But if this unheard-of doctrine of the encouragement of rebellion were true, if it were true that an assurance of the friendship of numbers in this
country towards the colonies could become an encouragement to them to'break off all connection with
it, what is the inference?
country towards the colonies could become an encouragement to them to'break off all connection with
it, what is the inference?
Edmund Burke
We may trust them as
amply as we. think proper; but as they have most
certainly a call for all the reason which their stock
can furnish, why should we think it proper to disturb
its operation by inflaming their passions? I may be
unable to lend an helping hand to those who direct
the state; but I should be ashamed to make myself
one of a noisy multitude to halloo and hearten them
into doubtful and dangerous courses. A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood.
He would feel some apprehension at being called to a
tremendous account for engaging in so deep a play
without any sort of knowledge of the game. It is no
excuse for presumptuous ignorance, that it is directed
by insolent passion. The poorest being that crawls
on earth, contending to save itself from injustice and
oppression, is an object respectable in the eyes of God
and man. But I cannot conceive any existence under heaven (which in the depths of its wisdom tolerates all sorts of things) that is more truly odious and disgusting than an impotent, helpless creature,
without civil wisdom or military skill, without a consciousness of any other qualification for power but'his
servility to it, bloated with pride and arrogance, calling for battles which he is not to fight, contending
for a violent dominion which he can never exercise,
and satisfied to be himself mean and miserable, in order to render others contemptible and wretched.
If you and I find our talents not of the great and
ruling kind, our conduct, at least, is conformable to
our faculties. No man's life pays the forfeit of our
rashness. No desolate widow weeps tears of blood
? ? ? ? LET'i'ER rTO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 207
over our ignorance. Scrupulous and sober in a we]lgrounded distrust of ourselves, we would keep in the
port of peace and security; and perhaps in recommending to others something of the same diffidence,
we should show ourselves more charitable to their
welfare than injurious to their abilities.
There are many circumstances in the zeal shown
for civil war which seem to discover but little of real
magnanimity. The addressers offer their own persons, and they are satisfied with hiring Germans.
They promise their private fortunes, and they mortgage their country. They have all the merit of volunteers, without risk of person or charge of contribution; and when the unfeeling arm of a foreign soldiery pours out their kindred blood like water, they exult and triumph as if they themselves had performed some notable exploit. I am really ashamed of
the fashionable language which has been held for
some time past, which, to say the best of it, is full of
levity. You know that I allude to the general cry
against the cowardice of the Americans, as if we despised them for not making the king's soldiery purchase the advantage they have obtained at a dearer
rate. It is not, Gentlemen, it is not to respect the
dispensations of Providence, nor to provide any decent retreat in the mutability of human affairs. It
leaves no medium between insolent victory and infamous defeat. It tends to alienate our minds further
and further from our natural regards, and to make
an eternal rent and schism in the British nation.
Those who do not wish for such a separation would
not dissolve that cement of reciprocal esteem and
regard which can alone bind together the parts of
this great fabric. It ought to be our wish, as it is
? ? ? ? 208 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
our duty, not only to forbear this style of outrage
ourselves, but to make every one as sensible as we
can of the impropriety and unworthiness of the tempers which give: rise to it, and which designing men are laboring with such malignant industry to diffuse
amongst us. . It is our business to counteract them,
if possible,-if possible, to awake our natural regards,
and to revive the old partiality to the English name.
Without something of this kind I do not see how it
is ever practicable really to reconcile with those
whose affection, after all, must be the surest hold of
our government, and which is a thousand times more
worth to us than the mercenary zeal of all the circles of Germany.
I can well conceive a country completely overrun,
and miserably wasted, without approaching in the
least to settlement. In my apprehension, as long as
English government is attempted to be supported over
Englishmen by the sword alone, things will thus continue. I anticipate in my mind the moment of the final triumph of foreign military force. When that
hour arrives, (for it may arrive,) then it is that all this
mass of weakness and violence will appear in its full
light. If we should be expelled from America, the delusion of the partisans of military government might still continue. They might still feed'their imaginations with the possible good consequences which might have attended- success. Nobody could prove the contrary by facts. But in case the sword should do all that the sword can do, the success of their arms and the
defeat of their policy will be one and the same thing.
You will never see any revenue from America. Some
increase of the means of corruption, without ease of
the public burdens, is the very best that can happen.
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 209:Is it for this that we are at war,- and in such a
war?
As to the difficulties of laying once more the foundations of that government which, for the sake of
conquering what was our own, has been voluntarily and wantonly pulled down by a court faction
-here, I tremble to. look at them. Has any of these
gentlemen who aie: So eager to govern all mankind
shown himself possessed of the first qualification
towards government, some kniowledge of the object,
and of the difficulties which occur in the task they
have undertaken?
I assure you, that, on the most prosperous issue of
your arms, you will not be where you stood when
you called in war to supply the defects of your political establishment. Nor wbuld any disorder or disobedience to government which could arise from the most abject concession on our part ever equal those
which will be felt after the most triumphant violence. You have got all the intermediate evils of
war into the bargain.
I think I know America,-if I do not, my ignorance is incurable, for I have spared no pains to
understand it,- and I do most solemnly assure those
of my collstituents who put any sort of confidence in
my industry anid integrity, that everything that has
been done there has arisen from a total misconception of the object: that our means of originally holdring America, that our means of reconciling'with it after quarrel, of recovering it after separation, of
keeping it after victory, did depend, and must depend, in their several stages and periods, upon a total
renunciation of that unconditional submission which
has taken such possession of the minds of violent
VOL. I1. 14
? ? ? ? 210 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
nmen. The whole of those maxims upon which we
have made and continued this war must be abandoned. Nothing, indeed, (for I would not deceive
you,) can place us in our former situation. That
hope must be laid aside. But there is a difference
between bad and the worst of all. Terms relative to
the cause of the war ought to be offered by the
authority of Parliament. An arrangement at home
promising some security for them ought to be made.
By doing this, without the least impairing of our
strength, we add to the credit of our moderation,
which, in itself, is always strength more or less.
I know many have been taught to think that moderation in a case like this is a sort of treason,-and
that all arguments for it are sufficiently answered by
railing at rebels and rebellion, and by charging all
the present or future miseries which we may suffer
on the resistance of our brethren. But I would wish
them, in this grave matter, and if peace is not wholly
removed from their hearts, to consider seriously, first,
that to criminate and recriminate never yet was the
road to reconciliation, in any difference amongst men.
In the. next place, it would be right to reflect that
the American English (whom they may abuse, if
they think it honorable to revile the absent) can, as
things now stand, neither be provoked at our railing
or bettered by our instruction. All communication
is cut off between us. But this we know with certainty, that, though we cannot reclaim them, we may reform ourselves. If measures of peace are necessary, they must begin somewhere; and a conciliatory temper must precede and prepare every plan of reconciliation. Nor do I conceive that we suffer anything by thus regulating our own minds. We are not dis
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 211
armed by being disencumbered of our passions. Declaiming on rebellion never added a bayonet or a charge of powder to your military force; but I am
afraid that it has been the means of taking up many
muskets against you.
This outrageous language, which has been encouraged and kept alive by every art, has already done incredible mischief. For a long time, even amidst
the desolations of war, and the insults of hostile laws
daily accumulated on one another, the American
leaders seem to have had the greatest difficulty in
bringing up their people to a declaration of total
independence. But the Court Gazette accomplished
what the abettors of independence had attempted
in vain. When that disingenuous compilation and
strange medley of railing and flattery was adduced
as a proof of the united sentiments of the people of
Great Britain, there was a great change throughout
all' America. The tide of popular affection, which
had still set towards the parent country, began immediately to turn, and to flow with great rapidity in a contrary course. Far from concealing these wild
declarations of enmity, the author of the celebrated
pamphlet which prepared the minds of the people
for independence insists largely on'the multitude
and the spirit of these addresses; and he draws an
argument from them, which, if the fact were as he
supposes, must be irresistible. For I never knew a
writer on the theory of government so partial to
authority as not to allow that the hostile mind of the
rulers to their people did fully justify a change of
government; nor can any reason whatever be given
why one people should voluntarily yield any degree
of preeminence to another but on a supposition of
? ? ? ? 212 LETTER TO'THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
great affection and benevolence towards them. Un.
fortunately, your rulers, trusting to other things, took
no notice of this great principle of connection. From
the beginning of this affair, theyf have done all they
could to alienate your minds from your own kindred; and if they could excite hatred enough in one
of the parties towards the other, they seemed to be,
of opinion that they had gone half the way towards
reconciling the quarrel.
