheme I proposed in Virginia had been approved and adopted, it would have been not only a security but considerable oeconomy. The forage was to have been the only expence. Now I am upon the subject, I cannot help mentioning, that I have been informed that the project has been considered by some gentlemen, as a sort of a presumption in me, in arrogating such a power; but I fancy the affair was not properly understood: I saw the immediate necessity of such a corps. I knew they could be raised immediately by these means, and at the same time I was given to understand, by several gentlemen of the Virginia convention, that should the Continental Congress disapprove of the expence (trifling as it was) there was little doubt of their convention defraying it; but, in fact, Sir, the measure seemed necessary for the salvation of the provinces, and not a day was to be lost; which, I hope, will fully justify my conduct: and I must beg leave to repeat my assertion, that without cavalry these provinces cannot easily be defended.
I wish some means could be devised of reducing East-Florida to an American province. Had I force suffici [...], [Page 253] I should, with your permission, certainly attempt it; [...]he advantages would be great and manifold. The augmentation of the Georgian cavalry, I sincerely hope may be approved of by the Congress. Inclosed is the establishment and pay proposed for them; I think the terms not high.
I shall now, Sir, conclude with expressing the high satisfaction I have received from the zeal, activity, and public spirit of the gentlemen and inhabitants of this city and province, from the president and council, down to the lowest order of the people; and with assuring you, that I have not, in my military capacity, met with the least obstruction or difficulty; but that we have all worked in concert and harmony for the common good. I [...] earnestly request you will pay my respects to the Congress, and be persuaded, Sir, that I am most entirely and [...]o [...]dly,
P. S. Lord Dunmore has, I believe, with him at present only one ship of war; if any part of the continental fleet should happen to visit Hampton-Bay, at this juncture, it would defeat the whole scheme of the enemy's operations, at least for this campaign; but it is impossible to say how long his Lordship may remain in this weak condition.
MR. Rutledge will inform you by this express, of the outrages committed by the Cherokees, which must be construed as the commencement of a war. As it is now certain that a capital and favourite part of the plan laid down by our enemies, is to lay waste the provinces, burn the inhabitants, and mix men, women, and children in one common carnage, by the hands of the Indians; and [Page 254] as this part of the plan, though a piece of inhumanity, is certainly more big with mischievous consequences than the rest, it appears to me absolutely necessary to crush the evil before it arises to any dangerous height. Indeed, if we avail ourselves of the event, it may prove a fortunate one. Perhaps we ought, in policy, to have wished for it. We can now, with the greatest justice, strike a blow which is necessary to intimidate the numerous tribes of Indians from falling into the measures of our enemies; and as these Cherokees are not esteemed the most formidable warriors, we can, probably, do it without much risque or loss. I think then, Sir, that without a moment's delay, a body of your frontier rifle-men should be immediately furnished, and march into the country of the Overhill Cherokees, and make a severe, lasting and salutary example of them. The Carolinians propose at the same time attacking their lower towns, and, with the co-operation of Virginia, entertain no doubt of success. Clinton's army and Parker's squadron are pretty much in the same situation as when I wrote last. They daily, indeed, make some alterations in the position of their land troops from one island to another; perhaps for new air or water, of which, the deserters say, they are in great want. They tell us likewise, that considerable sickness prevails in the army, and greater discontents from hard duty and bad diet. The spirit of desertion begins to shew itself; five soldiers came over these two last nights, who assure us, that were they not on an island, from which it is difficult to escape, two-thirds of their army would soon be with us. I am myself inclined to believe them. Upon the whole, when I consider the difficulties which the enemy's Generals have to encounter, the temper and disposition of their troops, and the improving spirit of ours, I assure myself, that the game is in our hands. God give us more grace than to shuffle it away.
I HAVE received yours, of the 28th of May, and did not think it possible that any thing could come from your hand to give me so disagreeable sensations. You tell me a dark, mysterious story of a certain great General, of whom prince Ferdinand has declared, si l'on veut un officier, &c. this great General in the clouds, will, it seems, graciously condescend to serve America, on condition that Congress will give him assurances of stepping over the heads of every officer but one, and this he submits to, only on consideration of the confidence due to an American. You ask my opinion on this subject; but the palpable meaning of your letter is, to prepare me for a cession of my rank in favour of some impudent adventurer. Buckwith is the man, as you conjecture, from his known political principles and military abilities, which are so transcendent, that I ought for the public interest to make a second sacrifice. I am not, I believe, naturally proud; I do not think myself conceited of my talents; but to be put in competition, much more to be spurned aside, to make room for so despicable a character as Buckwith, a generally reputed coward, (and a [...]—d sycophant) I say, to be kicked out of my station for such a creature as this, would swell a man more humble than myself into a trumpeter of his own merits. Great God! is it come to this? I am not, it seems, an American; but am I not (if I may so express myself) Americanior ipsis Americanis? Have I not, such has been my zeal for your cause, once already waved my military claims in deference to the whim and partiality of some of your members? Did I not consent to serve under an old church-warden, of whom you had conceived a most extravagant and ridiculous opinion? Your eyes were at length opened, and deacon Ward returned to his proper occupation; and would you now a second time—do you think it consistent with decency, I may say, gratitude or common honesty, to load me a second time with a similar disgrace? Have I betrayed any ignorance in my profession? Have I shewn a desiciency in courage? Am I [Page 256] slackened in my zeal or industry? What have I done to merit such an indignation? What part of my conduct can justify your harbouring such an idea? Have not I staked say fortune, life and reputation in your cause? Is there a service in Europe, to speak proudly, (your injurious proposal forces me to it) is there a service in Europe, where, with some small reputation, and my powerful friends, I might not expect the same rank I now hold? Have I not made myself a voluntary slave for the insurances of American freedom? Have I, sleeping or waking, employed a single thought, but for her welfare, glory or advantage? But enough of this—You ask my opinion, and I will freely, explicitly, and concisely give it to you. If the Congress supercede me, I will, I must obey; but I hope, in common justice, and for their own honour, that they will re-establish me, at least in part, in the easy fortune which I have forfeited, so as to enable me to retire from a service to which I am no longer thought adequate. Before I conclude, let me once more repeat confidentially to you, that if Buckwith is the man, in whose favour you meditate so gross a piece of injustice, you will make a very bad bargain, as he is certainly, unless fame belies him, neither possessed of courage, abilities, or integrity.
