This address will be followed by
addresses of a similar tendency, from all parts of the
kingdom, in order to overpower you with what they
will endeavor to pass as the united voice and sense
of the nation.
addresses of a similar tendency, from all parts of the
kingdom, in order to overpower you with what they
will endeavor to pass as the united voice and sense
of the nation.
Edmund Burke
We must
gravitate towards them, if we would keep in the
same system, or expect that they should approach
towards us. They are, indeed, worthy of much
concession and management. I am quite convinced
that they are the honestest public men that ever appeared in this country, and I am sure that they are the wisest, by far, of those who appear in it at present.
None of those who are continually complaining of
them, but are themselves just as chargeable with all
their faults, and have a decent stock of their own
into the bargain. They (our friends) are, I admit,
as you very truly represent them, but indifferently qualified for storming a citadel. After all, God knows whether this citadel is to be stormed by them,
or by anybody else, by the means they use, or by
any means. I know that as they are, abstractedly
speaking, to blame, so there are those who cry out
against them for it, not with a friendly complaint,
as we do, but with the bitterness of enemies. But I
know, too, that those who blame them for want of
enterprise have shown no activity at all against the
common enemy: all their skill and all their spirit
have been shown only in weakening, dividing, and
indeed destroying their allies. What they are and
what we are is now pretty evidently experienced;
and it is certain, that, partly by our common faults,
but much more by the difficulties of our situation,
and some circumstances of unavoidable misfortune,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 143
we are in little better than a sort of cul-de-sac. For
my part, I do all I can to give ease to my mind in
this strange position. I remember, some years ago,
when I was pressing some points with great eagerness and anxiety, and complaining with great vexation to the Duke of Richmond of the little progress I make, he told me kindly, and I believe very truly,
that, though he was far from thinking so himself,
other people could not be persuaded I had not
some latent private interest in pushing these matters, which I urged with an earnestness so extreme,
and so much approaching to passion. He was certainly in the right. I am thoroughly resolved to
give, both to myself and to my friends, less vexation,
on these subjects than hitherto I have done, - much:
less, indeed.
If you should grow too earnest, you will be still
more inexcusable than I was. Your having entered
into affairs so much younger ought to make them too
familiar to you to be the cause of much agitation, and
you have much more before you for your work. Do
not be in haste. Lay your foundations deep in public opinion. Though (as you are sensible) I have
never given you the least hint of advice about joining yourself in a declared connection with our party,
nor do I now, yet, as I love that party very well, and
am clear that you are better able to serve them than
any man I know, I wish that things should be so
kept as to leave you mutually very open to one another in all changes and contingencies; and I wish
this the rather, because, in order to be very great, as
I am anxious that you should be, (always presuming
that you are disposed to make a good use of power,)
you will certainly want some better support than.
? ? ? ? 144 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
merely that of the crown. For I much doubt, whether, with all your parts, you are the mail formed for acquiring real interior favor in this court, or in any;
I therefore wish you a firm ground in the country;
and I do not know so firm and so sound a bottom to
build on as our party. - Well, I have done with this
matter; and you think I ought to have finished it
long ago. Now I turn to Ireland.
Observe, that I have not heard a word of any news
relative to it, from thence or from London; so that I
am oily going to state to you my conjectures as to
facts, and to speculate again on these conjectures. I
have a strong notion that the lateness of our meeting
is owing to the previous arrangements intended in
Ireland. I suspect they mean that Ireland should
take a sort of lead, and act an efficient part in this
war, both with men and money. It will sound well,
when we meet, to tell us of the active zeal and loyalty of the people of' Ireland, and contrast it with the rebellious spirit of America. It will be a popular topic, -the perfect confidence of Ireland in the power of the British Parliament. From thence they
will argue the little danger which any dependency
of the crown has to apprehend from the enforcement
of that authority. It will be, too, somewhat flattering to the country gentlemen, who might otherwise begin to be sullen, to hold out that the burden is not
wholly to rest upon them; and it will pique our
pride to be told that Ireland has cheerfully stepped
forward: and when a dependant of this kingdom has
already engaged itself in another year's war, merely
for our dignity, how can we, who are principals in
the quarrel, hold off? This scheme of policy seems
to me so very obvious, and is likely to be of so much
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 145
service to the present system, that I cannot conceive
it possible they should neglect it, or something like it.
They have already put the people of Ireland to the
proof. Have they not borne the Earl of Buckinghamshire, the person who was employed to move the
fiery committee in the House of Lords in order to
stimulate the ministry to this war, who was in the
chair, and who moved the resolutions?
It is within a few days of eleven years since I was
in Ireland, and then after an absence of two. Those
who have been absent from any scene for even a
much shorter time generally lose the true practical
notion of the country, and of what may or may not
be done in it. When I knew Ireland, it was very
different from the state of England, where government is a vast deal, the public something, but individuals comparatively very little. But if Ireland bears any resemblance to what it was some years
ago, neither government nor public opinion can do
a great deal; almost the whole is in the hands of a
few leading people. The populace of Dublin, and
some parts in the North, are in some sort an exception. But the Primate, Lord Hillsborough, and Lord
IHertford have great sway in the latter; and the former may be considerable or not, pretty much as the
Duke of Leinster pleases. On the whole, the success
of government usually depended on the bargain made
with a very few men. The resident lieutenancy may
have made some change, and given a strength to government, which formerly, I know, it had not; still,
however, I am of opinion, the former state, though
in other hands perhaps, and in another manner, still
continues. The house you are connected with is
grown into a much greater degree of power than it
VOL. VI. 10
? ? ? ? 146 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
had, though it was very considerable, at the period I
speak of. If the D. of L. takes a popular part, he is
sure of the city of Dublin, and he has a young man
attached to him who stands very forward in Parliament and inll profession, and, by what I hear, with more good-will and less envy than usually attends so
rapid a progress. The movement of one or two principal men, if they manage the little popular strength which is to be found in Dublin and Ulster, may do a
great deal, especially when money is to be saved and
taxes to be kept off. I confess I should despair of
your succeeding with any of them, if they cannot be
satisfied that every job which they can look for on account of carrying this measure would be just as sure to them for their ordinary support of government.
They are essential to government, which at this time
must not be disturbed, and their neutrality will be
purchased at as high a price as their alliance offensive and defensive. Now, as by supporting they may get as much as by betraying their country, it must
be a great leaning to turpitude that can make them
take a part in this war. I am satisfied, that, if the
Duke of Leinster and Lord Shannon would act together, this business could not go on; or if either of
them took part with Ponsonby, it would have no better success. Hutchinson's situation is much altered since I saw you. To please Tisdall, he had been in
a manner laid aside at the Castle. It is now to be
seen whether he prefers the gratification of his resentment and his appetite for popularity, both of
which are strong enough in him, to the advantages
which his independence gives him, of making a new
bargain, and accumulating new offices on his heap.
Pray do not be asleep in this scene of action, --at
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 147
this time, if I am right, the principal. The Protestants of Ireland will be, I think, in general, backward: they form infinitely the greatest part of the landed and the moneyed interests; and they will not
like to pay. The Papists are reduced to beasts of
burden: they will give all they have, their shoulders, readily enough, if they are flattered. Surely
the state of Ireland ought forever to teach parties
moderation in their victories. People crushed by law
have no hopes but from power. If laws are their
enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those
who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous, more or less. But this is not
our present business. If all this should prove a
dream, however, let it not hinder you from writing
to me and telling me so. You will easily refute, in
your conversation, the little topics which they will set
afloat: such as, that Ireland is a boat, and must go
with the ship; that, if the Americans contended only
for their liberties, it would be different, - but since
they have declared independence, and so forth
You are happy in enjoying Townshend's company.
Remember me to him. How does he like his private
situation in a country where he was the son of the
sovereign? -Mrs. Burke and the two Richards salute you cordially.
E. B.
BEACONSFIELD, October 8th, 1777.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM,
WITH
ADDRESSES TO THE KING,
AND
THE BRITISH COLONISTS IN NORTH AMERICA,
IN RELATION TO
THE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT IN THE AMERICAN CONTEST, AND A PROPOSED SECESSION OF
THE OPPOSITION FROM PARLIAMENT.