I know it is said, that your kindness is only alienated on account of their resistance, and therefore, if the colonies surrender at discretion, all sort of regard,
and even much indulgence, is meant towards them
in future. But can those who, are partisans for
continuing a war to enforce such a surrender be
responsible (after all that has passed) for such a
future use of a power that is bound by no-. compacts
and restrained by no terror? Will they tell us what
they call indulgences? Do they not at this instant
call the. present war -and all its horrors a lenient
and merciful proceeding?
No conqueror that I ever heard of has professed
to make a cruel, harsh,,and insolent use of his conquest. No! The man of the most declared pride scarcely dares to trust his own heart with this dreadful secret of ambition. But it will appear in its
time; and no man who professes to reduce another
to the insolent mercy of a foreign arm ever had any
sort? of good-will towards him. The profession of
kindness, with that sword in his hand, and that demand of surrender, is one of the most provoking acts of his hostility. I shall be told thatall this is lenient
as against rebellious adversaries. But are the leaders
of their faction more lenient to those who submit?
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL, 213. Lord Howe and General Howe have powers, under an act of Parliament, to restore to the king's peace
and to free trade ally men or district which shall
submit. ' Is this done? We have been over and over
informed by the authorized gazette, that the city of
New. York and the countries of Staten and Long
Island have submitted voluntarily and cheerfully, and
that many are very full of zeal to the cause of administration. Were they instantly restored to trade? Are they yet restored to it? Is not the benignity of two
cbmmissioners, naturally most humane and generous
men, some way fettered by instructions, equally
against their dispositions and the spirit of Parliamentary faith, when Mr. Tryon, vaunting of the fidelity of the city in which he is governor, is obliged to apply to
ministry for leave to protect the king's loyal subjects,
and to grant to them, not the disputed rights and privileges of freedom, but the common rights of men, by the name of graces? Why do not the commissioners
restore them on the spot? Were they not named as
commissioners for that express purpose? But we see
well enough to what the whole leads. The trade of
America is to:be dealt out in private indulgences and
graces, -- that is, in jobs to recompense the incendiaries
of war. They will be informed of the proper time in
which to send out their merchandise. From a national, the American trade is to be turned into a personal monopoly, and one set of merchants are to be rewarded for the pretended zeal of which another set
are the dupes; and thus, between craft and credulity,
the voice of reason is stifled, and all the misconduct,
all the calamities of the war are covered and continued.
If I had not lived long enough to be little surprised
at anything, I should have been in some degree as
? ? ? ? 214 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
tonished at the continued rage of several gentlemen,
who, not satisfied with carrying fire and sword into
America; are animated nearly with the same fury
against those neighbors of theirs whose only crime it
is, that they have charitably and humanely wished
them to entertain more reasonable sentiments, and
not always to sacrifice their interest to their passion.
All this rage against unresisting dissent convinces me,
that, at bottom, they are far from satisfied they are
in the right. For what is it they would have? A
war? They certainly have at this moment the blessing of something that is very like one; and if the war
they enjoy at present be not sufficiently hot and extensive, they may shortly have it as warm and as spreading as their hearts can desire. Is it the force of the kingdom they call for? They have it already; and
if they choose to fight their battles in their own person, nobody prevents their setting sail to America in
the next transports. ]96they think that the service
is stinted for want of liberal supplies? Indeed they
complain without reason. The table of the House of
Commons will glut them, let their appetite for expense
be never so keen. And I assure them further, that
those who think with them in the House of Commons
are full as easy in the control as they are liberal in
the vote of these expenses. If this be not supply or
confidence sufficient, let them open their own private
purse-strings, and give, from what is. left to them, as
largely and with as little care as they think proper.
Tolerated in their passions, let them learn not to
persecute the moderation of their fellow-citizens. If
all the world joined them in a full cry against rebellion, and were as hotly inflamed against the whole
theory and enjoyment of freedom as those who are
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 215
the most factious for servitude, it could not, in my
opinion, answer any one end whatsoever in this contest. The leaders of this war could not hire (to gratify their friends) one German more than they do, or inspire him with less feeling for the persons or less
value for the privileges of their revolted brethren.
If we all adopted their sentiments to a man, their
allies, the savage Indians, could not be more ferocious than they are: they could not murder one
more helpless woman or child, or with more exquisite refinements of cruelty torment to death one more
of their English flesh and blood, than they do already.
The public money is given to purchase this alliance;
- and they have their bargain.
They are continually boasting of unanimity, or
calling for it. But before this unanimity can be
matter either of wish or congratulation, we ought
to be pretty sure that we are engaged in a rational
pursuit. Frenzy does not become a slighter distemper on account of the number of those who may
be infected with it. Delusion and weakness produce
not one mischief the less because they are universal.
I declare that I cannot discern the least advantage
which could accrue to us, if we were able to persuade
our colonies that they had not a single friend in Great
Britain. On the contrary, if the affections and opinions of mankind be not exploded as principles of connection, I conceive it would be happy for us, if they were taught to believe that there was even a formed
American party in England, to whom they could always look for support. Happy would it be for us, if,
in all tempers, they might turn their eyes to the parent state, so that their very turbulence and sedition
should find vent in no other place than this'! I be
? ? ? ? 216 LETTER TO. THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
lieve there is not a man (except those who prefer the
interest of some paltry faction to the very being of,
their country) who would not wish that the Americans should from time to time carry many points,
and even some of them not quite reasonable, by the
aid of any denomination of men here, rather than
they should be driven to seek for protection against
the fury of foreign mercenaries and the waste of savages in the arms of France.
When any community is subordinately connected
with another, the great danger of the connection is
the extreme pride and self-complacency of the superior, which in all matters of controversy will probably decide in its own favor. It is a powerful corrective
to such a very rational cause of fear, if the inferior
body can be made to believe that the party inclination or political views of several in the principal
state will induce them in some degree to counteract
this blind and tyrannical partiality. There is no danger that any one acquiring consideration or power in the presiding state should carry this leaning to the inferior too far. The fault of human nature is not of that sort. Power, in whatever hands, is rarely guilty
of too strict limitations on itself. But one great advantage to the support of authority attends such an amicable and protecting connection: that those who
have conferred favors obtain influence, and from the
foresight of future events can persuade men who
have received obligations sometimes to return them.
Thus, by the mediation of those healing principles,
(call them good or evil,) troublesome discussions are
brought to some sort of adjustment, and every hot
controversy is not a civil war.
But, if the colonies (to bring the general matter
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 217
nome to us) could see that in Great Britain the
mass of the people is melted into its government, and
that every dispute with the ministry must of necessity be always a quarrel with the nation, they can. stand no longer in the equal and friendly relation of fellow-citizens to the subjects of this kingdom. Hum-'ole as this relation may appear to some, when it is
once broken, a strong tie is dissolveld. Other sort of
connections will be sought. For there are very few
in the world who will not prefer an useful ally to an
insolent master.
Such discord has been the effect of the unanimity
into which so many have of late been seduced or bullied, or into'the appearance of which they have sunk
through mere despair. They have been told that
their dissent from violent measures is an encouragement to rebellion. Men of great presumption and
little knowledge'will hold a language which is contradicted by the whole course of history. General
rebellions and revolts of an whole people never were
encouraged, now or at any time. They are always provoked.
But if this unheard-of doctrine of the encouragement of rebellion were true, if it were true that an assurance of the friendship of numbers in this
country towards the colonies could become an encouragement to them to'break off all connection with
it, what is the inference? Does anybody seriously
maintain, that, charged with my share of the public
councils, I am obliged not to resist projects which I
think. mischievous, lest men who suffer should be encouraged to resist? The very tendency of such projects to produce rebellion is one of the'chief reasons against them. Shall that reason not be given? Is it,
then, a rule, that no man in this nation shall open his
? ? ? ? 218 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
mouth in favor of the colonies, shall defend their
rights, or complain of their sufferings,-or when war
finally breaks out, no man shall express his desires of
peace? Has this been the law of our past, or is it to
be the terms of our future connection? Even looking no further than ourselves, can it be true loyalty
to any government, or true patriotism towards any
country, to degrade their solemn councils into servile
drawing-rooms, to flatter their pride and passions
rather than to enlighten their reason, and to prevent
them from being cautioned against violence lest others should be encouraged to resistance? By such acquiescence great kings and mighty nations have
been undone; and if any are at this day in a perilous
situation from rejecting truth and listening to flattery, it would rather become them to reform the errors under which they suffer than to reproach
those who forewarned them of their danger.