In God's name, if a real genius, or acknowledged hero, favoured by Heaven with a more than common portion of etherial spirit, should present himself, (a la Lippe, or Bragansa) receive him with open arms, as an immediate present from God; invest him with the command of the whole. No man loves, respects and reverences another more than I do General Washington. I esteem his virtues, private and public. I know him to be a man of sense, courage, and firmness; but if a hero should start up, endowed with the attributes, which, according to my persuasion reside in the two I have mentioned, and who would charge himself with the mighty task of your political salvation, General Washington ought, and, I am convinced, would resign the truncheon; but that a little, paltry, impudent adventurer should sneakingly [Page 257] stipulate for the second rank, when, if his motives were pure, he could be equally serviceable in the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth; it is not to be endured, it is a gross imposition on common understanding, and a grosser attempt to rob an individual. I must beg and conjure you, my dear friend, for such I am sure you are, to consider the delicate, perhaps, you will say, false notions in which soldiers are bred; and that you will be careful of putting to so severe a trial the sensibility of one, who is most sincerely, devotedly, and affectionately,
P. S. I am extremely shocked with the pallid complexion of your public councils; is it possible that such a despicable group as the Maryland Convention, should lay an embargo on the great vessel of the commonwealth! Can you be so weak as to hunt for the chimaera, absolute unanimity! Why do you not advise the aggregate of the people to enfranchise themselves? Your idea of quitting Canada from want of specie is to me inconceivable, when you can or ought to command plate sufficient to purchase ten Canadas.
I USED to regret not being thrown into the world, in the glorious third or fourth century of the Romans, but I am now thoroughly reconciled to my lot. The reveries which have frequently for a while served to tickle my imagination (but which, when awakened from my trance, as constantly I considered as mere golden castles built in the air) at length bid fair for being realized. We shall now, most probably, see a mighty empire established of freemen, whose honour, property, and military glories are not to be at the disposal of a sceptered tyrant; nor their consciences to be fettered by a proud, [Page 258] domineering hierarchy. Every faculty of the soul will be now put in motion, no merit can lie latent; the highest offices of the state, both civil and military, will now be obtained, without court favour, or the rascally talents of servility and observance, by which court favour, could alone be acquired. Sense, valour and industry will conduct us to the goal: every spark of ability which every individual possesses, will now be brought forth and form the common aggregate for the advantage and honour of the community. The operations of war will be directed by men qualified for war, and carried on with that energy natural to a young people. True unartized knowledge, unsophisticated learning, simple genuine eloquence and poetry will be carried on to the highest degree of perfection. This, to many, I am sensible, would appear rant, but to you, who, I think, have congenial feelings with my own, it needs no apology. However, I shall now endeavour to deliver myself more like a man of this world.
I most sincerely congratulate you on the noble conduct of your countrymen; and I congratulate your country on having citizens, deserving of the high honour to which you are exalted; for the being elected to the first magistracy of a free people is certainly the pinnacle of human glory; and am persuaded that they could not have made a happier choice.
Will you excuse me? but I am myself so extremely democratical, that I think it a fault in your constitution that the governor should be eligible for three years successively. It appears to me that a government of three years may furnish an opportunity of acquiring a very dangerous influence; but this is not the worst; Tacitus says, plura peccantur, dum demeremur, quam dum offendimus. A man who is fond of office, and has his eye upon re-election, will be courting favour and popularity, at the expence of his duty. He will give way to the popular humours of the day, let them be ever so pernicious. In short his administration will be relaxed in general, or partial to those whom he conceives to have the greatest [Page 259] interest: Whereas, were all hopes of re-election precluded, till after the intervention of a certain number of years, he would endeavour to illustrate the year of his government by a strict, rigorous, and manly performance of his duty. These notions may, perhaps, be weak and foolish; but such as they are, I am sure you will excuse my uttering them.
There is a barbarism crept in among us that extremely shocks me, I mean those tinsel epithets, with which (I come in for my share) we are so beplaistered; His Excellency, and His Honour; The Honourable President of the Congress, or the Honourable Convention. This fulsome, nauseating cant may be well enough adopted to barbarous monarchies; or to gratify the adulterated pride of the magnifici in pompous aristocracies; but in a great, free, manly, equal commonwealth, it is quite abominable; for my own part, I would as lief they would put ratsbane in my mouth, as the Excellency with which I am daily crammed. How much more true dignity was there in the simplicity of address amongst the Romans! Marcus Tullius Cicero, Decimo Bruto Imperatori, or Caio Marcello Consuli, than to his Excellency Major General Noodle, or to the Honourable John Doodle. My objections are perhaps trivial and whimsical; but, for my soul, I cannot help starting them. If, therefore, I should sometimes address a letter to you without the Excellency tacked, you must not esteem it a mark of personal or official disrespect, but the reverse.
The discontent of the troops which you mentioned as arising from the want of regular payment, might have been remedied by General Lewis; his warrant is undoubtedly sufficient for the pay-master: however, I have written to that gentleman on this subject, and am in hopes that affairs for the future will be more satisfactorily conducted.
An old rice-boat, which we converted the other day into a row-battery, has made a considerable prize; no less than a brig with a whole company of the royal highland emigrants on board, consisting of two officers and [Page 260] fifty men: although they saw that they were inevitably our prize, had the impudence to throw their arms overboard, for which they ought to have their ears cut off, as it was contrary to all the rules of war.