JANUARY, 1777.
? ? ? ? NOTE.
THIS Letter, with the two Addresses which follow it, was written upon occasion of a proposed' secession from Parliament of the members in both Houses who had opposed the measures of government, in the contest between this country and the colonies in North America, from the time of the repeal of the Stamp Act.
It appears, from an indorsement written by Mr. Burke on the
manuscript, that he warmly recommended the measure, but (for
what reasons is not stated) it was not adopted.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
MY DEAR LORD, --I am afraid that I ought
rather to beg your pardon for troubling you
at all in this season of repose, than to apologize for
having been so long silent on the approaching business. It comes upon us, not indeed in the most agreeable manner, but it does come upon us; and
I believe your friends in general are in expectation
of finding your Lordship resolved in what way you
are to meet it. The deliberation is full of difficulties; but the determination is necessary.
The affairs of America seem to be drawing towards
a crisis. The Howes are at this time in possession
of, or are able to awe, the whole middle coast of
America, from Delaware to the western boundary of
Massachusetts Bay; the naval barrier on the side of
Canada is broken; a great tract of country is open
for the supply of the troops; the river Hudson opens
a way into the heart of the provinces; and nothing
can, in all probability, prevent an early and offensive
campaign. What the Americans have done is, in
their- circumstances, truly astonishing; it is, indeed,
infinitely more than I expected from them. But
having done so much, for some short time 1 began to
entertain an opinion that they might do more. It is
now, however, evident that they cannot look standing
? ? ? ? 152 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
armies in the face. They are inferior in everything,
even in numbers, -I mean, in the number of those
whom they keep in constant duty and in regular pay.
There seem, by the best accounts, not to be above ten
or twelve thousand men, at most, in their grand army. The rest are militia, and not wonderfully well composed or disciplined. Tlhey decline a general
engagement, - prudently enough, if their object had been to make the war attend upon a treaty of good terms of subjection; but when they look further, this will not do. An army that is obliged at all times
and in all situations to decline an engagement may delay their ruin, but can never defend their country. Foreign assistance they have little or none, nor are likely soon to have more. France, in effect, has no king, nor any minister accredited enough either with the court or nation to undertake a design of great magnitude.
In this state of things, I persuade myself Franklin
is come to Paris to draw from that court a definitive
and satisfactory answer concerning the support of the
colonies. If he cannot get such an answer, (and I
am of opinion that at present he cannot,) then it
is to be presumed he is authorized to negotiate with
Lord Stormont on the basis of dependence on the
crown. This I take to be his errand: for I never
can believe that he is come thither as a fugitive from
his cause in the hour of its distress, or that he is going to conclude a long life, which has brightened every hour it has continued, with so foul and dishonorable a flight. On this supposition, I thought it not wholly impossible that the Whig party might be made
a sort of mediators of the peace. It is unnatural
to suppose, that, in makig arn accommodation, the
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 153
Americans should not choose rather to give credit
to those who all along have opposed the measure
of ministers, than to throw themselves wholly on the
mercy of their bitter, uniform, and systematic enemies. It is, indeed, the victorious enemy that has the terms to offer; the vanquished party and their
fiiends are, both of them, reduced in their power; and it is certain that those who are utterly broken and subdued have no option. But, as this is hardly yet the case of the Americans, in this middle state of their affairs, (much impaired, but not perfectly ruined,) one would think it must be their interest
to provide, if possible, some further security for the terms which they may obtain from their enemies.
If the Congress could be brought to declare in favor
of those terms for which one hundred members of the
House of Commons voted last year, with some civility to the party which held out those terms, it would
undoubtedly have an effect to revive the cause of
our liberties in England, and to give the colonies
some sort of mooring and anchorage in this country. It seemed to me that Franklin might be made
-to feel the propriety of such a step; and as I have
san acquaintance with him, I had a strong desire
of taking a turn to Paris. Everything else failing,
one might obtain a better knowledge of the general
aspect of affairs abroad than, I believe, any of us
possess at present. The Duke of Portland approved;he idea. But when I had conversed with the very,ew of your Lordship's friends who were in town,. nd considered a little more maturely the constant;emper and standing maxims of the party, I laid Lside the design, - not being desirous of risking the
Displeasure of those for whose sake alone I wished
? ? ? ? 154 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
to take that fatiguing journey at this severe season
of the year.
The Duke of Portland has taken with him some
heads of deliberation, which were the result of a discourse with his Grace and Mr. Montagu at Burlington House. It seems essential to the cause that your Lordship should meet your friends with some settled
plan either of action or inaction. Your friends will
certainly require such a plan; and I am sure the
state of affairs requires it, whether they call for it or
not. As to the measure of a secession with reasons,
after rolling the matter in my head a good deal, and
turning it an hundred ways, I confess I still think it
the most advisable, notwithstanding the serious objections that lie against it, and indeed the extreme uncertainty of all political measures, especially at this time. It provides for your honor. I know of nothing else that can so well do this. It is something,
perhaps all, that can be done in our present situation.
Some precaution, in this respect, is not without its
motives. That very estimation for which you have
sacrificed everything else is in some danger of suffering in the general wreck; and perhaps it is likely to
suffer the more, because you have hitherto confided
more than was quite prudent in the clearness of your
intentions, and in the solidity of the popular judgment upon them. The former, indeed, is out of the
power of events; the latter is full of levity, and the
very creature of fortune. However, such as it is.
(and for one I do not think I am inclined to overvalue it,) both our interest and our duty make it
necessary for us to attend to it very carefully, sc
long as we act a part in public. The measure you
take for this purpose may produce no immediate ef
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 155
feet; but with regard to the party, and the principles for whose sake the party exists, all hope of their preservation or recovery depends upon your preserving your reputation.
By the conversation of some friends, it seemed
as if they were willing to fall in with this design,
because it promised to emancipate them from the
servitude of irksome business, and to afford them
an opportunity of retiring to ease and tranquillity.
If that be their object in the secession and addresses
proposed, there surely never were means worse chosen
to gain their end; and if this be any part of the project, it were a thousand times better it were never undertaken. The measure is not only unusual, and
as such critical, but it is in its own nature strong and
vehement in a high degree. The propriety, therefore, of adopting it depends entirely upon the spirit with which it is supported and followed. To pursue
violent measures with languor and irresolution is not
very consistent in speculation, and not more reputable or safe in practice. If your Lordship's friends do not go to this business with their whole hearts, if they
do not feel themselves uneasy without it, if they do
not undertake it with a certain degree of zeal, and
even with warmth and indignation, it had better be
removed wholly out of our thoughts. A measure of
less strength, and more in the beaten circle of affairs,
if supported with spirit and industry, would be on all
accounts infinitely more eligible. We have to consider what it is that in this undertaking we have against us. We have the weight of King, Lords, and
Commons in the other scale; we have against us,
within a trifle, the whole body of the law; we
oppose the more considerable part of the landed
? ? ? ? 156 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
and mercantile interests; we contend, in a manner,
against the whole Church; we set our faces against
great armies flushed with victory, and navies who
have tasted of civil spoil, and have a strong appetite
for more; our strength, whatever it is, must depend,
for a good part of its effect, upon events not very
probable. In such a situation, such a step requires
not only great magnanimity, but unwearied activity
and perseverance, with a good deal, too, of dexterity and management, to improve every accident in our favor.
The delivery of this paper may have very important consequences. It is true that the court may
pass it over in silence, with a real or affected contempt. But this I do not think so likely. If they
do take notice of it, the mildest course will be such
an address from Parliament as the House of Commons made to the king on the London Remonstrance in the year 1769.