But the rebels looked for assistance from this country. -They did so, in the beginning of this controversy, most certainly; and they sought it by earnest supplications to government, which dignity rejected, and by a suspension of commerce, which the wealth of
this nation enabled you to despise. When they found
that neither prayers nor menaces had any sort of
weight, but that a firm resolution-was taken to reduce
them to unconditional obedience by a military force,
they came to the last extremity. Despairing of us,
they trusted in themselves. Not strong enough themselves, they sought succor in France. In proportion as all encouragement here lessened, their distance
from this country increased. The enicouragement is
over; the alienation is complete.
In order to produce this favorite unanimity in delu
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 219
sion, and to prevent all possibility of a return to our
ancient happy concord, arguments for our continuance in this course are drawn from the wretched situation itself into which we have been betrayed. It is said, that, being at war with the colonies, whatever our
sentiments might have been before, all ties between
us are now dissolved, and all the policy we have left
is to strengthen the hands of government to reduce
them. On the principle of this argument, the more
mischiefs we suffer from any administration, the more
our trust in it is to be confirmed. Let them but once
get us into a war, and then their power is safe, and an
act of oblivion passed for all their misconduct.
But is it really true that government is always to
be strengthened with the instruments of war, but
never furnished with the means of peace? In former
times, ministers, I allow,'have been sometimes driven
by the popular voice to assert by arms the national
honor against foreign powers. But the wisdom of
the nation has been far more clear, when those ministers have been compelled to consult its interests by
treaty. We all know that the sense of the nation
obliged the court of Charles the Second to abandon
the Dutch war: a war, next to the present, the most
impolitic which we ever carried on. The good people of England considered Holland as a sort of dependency on this kingdom; they dreaded to drive it to the protection or subject it to the power of France
by their own inconsiderate hostility. They paid but
little respect to the court jargon of that day; nor
were they inflamed by the pretended rivalship of the
Dutch in trade, - by the massacre at. Amboyna, acted
on the stage to provoke the public vengeance, -nor
by declamations against the ingratitude of the United
? ? ? ? 220 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
Provinces for the benefits England had conferred upon them in their infant state. They were not moved
from their evident interest by all these arts; nor was
it enough to tell them, they were at war, that they
must go through with it, and that the cause of the
dispute was lost in the consequences. The people of
England were then, as they are now, called upon to
make government strong. They thought it a great:deal better to make it wise and honest.
When I was amongst my constituents at the last
summer assizes, I remember that men of all descriptions did then express a very strong desire for peace,
and no slight hopes of attaining it from the commission sent out by my Lord Howe. And it is' not a
little remarkable,:that, in proportion as every person
showed a zeal for the court measures, he was then
earnest in circulating an opinion of the extent of the
supposed powers of that commission. When I told
them that Lord Howe had no powers to treat, or to
promise satisfaction on any point whatsoever of the
controversy, I was hardly credited,-so strong and
general' was the desire of terminating this war by
the method of accommodation. As far as I could
discover, this was the temper then prevalent through
the kingdom. The king's forces, it must be observed, had at that time been obliged to evacuate
Boston. The superiority of the former campaign
rested wholly with the colonists. If such powers of
treaty were to be wished whilst success was very
doubtful, how came they to be less: so, since his Majesty's arms have been crowned with many considerable advantages? Have these successes induced us to alter our mind, as thinking the season of victory
not the time for treating with honor or advantage?
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 221
Whatever changes have happened in the national
character, it can scarcely be our wish that terms of
accommodation never should be proposed to our enemy, except when they must' be attributed solely to
our fears. It has happened, let me say unfortunately, that we read of his Majesty's commission for
making peace, and his troops evacuating his last
town in the Thirteen Colonies, at the'same hour and
in the same gazette. It was still more unfortunate
that no commission went- to America to settle the
troubles there, until several months after an act had
been passed to put the colonies out of the protection
of this government, and to divide their trading property, without a possibility of restitution, as spoil
among the seamen of the navy. 'The most abject
submission on- the part of the colonies could not redeem them. There was no man on that whole continent, or within three thousand miles of it, qualified
by law to follow allegiance. with protection or submission with pardon. A proceeding of this kind has
no example in history. Independency, and independency with an enmity, (which, putting ourselves out
of the question, would be called natural and much
provoked,) was the inevitable consequence. How
this came to pass the nation may be one day in an
humor to inquire.
All the attempts made this session to. give fuller
powers of peace to the commanders in America were:
stifled by the fatal confidence of victory and the wild
hopes of unconditional submission. There was a moment favorable to the'king's arms, when, if any powers of concession had existed on' the other side of the Atlantic, even after all our errors, peace in all probability might have been restored. : But calamity is un
? ? ? ? 222 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
happily the usual season of reflection; and the pride
of men will not often suffer reason to have any scope,
until it can be no longer of service.
I have always wished, that as the dispute had its
apparent origin from things done in Parliament, and
as the acts passed there had provoked the war, that
the foundations of peace should be laid in Parliament
also. I have been astonished to find that those
whose zeal for the dignity of our body was so hot as
to light up the flames of civil war should even publicly declare that these delicate points ought to be wholly left to the crown. Poorly as I may be thought
affected to the authority of Parliament, I shall never
admit that our' constitutional rights can ever become
a matter of ministerial negotiation.
I am charged with being an American. If warm
affection towards those over whom I claim any share
of authority be a crime, I am guilty of this charge.
But I do assure you, (and they who know me publicly
and privately will bear witness to me,) that, if ever one
man lived more zealous than another for the supremacy of Parliament and the rights of this imperial crown, it was myself. Many others, indeed, might be
more knowing in the extent of the foundation of
these rights. I do not pretend to be an antiquary,
a lawyer, or qualified for the chair of professor in
metaphysics. I never ventured to put your solid interests upon speculative grounds. My having con stantly declined to do so has been attributed to my
incapacity for such disquisitions; and I am inclined
to believe it is partly the cause. I never shall be
ashamed to confess, that, where I am ignorant, I am
diffident. I am, indeed, not very solicitous to clear
myself of this imputed incapacity; because men even
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF. BRISTOL. 223
less conversant than I am in this kind of'subtleties,
and placed in stations to which I ought not to aspire,
have, by the mere force of civil discretion, often conducted the affairs of great nations with distinguished
felicity and glory. .
When I first came into a public trust, I found
your Parliamentin possession of'an unlimited legislative power over the colonies. I could not open the
statute-book without seeing the actual exercise of it,
more or less, in all: cases whatsoever. This possession passed with me for a title. It does so'in all human affairs. No man examines into the defects of his title to his paternal estate or to his established government. Indeed, common sense taught me that a
legislative authority not actually limited by the express terms of its foundation, or by its own subsequent acts, cannot have its powers parcelled out by argumentative distinctions, so as to enable us to say
that here theyv can and there they cannot bind. Nobody was so obliging as to produce to me any record
of such distinctions, by compact or otherwise, either
at the successive formation of the several colonies or
during the existence of ally of them. If any gentlemen were able to see how one power could be given
up (merely on abstract reasoning) without giving up
the rest, I can only say that they saw further than I
could. Nor did I ever presume to condemn any one
for being clear-sighted when I was blind. I praise
their penetration and learning, and hope that their
practice has been correspondent to their theory.
I had, indeed, very earnest wishes to keep the whole
body of this authority perfect and entire as I found
it, - and to keep it so, not for our advantage solely,
but principally for the sake of those on whose ac
? ? ? ? 224 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
count all just authority exists: I mean the people to
be governed. For I thought I saw that many cases
might well: happen in which the exercise of every
power comprehended in the broadest idea of legislature might become, in its time and circumstances,
not a little expedient for the peace and union of the
colonies amongst themselves, as well as for their perfect harmony with Great Britain. Thinking so, (perhaps erroneously, but being honestly of that opinion,) I was at the same time very sure that the authority
of which I- was so jealous could not, under the actual
circumstances of our plantations, be at all preserved
in any of its members, but by the greatest reserve in
its application, particularly in those delicate points
in which the feelings of mankind are the most irritable. They who thought otherwise have found a few
more difficulties in their work than (I hope) they
were thoroughly aware of, when they undertook the
present business. I must beg leave to observe, that
it is not only the invidious branch of taxation that
will be resisted, but that no other given part of legislative rights can be exercised, without regard to the
general opinion of those who are to be governed.