I send you inclosed the state of the enemy's navy; I think there is no doubt of their army having steered their course Northward; on this presumption I shall direct my course towards Virginia, but first must assist to regulate the military affairs of this province, in the best manner I can; though, in fact, that will be doing little; the inconveniencies of this complex play we are acting, of Duke and no Duke, are numberless and great. The president is thought by some to be the real commander, I am thought so by others; in short, there must be no troops but continental. The council is at present employed in settling a more regular post. We have received none these eighteen days; for my own part, I conclude the mail has been intercepted and carried on board the man of war. Seven tons and a half of powder were safely landed four days ago, at George-town.
I WISH I had been informed how I am to address myself in writing to the Board of War; whether to the board in general, to the first members on the list, or to the secretary. I have ventured on the last mode; if it is wrong, I hope I shall be excused and corrected. The irregularity and tardiness of the post are now become a matter of my serious concern; we never receive a letter from Philadelphia in less than six or seven weeks; that from the members of the Board of War and Ordinance is only just now arrived, though dated the twelfth of [Page 261] June. I have been pressed, Sir, by several members of the Convention of Virginia, to establish a post for this district; but am apprehensive, that it might interfere with the continental post; however, the consequences arising from the irregularity of the post are so very serious, that all other considerations must be waved: In the mean time, I am constrained to the necessity of putting the continent to the expence of an express almost on every occasion.
I am extremely rejoiced at the establishment of a Board of War; for the business of Congress was so complex and heterogeneous, that it was impossible they should give the necessary attention to the affairs of any one distinct department; their regulations with respect to returns, &c. shall be punctually observed. I have ordered General Armstrong to collect the returns from the different corps, to digest them into one, and transmit them immediately to the Congress.
I am myself busied in arranging matters for an expedition into East-Florida. It is much to be lamented, that these Southern colonies suffered the whole of last winter to pass over their heads without preparing the means either of offence or defence. Not a single row-galley or armed boat was furnished by Virginia, North, or South-Carolina; were we provided with a moderate fleet of these sort of vessels, I think I could ensure the reduction of East-Florida, an object, though not equal with Canada, is certainly of very great importance. Here the measures of the Southern Indians are concerted and planned, their treaties negociated and concluded; here they receive their bribes, for their murderous operations, and from hence they are supplied with all the means and instruments of war: from hence they have lately made some alarming incursions into Georgia, carried off a considerable number of negroes, and not less than two thousand head of cattle: they have likewise thrown up a post on the river St. Mary's, which, if suffered to remain, may prove extremely troublesome to Georgia, by affording a ready asylum to negro deserters.
[Page 262]From these considerations, although I cannot think of laying siege to Augustine, having neither boats, horses, waggons, nor any other means of conveying cannon, ammunition, or provision for the purpose. I think it both a prudent and necessary measure to attempt breaking up the whole province of East-Florida. It will be a security to Georgia, occasion infinite distress to the garrison of St. Augustine, but, above all, make a salutary impression on the minds of the Creeks, who now are thought to stand wavering. They profess a good disposition towards the American cause; but if, by a strong predatory expedition into the province of the enemy, we give an idea of our prowess and superior strength, they will be riveted in our interest. If I was sure Mr. Clinton and his army had steered their course to New-York, as the deserters all agree, and a letter which was left in Long Island confirms, [a copy of which is here enclosed] I should, as I have nothing immediately else to do in my district, march in person with this party; but the bare possibility of his being gone to Virginia will detain me. Every ship of the enemy has now repassed the bar. It appears by this same enclosed letter that they were more roughly handled than even the deserters represented.
The Congress I make no doubt have been informed of the incursions made, and the ravages committed by the upper and lower Cherokees; an expedition I understand is furnished forth by Virginia, against the upper nations; another by this province against the lower; the success or miscarriage is of the last consequence; I am therefore desirous of forming a second line, or corps de reserve, and detaching for this purpose, a regiment of regulars, but have not as yet been able to procure waggons sufficient for two companies. It will be necessary that Congress should make some regular establishment for waggons, I should think one waggon at least, if not two, should be purchased and appointed to each company of the whole army, and regiments made responsible for theirs respectively. We should then be able to march when occasion requires expedition; at present it is sometimes [Page 263] as much impossible to march an hundred miles, although the fate of a province depended upon it, as if the soldiers wanted legs.
I hope the Congress and Board of War will excuse my giving an opinion on a subject on which it has not been asked; but I conceive it to be my duty not to remain silent on any affairs of such moment. I find, Sir, that representations have been made, that many inconveniencies would arise from putting the troops of this province on the continental establishment. I can assure the Congress, that it is almost impossible to carry on the service, if they remain on the colonial establishment; the difference of the laws, the distinction of rank, occasion so much confusion; and the ridiculous farce of Duke and no Duke, we are playing, (the officers not always comprehending who is their proper commander, whether the president, or continental general) occasions very dangerous distractions; but there are other matters of more serious consideration, of which I shall not trouble you with a detail; nor do I find that the officers of this province object to a continental establishment, on the contrary, all those I have conversed with, seem desirous of it. Upon the whole, I think it absolutely essential to the public service, that these regiments should immediately be put on the same footing, and be governed by the same laws, with the rest; nor am I singular in opinion: the two brigadiers, all the officers of every rank, and the greater part of the gentleman of the country concur with me.
Colonel Muhlenburg, of the eighth battalion of Virginians, has been made very uneasy by some letters he has lately received with respect to the rank of his regiment, These letters intimate, that it was never the intention of the Congress to consider the seventh, eighth, and ninth, battalions of the Virginians on the continental establishment until they were entirely complete. That his regiment never was entirely complete; and that, consequently, after having so long thought himself on the continental establishment; and on this presumption [Page 264] having marched five hundred miles from his own province, under the command of a continental general, he now, at least, finds himself only a provincial officer.
I have ventured to assure him and his officers, who are equally uneasy, that there must be some mistake in this affair; in fact, the hardship would be so great, that I cannot believe their apprehensions are well founded. It was, if I remember right, notified in April, by the Committee of Safety in Virginia, that they were then taken upon the continental establishment; and, though in this I may be mistaken, without the proviso of their being complete.