This address will be followed by
addresses of a similar tendency, from all parts of the
kingdom, in order to overpower you with what they
will endeavor to pass as the united voice and sense
of the nation. But if they intend to proceed further,
and to take steps of a more decisive nature, you are
then to consider, not what they may legally and justly do, but what a Parliament omnipotent in power, influenced with party rage and personal resentment,
operating under the implicit military obedience of
court discipline, is capable of. Though they have
made some successful experiments on juries, they
will hardly trust enough to them to order a prosecution for a supposed libel. They may proceed in two ways: either by an impeachment, in which the
Tories may retort on the Whigs (but with better
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 157
success, though in a worse cause) the proceedings ill
the case of Sacheverell, or they may, without this
form, proceed, as against the Bishop of Rochester, by
a bill of pains and penalties more or less grievous.
The similarity of the cases, or the justice, is (as I
said) out of the question. The mode of proceeding
has several very ancient and very recent precedents.
None of these methods is impossible. The court may
select three or four of the most distinguished among
you for the victims; and therefore nothing is more
remote from the tendency of the proposed act than any
idea of retirement or repose. On the contrary, you
have, all of you, as principals or auxiliaries, a much
better [hotter? ] and more desperate conflict, in all
probability, to undergo, than any you have been yet
engaged in. The only question is, whether the risk,ought to be run for the chance (and it is no more)
of recalling the people of England to their ancient
principles, and to that personal interest which forerly they took in all public affairs. At any rate,
I am sure it is right, if we take this step, to take it
with a full view of the consequences, and with minds
and measures in a state of preparation to meet them. 'Lt is not becoming that your boldness should arise'rom a want of foresight. It is more reputable, and:ertainly it is more safe too, that it should be groundd on the evident necessity of encountering the dan-,ers which you foresee. Your Lordship will have the goodness to excuse
ne, if I state in strong terms the difficulties attendng a measure which on the whole I heartily concur
n. But as, from my want of importance, I can be
Personally little subject to the most trying part of
he consequences, it is as little my desire to urge:
? ? ? ? 158 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
others to dangers in which I am myself to have so
inconsiderable a share.
If this measure should be thought too great for
our strength or the dispositions of the times, then
the point will be to consider what is to be done in
Parliament. A weak, irregular, desultory, peevish opposition there will be as much too little as the other may be too big. Our scheme ought to
be such as to have in it a succession of measures:
else it is impossible to secure anything like a regular attendance; opposition will otherwise always carry a disreputable air; neither will it be possible, without that attendance, to persuade tile people that we are in earnest. Above all, a motion should
be well digested for the first day. There is one
thing in particular I wish to recommend to your
Lordship's consideration: that is, the opening of
the doors of the House of Commons. Without
this, I am clearly convinced, it will be in the powerx
of ministry to make our opposition appear withoul
doors just in what light they please. To obtain
a gallery is the easiest thing in the world, if w(
are satisfied to cultivate the esteem of our adversea
ries by the resolution and energy with which w
act against them: but if their satisfaction and gooc
humor be any part of our object, the attempt, I a(
mit, is idle.
I had some conversation, before I left town, wit
the D. of M. He is of opinion, that, if you adhe:
to your resolution of seceding, you ought not t
appear on the first day of the meeting. He thinI
it can have no effect, except to break the contini
ity of your conduct, and thereby to weaken ar:
fritter away the impression of it. It certainly w!
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 159
seem odd to give solemn reasons for a discontinuance of your attendance in Parliament, after having two or three times returned to it, and immediately
after a vigorous act of opposition. As to trials of
the temper of the House, there have been of that
sort so many already that I see no reason for making another that would not hold equally good for another after that, - particularly as nothing has happened in the least calculated to alter the disposition of the House. If the secession were to be general, such an attendance, followed by such an act,
would have force; but being in its nature incomplete
and broken, to break it further by retreats and returns to the chase must entirely destroy its effect.
I confess I am quite of the D. of M. 's opinion in
this point.
I send your Lordship a corrected copy of the paper: your Lordship will be so good to communicate
it, if you should approve of the alterations, to Lord. C. and Sir G. S. I showed it to the D. of P.
before his Grace left town; and at his, the D. of P. 's,
desire, I have sent it to the D. of R. The principal
ilteration is in the pages last but one. It is made
5o remove a difficulty which had been suggested to
"ir G. S. , and which he thought had a good deal in
t. I think it much the better for that alteration.
_ndeed, it may want still more corrections, in order,o adapt it to the present or probable future state
If thiings.
What shall I say in excuse for this long letter,,vlhich frightens me when I look back upon it?
Your Lordship will take it, and all in it, with
Four usual incomparable temper, which carries you
hrough so much both from enemies and friends.
? ? ? ? 160 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHIAM. My most humble respects to Lady R. , and believe me, with the highest regard, ever, &c.
E. B.
I hear that Dr. Franklin has had a most extraordinary reception at Paris from all ranks of people. BEACONSFIELD, Monday night, Jan. 6, 1777.
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING.
-W E, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, several of the peers of the realm, and
several members of the House of Commons chosen
by the people to represent them in Parliament, do
in our individual capacity, but with hearts filled
with a warm affection to your Majesty, with a strong
attachment to your royal house, and with the most
unfeigned devotion to your true interest, beg leave,
at this crisis of your affairs, in all humility to approach your royal presence.
Whilst we lament the measures adopted by the
public councils of the kingdom, we do not mean to
question the legal validity of their proceedings. We
do not desire to appeal from them to any person
whatsoever. We do not dispute the conclusive authority of the bodies in which we have a place over all their members. We know that it is our ordinary duty to submit ourselves to the determinations
of the majority in everything, except what regards
the just defence of our honor and reputation. But
the situation into which the British empire has been
broughlt, and the conduct to which we are reluctantly driven ill that situation, we hold ourselves bound by the relation in which we stand both to the crown
and the people clearly to explain to your Majesty
and our country.
VOL. VI. 11
? ? ? ? 162 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
We have been called upon in the speech from the
throne at the opening of this session of Parliament,
in a manner peculiarly marked, singularly emphatical, and from a place from whence anything implying censure falls with no common weight, to concur ill unanimous approbation of those measures which
have produced our present distresses and threaten
us in future with others far more grievous. We
trust, therefore, that we shall stand justified in offering to our sovereign and the public our reasons
for persevering inflexibly in our uniform dissent from
every part of those measures. We lament them from
an experience of their mischief, as we originally opposed them from a sure foresight of their unhappy
and inevitable tendency.
We see nothing in the present events in the least
degree sufficient to warrant an alteration in our opinion. We were always steadily averse to this civil
war, --not because we thought it impossible that it
should be attended with victory, but because we were
fully persuaded that in such a contest victory would
only vary the mode of our ruin, and by making it
less immediately sensible would render it the more
lasting and the more irretrievable. Experience had
but too fully instructed us in the possibility of the
reduction of a free people to slavery by foreign mercenary armies. But we had an horror of becoming
the instruments in a design, of which, in our turn,
we might become the victims. Knowing the inestimable value of peace, and the contemptible value
of what was sought by war, we wished to compose
the distractions of our country, not by the use of
foreign arms, but by prudent regulations in our own
domestic policy. We deplored, as your Majesty has
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 163
done in your speech from the throne, the disorders
which prevail in your empire; but we are convinced
that the disorders of the people, in the present time
and in the present place, are owing to the usual and
natural cause of such disorders at all times and in
all places, where such have prevailed, - the misconduct of government;- that they are owing to plans
laid in error, pursued with obstinacy, and conducted
witlhout wisdom.
We cannot attribute so much to the power of faction, at the expense of human nature, as to suppose, that, in any part of the world, a combination of
men, few ill number, not considerable in rank, of
no natural hereditary dependencies, should be able,
by the efforts of their policy alone, or the mere exertion of any talents, to bring the people of your American dominions into the disposition which has
produced the present troubles. We cannot conceive,
that, without some powerful concurring cause, any
management should prevail on some millions of people, dispersed over an whole continent, in thirteen provinces, not only unconnected, but, in many particulars of religion, manners, government, and local interest, totally different and adverse, voluntarily to
submit themselves to a suspension of all the profits
of industry and all the comforts of civil life, added
to all the evils of an unequal war, carried on with
circumstances of the greatest asperity and rigor.
This, Sir, we conceive, could never have happened,
but from a general sense of some grievance so radical in its nature and so spreading in its effects as
to poison all the ordinary satisfactions of life, to discompose the frame of society, and to convert into fear and hatred that habitual reverence ever paid by mankind to an ancient and venerable government.