That general opinion is the vehicle and organ of legislative omnipotence. Without this, it may be a theory to entertain the mind, but it is nothing in the direction of affairs. The completeness of the legislative authority of Parliament over this kingdom is
not questioned; and yet many things indubitably included in the abstract idea of that power, and which
carry no absolute injustice in themselves, yet being
contrary to the opinions and feelings of the people,
can as little be exercised as if Parliament in that
case had been possessed of no right at all. I see no
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 225
abstract'reason, which can be given, why the same
power which made and repealed the High Commission Court and the Star-Chamber might not revive
them again; and these courts, warned by their former fate, might possibly exercise their powers with
some degree of justice. But the madness would be
as unquestionable as the competence of that Parliament which should attempt such things. If anything can be supposed out of the power of human legislature, it is religion; I admit, however, that the
established religion of this country has been three or
four times altered by act of Parliament, and therefore that a, statute binds even in that case. But we
may very safely affirm, that, notwithstanding this apparent omnipotence, it would be now found as impossible for King and Parliament to alter the established religion of this country as it was to King James
alone, when he attempted to make such an alteration without a Parliament. In effect, to follow, not
to force, the public inclination, -- to give a direction, a
form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the
general sense of the community, is the true end of
legislature.
It is so. with regard to the exercise of all the powers which our Constitution knows in any of its parts,
and indeed to the substantial existence of any of the
parts themselves. The king's negative to bills is one
of the most indisputed of the royal prerogatives; and
it extends to all cases whatsoever. I am far from
certain, that if several laws, which I know, had fallen
under. the stroke of that sceptre, that the public
would have had a very heavy loss. But it is not the,
propriety of the exercise which is in question. The
exercise itself is wisely forborne. Its repose may be.
VOL. II. 15
? ? ? ? 226 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
the preservation of its existence; and its existence
may be the means of saving the Constitution itself, on
an occasion worthy of bringing it forth.
As the disputants whose accurate and logical reasonings have brought us into our present condition
think it absurd that powers or members of any constitution should exist, rarely, if ever, to be exercised,
I hope I shall be excused in mentioning another instance that is material. We know that the Convocation of the Clergy had formerly been called, and sat
with nearly as much regularity to business as Parliament itself. It is now called for form only. It sits for
the purpose of making some polite ecclesiastical compliments to the king, and, when that grace is said, retires and is heard of no more. It is, however, apart of the Constitution, and may be called out into act and
energy, whenever there is occasion, and whenever
those who conjure up that spirit will choose to abide
the consequences. It is wise to permit its legal existence: it is much wiser to continue it a legal existence
only. So truly has prudence (constituted as the god of
this lower world) the entire dominion over every exercise of power committed into its hands! And yet I
have lived to see prudence and conformity to circumstances wholly set at nought in our late controversies,
and treated as if they were the most contemptible and
irrational of all things. I have heard it an hundred
times very gravely alleged, that, in order to keep
power in wind, it was necessary, by preference, to
exert it in those very points in which it was most
likely to be resisted and the least likely to be productive of any advantage.
These were the considerations, Gentlemen, which
led me early to think, that, in the comprehensive
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 227
dominion which the Divine Providence had' put into
our hands, instead of troubling our understandings
with speculations concerning the unity of empire
and the identity or distinction of legislative powers,
and inflaming our passions with'the heat and pride
of controversy, it was our duty, in all soberness, to
conform our government to the character and circumstances of the several people who composed this
mighty and strangely diversified mass. I never was
wild enough to conceive that one method would serve
for the whole, that the natives of Hindostan and those
of Virginia could be ordered in the same manner,
or that the Cutchery'court and the grand jury of
Salem. could be regulated on a similar plan. I was
persuaded that government was a practical thing,
made for the happiness of mankind, and not to furnish
out a spectacle of uniformity to gratify. the schemes
of visionary politicians. Our business was to rule,
not to wrangle; and it would' have been a poor compensation that we had triumphed in a dispute, whilst
we lost an empire.
If there be one fact in the world perfectly clear, it
is this, --" that the disposition of the people of America is wholly averse to any other than a free government"; and this is indication enough to any honest statesman how he onght to adapt whatever power he
finds in his hands -to their case. If any ask me what
a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,- and that
they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter. If they practically'allow
me a greater degree of authority over them than is
consistent with any correct ideas of perfect freedom,
I ought to thank them for so great a trust, and not to
? ? ? ? 228 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
endeavor to prove from thence that they have reasoned amiss, and that, having gone so far, by analogy they must hereafter have no enjoyment but by my
pleasure.
If we had seen this done by any others, we should
have concluded them far gone in madness. It is melancholy, as well as ridiculous, to observe the kind of reasoning with which the public has been amused, in
order to divert our minds from the common sense of
our American policy. There are people who have
split and anatomized the doctrine of free government,
as if it were an abstract question concerning metaphysical liberty and necessity; and not a matter of moral prudence and natural feeling. They have disputed whether liberty be a positive or a negative idea; whether it does not consist in being governed by laws,
without considering what are the laws, or who are the
makers; whether man has any rights by Nature; and
whether all the property he enjoys be not the alms of
his' government, and his life itself their favor and indulgence. 'Others, corrupting religion as these have perverted'philosophy, contend that Christians are redeemed into captivity, and the blood of the Saviour of mankind has been shed to make them the slaves
of a few proud and insolent sinners. These shocking
extremes provoking to extremes of another kind, speculations are let loose as destructive to all authority as the former' are to all freedom; and every government is called tyranny and usurpation which is not formed on their fancies. In this manner the stirrersup of this contention, not satisfied with distracting
our dependencies and filling' them with blood and
slaughter, are corrupting our understandings: they
are endeavoring to tear up, along with practical lib
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 229
erty, all the foundations of human society, all equity
and justice, religion and order.
Civil freedom, Gentlemen, is not, as many have
endeavored to persuade you, a thing that lies hid in
the depth of abstruse science. It is a blessing and a
benefit, not an abstract speculation; and all the just
reasoning that can be upon it is of so coarse a texture as perfectly to suit the ordinary capacities of
those who are to enjoy, and of those who are to defend it. Far from any resemblance to those propositions in geometry and metaphysics whiich admit no medium, but must be true or false in all their latitude, social and civil freedom, like all other things in
common life, are variously mixed and modified, enjoyed in very different degrees, and shaped into an
infinite diversity of forms, according to the temper
and circumstances of every community. The extreme
of liberty (which is its abstract perfection, but its real
fault) obtains nowhere, nor ought to obtain anywhere;
because extremes, as we all know, in every point which
relates either to our duties or satisfactions in life, are
destructive both to virtue and enjoyment. Liberty,
too, must be limited in order to be possessed. The
degree of restraint it is impossible in any case to settle precisely. But it ought to be the constant aim of
every wise public counsel to find out by cautious experiments, and rational, cool endeavors, with how little, not how much, of this restraint the community can subsist: for liberty is a good to be improved, and
not an evil to be lessened. It is not only a private
blessing of the first order, but the vital spring and
energy of the state itself, which has just so much life
and vigor as there is liberty in it. But whether liberty be advantageous or not, (for I know it is a fash
? ? ? ? 230 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
ion to decry the very principle,) none will dispute
that peace is a blessing; and peace must, in the
course of human affairs, be frequently bought by
some indulgence and toleration at least to liberty:
for, as the Sabbath (though of divine institution) was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath, government,
which can claim no higher origin or authority, in its
exercise at least, ought to conform to the exigencies
of the time, and the temper and character of the people with whom it is concerned, and not always to attempt violently to bend the people to their theories of subjection. The bulk of mankind, on their part,
are not excessively curious concerning any theories
whilst they are really happy; and one sure symptom
of an ill-conducted state is the propensity of the people to resort to them.