It happened at this time, though not complete to a man, (for no regiment ever is complete to a man) that Muhlenburg's regiment was not only the most complete of the province, but, I believe, of the whole continent; it was not only the most complete in numbers, but the best armed, cloathed and equipped in all respects for immediate service; I must repeat, that I cannot conceive that it was ever the intention of Congress that the establishment should be filled to a man; but that they should be competent to service in or out of their province. In most services when new levies are raised, one half of the proposed complement entitles them to establishment. Muhlenburg's regiment wanted only forty at most. It was the strength and good condition of the regiment, that induced me to order it out of its own province, in preference to any other. I certainly considered them at that time as continental troops, otherwise I could have no authority to order them out of the province.
I must now submit it to the consideration of the Congress, if it would not really be the greatest cruelty, that their strength and good condition should be turned against them. It was their strength and good condition which carried them out of their province, where, had they remained and known that it was a necessary condition of their establishment to be complete to a man, they certainly could have accomplished it in three days. I do, therefore, most sincerely hope, and confidently persuade [Page 265] myself, that Muhlenburg's regiment will at least data their rank from the day I ordered them to march out of their province; not only justice, but policy requires it, for you will otherwise lose a most excellent [...]giment.
I often represented to Congress how difficult or impossible it would be to engage, or retain after they were engaged, any engineers of tolerable qualification on the wretched pay established. The two appointed to my district have [as I expected] quitted the service; it was indeed impossible for them to exist. Stabler, I hear, has entered into the service of Virginia. Massenburg is retained by this province, at fifty-four dollars per month, a servant, rations, and his travelling expences. He formerly begged his dismission from me, assuring me (and, I believe, sincerely) he was zealous in the cause of America; that he would willingly, if I chose it, enlist as a common soldier; but that to ride about the continent from north to south, find horses, and appear like a gentleman was impossible. I could not in conscience force him to starve, so consented to his engaging in this service. I am now without a single engineer, and really know not how to carry on the business. I hope the board will consider the necessity of supplying me.
I shall now, Sir, conclude, with assuring them, that I am,
YOUR letter, with the thanks of the Continental Congress, reached me at Purisburg. The approbation of the freely chosen delegates of a free and uncorrupt people, is certainly the highest honour that can be conferred on mortal men. I shall consider it, as a fresh stimulus to [Page 266] excite my zeal and ardour in the glorious cause in which I am engaged. May the God of Righteousness prosper your arms in every part of the empire, in proportion to the justice with which they were taken up! Once more let me express the high satisfaction and happiness I feel in this honourable testimony; and once more, let me assure the United States of America, that they cannot meet with a servant [whatever may be my abilities] animated with a greater degree of ardour and enthusiasm, for their safety, prosperity and glory. The present state of this province, its strength and weakness, I shall transmit to the Board of War, according to the directions I have received; and let me entreat you to be persuaded that
ANY irregularity of returns of the forces under my command, will not, I hope, be imputed to me; the extensive business of superintending the safety of so vast a territory, as that which the Congress have committed to my charge, renders it impossible for me to attend to the detail of the regiments, or, in any reasonable time, to collect and digest the various returns; but I have given orders to the brigadiers to be as accurate as possible on this subject in their respective districts, and have no reason, from my knowledge of the men, to think they will be deficient. As a thorough knowledge of the present condition of this colony, of its strength and weakness, is certainly a matter of very serious consideration, I shall lay before the Board the best and most accurate information I am able.
Georgia is a state of much greater importance to the empire of America than generally supposed, at least, than what I myself imagined before I visited it. The variety [Page 267] of navigable rivers, commodious harbours, and find inlets; the prodigious quantities of rice, and immense stocks of cattle, both on the islands, and on the main; but above all the gentleness and salubrity of the winter seasons, with the conveniency of its situation for commerce with the West-India islands, would render it a most valuable possession to the enemy; the Altamaha, a very noble river, already furnishes a considerable quantity, and may, in time, furnish any quantity of lumber; the garrison of St. Augustine, and, indeed, the whole province of East-Florida, draw their subsistence from Georgia; and, if all intercourse with her were cut off, that nest of robbers and pirates would probably fall to the ground, and of course, the empire of the United States become more round and entire. These circumstances summed up together, must evince the importance of keeping Georgia or any part of it out of the hands of the enemy; the means of doing it, demands the utmost attention. I have turned my thoughts to the subject, and shall beg leave to submit the result to the consideration of the Congress. The present state of the strength of this colony, consists of Colonel M'Intosh's ba [...]t [...]lion, a return of which, is here enclosed, a company of independent artillery, consisting of three officers and twenty-three privates, with about twenty-five hundred militia of all sorts; but in a very great part of these (as I learn from the authority of their own captains) very little confidence can be placed, their principles being extremely contaminated by a most pernicious banditti of enemies to the common liberty. M'Intosh's battalion is really a very fine one, (one of the best, I think, on the continent) but as, perhaps, it might appear a harsh task, to insist on this battalion's acting with the necessary rigour against some of their nearest connections and relations, accused of being concerned in treasonable practices; it is my intention to remove them either into South or North-Carolina, where they can be more serviceable, and have an opportunity of compleating themselves, which in this state, from the dearth of men, is impossible, and [Page 268] replace them with an equal or greater number from South-Carolina.