? ? ? ? 164 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
That grievance is as simple in its nature, and as
level to the most ordinary understanding, as it is
powerful in affecting the most languid passions: it
is" AN ATTEMPT MIADE TO DISPOSE OF THE PROPERTY
OF A WHOLE PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. "
Your Majesty's English subjects in the colonies, possessing the ordinary faculties of mankind, know that to live under such a plan of government is not to live
in a state of freedom. Your English subjects in the
colonies, still impressed with the ancient feelings of
the people from whom they are derived, cannot live
under a government which does not establish freedom as its basis.
This scheme, being, therefore, set up in direct opposition to the rooted and confirmed sentiments and habits of thinking of an whole people, has produced
the effects which ever must result from such a collision of power and opinion. For we beg leave, with
all duty and humility, to represent to your Majesty,
(what we fear has been industriously concealed from
you,) that it is not merely the opinion of a very great
number, or even of the majority, but the universal
sense of the whole body of the people in those provinces, that the practice of taxing, in the mode and on the principles which have been lately contended for
and enforced, is subversive of all their rights.
This sense has been declared, as we understand on
good information, by the unanimous voice of all their
Assemblies: each Assembly also, on this point, is perfectly unanimous within itself. It has been declared as fully by the actual voice of the people without
these Assemblies as by the constructive voice within
them, as well by those in that country who addressed
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 165
as by those who remonstrated; and it is as much
the avowed opinion of those who have hazarded their
all, rather than take up arms against your Majesty's
forces, as of those who have run the same risk to
oppose them. The difference among them is not on
the grievance, but on the mode of redress; and we
are sorry to say, that they who have conceived hopes
from the placability of the ministers who influence
the public councils of this kingdom disappear in the
multitude of those who conceive that passive compliance only confirms and emboldens oppression.
The sense of a whole people, most gracious sovereign, never ought to be contemned by wise and
beneficent rulers, -- whatever may be the abstract
claims, or even rights, of the supreme power. We
have been too early instructed, and too long habituated to believe, that the only firm seat of all authority is in the minds, affections, and interests of the people, to change our opinions on the theoretic reasonings of speculative men, or for the convenience of
a mere temporary arrangement of state. It is not
consistent with equity or wisdom to set at defiance
the general feelings of great communities, and of all
the orders which compose them. Much power is tolerated, and passes unquestioned, where much is yielded to opinion. All is disputed, where everything is enforced.
Such are our sentiments on the duty and policy of
conforming to the prejudices of a whole people, even
where the foundation of such prejudices may be false
or disputable. But permit us to lay at your Majesty's feet our deliberate judgment on the real merits
of that principle, the violation of which is the known
ground and origin of these troubles. We assure your
? ? ? ? 166 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
Majesty, that, on our parts, we should think ourselves unjustifiable, as good citizens, and not influenced by the true spirit of Englishmen, if, with any effectual means of prevention in our hands, we were
to submit to taxes to which we did not consent, either
directly, or by a representation of the people securing
to us the substantial benefit of all absolutely free disposition of our own property in that important case.
And we add, Sir, that, if fortune, instead of blessing
us with a situation where we may have daily access
to the propitious presence of a gracious prince, had
fixed us in settlements on the remotest part of the
globe, we must carry these sentiments with us, as
part of our being, -- persuaded that the distance of
situation would render this privilege in the disposal
of property but the more necessary. If no provision
had been made for it, such provision ought to be
made or permitted. Abuses of subordinate authority increase, and all means of redress lessen, as the
distance of the subject removes him from the seat of
the supreme power. What, in those circumstances,
can save him from the last extremes of indignity and
oppression, but something left in his own hands which
may enable him to conciliate the favor and control
the excesses of government? When no means of
power to awe or to oblige are possessed, the strongest ties which connect mankind in every relation,
social and civil, and which teach them. mutually to
respect each other, are broken. Independency, from
that moment, virtually exists. Its formal declaration
will quickly follow. Such must be our feelings for
ourselves: we are not in possession of another rule
for our brethren.
When the late attempt practically to annihilate
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 167
that inestimable privilege was made, great disorders
and tumults, very unhappily and very naturally, arose
from it. In this state of things, we were of opinion
that satisfaction ought instantly to be given, or that,
at least, the punishment of the disorder ought to be
attended with the redress of the grievance. We were
of opinion, that, if our dependencies had so outgrown
the positive institutions made for the preservation of
liberty in this kingdom, that the operation of their
powers was become rather a pressure than a relief
to the subjects in the colonies, wisdom dictated that
the spirit of the Constitution should rather be applied
to their circumstances, than its authority enforced
with violence in those very parts where its reason
became wholly inllapplicable.
Other methods were then recommended and followed, as infallible means of restoring peace and order. We looked upon them to be, what they have since proved to be, the cause of inflaming discontent
into disobedience, and resistance into revolt. The
subversion of solemn, fundamental charters, on a suggestion of abuse, without citation, evidence, or hearing, -the total suspension of the commerce of a great maritime city, the capital of a great maritime
province, during the pleasure of the crown, - the establishment of a military force, not accountable to
the ordinary tribunals of the country in which it
was kept up, - these and other proceedings at that
time, if no previous cause of dissension had subsisted,
were sufficient to produce great troubles: unjust at
all times, they were then irrational.
We could not conceive, when disorders had arisen
from the complaint of one violated right, that to violate every other was the proper means of quieting an
? ? ? ? 168 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
exasperated people. It seemed to us absurd and preposterous to hold out, as the means of calming a people in a state of extreme inflammation, and ready to take up arms, the austere law which a rigid conqueror would impose as the sequel of the most decisive
victories.
Recourse, indeed, was at the same time had to
force; and we saw a force sent out, enough to menace liberty, but not to awe opposition, - tending to
bring odium on the civil power, and contempt on the
military, -at once to provoke and encourage resistance. Force was sent out not sufficient to hold one
towni; laws were passed t'o inflame thirteen provinces.
This mode of proceeding, by harsh laws and feeble
armies, could not be defended on the principle of
mercy and forbearance. For mercy, as we conceive,
consists, not in the weakness of the means, but in the
benignity of the ends. We apprehend that mild measures may be powerfully enforced, and that acts of extreme rigor and injustice may be attended with as much feebleness in the execution as severity in the
formation.
In consequence of these terrors, which, falling
upon some, threatened all, the colonies made a common cause with the sufferers, and proceeded, on
their part, to acts of resistance. In that alarming
situation, we besought your Majesty's ministers to
entertain some distrust of the operation of coercive
measures, and to profit of their experience. Experience had no effect. The modes of legislative rigor
were construed, not to have been erroneous in their
policy, but too limited in their extent. New severities were adopted. The fisheries of your people in
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 169
America followed their charters; and their mutual
combination to defend what they thought their commonl rights brought on a total prohibition of their
mutual commercial intercourse. No distinction of
persons or merits was observed: the peaceable and
the mutinous, friends and foes, were alike involved,
as if the rigor of the laws had a certain tendency to
recommend the authority of the legislator.
Whilst the penal laws increased in rigor, and extended in application over all the colonies, the direct
force was applied. but to one part. Had the great
fleet and foreign army since employed been at that
time called for, the greatness of the preparation would
have declared the magnitude of the danger. The nation would have been alarmed, and taught the necessity of some means of reconciliation with our counltrymen in America, who, whenever they are provoked to resistance, demand a force to reduce them to
obedience full as destructive to us as to them. But
Parliament and the people, by a premeditated coincealment of their real situation, were drawn into
perplexities which furnished excuses for further
armaments, and whilst they were taught to believe
themselves called to suppress a riot, they found themselves involved in a mighty war.
At length British blood was spilled by British
hands: a fatal era, which we must ever deplore, because your empire will forever feel it. Your Majesty was touched with a sense of so great a disaster.
