Part 1 (2/2)
No; but lest the same Difficulties should recur, lest the same quarrels which bred the last expensive and b.l.o.o.d.y War, should return, troops must be maintained for her safeguard. Britain observes this policy within herself; is it not absurd to imagine she would not follow the same maxim with regard to her colonies? She keeps on foot a considerable body of forces to be prepared on every emergency, not only to oppose a public foe, but also to enforce the decisions of the civil magistrate.
And notwithstanding the antipathy which most people have to standing armies, they have been found to be very useful; and no government, antient or modern, can be named, which was not, without their a.s.sistance, subject to b.l.o.o.d.y riots and insurrections. Nor is there any danger to be apprehended from them, while their number is small, while the sword is in the hands of the people in general, while, as in America, there is a superior well regulated militia to check them, if they should discover any sinister design against liberty.
It is with a view of being useful to the mother country, that colonies are first planted; this is part of their charter, a tacit condition, on which they are allowed to depart and settle; therefore they are not allowed by the laws of nature and nations to violate this agreement, as long as the mother is able to avail herself of it, and treats them with due Lenity and maternal affection. A few restrictions on their trade, in order to pay off what debts they contracted, while yet in the nursery, cannot be construed into acts of severity, and as little can a tax intended for their own defence, and appropriated to that sole use.
Upon the supposition that America is never to be taxed, this country, which now groans, and is like long to groan under the weight of taxes, will in time be left desolate, all its inhabitants will flock to America, to enjoy the benefits of a less oppressive government, and to mingle with a people of similar manners, religion and laws. Britain, the a.s.sylum of liberty, the seat of arts and sciences, the glory of Europe, and the envy of the world, will be ruined by her own ungrateful sons, and become a desart. What neither Spain nor France, nor all the world combined, could accomplish, America, the child of her own fostering, will effect.
_Quos neque Tydides, nec Larissaeus Achilles, Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinae, Vincentur_ pueris.
America will prove a continual drain upon her industry and people, an eternal spunge to suck up her vital moisture, and leave her a dry and sapless trunk, exposed, without branches, without leaves, to the inclemency of the weather. This event may be distant, but it is in the womb of time; and must be brought forth, unless we have sufficient skill to cause an abortion.
But what does America gain by all this? A transitory independence perhaps, on the most n.o.ble const.i.tution, which the wit of man has been hitherto able to invent. I say transitory independence, for the broken and disjointed members of the American empire cannot be cemented and consolidated into one firm ma.s.s; it is too unwieldy and unmanageable; it is composed of particles too heterogeneous to be ever melted down into one consistent and well digested system of liberty. Anarchy and confusion will soon prevail, were it to attempt an union; and the loss of liberty will tread fast upon their heels. For a free and extended empire on a continent are incompatible: to think they are not is a perfect solecism in politicks. No history furnishes us with an example; foreign conquest, or the power with which the magistrate must be entrusted, are an invincible obstacle in their way. It is in islands alone, where one part of the people cannot be so easily employed to oppress the other, where the sea separates them from conquerors and great empires, that liberty can be deemed a native of the soil. What a wretched exchange, then, would the Americans make! They would barter liberty for slavery.
But, say they, we are not represented in parliament.
True; you are not; no more is one twentieth of the British nation; but they may, when they become freeholders, or burgesses: so may you; therefore complain not; for it is impossible to render any human inst.i.tution absolutely perfect. Were the English animated by your spirit, they would overturn the const.i.tution to-morrow.
Like the colonies of all other countries, you enjoy the privilege of being governed in the same manner, as the people, from which you are derived. You have the same parliament, the same laws; you are all deemed free-born Britons, and are int.i.tled to all their immunities. What would you have more? Would you reduce your protectors, your deliverers, your parents to a state of servitude, by obliging them to pay taxes for you?
It is plain, too plain, excessive prosperity has rendered your heads giddy, you attempt to soar higher than your strength will carry you, than your safety will permit; it is inc.u.mbent on us, under whose care you are, to clip your wings.
You tell us you are very sober and temperate, that you fear the influence of a standing army will corrupt you, and introduce profligacy and debauchery.
I take your word for it, and believe you are as sober, temperate, upright, humane and virtuous, as the posterity of independents and anabaptists, presbyterians and quakers, convicts and felons, savages and negro-whippers, can be; that you are as loyal subjects, as obedient to the laws, as zealous for the maintenance of order and good government, as your late actions evince you to be; and I affirm that you have much need of the gentlemen of the blade to polish and refine your manners, to inspire you with an honest frankness and openness of behaviour, to rub off the rust of puritanism, and to make you ashamed of proposing in your a.s.semblies, as you have lately done, to pay off no more debts due to your original native country.