Such is the present condition of the strength of Georgia, very far from being adequate to its defence. My scheme for its security is, as row gallies, and armed boats are so well calculated for what is called the inland navigation, give them an infinite advantage over vessels merely failing, which in these strait confined waters have no room for manoeuvring; they will secure the rivers against the predatory incursions of the enemy, prevent the desertion of negroes, sweep the coasts clear of tenders; but, above all, facilitate the means of the different states mutually assisting each other with troops, cannon, provision, and other requisites, which is now effected with difficulties, slowness, and monstrous expence. Three gallies are already on the stocks in this port, and we have armed and equiped several boats with swivels, and one gun on the bow of each. The least of them capable of containing thirty men, and rowed with fourteen oars; sailors, of whom we find so great a scarcity, are not necessary for this species of vessels, the soldiers are competent to the business; besides the equipment of these gallies and boats, I proposed establishing little forts, or redoubts, in certain situations, on the river St. Mary's, Satilla, Sapello, and Altamaha, which may enable us to make incursions from time to time, when circumstances require it, into East-Florida, and render it dangerous for them to make attempts of a similar nature into Georgia. These redoubts, or little forts, will likewise serve as places of rendezvous, refreshment, and retreat for bodies of horse rangers which ought continually to be patroling on the frontier. Such are the best methods, after having consulted the most intelligent people, which, in my opinion, can be devised for the defence and security of this state, unless, indeed, we could prevail on the province, to contract their frontier, by breaking up all their settlements on the other side of the Altamaha, which, to me, I confess, appears a wiser and more oeconomical measure; but this, I am afraid, is not to be accomplished.
[Page 269]I must now beg leave to lay before the Board, a matter of the highest concern, and which certainly demands the most serious attention of Congress, as, unless remedied, it may not only distress the circumstances of the public, but bring a disgrace on the American character; I mean the unconscionable advantages which individuals, merchants, mechanics, farmers, and planters are suffered to take of the public necessities. If boats, waggons, horses, drugs, clothing, skins, necessaries, even little refreshments, such as fruit or garden stuff, are wanting for the soldiers, no price being regulated, the extortion is monstrous: the expences of the war must not only be prodigiously swelled by this want of regulation, but the officers and soldiers are disgusted to the service by the toleration of such imposition; for instance, the Virginians and North-Carolinians are so much out of temper with Charleston, on this head, that should it be again attacked, and the assistance of these troops be again requisite, I am afraid we shall find a dangerous repugnance in them to march, when ordered. I most devoutly wish, therefore, that the Congress will make it an object to remedy this evil. Might they not recommend or enjoin to the legislatures of the different states, to appoint a committee of assessors from their respective bodies, to six the prices of the different articles in their provinces? Whether this method is or is not proper, I cannot pretend to say; but something, I must repeat, should be done.
The waste, difficulty, and expence arising from a want of method in provisioning the troops, when assembled in any particular spot, upon an emergency, are so great, that magazines ought to be established in every province, more particularly in those, which have the greatest probability of being attacked: by these means, the troops will not only be better fed, but be an immense saving to the continent; for the contractors, not being pressed for time, can, at their leisure, purchase every species of necessaries in these parts, where they are best and cheapest; but, when a great and sudden demand is made, either [Page 270] for cattle, corn, spirits, &c. they are under a necessity of taking that which is next at hand, and giving the sellers their own price. On this consideration, in concurrence with the president and council of South-Carolina, I have thought it expedient to establish some magazines in South-Carolina, of pork, beef, corn, &c. besides straw and whisky, which, in these low, damp countries, are absolutely necessary; at all events, this establishment can be no loss to the continent, as the beef and pork, at least, can always, with advantage, be exported to the West-Indies. Were I at a less distance from the Congress, I should not take the liberty of laying out a single dollar without having obtained their approbation; but, at this distance, I must assume such a power, or let the public affairs go to wreck, and of course, prove myself totally unworthy of the great trust the Congress have reposed in me.
IT will be necessary in addressing a letter of this nature, so abruptly to your Excellency, that I should inform you who the writer is. I have served as lieutenant-colonel in the English service, colonel in the Portuguese, afterwards as aid de camp to his Polish majesty, with the rank of major general. Having purchased a small estate in America, I had determined to retire, for the remainder of my days, to a peaceful asylum: when the tyranny of the ministry, and court of Great Britain, forced this continent to arms, for the preservation of their liberties, I was called, by the voice of the people, to the rank of second in command. I make no doubt of this letter's [Page 271] being kindly received by your Excellency, both in the character of a good Frenchman, and friend to humanity. The present conjuncture of affairs renders the interest of France and of this continent one and the same thing; every observation drawn from history must evince, that it was the exclusive commerce of these colonies, which enabled Great Britain to cope with France, gave to her a decided superiority in marine, and, of course, enabled her in the frequent wars betwixt the two nations to reduce her rival to the last extremity. This was the case, so peculiarly in the last war, that had the British ministry persevered, Heaven knows what would have been the fate of France. It follows, that if France can obtain the monopoly, or the greater part of this commerce, her opulence, strength, and prosperity, must grow to a prodigious height; and nothing can be more certain, than that, if America is enabled to preserve the independence she has now declared, the gre [...]r part of this commerce, if not the monopoly, must fall to the share of France.