But when subjects, by a long course of such ill
conduct, are once thoroughly inflamed, and the state
itself violently distempered, the people must have
some satisfaction to their feelings more solid than a
sophistical speculation on law and government. Such
was our situation: and such a satisfaction was necessary to prevent recourse to arms; it was necessary
towards laying them down; it will be necessary to
prevent the taking them up again and again.
amply as we. think proper; but as they have most
certainly a call for all the reason which their stock
can furnish, why should we think it proper to disturb
its operation by inflaming their passions? I may be
unable to lend an helping hand to those who direct
the state; but I should be ashamed to make myself
one of a noisy multitude to halloo and hearten them
into doubtful and dangerous courses. A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood.
He would feel some apprehension at being called to a
tremendous account for engaging in so deep a play
without any sort of knowledge of the game. It is no
excuse for presumptuous ignorance, that it is directed
by insolent passion. The poorest being that crawls
on earth, contending to save itself from injustice and
oppression, is an object respectable in the eyes of God
and man. But I cannot conceive any existence under heaven (which in the depths of its wisdom tolerates all sorts of things) that is more truly odious and disgusting than an impotent, helpless creature,
without civil wisdom or military skill, without a consciousness of any other qualification for power but'his
servility to it, bloated with pride and arrogance, calling for battles which he is not to fight, contending
for a violent dominion which he can never exercise,
and satisfied to be himself mean and miserable, in order to render others contemptible and wretched.
If you and I find our talents not of the great and
ruling kind, our conduct, at least, is conformable to
our faculties. No man's life pays the forfeit of our
rashness. No desolate widow weeps tears of blood
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over our ignorance. Scrupulous and sober in a we]lgrounded distrust of ourselves, we would keep in the
port of peace and security; and perhaps in recommending to others something of the same diffidence,
we should show ourselves more charitable to their
welfare than injurious to their abilities.
There are many circumstances in the zeal shown
for civil war which seem to discover but little of real
magnanimity. The addressers offer their own persons, and they are satisfied with hiring Germans.
They promise their private fortunes, and they mortgage their country. They have all the merit of volunteers, without risk of person or charge of contribution; and when the unfeeling arm of a foreign soldiery pours out their kindred blood like water, they exult and triumph as if they themselves had performed some notable exploit. I am really ashamed of
the fashionable language which has been held for
some time past, which, to say the best of it, is full of
levity. You know that I allude to the general cry
against the cowardice of the Americans, as if we despised them for not making the king's soldiery purchase the advantage they have obtained at a dearer
rate. It is not, Gentlemen, it is not to respect the
dispensations of Providence, nor to provide any decent retreat in the mutability of human affairs. It
leaves no medium between insolent victory and infamous defeat. It tends to alienate our minds further
and further from our natural regards, and to make
an eternal rent and schism in the British nation.
Those who do not wish for such a separation would
not dissolve that cement of reciprocal esteem and
regard which can alone bind together the parts of
this great fabric. It ought to be our wish, as it is
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our duty, not only to forbear this style of outrage
ourselves, but to make every one as sensible as we
can of the impropriety and unworthiness of the tempers which give: rise to it, and which designing men are laboring with such malignant industry to diffuse
amongst us. . It is our business to counteract them,
if possible,-if possible, to awake our natural regards,
and to revive the old partiality to the English name.
Without something of this kind I do not see how it
is ever practicable really to reconcile with those
whose affection, after all, must be the surest hold of
our government, and which is a thousand times more
worth to us than the mercenary zeal of all the circles of Germany.
I can well conceive a country completely overrun,
and miserably wasted, without approaching in the
least to settlement. In my apprehension, as long as
English government is attempted to be supported over
Englishmen by the sword alone, things will thus continue. I anticipate in my mind the moment of the final triumph of foreign military force. When that
hour arrives, (for it may arrive,) then it is that all this
mass of weakness and violence will appear in its full
light. If we should be expelled from America, the delusion of the partisans of military government might still continue. They might still feed'their imaginations with the possible good consequences which might have attended- success. Nobody could prove the contrary by facts. But in case the sword should do all that the sword can do, the success of their arms and the
defeat of their policy will be one and the same thing.
You will never see any revenue from America. Some
increase of the means of corruption, without ease of
the public burdens, is the very best that can happen.
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 209:Is it for this that we are at war,- and in such a
war?
As to the difficulties of laying once more the foundations of that government which, for the sake of
conquering what was our own, has been voluntarily and wantonly pulled down by a court faction
-here, I tremble to. look at them. Has any of these
gentlemen who aie: So eager to govern all mankind
shown himself possessed of the first qualification
towards government, some kniowledge of the object,
and of the difficulties which occur in the task they
have undertaken?
I assure you, that, on the most prosperous issue of
your arms, you will not be where you stood when
you called in war to supply the defects of your political establishment. Nor wbuld any disorder or disobedience to government which could arise from the most abject concession on our part ever equal those
which will be felt after the most triumphant violence. You have got all the intermediate evils of
war into the bargain.
I think I know America,-if I do not, my ignorance is incurable, for I have spared no pains to
understand it,- and I do most solemnly assure those
of my collstituents who put any sort of confidence in
my industry anid integrity, that everything that has
been done there has arisen from a total misconception of the object: that our means of originally holdring America, that our means of reconciling'with it after quarrel, of recovering it after separation, of
keeping it after victory, did depend, and must depend, in their several stages and periods, upon a total
renunciation of that unconditional submission which
has taken such possession of the minds of violent
VOL. I1. 14
? ? ? ? 210 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
nmen. The whole of those maxims upon which we
have made and continued this war must be abandoned. Nothing, indeed, (for I would not deceive
you,) can place us in our former situation. That
hope must be laid aside. But there is a difference
between bad and the worst of all. Terms relative to
the cause of the war ought to be offered by the
authority of Parliament. An arrangement at home
promising some security for them ought to be made.
By doing this, without the least impairing of our
strength, we add to the credit of our moderation,
which, in itself, is always strength more or less.
I know many have been taught to think that moderation in a case like this is a sort of treason,-and
that all arguments for it are sufficiently answered by
railing at rebels and rebellion, and by charging all
the present or future miseries which we may suffer
on the resistance of our brethren. But I would wish
them, in this grave matter, and if peace is not wholly
removed from their hearts, to consider seriously, first,
that to criminate and recriminate never yet was the
road to reconciliation, in any difference amongst men.
In the. next place, it would be right to reflect that
the American English (whom they may abuse, if
they think it honorable to revile the absent) can, as
things now stand, neither be provoked at our railing
or bettered by our instruction. All communication
is cut off between us. But this we know with certainty, that, though we cannot reclaim them, we may reform ourselves. If measures of peace are necessary, they must begin somewhere; and a conciliatory temper must precede and prepare every plan of reconciliation. Nor do I conceive that we suffer anything by thus regulating our own minds. We are not dis
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 211
armed by being disencumbered of our passions. Declaiming on rebellion never added a bayonet or a charge of powder to your military force; but I am
afraid that it has been the means of taking up many
muskets against you.
This outrageous language, which has been encouraged and kept alive by every art, has already done incredible mischief. For a long time, even amidst
the desolations of war, and the insults of hostile laws
daily accumulated on one another, the American
leaders seem to have had the greatest difficulty in
bringing up their people to a declaration of total
independence. But the Court Gazette accomplished
what the abettors of independence had attempted
in vain. When that disingenuous compilation and
strange medley of railing and flattery was adduced
as a proof of the united sentiments of the people of
Great Britain, there was a great change throughout
all' America. The tide of popular affection, which
had still set towards the parent country, began immediately to turn, and to flow with great rapidity in a contrary course. Far from concealing these wild
declarations of enmity, the author of the celebrated
pamphlet which prepared the minds of the people
for independence insists largely on'the multitude
and the spirit of these addresses; and he draws an
argument from them, which, if the fact were as he
supposes, must be irresistible. For I never knew a
writer on the theory of government so partial to
authority as not to allow that the hostile mind of the
rulers to their people did fully justify a change of
government; nor can any reason whatever be given
why one people should voluntarily yield any degree
of preeminence to another but on a supposition of
? ? ? ? 212 LETTER TO'THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
great affection and benevolence towards them. Un.
fortunately, your rulers, trusting to other things, took
no notice of this great principle of connection. From
the beginning of this affair, theyf have done all they
could to alienate your minds from your own kindred; and if they could excite hatred enough in one
of the parties towards the other, they seemed to be,
of opinion that they had gone half the way towards
reconciling the quarrel.