Your paternal breast was affected with the sufferings
of your English subjects in America. In your speech
from the throne, in the beginning of the session of
1775, you were graciously pleased to declare yourself inclined to relieve their distresses and to pardon
? ? ?
gravitate towards them, if we would keep in the
same system, or expect that they should approach
towards us. They are, indeed, worthy of much
concession and management. I am quite convinced
that they are the honestest public men that ever appeared in this country, and I am sure that they are the wisest, by far, of those who appear in it at present.
None of those who are continually complaining of
them, but are themselves just as chargeable with all
their faults, and have a decent stock of their own
into the bargain. They (our friends) are, I admit,
as you very truly represent them, but indifferently qualified for storming a citadel. After all, God knows whether this citadel is to be stormed by them,
or by anybody else, by the means they use, or by
any means. I know that as they are, abstractedly
speaking, to blame, so there are those who cry out
against them for it, not with a friendly complaint,
as we do, but with the bitterness of enemies. But I
know, too, that those who blame them for want of
enterprise have shown no activity at all against the
common enemy: all their skill and all their spirit
have been shown only in weakening, dividing, and
indeed destroying their allies. What they are and
what we are is now pretty evidently experienced;
and it is certain, that, partly by our common faults,
but much more by the difficulties of our situation,
and some circumstances of unavoidable misfortune,
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 143
we are in little better than a sort of cul-de-sac. For
my part, I do all I can to give ease to my mind in
this strange position. I remember, some years ago,
when I was pressing some points with great eagerness and anxiety, and complaining with great vexation to the Duke of Richmond of the little progress I make, he told me kindly, and I believe very truly,
that, though he was far from thinking so himself,
other people could not be persuaded I had not
some latent private interest in pushing these matters, which I urged with an earnestness so extreme,
and so much approaching to passion. He was certainly in the right. I am thoroughly resolved to
give, both to myself and to my friends, less vexation,
on these subjects than hitherto I have done, - much:
less, indeed.
If you should grow too earnest, you will be still
more inexcusable than I was. Your having entered
into affairs so much younger ought to make them too
familiar to you to be the cause of much agitation, and
you have much more before you for your work. Do
not be in haste. Lay your foundations deep in public opinion. Though (as you are sensible) I have
never given you the least hint of advice about joining yourself in a declared connection with our party,
nor do I now, yet, as I love that party very well, and
am clear that you are better able to serve them than
any man I know, I wish that things should be so
kept as to leave you mutually very open to one another in all changes and contingencies; and I wish
this the rather, because, in order to be very great, as
I am anxious that you should be, (always presuming
that you are disposed to make a good use of power,)
you will certainly want some better support than.
? ? ? ? 144 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
merely that of the crown. For I much doubt, whether, with all your parts, you are the mail formed for acquiring real interior favor in this court, or in any;
I therefore wish you a firm ground in the country;
and I do not know so firm and so sound a bottom to
build on as our party. - Well, I have done with this
matter; and you think I ought to have finished it
long ago. Now I turn to Ireland.
Observe, that I have not heard a word of any news
relative to it, from thence or from London; so that I
am oily going to state to you my conjectures as to
facts, and to speculate again on these conjectures. I
have a strong notion that the lateness of our meeting
is owing to the previous arrangements intended in
Ireland. I suspect they mean that Ireland should
take a sort of lead, and act an efficient part in this
war, both with men and money. It will sound well,
when we meet, to tell us of the active zeal and loyalty of the people of' Ireland, and contrast it with the rebellious spirit of America. It will be a popular topic, -the perfect confidence of Ireland in the power of the British Parliament. From thence they
will argue the little danger which any dependency
of the crown has to apprehend from the enforcement
of that authority. It will be, too, somewhat flattering to the country gentlemen, who might otherwise begin to be sullen, to hold out that the burden is not
wholly to rest upon them; and it will pique our
pride to be told that Ireland has cheerfully stepped
forward: and when a dependant of this kingdom has
already engaged itself in another year's war, merely
for our dignity, how can we, who are principals in
the quarrel, hold off? This scheme of policy seems
to me so very obvious, and is likely to be of so much
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 145
service to the present system, that I cannot conceive
it possible they should neglect it, or something like it.
They have already put the people of Ireland to the
proof. Have they not borne the Earl of Buckinghamshire, the person who was employed to move the
fiery committee in the House of Lords in order to
stimulate the ministry to this war, who was in the
chair, and who moved the resolutions?
It is within a few days of eleven years since I was
in Ireland, and then after an absence of two. Those
who have been absent from any scene for even a
much shorter time generally lose the true practical
notion of the country, and of what may or may not
be done in it. When I knew Ireland, it was very
different from the state of England, where government is a vast deal, the public something, but individuals comparatively very little. But if Ireland bears any resemblance to what it was some years
ago, neither government nor public opinion can do
a great deal; almost the whole is in the hands of a
few leading people. The populace of Dublin, and
some parts in the North, are in some sort an exception. But the Primate, Lord Hillsborough, and Lord
IHertford have great sway in the latter; and the former may be considerable or not, pretty much as the
Duke of Leinster pleases. On the whole, the success
of government usually depended on the bargain made
with a very few men. The resident lieutenancy may
have made some change, and given a strength to government, which formerly, I know, it had not; still,
however, I am of opinion, the former state, though
in other hands perhaps, and in another manner, still
continues. The house you are connected with is
grown into a much greater degree of power than it
VOL. VI. 10
? ? ? ? 146 LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX.
had, though it was very considerable, at the period I
speak of. If the D. of L. takes a popular part, he is
sure of the city of Dublin, and he has a young man
attached to him who stands very forward in Parliament and inll profession, and, by what I hear, with more good-will and less envy than usually attends so
rapid a progress. The movement of one or two principal men, if they manage the little popular strength which is to be found in Dublin and Ulster, may do a
great deal, especially when money is to be saved and
taxes to be kept off. I confess I should despair of
your succeeding with any of them, if they cannot be
satisfied that every job which they can look for on account of carrying this measure would be just as sure to them for their ordinary support of government.
They are essential to government, which at this time
must not be disturbed, and their neutrality will be
purchased at as high a price as their alliance offensive and defensive. Now, as by supporting they may get as much as by betraying their country, it must
be a great leaning to turpitude that can make them
take a part in this war. I am satisfied, that, if the
Duke of Leinster and Lord Shannon would act together, this business could not go on; or if either of
them took part with Ponsonby, it would have no better success. Hutchinson's situation is much altered since I saw you. To please Tisdall, he had been in
a manner laid aside at the Castle. It is now to be
seen whether he prefers the gratification of his resentment and his appetite for popularity, both of
which are strong enough in him, to the advantages
which his independence gives him, of making a new
bargain, and accumulating new offices on his heap.
Pray do not be asleep in this scene of action, --at
? ? ? ? LETTER TO HON. CHARLES JAMES FOX. 147
this time, if I am right, the principal. The Protestants of Ireland will be, I think, in general, backward: they form infinitely the greatest part of the landed and the moneyed interests; and they will not
like to pay. The Papists are reduced to beasts of
burden: they will give all they have, their shoulders, readily enough, if they are flattered. Surely
the state of Ireland ought forever to teach parties
moderation in their victories. People crushed by law
have no hopes but from power. If laws are their
enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those
who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous, more or less. But this is not
our present business. If all this should prove a
dream, however, let it not hinder you from writing
to me and telling me so. You will easily refute, in
your conversation, the little topics which they will set
afloat: such as, that Ireland is a boat, and must go
with the ship; that, if the Americans contended only
for their liberties, it would be different, - but since
they have declared independence, and so forth
You are happy in enjoying Townshend's company.
Remember me to him. How does he like his private
situation in a country where he was the son of the
sovereign? -Mrs. Burke and the two Richards salute you cordially.
E. B.
BEACONSFIELD, October 8th, 1777.
? ? ? ? A
LETTER
TO
THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM,
WITH
ADDRESSES TO THE KING,
AND
THE BRITISH COLONISTS IN NORTH AMERICA,
IN RELATION TO
THE MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT IN THE AMERICAN CONTEST, AND A PROPOSED SECESSION OF
THE OPPOSITION FROM PARLIAMENT.
JANUARY, 1777.