The imaginary plans of conquest of Lewis the Fourteenth, had they been realized, would not have established the power of that monarchy, on so solid and permanent a basis, as the simple assistance, or rather friendly intercourse with this continent, will inevitably give. Without injustice, or the colour of injustice, but, on the contrary, only assuming the patronage of the rights of mankind, France has now in her power to become not only the greatest, but the most truly glorious monarchy which has appeared on the stage of the world. In the first place, her possessions in the islands will be secured against all possibility of attack; the Royal Revenues immensely increased, her people eased of their present burdens, an eternal incitement be presented to their industry, and the means of increase by the facility of providing sustenance for their families multiplied. In short, there is no saying what degree of eminence, happiness, and glory, she may derive from the independence of this continent. Some visionary writers have indeed asserted, [Page 272] that could this eountry onec shake off her European trammels, it would soon become more formidable alone, from the virtue and energy, natural to a young people, than Great Britain with her colonies united in a state of dependency. But the men who have built such hypotheses must be utter strangers to the manners, genius, disposition, turn of mind, and circumstances of the continent. Their disposition is manifestly to agriculture, and the simple life of shepherds. As long as vast tracts of land remain unoccupied, to which they can send colonies (if I may so express it) of their offspring, they will never entertain a thought of marine or manufactures. Their ideas are solely confined to labour and to planting, for those nations, who can, on the cheapest terms, furnish them with the necessary utensils for labouring and planting, and cloaths for their families; and till the whole vast extent of continent is fully stocked with people, they will never entertain another idea. This cannot be effected for ages; and what then may happen, it is out of the line of politicians to lay any stress upon: most probably, they will be employed in wars amongst themselves, before they aim at foreign conquests. In short, the apprehension is too remote to rouse the jealousy of any reasonable citizen of a foreign State. On the other hand, it is worthy your Excellency's attention, to consider what will be the consequences, should Great Britain succeed in the present contest. America, it is true, will be wretched and enslaved; but a number of slaves may compose a formidable army and fleet. The proximity of situation, with so great a force, entirely at the disposal of Great Britain, will put it in her power to take possession of your islands on the first rupture. Without pretending to the spirit of prophesy, such, I can assert, will be the event of the next war; upon the whole, I must repeat, that it is for the interest, as well as glory of France, to furnish us with every means of supporting our liberties, to effect which, we only demand a constant systematic supply of the necessaries of war. We do not require any aid of men, we have numbers, and, I believe, [Page 273] courage sufficient to carry us triumphantly through the struggle. We require small arms, powder, fieldpieces, wollen and linen to cloath our troops; also drugs, particularly bark: in return for which, every necessary provision for your islands may be expected, as rice, corn, lumber, &c. If, indeed, you could spare us a few able engineers, and artillery officers, they may depend upon an honourable reception and comfortable establishment. The Sieur de la Plain, one of your countrymen, now engaged in the cause of the United States of America, will have the honour of delivering this letter to your excellency. I have no doubt of his being received with that politeness, and kindness, to be expected from a gentleman of your rank and character.
CHARACTER OF GENERAL HOWE.
THOUGH I had no occasion for fresh assurances of your friendship, I cannot help being much pleased with the warmth which your letter, delivered to me by Mr. Hall, breathes; and, I hope, it is unnecessary to assure you, that my sentiments, with respect to you, are correspondent.
You will think it odd, that I should seem to be an apologist for General Howe: I know not how it happens, but when I have taken prejudices in favour, or against a man, I find it a difficulty in shaking them off. From my first acquaintance with Mr. Howe, I liked him: I thought him friendly, candid, good natured, [Page 274] brave, and rather sensible than the reverse. I believe still, that he is naturally so; but a corrupt, or, more properly, no education, the fashion of the times, and the reigning idolatry amongst the English, (particularly the soldiery) for every sceptered calf, wolf, hog, or ass, have so totally perverted his understanding and heart, that private friendship has not force sufficient to keep a door open for the admittance of mercy towards political heretics. He was besides, persuaded that I was doubly criminal, both as a traitor and deserter. In short, so totally was he inebriated with this idea, that I am convinced he would have thought himself both politically and morally damned had he acted any other part than what he did. He is, besides, the most indolent of mortals: never took farther pains to examine the merits or demerits of the cause in which he was engaged, than merely to recollect, that Great Britain was said to be the mother country, George the Third King of Great Britain, that the parliament was called the representatives of Great Britain, that the King and parliament formed the supreme power, that a supreme power is absolute and uncontrolable, that all resistance must, consequently, be rebellion; but, above all, that he was a soldier, and bound to obey in all cases whatever.
These are his notions, and this his logic; but through these absurdities I could distinguish, when he was left to himself, rays of friendship and good nature breaking out. It is true, he was seldom left to himself; for never poor mortal, thrust into high station, was surrounded by such fools and scoundrels. M'Kensey, Balfour, Galloway, were his counsellors: they urged him to all his acts of harshness; they were his scribes: all the damned stuff which was issued to the astonished world was theirs. I believe he scarcely ever read the letters he signed. You will scarcely believe it, but I can assure you as a fact, that he never read the curious proclamation, issued at the head of Elk, till three days after it was published. You will say, that I am drawing my friend Howe in more ridiculous colours than he has yet been represented [Page 275] in; but this is his real character. He is naturally good humoured, complaisant, but illiterate and indolent to the last degree, unless as an executive soldier, in which capacity he is all fire and activity, brave and cool as Julius Caesar. His understanding is, as I observed before, rather good than otherwise; but was totally confounded and stupified by the immensity of the task imposed upon him. He shut his eyes, fought his battles, drank his bottle, had his little whore, advised with his counsellors, received his orders from North and Germain, (one more absurd than the other) took Galloway's opinion, shut his eyes, fought again, and is now, I suppose, to be called to account for acting according to instructions; but, I believe, his eyes are now opened; he sees he has been an instrument of wickedness and folly: indeed, when I observed it to him, he not only took patiently the observation, but indirectly assented to the truth of it. He made, at the same time, as far as his mauvais honte would permit, an apology for his treatment of me.
Thus far with regard to Mr. Howe. You are struck with the great events, changes, and new cnaracters which have appeared on the stage since I saw you last; but I am more struck with the admirable efficacy of blunders. It seemed to be a trial of skill which party should outdo the other; and it is hard to say which played the deepest strokes; but it was a capital one of ours, which certainly gave the happy turn which affairs have taken. Upon my soul, it was time for Fortune to interpose, or we were inevitably lost; but this we will talk over another time. I suppose we shall see one another at Philadelphia, very soon, in attendance. God bless you!