I am only afraid that you will not be blest with enough of their company; they will be obliged to live on the frontiers, in order to check the Indians, and to preserve your hairy scalps untouched; they must be constantly exposed to secret treachery, and open violence, for your ease and security; and yet you will not contribute a single penny for their support.
In the name of wonder, what would you desire? Every farthing raised by the stamps, and a great deal more from Britain, is necessary for your defence, and is to be applied solely to that purpose: what more would you ask? Would you, preferably to all the parts of the British dominions, be exempted from taxes?
Do you murmur because Britain is not taxed for you, or because you are not allowed to lay the tax on what commodities you please? If the former be the source of your discontent, you are very unnatural, and very ungrateful: very unnatural, because you have no compa.s.sion, no fellow-feeling for the distresses of your exhausted parent; very ungrateful, because, after Britain has done so much for you, after she has nourished and reared you up, from your sickly infancy to a vigorous state of adolescence, or rather manhood, after she has conquered your enemies, and placed you, if now you be not wanting to yourselves, beyond the reach of French perfidy and fraud, you will not stretch forth your hand to ease her, sinking under her burden, nor contribute to her security, or more properly your own.
But if the latter gave rise to your disaffection, you are very ill informed, very short sighted, in not perceiving, that a general tax, for the general defence of all America, could not be raised by _peace-meal_, in every province separately. How could the quota of every colony be ascertained; and, if it could be ascertained, how were the colonists to be persuaded to grant it? We remember with what difficulty they were induced to advance money for their own defence in the late war, when the enemy was at their gates, when they fought _pro aris & focis_, for their religion and property. Some of them have not, to this day, contributed a single s.h.i.+lling. Are we to imagine, that they will be more forward, more lavish now, when the danger is distant, and perhaps imperceptible to the dull senses of most of them, than when it stared them in the face, and threatened immediate ruin. Whoever thinks so, must be a very weak politician, and ought to be sent to catch flies with Domitian.
Each a.s.sembly among you, forsooth, pretends to an equality with the British parliament, and allows no laws binding but those, which are imposed by itself. But mark the consequence. Every colony becomes at once an independant kingdom, and the sovereign may become, in a short time, absolute master, by playing the one against the other.
But were the sovereign always virtuous enough not to avail himself of this power, which with the greatest good nature, with the utmost political foresight, you thus put into his hand, quarrels would, in all probability, soon arise among you. It is well known you cannot boast of much mutual love, or christian charity; the same spirit which actuated your ancestors, and kindled the flames of civil war in this country, still reigns among you, and wants but a single spark to raise a combustion.
You will tell me, perhaps, that notwithstanding the multiplicity of governments, you may, like the Swiss cantons, live for ages in harmony and unity.
But I aver the contrary. The strength of the Protestants and Roman Catholicks among them, is nearly equal, and keeps them in awe of each other; but above all, the fear of being crushed by the surrounding powers in case of intestine dissensions, prevents ambitious projects, and secures the peace. But as neither of these is your case, you have little reason to hope that you could preserve your liberties. Greece, as soon as it ceased to dread the Persian monarch, fell immediately into the hands of a despotick prince; you have no king of Persia to fear, how then do you expect to remain free from slavery? Believe me, your safest course is to continue in your dependence on Britain, where liberty is naturalized, and where you are ent.i.tled to every blessing with which it is attended.
Can you be so weak as to imagine that the two houses of parliament will allow you to set up a claim to uncontrollable authority in your several provinces? Perhaps you do not comprehend how this will in time reduce them, and consequently you to mere cyphers? I will inform you. The power of the crown is, of late, greatly encreased, by the vast number of places, which the last war, and the enormous growth of the national debt have left at its disposal. Give it also but the management of the colonies, exclusive of the parliament, and there needs no more, in a few years, to render it despotick.
Undoubtedly, the weight of this consideration was what moved the British, to a.s.sume a superiority over the Irish parliament; and Ireland, considerable a country as it is, submits to their controul; how can you have the front to ask greater privileges? Indeed, till you are placed on a quite different footing, you cannot expect even this indulgence: such a number of scattered jarring governments would create so much embarra.s.sment and perplexity, as to be quite unmanageable.
Some of you complain that the privileges granted by your charters are invaded.
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