? ? ? ? NOTE.
THIS Letter, with the two Addresses which follow it, was written upon occasion of a proposed' secession from Parliament of the members in both Houses who had opposed the measures of government, in the contest between this country and the colonies in North America, from the time of the repeal of the Stamp Act.
It appears, from an indorsement written by Mr. Burke on the
manuscript, that he warmly recommended the measure, but (for
what reasons is not stated) it was not adopted.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
MY DEAR LORD, --I am afraid that I ought
rather to beg your pardon for troubling you
at all in this season of repose, than to apologize for
having been so long silent on the approaching business. It comes upon us, not indeed in the most agreeable manner, but it does come upon us; and
I believe your friends in general are in expectation
of finding your Lordship resolved in what way you
are to meet it. The deliberation is full of difficulties; but the determination is necessary.
The affairs of America seem to be drawing towards
a crisis. The Howes are at this time in possession
of, or are able to awe, the whole middle coast of
America, from Delaware to the western boundary of
Massachusetts Bay; the naval barrier on the side of
Canada is broken; a great tract of country is open
for the supply of the troops; the river Hudson opens
a way into the heart of the provinces; and nothing
can, in all probability, prevent an early and offensive
campaign. What the Americans have done is, in
their- circumstances, truly astonishing; it is, indeed,
infinitely more than I expected from them. But
having done so much, for some short time 1 began to
entertain an opinion that they might do more. It is
now, however, evident that they cannot look standing
? ? ? ? 152 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
armies in the face. They are inferior in everything,
even in numbers, -I mean, in the number of those
whom they keep in constant duty and in regular pay.
There seem, by the best accounts, not to be above ten
or twelve thousand men, at most, in their grand army. The rest are militia, and not wonderfully well composed or disciplined. Tlhey decline a general
engagement, - prudently enough, if their object had been to make the war attend upon a treaty of good terms of subjection; but when they look further, this will not do. An army that is obliged at all times
and in all situations to decline an engagement may delay their ruin, but can never defend their country. Foreign assistance they have little or none, nor are likely soon to have more. France, in effect, has no king, nor any minister accredited enough either with the court or nation to undertake a design of great magnitude.
In this state of things, I persuade myself Franklin
is come to Paris to draw from that court a definitive
and satisfactory answer concerning the support of the
colonies. If he cannot get such an answer, (and I
am of opinion that at present he cannot,) then it
is to be presumed he is authorized to negotiate with
Lord Stormont on the basis of dependence on the
crown. This I take to be his errand: for I never
can believe that he is come thither as a fugitive from
his cause in the hour of its distress, or that he is going to conclude a long life, which has brightened every hour it has continued, with so foul and dishonorable a flight. On this supposition, I thought it not wholly impossible that the Whig party might be made
a sort of mediators of the peace. It is unnatural
to suppose, that, in makig arn accommodation, the
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 153
Americans should not choose rather to give credit
to those who all along have opposed the measure
of ministers, than to throw themselves wholly on the
mercy of their bitter, uniform, and systematic enemies. It is, indeed, the victorious enemy that has the terms to offer; the vanquished party and their
fiiends are, both of them, reduced in their power; and it is certain that those who are utterly broken and subdued have no option. But, as this is hardly yet the case of the Americans, in this middle state of their affairs, (much impaired, but not perfectly ruined,) one would think it must be their interest
to provide, if possible, some further security for the terms which they may obtain from their enemies.
If the Congress could be brought to declare in favor
of those terms for which one hundred members of the
House of Commons voted last year, with some civility to the party which held out those terms, it would
undoubtedly have an effect to revive the cause of
our liberties in England, and to give the colonies
some sort of mooring and anchorage in this country. It seemed to me that Franklin might be made
-to feel the propriety of such a step; and as I have
san acquaintance with him, I had a strong desire
of taking a turn to Paris. Everything else failing,
one might obtain a better knowledge of the general
aspect of affairs abroad than, I believe, any of us
possess at present. The Duke of Portland approved;he idea. But when I had conversed with the very,ew of your Lordship's friends who were in town,. nd considered a little more maturely the constant;emper and standing maxims of the party, I laid Lside the design, - not being desirous of risking the
Displeasure of those for whose sake alone I wished
? ? ? ? 154 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
to take that fatiguing journey at this severe season
of the year.
The Duke of Portland has taken with him some
heads of deliberation, which were the result of a discourse with his Grace and Mr. Montagu at Burlington House. It seems essential to the cause that your Lordship should meet your friends with some settled
plan either of action or inaction. Your friends will
certainly require such a plan; and I am sure the
state of affairs requires it, whether they call for it or
not. As to the measure of a secession with reasons,
after rolling the matter in my head a good deal, and
turning it an hundred ways, I confess I still think it
the most advisable, notwithstanding the serious objections that lie against it, and indeed the extreme uncertainty of all political measures, especially at this time. It provides for your honor. I know of nothing else that can so well do this. It is something,
perhaps all, that can be done in our present situation.
Some precaution, in this respect, is not without its
motives. That very estimation for which you have
sacrificed everything else is in some danger of suffering in the general wreck; and perhaps it is likely to
suffer the more, because you have hitherto confided
more than was quite prudent in the clearness of your
intentions, and in the solidity of the popular judgment upon them. The former, indeed, is out of the
power of events; the latter is full of levity, and the
very creature of fortune. However, such as it is.
(and for one I do not think I am inclined to overvalue it,) both our interest and our duty make it
necessary for us to attend to it very carefully, sc
long as we act a part in public. The measure you
take for this purpose may produce no immediate ef
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 155
feet; but with regard to the party, and the principles for whose sake the party exists, all hope of their preservation or recovery depends upon your preserving your reputation.
By the conversation of some friends, it seemed
as if they were willing to fall in with this design,
because it promised to emancipate them from the
servitude of irksome business, and to afford them
an opportunity of retiring to ease and tranquillity.
If that be their object in the secession and addresses
proposed, there surely never were means worse chosen
to gain their end; and if this be any part of the project, it were a thousand times better it were never undertaken. The measure is not only unusual, and
as such critical, but it is in its own nature strong and
vehement in a high degree. The propriety, therefore, of adopting it depends entirely upon the spirit with which it is supported and followed. To pursue
violent measures with languor and irresolution is not
very consistent in speculation, and not more reputable or safe in practice. If your Lordship's friends do not go to this business with their whole hearts, if they
do not feel themselves uneasy without it, if they do
not undertake it with a certain degree of zeal, and
even with warmth and indignation, it had better be
removed wholly out of our thoughts. A measure of
less strength, and more in the beaten circle of affairs,
if supported with spirit and industry, would be on all
accounts infinitely more eligible. We have to consider what it is that in this undertaking we have against us. We have the weight of King, Lords, and
Commons in the other scale; we have against us,
within a trifle, the whole body of the law; we
oppose the more considerable part of the landed
? ? ? ? 156 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
and mercantile interests; we contend, in a manner,
against the whole Church; we set our faces against
great armies flushed with victory, and navies who
have tasted of civil spoil, and have a strong appetite
for more; our strength, whatever it is, must depend,
for a good part of its effect, upon events not very
probable. In such a situation, such a step requires
not only great magnanimity, but unwearied activity
and perseverance, with a good deal, too, of dexterity and management, to improve every accident in our favor.
The delivery of this paper may have very important consequences. It is true that the court may
pass it over in silence, with a real or affected contempt. But this I do not think so likely. If they
do take notice of it, the mildest course will be such
an address from Parliament as the House of Commons made to the king on the London Remonstrance in the year 1769.
This address will be followed by
addresses of a similar tendency, from all parts of the
kingdom, in order to overpower you with what they
will endeavor to pass as the united voice and sense
of the nation. But if they intend to proceed further,
and to take steps of a more decisive nature, you are
then to consider, not what they may legally and justly do, but what a Parliament omnipotent in power, influenced with party rage and personal resentment,
operating under the implicit military obedience of
court discipline, is capable of. Though they have
made some successful experiments on juries, they
will hardly trust enough to them to order a prosecution for a supposed libel. They may proceed in two ways: either by an impeachment, in which the
Tories may retort on the Whigs (but with better
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 157
success, though in a worse cause) the proceedings ill
the case of Sacheverell, or they may, without this
form, proceed, as against the Bishop of Rochester, by
a bill of pains and penalties more or less grievous.