WHEN it is considered I hold a high rank in the service of one of the most respectable princes of Europe; that I have been honoured with the trust of the second [Page 276] command in your army; that I have hitherto served, with some ruputation, as a soldier; that I now stand charged, and have been actually tried for some of the most heinous military crimes; and, to the astonishment, not only of myself, but, I can venture to say, of every man in the army who was present at this court, and of every man out of the army who has read the proceedings, found guilty of these crimes; when, at the same time, I am myself inflexibly persuaded, that I am not only guiltless, but that the success of the 28th of June ought principally, in justice, to be ascribed to me; I say, Sir, when these circumstances are considered, it must be allowed that my present situation is extremely aukward; that a man of my military rank, lingering in suspense, whilst his fame and fortune are sub judice, is rather a disgraceful spectacle; that it is natural for him to wish, and reasonable for him to request, that Congress will no longer delay the final decision of my fate. An additional motive for my requesting it is, that I find Congress is every day growing thinner; and, I confess, that I could most ardently wish, that the Congress was not only as complete as possible in numbers, but that, if it was agreeable to the rules of the House, that the people at large might be admitted to form an audience when the discussion is entered into, of the justice or iniquity, wisdom or absurdity, of the sentence which has been passed upon me. I do now, Sir, therefore, most humbly, but earnestly, entreat, that a day may be immediately fixed for the final determination of this affair.
WHEN an officer of the respectable rank I bear is grossly traduced and calumniated, it is incumbent on him to clear up the affair to the world, with as little delay as [Page 277] possible. The spirit of defamation and calumny (I am sorry to say it) is grown to a prodigious and intolerable height on this continent. If you had accused me of a design to procrastinate the war, or of holding a treasonable correspondence with the enemy, I could have borne it: this I am used to; and this happened to the great Fabius Maximus. If you had accused me of getting drunk as often as I could get liquor, as two Alexanders the Great have been charged with this vice, I should, perhaps, have sat patient under the imputation; or, even if you had given the plainest hints, that I had stolen the soldiers shirts, this I could have put up with, as the great Duke of Marlborough would have been an example; or if you had contented yourself with asserting, that I was so abominable a sloven as never to part with my shirt, until my shirt parted with me, the anecdotes of my illustrious namesake of Sweden * would nave administered some comfort to me. But the calumny you have, in the fertility of your malicious wit, chosen to invent, is of so new, so unprecedented, and so hellish a kind, as would make Job himself swear like a Virginia Colonel.
Is it possible that the celebrated Miss F—s, ‡ a lady who has had every human and divine advantage, who has read [or, at least, might have read] in the originals, the New and Old Testaments; [though I am afraid she too seldom looks even into the translations:] I say, is it possible that Miss F—s, with every human and divine advantage, who might, and ought to have read these two good books, which [an old Welsh nurse, whose uncle was reckoned the best preacher in Merionethshire, assured me] enjoins charity, and denounces vengeance against slander and evil speaking; is it possible, I again repeat it, that Miss F—s should, in the face of the day, carry her malignity so far in the presence of three most respectable personages; (one of the oldest religion in the world, one of the newest; for he is a new-light man; [Page 278] and the other, most probably, of no religion at all, as he is an English sailor;) but I demand it again and again, is it possible, that Miss F—s should assert it, in the presence of these respectable personages, "That I wore green breeches patched with leather?" To convict you, therefore, of the falsehood of this most diabolical slander; to put you to eternal silence (if you are not past all grace) and to cover you with a much larger patch of infamy than you have wantonly endeavoured to fix on my breeches, I have thought proper, by the advice of three very grave friends (lawyers and members of Congress, of course excellent judges in delicate points of honour) to send you the said breeches, and, with the consciousness of truth on my side, to submit them to the most severe inspection and scrutiny of you and all those who may have entered into this wicked cabal against my honour and reputation. I say, I dare you and your whole junto, to your worst: turn them, examine them, inside and outside, and if you find them to be green breeches patched with leather, and not actually legitimate sherry vallies, * such as his Majesty of Poland wears, (who, let me tell you, is a man that has made more fashions than all your knights of the Meschianza ‡ put together, notwithstanding their beauties:) I repeat it, [though I am almost out of breath with repetitions and parentheses] that if these are proved to be patched green breeches, and not real legitimate sherry vallies, [which a man of the first bon ton might be proud of] I will submit in silence to all the scurrility which I have no doubt, you and your abettors are prepared to pour out against me, in the public papers, on this important and interesting occasion. But, Madam! Madam! reputation [as "Common Sense," very sensibly, though not very uncommonly observes,] is a serious thing. You have already injured me in the tenderest [Page 279] part, and I demand satisfaction; and as you cannot be ignorant of the laws of duelling, having conversed with so many Irish officers, whose favourite topic it is, particularly in the company of ladies, I insist on the privilege of the injured party, which is, to name his hour and weapons; and as I intend it to be a very serious affair, will not admit of any seconds; and you may depend upon it, Miss F—s, that, whatever may be your spirit on the occasion, the world shall never accuse General I.— with having turned his back upon you. In the mean time,
P. S. I have communicated the affair only to my confidential friend—, who has mentioned it to no more than seven members of Congress and nineteen women, six of whom are old maids; so that there is no danger of its taking wind on my side; and I hope, you will be equally guarded on your part.
NOTHING has happened to me of late, that has given me more concern than the serious light in which I am told you are pursuaded to consider the harmless jocular letter I wrote to you; I say, persuaded to consider; for on the first receipt of it, when you were directed alone by your own excellent understanding, you conceived it as it was meant, an innocent jeu d' esprit.
I do not mean to compliment, when I assure you, upon my honour, that it was the good opinion I had of your understanding which encouraged me to indulge myself in this piece of raillery, which is in effect, not in the least directed against you, but against myself and some [Page 280] others; if it contains any satire, you are obviously the vehicle, not the object.