I know it is said, that your kindness is only alienated on account of their resistance, and therefore, if the colonies surrender at discretion, all sort of regard,
and even much indulgence, is meant towards them
in future. But can those who, are partisans for
continuing a war to enforce such a surrender be
responsible (after all that has passed) for such a
future use of a power that is bound by no-. compacts
and restrained by no terror? Will they tell us what
they call indulgences? Do they not at this instant
call the. present war -and all its horrors a lenient
and merciful proceeding?
No conqueror that I ever heard of has professed
to make a cruel, harsh,,and insolent use of his conquest. No! The man of the most declared pride scarcely dares to trust his own heart with this dreadful secret of ambition. But it will appear in its
time; and no man who professes to reduce another
to the insolent mercy of a foreign arm ever had any
sort? of good-will towards him. The profession of
kindness, with that sword in his hand, and that demand of surrender, is one of the most provoking acts of his hostility. I shall be told thatall this is lenient
as against rebellious adversaries. But are the leaders
of their faction more lenient to those who submit?
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL, 213. Lord Howe and General Howe have powers, under an act of Parliament, to restore to the king's peace
and to free trade ally men or district which shall
submit. ' Is this done? We have been over and over
informed by the authorized gazette, that the city of
New. York and the countries of Staten and Long
Island have submitted voluntarily and cheerfully, and
that many are very full of zeal to the cause of administration. Were they instantly restored to trade? Are they yet restored to it? Is not the benignity of two
cbmmissioners, naturally most humane and generous
men, some way fettered by instructions, equally
against their dispositions and the spirit of Parliamentary faith, when Mr. Tryon, vaunting of the fidelity of the city in which he is governor, is obliged to apply to
ministry for leave to protect the king's loyal subjects,
and to grant to them, not the disputed rights and privileges of freedom, but the common rights of men, by the name of graces? Why do not the commissioners
restore them on the spot? Were they not named as
commissioners for that express purpose? But we see
well enough to what the whole leads. The trade of
America is to:be dealt out in private indulgences and
graces, -- that is, in jobs to recompense the incendiaries
of war. They will be informed of the proper time in
which to send out their merchandise. From a national, the American trade is to be turned into a personal monopoly, and one set of merchants are to be rewarded for the pretended zeal of which another set
are the dupes; and thus, between craft and credulity,
the voice of reason is stifled, and all the misconduct,
all the calamities of the war are covered and continued.
If I had not lived long enough to be little surprised
at anything, I should have been in some degree as
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tonished at the continued rage of several gentlemen,
who, not satisfied with carrying fire and sword into
America; are animated nearly with the same fury
against those neighbors of theirs whose only crime it
is, that they have charitably and humanely wished
them to entertain more reasonable sentiments, and
not always to sacrifice their interest to their passion.
All this rage against unresisting dissent convinces me,
that, at bottom, they are far from satisfied they are
in the right. For what is it they would have? A
war? They certainly have at this moment the blessing of something that is very like one; and if the war
they enjoy at present be not sufficiently hot and extensive, they may shortly have it as warm and as spreading as their hearts can desire. Is it the force of the kingdom they call for? They have it already; and
if they choose to fight their battles in their own person, nobody prevents their setting sail to America in
the next transports. ]96they think that the service
is stinted for want of liberal supplies? Indeed they
complain without reason. The table of the House of
Commons will glut them, let their appetite for expense
be never so keen. And I assure them further, that
those who think with them in the House of Commons
are full as easy in the control as they are liberal in
the vote of these expenses. If this be not supply or
confidence sufficient, let them open their own private
purse-strings, and give, from what is. left to them, as
largely and with as little care as they think proper.
Tolerated in their passions, let them learn not to
persecute the moderation of their fellow-citizens. If
all the world joined them in a full cry against rebellion, and were as hotly inflamed against the whole
theory and enjoyment of freedom as those who are
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 215
the most factious for servitude, it could not, in my
opinion, answer any one end whatsoever in this contest. The leaders of this war could not hire (to gratify their friends) one German more than they do, or inspire him with less feeling for the persons or less
value for the privileges of their revolted brethren.
If we all adopted their sentiments to a man, their
allies, the savage Indians, could not be more ferocious than they are: they could not murder one
more helpless woman or child, or with more exquisite refinements of cruelty torment to death one more
of their English flesh and blood, than they do already.
The public money is given to purchase this alliance;
- and they have their bargain.
They are continually boasting of unanimity, or
calling for it. But before this unanimity can be
matter either of wish or congratulation, we ought
to be pretty sure that we are engaged in a rational
pursuit. Frenzy does not become a slighter distemper on account of the number of those who may
be infected with it. Delusion and weakness produce
not one mischief the less because they are universal.
I declare that I cannot discern the least advantage
which could accrue to us, if we were able to persuade
our colonies that they had not a single friend in Great
Britain. On the contrary, if the affections and opinions of mankind be not exploded as principles of connection, I conceive it would be happy for us, if they were taught to believe that there was even a formed
American party in England, to whom they could always look for support. Happy would it be for us, if,
in all tempers, they might turn their eyes to the parent state, so that their very turbulence and sedition
should find vent in no other place than this'! I be
? ? ? ? 216 LETTER TO. THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
lieve there is not a man (except those who prefer the
interest of some paltry faction to the very being of,
their country) who would not wish that the Americans should from time to time carry many points,
and even some of them not quite reasonable, by the
aid of any denomination of men here, rather than
they should be driven to seek for protection against
the fury of foreign mercenaries and the waste of savages in the arms of France.
When any community is subordinately connected
with another, the great danger of the connection is
the extreme pride and self-complacency of the superior, which in all matters of controversy will probably decide in its own favor. It is a powerful corrective
to such a very rational cause of fear, if the inferior
body can be made to believe that the party inclination or political views of several in the principal
state will induce them in some degree to counteract
this blind and tyrannical partiality. There is no danger that any one acquiring consideration or power in the presiding state should carry this leaning to the inferior too far. The fault of human nature is not of that sort. Power, in whatever hands, is rarely guilty
of too strict limitations on itself. But one great advantage to the support of authority attends such an amicable and protecting connection: that those who
have conferred favors obtain influence, and from the
foresight of future events can persuade men who
have received obligations sometimes to return them.
Thus, by the mediation of those healing principles,
(call them good or evil,) troublesome discussions are
brought to some sort of adjustment, and every hot
controversy is not a civil war.
But, if the colonies (to bring the general matter
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL. 217
nome to us) could see that in Great Britain the
mass of the people is melted into its government, and
that every dispute with the ministry must of necessity be always a quarrel with the nation, they can. stand no longer in the equal and friendly relation of fellow-citizens to the subjects of this kingdom. Hum-'ole as this relation may appear to some, when it is
once broken, a strong tie is dissolveld. Other sort of
connections will be sought. For there are very few
in the world who will not prefer an useful ally to an
insolent master.
Such discord has been the effect of the unanimity
into which so many have of late been seduced or bullied, or into'the appearance of which they have sunk
through mere despair. They have been told that
their dissent from violent measures is an encouragement to rebellion. Men of great presumption and
little knowledge'will hold a language which is contradicted by the whole course of history. General
rebellions and revolts of an whole people never were
encouraged, now or at any time. They are always provoked.
But if this unheard-of doctrine of the encouragement of rebellion were true, if it were true that an assurance of the friendship of numbers in this
country towards the colonies could become an encouragement to them to'break off all connection with
it, what is the inference? Does anybody seriously
maintain, that, charged with my share of the public
councils, I am obliged not to resist projects which I
think. mischievous, lest men who suffer should be encouraged to resist? The very tendency of such projects to produce rebellion is one of the'chief reasons against them. Shall that reason not be given? Is it,
then, a rule, that no man in this nation shall open his
? ? ? ? 218 LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS OF BRISTOL.
mouth in favor of the colonies, shall defend their
rights, or complain of their sufferings,-or when war
finally breaks out, no man shall express his desires of
peace? Has this been the law of our past, or is it to
be the terms of our future connection? Even looking no further than ourselves, can it be true loyalty
to any government, or true patriotism towards any
country, to degrade their solemn councils into servile
drawing-rooms, to flatter their pride and passions
rather than to enlighten their reason, and to prevent
them from being cautioned against violence lest others should be encouraged to resistance? By such acquiescence great kings and mighty nations have
been undone; and if any are at this day in a perilous
situation from rejecting truth and listening to flattery, it would rather become them to reform the errors under which they suffer than to reproach
those who forewarned them of their danger.