The similarity of the cases, or the justice, is (as I
said) out of the question. The mode of proceeding
has several very ancient and very recent precedents.
None of these methods is impossible. The court may
select three or four of the most distinguished among
you for the victims; and therefore nothing is more
remote from the tendency of the proposed act than any
idea of retirement or repose. On the contrary, you
have, all of you, as principals or auxiliaries, a much
better [hotter? ] and more desperate conflict, in all
probability, to undergo, than any you have been yet
engaged in. The only question is, whether the risk,ought to be run for the chance (and it is no more)
of recalling the people of England to their ancient
principles, and to that personal interest which forerly they took in all public affairs. At any rate,
I am sure it is right, if we take this step, to take it
with a full view of the consequences, and with minds
and measures in a state of preparation to meet them. 'Lt is not becoming that your boldness should arise'rom a want of foresight. It is more reputable, and:ertainly it is more safe too, that it should be groundd on the evident necessity of encountering the dan-,ers which you foresee. Your Lordship will have the goodness to excuse
ne, if I state in strong terms the difficulties attendng a measure which on the whole I heartily concur
n. But as, from my want of importance, I can be
Personally little subject to the most trying part of
he consequences, it is as little my desire to urge:
? ? ? ? 158 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
others to dangers in which I am myself to have so
inconsiderable a share.
If this measure should be thought too great for
our strength or the dispositions of the times, then
the point will be to consider what is to be done in
Parliament. A weak, irregular, desultory, peevish opposition there will be as much too little as the other may be too big. Our scheme ought to
be such as to have in it a succession of measures:
else it is impossible to secure anything like a regular attendance; opposition will otherwise always carry a disreputable air; neither will it be possible, without that attendance, to persuade tile people that we are in earnest. Above all, a motion should
be well digested for the first day. There is one
thing in particular I wish to recommend to your
Lordship's consideration: that is, the opening of
the doors of the House of Commons. Without
this, I am clearly convinced, it will be in the powerx
of ministry to make our opposition appear withoul
doors just in what light they please. To obtain
a gallery is the easiest thing in the world, if w(
are satisfied to cultivate the esteem of our adversea
ries by the resolution and energy with which w
act against them: but if their satisfaction and gooc
humor be any part of our object, the attempt, I a(
mit, is idle.
I had some conversation, before I left town, wit
the D. of M. He is of opinion, that, if you adhe:
to your resolution of seceding, you ought not t
appear on the first day of the meeting. He thinI
it can have no effect, except to break the contini
ity of your conduct, and thereby to weaken ar:
fritter away the impression of it. It certainly w!
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. 159
seem odd to give solemn reasons for a discontinuance of your attendance in Parliament, after having two or three times returned to it, and immediately
after a vigorous act of opposition. As to trials of
the temper of the House, there have been of that
sort so many already that I see no reason for making another that would not hold equally good for another after that, - particularly as nothing has happened in the least calculated to alter the disposition of the House. If the secession were to be general, such an attendance, followed by such an act,
would have force; but being in its nature incomplete
and broken, to break it further by retreats and returns to the chase must entirely destroy its effect.
I confess I am quite of the D. of M. 's opinion in
this point.
I send your Lordship a corrected copy of the paper: your Lordship will be so good to communicate
it, if you should approve of the alterations, to Lord. C. and Sir G. S. I showed it to the D. of P.
before his Grace left town; and at his, the D. of P. 's,
desire, I have sent it to the D. of R. The principal
ilteration is in the pages last but one. It is made
5o remove a difficulty which had been suggested to
"ir G. S. , and which he thought had a good deal in
t. I think it much the better for that alteration.
_ndeed, it may want still more corrections, in order,o adapt it to the present or probable future state
If thiings.
What shall I say in excuse for this long letter,,vlhich frightens me when I look back upon it?
Your Lordship will take it, and all in it, with
Four usual incomparable temper, which carries you
hrough so much both from enemies and friends.
? ? ? ? 160 LETTER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHIAM. My most humble respects to Lady R. , and believe me, with the highest regard, ever, &c.
E. B.
I hear that Dr. Franklin has had a most extraordinary reception at Paris from all ranks of people. BEACONSFIELD, Monday night, Jan. 6, 1777.
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING.
-W E, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, several of the peers of the realm, and
several members of the House of Commons chosen
by the people to represent them in Parliament, do
in our individual capacity, but with hearts filled
with a warm affection to your Majesty, with a strong
attachment to your royal house, and with the most
unfeigned devotion to your true interest, beg leave,
at this crisis of your affairs, in all humility to approach your royal presence.
Whilst we lament the measures adopted by the
public councils of the kingdom, we do not mean to
question the legal validity of their proceedings. We
do not desire to appeal from them to any person
whatsoever. We do not dispute the conclusive authority of the bodies in which we have a place over all their members. We know that it is our ordinary duty to submit ourselves to the determinations
of the majority in everything, except what regards
the just defence of our honor and reputation. But
the situation into which the British empire has been
broughlt, and the conduct to which we are reluctantly driven ill that situation, we hold ourselves bound by the relation in which we stand both to the crown
and the people clearly to explain to your Majesty
and our country.
VOL. VI. 11
? ? ? ? 162 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
We have been called upon in the speech from the
throne at the opening of this session of Parliament,
in a manner peculiarly marked, singularly emphatical, and from a place from whence anything implying censure falls with no common weight, to concur ill unanimous approbation of those measures which
have produced our present distresses and threaten
us in future with others far more grievous. We
trust, therefore, that we shall stand justified in offering to our sovereign and the public our reasons
for persevering inflexibly in our uniform dissent from
every part of those measures. We lament them from
an experience of their mischief, as we originally opposed them from a sure foresight of their unhappy
and inevitable tendency.
We see nothing in the present events in the least
degree sufficient to warrant an alteration in our opinion. We were always steadily averse to this civil
war, --not because we thought it impossible that it
should be attended with victory, but because we were
fully persuaded that in such a contest victory would
only vary the mode of our ruin, and by making it
less immediately sensible would render it the more
lasting and the more irretrievable. Experience had
but too fully instructed us in the possibility of the
reduction of a free people to slavery by foreign mercenary armies. But we had an horror of becoming
the instruments in a design, of which, in our turn,
we might become the victims. Knowing the inestimable value of peace, and the contemptible value
of what was sought by war, we wished to compose
the distractions of our country, not by the use of
foreign arms, but by prudent regulations in our own
domestic policy. We deplored, as your Majesty has
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 163
done in your speech from the throne, the disorders
which prevail in your empire; but we are convinced
that the disorders of the people, in the present time
and in the present place, are owing to the usual and
natural cause of such disorders at all times and in
all places, where such have prevailed, - the misconduct of government;- that they are owing to plans
laid in error, pursued with obstinacy, and conducted
witlhout wisdom.
We cannot attribute so much to the power of faction, at the expense of human nature, as to suppose, that, in any part of the world, a combination of
men, few ill number, not considerable in rank, of
no natural hereditary dependencies, should be able,
by the efforts of their policy alone, or the mere exertion of any talents, to bring the people of your American dominions into the disposition which has
produced the present troubles. We cannot conceive,
that, without some powerful concurring cause, any
management should prevail on some millions of people, dispersed over an whole continent, in thirteen provinces, not only unconnected, but, in many particulars of religion, manners, government, and local interest, totally different and adverse, voluntarily to
submit themselves to a suspension of all the profits
of industry and all the comforts of civil life, added
to all the evils of an unequal war, carried on with
circumstances of the greatest asperity and rigor.
This, Sir, we conceive, could never have happened,
but from a general sense of some grievance so radical in its nature and so spreading in its effects as
to poison all the ordinary satisfactions of life, to discompose the frame of society, and to convert into fear and hatred that habitual reverence ever paid by mankind to an ancient and venerable government.
