Part 28 (2/2)

”Sha fire; ”shaht upon hiain to give quarter to the British or tories”

Marion God forbid that my countrymen should have taken such an oath as that!

Snipes Why, general Marion, would you have the enee? O yes, to be sure, sir; revenge is sweet, and by all ht kind

S Of the right kind, sir! what do you call revenge of the right kind?

M Why, sir, I ae which will make our enemies ashamed of their conduct, and abandon it for ever

S Ashamed of their conduct! Monsters! they are not capable of shame

M Pshaw! don't talk so, captain Snipes! our enemies, sir, are enerous actions, if ill but show theeneral Marion, how do you account for that great difference between us and them in point of spirits? We have never yet killed any of their ht, that I have heard of; but they have often murdered ours Yes, the cowardly rascals!

they have often done it, and that in cold blood too

M Granted And I alad that e have had theenerously But, I suppose the reason of such barbarity on their part, is, they have had, or which is the sareater provocations

S They be d--n-d, they and their provocations too! Are not WE the persons who have been invaded, and plundered and reater provocations?

M Why, sir, sprung originally from the now and fighting against thereat perhaps as that of children fighting against their parents

And again, our shaking off what they glory in, as the wisest, and freest, and happiest government on earth, must make us seem to them as no better than the vilest traitors and rebels; which cannot otherwise than prove another very great provocation And again, after having been first settled in this country by the and liberally assisted with their best blood and treasure, in hope that some day or other we should be of service to them; that now, at the very time when, by our i desired point, to swell their wealth and spread their commerce and arms over the world, we should separate from them, blast all their fond hopes, and throw them back to the former level; this, I say, you will certainly allow,all these provocations together, and also taking poor human nature into the account, is it to be wondered at, that the British should be so ry, and consequently eneral Marion, you have always a very fine knack of setting off your arguht For a ainst me, and all of them because I can't credit him in the abominable extent he wishes, to fall upon me and kill and murder me, as the British and tories have done with us, and we not stop thee! why, my God! sir, it will never do For, at this rate, who in all this country, in a little tiroes?

M My brave captain let ain, I am as anxious to stop the it in what I think the right way I mean the way of policy and hu our best ton did not think so

For, though I a myself, yet I have been told by those that are, that, on its being threatened by general Gage to hang an American soldier, he instantly wrote hi, the life of a British soldier should pay for it

And, it is well known, that he kept the British arether, with the halter constantly around the neck of captain Asgil, expecting every day to be hung for the ton did act so And it was policy to act against a foreign ene with the tories is quite a different case, and requires a very different course

The tories are our countryth, so that every man of them that is killed, is a man forever lost to ourselves Now, since the British have put theain, why, in the course of a little time our population will be so cut up, as to allow the British ministry, with ease, to take our country, and make slaves of us all; which is just what lord North desires

S Yes, I dare say it is But I hope he'll be disappointed yet

M No doubt of it, sir; if we shall be wise and h to follow the true policy, which is no other than HUMANITY to these deluded people, the tories; and to this we have every induceenerous spirits could desire The tories and ourselves are brothers; ether; and a thousand times have ate and drank in each other's houses And as to the quarrel in which we are now unfortunately engaged, though not the most, still we are much in fault

We made no allowances for those follies of theirs which led to it

They thought -- First, That ere too nearly allied to England to go to ith her; this was a weakness, but there was soht the British were much too warlike and powerful to be resisted by us: this was an error, but it was learned in the nursery

-- Thirdly, They wished to keep in with the British, ether from fear, and therefore clairain of indulgence to any of their mistakes

We would have it, they all proceeded from the vilest of motives

We called them traitors, and cowards, and scoundrels; and loaded thenities besides Well, the consequences were, as ht have been expected froht to desperation, and caring not what they did, they have gone and joined our enemies, and many valuable lives have been lost on both sides Surely 'tis high ti to end it

S Well! let thein it