My acquaintance with you is too slender to take any liberties which border on familiarity; and I had been taught to believe, that the liberality of your mind and disposition, would be pleased with any effort to make you laugh for a moment in these melancholy times. Upon the word of an honest man, if I had thought a single sentence of this trash could have given you uneasiness, I would sooner have put my hand into the fire than have written it. Thank God, I have not that petulant itch of scribbling, and vain ambition of passing for a wit, as to
And, to speak my real thoughts, I am thoroughly persuaded, that you must suffer yourself to be biassed by people infinitely your inferiors in capacity; and if you really are offended by what nobody, who is not below mediocrity in understanding, can mistake for any thing but an harmless joke, founded on the good opinion of the person to whom it is addressed, I confess I have been much deceived in you. I must, therefore, think, that by consulting yourself alone, you will consider it in its proper light, and believe me to be, with the greatest respect,
I HAVE just received your letter of January the 3d: I know not whether you have received them, but in the course of this and the last year, I wrote you two letters, informing you fully of my health and spirits; the two points which, from your natural tenderness and affection, [Page 281] I know you must be most solicitous about; they have both, thank Heaven, and the good constitution we received from our father and mother, never failed me a single day; and until I am conscious of having committed some unworthy action, which, I can assure you, is not at present the case, the iniquity of men shall never bear me down. I have, it is true, uneasy feelings, but not on my own personal account. I feel for the empire of Great Britain, I feel for the fortunes of my relations and friends, which must rec [...]ve a dreadful shock in this great convulsion. As to my personal honour, for I suppose you allude to the affair of Monmouth, all I shall say is, that as I believe the proceedings of the court have been sent to England, and as you have eyes to read, and capacity to judge and make proper comments, I may be quite easy on the subject.
What has not our quondam friend Gage to answer for? I laboured, at Boston, by a letter, to open his eyes, and he treated my efforts as the effects of republican insanity. Had he listened to me, the empire of Great Britain would have stood; the affection and allegiance of this great people continued for ages. He is, in fact, answerable, for the subversion of the British empire, and for the blood of, at least, one hundred thousand Englishmen, or the immediate descendants of Englishmen. I fancy too, by this time, Lord Piercy and General Burgoyne lament that they considered my letters as the ebullition of madness or faction. But as my letter must be opened before it reaches you, any thing like politics must be improper. God bless you my dear sister. My love to the Townshends, Hunts, Bunburys, Mrs. Hinks, and the Barrets.
THE other day, by a kind act of Providence, a letter of yours fell into my hands, of so late date as the 20th of March, and what is more, it had the appearance of never having been opened. You will better conceive, than I can express, the pleasure which I received from it; for I assure you, that my American enthusiasm is at present so far worn off, that the greatest satisfaction I can receive, is to be informed of the health and welfare of my English friends, who, with all their political sins, corruptions and follies, still possess more virtues, at least, as individuals, than all the nations of the earth. As to the Americans, though I once thought otherwise, when their characters are impartially and minutely discussed, I am sure they will appear not only destitute of the personal virtues and good qualities, which render those they descended from so estimable in the eyes of other nations, such as truth, honesty, sincerity, and good understanding; but I am much mistaken, if the great public qualities which you at a distance suppose them to be endowed with, will stand a scrutiny; but a scrutiny of this kind, in a letter, is not possible: all that I shall say is, that, the New Englandmen excepted, the rest of the Americans, though they fancy and call themselves republicans, have not a single republican qualification or idea. They have always a god of the day, whose infallibility is not to be disputed: to him all the people must bow down and sing Hosannas.
You are curious, my dear sister, on the subject of my finances, and are desirous to know whether these people, to whom I have sacrificed every thing, have shewn the same black ingratitude with respect to my circumstances as they have in other matters; I can assure you, then, that their actions are all of a piece. Was it not for the friendship of Mr. Robert Morris and a fortunate purchase I made, more by luck than cunning, I might have begged in the streets, but without much chance of being relieved; not but that, to be just, there are many exceptions to the general character of the Americans, [Page 283] both in and out of the army, and I think the greater number are of the latter class, men of some honour, and who, I believe, have, from the beginning, acted on principle; and all these I may, without vanity, say, have been my friends and advocates. Among the worthies of America I reckon Mr. Robert Morris of Philadelphia; Richard Henry Lee of Virginia; Adams and Lovel, and some others, of New-England; the Morris's of New-York; and Dr. Rush of Philadelphia. In the army there are many worthy to be mentioned, Generals Schuyler, Mifflin, Sullivan, Muhlenburgh, Wayne, Weedon, Green, Knox, &c.
I have been particularly fortunate in my aid de camps —all young gentlemen of the best families, fortunes, and education of this continent; but above all, I should mention young Colonel Harry Lee, who has signalized himself extremely in this accursed contest, the ruinous consequences of which to the whole empire, I predicted to Lord Piercy and to my friend General Burgoyne. To do the Americans justice, they certainly were not the aggressors, but the retrospect now is of no use. In all civil contests the people, in general, have not been the aggressors; they only wish to defend, not to encroach. The monarchs or magnates generally commence by their oppressions. Witness the disputes betwixt the patricians and the plebeians of Rome, and our wars in the time of Charles the First; but the people in the contest forget the principles on which they set out, which ultimately brings destruction on both parties; and this I extremely apprehend will be the case at present. I shall now quit the labyrinths of politics, and return to the subject of my own finances. Mr. Mure has used me most cruelly and villanously; notwithstanding the vast sums he owes me, he has protested a bill of three hundred pounds, which has thrown me into unspeakable distress. He has affected a delicacy in honouring the bills or a rebel; but if he will consult the proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, in the year seventy-eight, he will find that I am exempted from the apprehension of confiscation by the terms of [Page 284] this proclamation, which declares, That no man, from the date hereof, who does not positively act in a civil or military capacity, is subject to the confiscation of his property; but as I have reason to think that the man will avail himself of every chicane, when money is in the case, I must entreat that you will urge Sir Charles Bunbury and Davers to endeavour to influence him, at least to furnish Mr. Garton, for my use, with five, four, or at least three hundred pounds until the contest is over, and the law, according to the terms of peace, tells us what is to be done; but, at any rate, he, Mr. Mure, can have no claim as an individual to my fortune: he must account for it to somebody.
I am extremely concerned at the embarassment our cousin S— gives you with regard to the legacy, but it is the very error of the moon; she comes more near the earth than she was wont to do, and makes men mad. Is my worthiest friend Butler alive, and amongst you? if he is, a thousand blessings, in my name, on his head. God Almighty, my dear sister, give you long life, ease, and spirits, is devoutly the wish of