? ? ? ? 164 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
That grievance is as simple in its nature, and as
level to the most ordinary understanding, as it is
powerful in affecting the most languid passions: it
is" AN ATTEMPT MIADE TO DISPOSE OF THE PROPERTY
OF A WHOLE PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. "
Your Majesty's English subjects in the colonies, possessing the ordinary faculties of mankind, know that to live under such a plan of government is not to live
in a state of freedom. Your English subjects in the
colonies, still impressed with the ancient feelings of
the people from whom they are derived, cannot live
under a government which does not establish freedom as its basis.
This scheme, being, therefore, set up in direct opposition to the rooted and confirmed sentiments and habits of thinking of an whole people, has produced
the effects which ever must result from such a collision of power and opinion. For we beg leave, with
all duty and humility, to represent to your Majesty,
(what we fear has been industriously concealed from
you,) that it is not merely the opinion of a very great
number, or even of the majority, but the universal
sense of the whole body of the people in those provinces, that the practice of taxing, in the mode and on the principles which have been lately contended for
and enforced, is subversive of all their rights.
This sense has been declared, as we understand on
good information, by the unanimous voice of all their
Assemblies: each Assembly also, on this point, is perfectly unanimous within itself. It has been declared as fully by the actual voice of the people without
these Assemblies as by the constructive voice within
them, as well by those in that country who addressed
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 165
as by those who remonstrated; and it is as much
the avowed opinion of those who have hazarded their
all, rather than take up arms against your Majesty's
forces, as of those who have run the same risk to
oppose them. The difference among them is not on
the grievance, but on the mode of redress; and we
are sorry to say, that they who have conceived hopes
from the placability of the ministers who influence
the public councils of this kingdom disappear in the
multitude of those who conceive that passive compliance only confirms and emboldens oppression.
The sense of a whole people, most gracious sovereign, never ought to be contemned by wise and
beneficent rulers, -- whatever may be the abstract
claims, or even rights, of the supreme power. We
have been too early instructed, and too long habituated to believe, that the only firm seat of all authority is in the minds, affections, and interests of the people, to change our opinions on the theoretic reasonings of speculative men, or for the convenience of
a mere temporary arrangement of state. It is not
consistent with equity or wisdom to set at defiance
the general feelings of great communities, and of all
the orders which compose them. Much power is tolerated, and passes unquestioned, where much is yielded to opinion. All is disputed, where everything is enforced.
Such are our sentiments on the duty and policy of
conforming to the prejudices of a whole people, even
where the foundation of such prejudices may be false
or disputable. But permit us to lay at your Majesty's feet our deliberate judgment on the real merits
of that principle, the violation of which is the known
ground and origin of these troubles. We assure your
? ? ? ? 166 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
Majesty, that, on our parts, we should think ourselves unjustifiable, as good citizens, and not influenced by the true spirit of Englishmen, if, with any effectual means of prevention in our hands, we were
to submit to taxes to which we did not consent, either
directly, or by a representation of the people securing
to us the substantial benefit of all absolutely free disposition of our own property in that important case.
And we add, Sir, that, if fortune, instead of blessing
us with a situation where we may have daily access
to the propitious presence of a gracious prince, had
fixed us in settlements on the remotest part of the
globe, we must carry these sentiments with us, as
part of our being, -- persuaded that the distance of
situation would render this privilege in the disposal
of property but the more necessary. If no provision
had been made for it, such provision ought to be
made or permitted. Abuses of subordinate authority increase, and all means of redress lessen, as the
distance of the subject removes him from the seat of
the supreme power. What, in those circumstances,
can save him from the last extremes of indignity and
oppression, but something left in his own hands which
may enable him to conciliate the favor and control
the excesses of government? When no means of
power to awe or to oblige are possessed, the strongest ties which connect mankind in every relation,
social and civil, and which teach them. mutually to
respect each other, are broken. Independency, from
that moment, virtually exists. Its formal declaration
will quickly follow. Such must be our feelings for
ourselves: we are not in possession of another rule
for our brethren.
When the late attempt practically to annihilate
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 167
that inestimable privilege was made, great disorders
and tumults, very unhappily and very naturally, arose
from it. In this state of things, we were of opinion
that satisfaction ought instantly to be given, or that,
at least, the punishment of the disorder ought to be
attended with the redress of the grievance. We were
of opinion, that, if our dependencies had so outgrown
the positive institutions made for the preservation of
liberty in this kingdom, that the operation of their
powers was become rather a pressure than a relief
to the subjects in the colonies, wisdom dictated that
the spirit of the Constitution should rather be applied
to their circumstances, than its authority enforced
with violence in those very parts where its reason
became wholly inllapplicable.
Other methods were then recommended and followed, as infallible means of restoring peace and order. We looked upon them to be, what they have since proved to be, the cause of inflaming discontent
into disobedience, and resistance into revolt. The
subversion of solemn, fundamental charters, on a suggestion of abuse, without citation, evidence, or hearing, -the total suspension of the commerce of a great maritime city, the capital of a great maritime
province, during the pleasure of the crown, - the establishment of a military force, not accountable to
the ordinary tribunals of the country in which it
was kept up, - these and other proceedings at that
time, if no previous cause of dissension had subsisted,
were sufficient to produce great troubles: unjust at
all times, they were then irrational.
We could not conceive, when disorders had arisen
from the complaint of one violated right, that to violate every other was the proper means of quieting an
? ? ? ? 168 ADDRESS TO THE KING.
exasperated people. It seemed to us absurd and preposterous to hold out, as the means of calming a people in a state of extreme inflammation, and ready to take up arms, the austere law which a rigid conqueror would impose as the sequel of the most decisive
victories.
Recourse, indeed, was at the same time had to
force; and we saw a force sent out, enough to menace liberty, but not to awe opposition, - tending to
bring odium on the civil power, and contempt on the
military, -at once to provoke and encourage resistance. Force was sent out not sufficient to hold one
towni; laws were passed t'o inflame thirteen provinces.
This mode of proceeding, by harsh laws and feeble
armies, could not be defended on the principle of
mercy and forbearance. For mercy, as we conceive,
consists, not in the weakness of the means, but in the
benignity of the ends. We apprehend that mild measures may be powerfully enforced, and that acts of extreme rigor and injustice may be attended with as much feebleness in the execution as severity in the
formation.
In consequence of these terrors, which, falling
upon some, threatened all, the colonies made a common cause with the sufferers, and proceeded, on
their part, to acts of resistance. In that alarming
situation, we besought your Majesty's ministers to
entertain some distrust of the operation of coercive
measures, and to profit of their experience. Experience had no effect. The modes of legislative rigor
were construed, not to have been erroneous in their
policy, but too limited in their extent. New severities were adopted. The fisheries of your people in
? ? ? ? ADDRESS TO THE KING. 169
America followed their charters; and their mutual
combination to defend what they thought their commonl rights brought on a total prohibition of their
mutual commercial intercourse. No distinction of
persons or merits was observed: the peaceable and
the mutinous, friends and foes, were alike involved,
as if the rigor of the laws had a certain tendency to
recommend the authority of the legislator.
Whilst the penal laws increased in rigor, and extended in application over all the colonies, the direct
force was applied. but to one part. Had the great
fleet and foreign army since employed been at that
time called for, the greatness of the preparation would
have declared the magnitude of the danger. The nation would have been alarmed, and taught the necessity of some means of reconciliation with our counltrymen in America, who, whenever they are provoked to resistance, demand a force to reduce them to
obedience full as destructive to us as to them. But
Parliament and the people, by a premeditated coincealment of their real situation, were drawn into
perplexities which furnished excuses for further
armaments, and whilst they were taught to believe
themselves called to suppress a riot, they found themselves involved in a mighty war.
At length British blood was spilled by British
hands: a fatal era, which we must ever deplore, because your empire will forever feel it. Your Majesty was touched with a sense of so great a disaster.
Your paternal breast was affected with the sufferings
of your English subjects in America. In your speech
from the throne, in the beginning of the session of
1775, you were graciously pleased to declare yourself inclined to relieve their distresses and to pardon
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