But the rebels looked for assistance from this country. -They did so, in the beginning of this controversy, most certainly; and they sought it by earnest supplications to government, which dignity rejected, and by a suspension of commerce, which the wealth of
this nation enabled you to despise. When they found
that neither prayers nor menaces had any sort of
weight, but that a firm resolution-was taken to reduce
them to unconditional obedience by a military force,
they came to the last extremity. Despairing of us,
they trusted in themselves. Not strong enough themselves, they sought succor in France. In proportion as all encouragement here lessened, their distance
from this country increased. The enicouragement is
over; the alienation is complete.
In order to produce this favorite unanimity in delu
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sion, and to prevent all possibility of a return to our
ancient happy concord, arguments for our continuance in this course are drawn from the wretched situation itself into which we have been betrayed. It is said, that, being at war with the colonies, whatever our
sentiments might have been before, all ties between
us are now dissolved, and all the policy we have left
is to strengthen the hands of government to reduce
them. On the principle of this argument, the more
mischiefs we suffer from any administration, the more
our trust in it is to be confirmed. Let them but once
get us into a war, and then their power is safe, and an
act of oblivion passed for all their misconduct.
But is it really true that government is always to
be strengthened with the instruments of war, but
never furnished with the means of peace? In former
times, ministers, I allow,'have been sometimes driven
by the popular voice to assert by arms the national
honor against foreign powers. But the wisdom of
the nation has been far more clear, when those ministers have been compelled to consult its interests by
treaty. We all know that the sense of the nation
obliged the court of Charles the Second to abandon
the Dutch war: a war, next to the present, the most
impolitic which we ever carried on. The good people of England considered Holland as a sort of dependency on this kingdom; they dreaded to drive it to the protection or subject it to the power of France
by their own inconsiderate hostility. They paid but
little respect to the court jargon of that day; nor
were they inflamed by the pretended rivalship of the
Dutch in trade, - by the massacre at. Amboyna, acted
on the stage to provoke the public vengeance, -nor
by declamations against the ingratitude of the United
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Provinces for the benefits England had conferred upon them in their infant state. They were not moved
from their evident interest by all these arts; nor was
it enough to tell them, they were at war, that they
must go through with it, and that the cause of the
dispute was lost in the consequences. The people of
England were then, as they are now, called upon to
make government strong. They thought it a great:deal better to make it wise and honest.
When I was amongst my constituents at the last
summer assizes, I remember that men of all descriptions did then express a very strong desire for peace,
and no slight hopes of attaining it from the commission sent out by my Lord Howe. And it is' not a
little remarkable,:that, in proportion as every person
showed a zeal for the court measures, he was then
earnest in circulating an opinion of the extent of the
supposed powers of that commission. When I told
them that Lord Howe had no powers to treat, or to
promise satisfaction on any point whatsoever of the
controversy, I was hardly credited,-so strong and
general' was the desire of terminating this war by
the method of accommodation. As far as I could
discover, this was the temper then prevalent through
the kingdom. The king's forces, it must be observed, had at that time been obliged to evacuate
Boston. The superiority of the former campaign
rested wholly with the colonists. If such powers of
treaty were to be wished whilst success was very
doubtful, how came they to be less: so, since his Majesty's arms have been crowned with many considerable advantages? Have these successes induced us to alter our mind, as thinking the season of victory
not the time for treating with honor or advantage?
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Whatever changes have happened in the national
character, it can scarcely be our wish that terms of
accommodation never should be proposed to our enemy, except when they must' be attributed solely to
our fears. It has happened, let me say unfortunately, that we read of his Majesty's commission for
making peace, and his troops evacuating his last
town in the Thirteen Colonies, at the'same hour and
in the same gazette. It was still more unfortunate
that no commission went- to America to settle the
troubles there, until several months after an act had
been passed to put the colonies out of the protection
of this government, and to divide their trading property, without a possibility of restitution, as spoil
among the seamen of the navy. 'The most abject
submission on- the part of the colonies could not redeem them. There was no man on that whole continent, or within three thousand miles of it, qualified
by law to follow allegiance. with protection or submission with pardon. A proceeding of this kind has
no example in history. Independency, and independency with an enmity, (which, putting ourselves out
of the question, would be called natural and much
provoked,) was the inevitable consequence. How
this came to pass the nation may be one day in an
humor to inquire.
All the attempts made this session to. give fuller
powers of peace to the commanders in America were:
stifled by the fatal confidence of victory and the wild
hopes of unconditional submission. There was a moment favorable to the'king's arms, when, if any powers of concession had existed on' the other side of the Atlantic, even after all our errors, peace in all probability might have been restored. : But calamity is un
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happily the usual season of reflection; and the pride
of men will not often suffer reason to have any scope,
until it can be no longer of service.
I have always wished, that as the dispute had its
apparent origin from things done in Parliament, and
as the acts passed there had provoked the war, that
the foundations of peace should be laid in Parliament
also. I have been astonished to find that those
whose zeal for the dignity of our body was so hot as
to light up the flames of civil war should even publicly declare that these delicate points ought to be wholly left to the crown. Poorly as I may be thought
affected to the authority of Parliament, I shall never
admit that our' constitutional rights can ever become
a matter of ministerial negotiation.
I am charged with being an American. If warm
affection towards those over whom I claim any share
of authority be a crime, I am guilty of this charge.
But I do assure you, (and they who know me publicly
and privately will bear witness to me,) that, if ever one
man lived more zealous than another for the supremacy of Parliament and the rights of this imperial crown, it was myself. Many others, indeed, might be
more knowing in the extent of the foundation of
these rights. I do not pretend to be an antiquary,
a lawyer, or qualified for the chair of professor in
metaphysics. I never ventured to put your solid interests upon speculative grounds. My having con stantly declined to do so has been attributed to my
incapacity for such disquisitions; and I am inclined
to believe it is partly the cause. I never shall be
ashamed to confess, that, where I am ignorant, I am
diffident. I am, indeed, not very solicitous to clear
myself of this imputed incapacity; because men even
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less conversant than I am in this kind of'subtleties,
and placed in stations to which I ought not to aspire,
have, by the mere force of civil discretion, often conducted the affairs of great nations with distinguished
felicity and glory. .
When I first came into a public trust, I found
your Parliamentin possession of'an unlimited legislative power over the colonies. I could not open the
statute-book without seeing the actual exercise of it,
more or less, in all: cases whatsoever. This possession passed with me for a title. It does so'in all human affairs. No man examines into the defects of his title to his paternal estate or to his established government. Indeed, common sense taught me that a
legislative authority not actually limited by the express terms of its foundation, or by its own subsequent acts, cannot have its powers parcelled out by argumentative distinctions, so as to enable us to say
that here theyv can and there they cannot bind. Nobody was so obliging as to produce to me any record
of such distinctions, by compact or otherwise, either
at the successive formation of the several colonies or
during the existence of ally of them. If any gentlemen were able to see how one power could be given
up (merely on abstract reasoning) without giving up
the rest, I can only say that they saw further than I
could. Nor did I ever presume to condemn any one
for being clear-sighted when I was blind. I praise
their penetration and learning, and hope that their
practice has been correspondent to their theory.
I had, indeed, very earnest wishes to keep the whole
body of this authority perfect and entire as I found
it, - and to keep it so, not for our advantage solely,
but principally for the sake of those on whose ac
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count all just authority exists: I mean the people to
be governed. For I thought I saw that many cases
might well: happen in which the exercise of every
power comprehended in the broadest idea of legislature might become, in its time and circumstances,
not a little expedient for the peace and union of the
colonies amongst themselves, as well as for their perfect harmony with Great Britain. Thinking so, (perhaps erroneously, but being honestly of that opinion,) I was at the same time very sure that the authority
of which I- was so jealous could not, under the actual
circumstances of our plantations, be at all preserved
in any of its members, but by the greatest reserve in
its application, particularly in those delicate points
in which the feelings of mankind are the most irritable. They who thought otherwise have found a few
more difficulties in their work than (I hope) they
were thoroughly aware of, when they undertook the
present business. I must beg leave to observe, that
it is not only the invidious branch of taxation that
will be resisted, but that no other given part of legislative rights can be exercised, without regard to the
general opinion of those who are to be governed.
That general opinion is the vehicle and organ of legislative omnipotence. Without this, it may be a theory to entertain the mind, but it is nothing in the direction of affairs. The completeness of the legislative authority of Parliament over this kingdom is
not questioned; and yet many things indubitably included in the abstract idea of that power, and which
carry no absolute injustice in themselves, yet being
contrary to the opinions and feelings of the people,
can as little be exercised as if Parliament in that
case had been possessed of no right at all. I see no
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abstract'reason, which can be given, why the same
power which made and repealed the High Commission Court and the Star-Chamber might not revive
them again; and these courts, warned by their former fate, might possibly exercise their powers with
some degree of justice. But the madness would be
as unquestionable as the competence of that Parliament which should attempt such things. If anything can be supposed out of the power of human legislature, it is religion; I admit, however, that the
established religion of this country has been three or
four times altered by act of Parliament, and therefore that a, statute binds even in that case. But we
may very safely affirm, that, notwithstanding this apparent omnipotence, it would be now found as impossible for King and Parliament to alter the established religion of this country as it was to King James
alone, when he attempted to make such an alteration without a Parliament. In effect, to follow, not
to force, the public inclination, -- to give a direction, a
form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the
general sense of the community, is the true end of
legislature.
It is so. with regard to the exercise of all the powers which our Constitution knows in any of its parts,
and indeed to the substantial existence of any of the
parts themselves. The king's negative to bills is one
of the most indisputed of the royal prerogatives; and
it extends to all cases whatsoever. I am far from
certain, that if several laws, which I know, had fallen
under. the stroke of that sceptre, that the public
would have had a very heavy loss. But it is not the,
propriety of the exercise which is in question. The
exercise itself is wisely forborne. Its repose may be.
VOL. II. 15
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the preservation of its existence; and its existence
may be the means of saving the Constitution itself, on
an occasion worthy of bringing it forth.
As the disputants whose accurate and logical reasonings have brought us into our present condition
think it absurd that powers or members of any constitution should exist, rarely, if ever, to be exercised,
I hope I shall be excused in mentioning another instance that is material. We know that the Convocation of the Clergy had formerly been called, and sat
with nearly as much regularity to business as Parliament itself. It is now called for form only. It sits for
the purpose of making some polite ecclesiastical compliments to the king, and, when that grace is said, retires and is heard of no more. It is, however, apart of the Constitution, and may be called out into act and
energy, whenever there is occasion, and whenever
those who conjure up that spirit will choose to abide
the consequences. It is wise to permit its legal existence: it is much wiser to continue it a legal existence
only. So truly has prudence (constituted as the god of
this lower world) the entire dominion over every exercise of power committed into its hands! And yet I
have lived to see prudence and conformity to circumstances wholly set at nought in our late controversies,
and treated as if they were the most contemptible and
irrational of all things. I have heard it an hundred
times very gravely alleged, that, in order to keep
power in wind, it was necessary, by preference, to
exert it in those very points in which it was most
likely to be resisted and the least likely to be productive of any advantage.
These were the considerations, Gentlemen, which
led me early to think, that, in the comprehensive
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dominion which the Divine Providence had' put into
our hands, instead of troubling our understandings
with speculations concerning the unity of empire
and the identity or distinction of legislative powers,
and inflaming our passions with'the heat and pride
of controversy, it was our duty, in all soberness, to
conform our government to the character and circumstances of the several people who composed this
mighty and strangely diversified mass. I never was
wild enough to conceive that one method would serve
for the whole, that the natives of Hindostan and those
of Virginia could be ordered in the same manner,
or that the Cutchery'court and the grand jury of
Salem. could be regulated on a similar plan. I was
persuaded that government was a practical thing,
made for the happiness of mankind, and not to furnish
out a spectacle of uniformity to gratify. the schemes
of visionary politicians. Our business was to rule,
not to wrangle; and it would' have been a poor compensation that we had triumphed in a dispute, whilst
we lost an empire.
If there be one fact in the world perfectly clear, it
is this, --" that the disposition of the people of America is wholly averse to any other than a free government"; and this is indication enough to any honest statesman how he onght to adapt whatever power he
finds in his hands -to their case. If any ask me what
a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,- and that
they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter. If they practically'allow
me a greater degree of authority over them than is
consistent with any correct ideas of perfect freedom,
I ought to thank them for so great a trust, and not to
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endeavor to prove from thence that they have reasoned amiss, and that, having gone so far, by analogy they must hereafter have no enjoyment but by my
pleasure.
If we had seen this done by any others, we should
have concluded them far gone in madness. It is melancholy, as well as ridiculous, to observe the kind of reasoning with which the public has been amused, in
order to divert our minds from the common sense of
our American policy. There are people who have
split and anatomized the doctrine of free government,
as if it were an abstract question concerning metaphysical liberty and necessity; and not a matter of moral prudence and natural feeling. They have disputed whether liberty be a positive or a negative idea; whether it does not consist in being governed by laws,
without considering what are the laws, or who are the
makers; whether man has any rights by Nature; and
whether all the property he enjoys be not the alms of
his' government, and his life itself their favor and indulgence. 'Others, corrupting religion as these have perverted'philosophy, contend that Christians are redeemed into captivity, and the blood of the Saviour of mankind has been shed to make them the slaves
of a few proud and insolent sinners. These shocking
extremes provoking to extremes of another kind, speculations are let loose as destructive to all authority as the former' are to all freedom; and every government is called tyranny and usurpation which is not formed on their fancies. In this manner the stirrersup of this contention, not satisfied with distracting
our dependencies and filling' them with blood and
slaughter, are corrupting our understandings: they
are endeavoring to tear up, along with practical lib
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erty, all the foundations of human society, all equity
and justice, religion and order.
Civil freedom, Gentlemen, is not, as many have
endeavored to persuade you, a thing that lies hid in
the depth of abstruse science. It is a blessing and a
benefit, not an abstract speculation; and all the just
reasoning that can be upon it is of so coarse a texture as perfectly to suit the ordinary capacities of
those who are to enjoy, and of those who are to defend it. Far from any resemblance to those propositions in geometry and metaphysics whiich admit no medium, but must be true or false in all their latitude, social and civil freedom, like all other things in
common life, are variously mixed and modified, enjoyed in very different degrees, and shaped into an
infinite diversity of forms, according to the temper
and circumstances of every community. The extreme
of liberty (which is its abstract perfection, but its real
fault) obtains nowhere, nor ought to obtain anywhere;
because extremes, as we all know, in every point which
relates either to our duties or satisfactions in life, are
destructive both to virtue and enjoyment. Liberty,
too, must be limited in order to be possessed. The
degree of restraint it is impossible in any case to settle precisely. But it ought to be the constant aim of
every wise public counsel to find out by cautious experiments, and rational, cool endeavors, with how little, not how much, of this restraint the community can subsist: for liberty is a good to be improved, and
not an evil to be lessened. It is not only a private
blessing of the first order, but the vital spring and
energy of the state itself, which has just so much life
and vigor as there is liberty in it. But whether liberty be advantageous or not, (for I know it is a fash
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ion to decry the very principle,) none will dispute
that peace is a blessing; and peace must, in the
course of human affairs, be frequently bought by
some indulgence and toleration at least to liberty:
for, as the Sabbath (though of divine institution) was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath, government,
which can claim no higher origin or authority, in its
exercise at least, ought to conform to the exigencies
of the time, and the temper and character of the people with whom it is concerned, and not always to attempt violently to bend the people to their theories of subjection. The bulk of mankind, on their part,
are not excessively curious concerning any theories
whilst they are really happy; and one sure symptom
of an ill-conducted state is the propensity of the people to resort to them.
But when subjects, by a long course of such ill
conduct, are once thoroughly inflamed, and the state
itself violently distempered, the people must have
some satisfaction to their feelings more solid than a
sophistical speculation on law and government. Such
was our situation: and such a satisfaction was necessary to prevent recourse to arms; it was necessary
towards laying them down; it will be necessary to
prevent the taking them up again and again.
