it is ſo far true of England, that the ſame tyranny which drove the firſt emigrants from home, purſues their deſcendents ſtill.
In this extenſive quarter of the globe, we forget the narrow limits of three hundred and ſixty miles (the extent of England) and carry our friendſhip on a larger ſcale; we claim brotherhood with every European Chriſtian, and triumph in the generoſity of the ſentiment.
It is pleaſant to obſerve by what regular gradations we ſurmount the force of local prejudice, as we enlarge our acquaintance with the world. A man born in any town in England, divided into pariſhes, will naturally aſſociate moſt with his fellow pariſhioners (becauſe their intereſts in many caſes will be common) and diſtinguiſh him by the name of neighbour: If he meet him but a few miles from home, he drops the narrow idea of a ſtreet, and ſalutes him by the name of townſman: If he travel out of the county, and meet him in any other, he forgets the minor diviſions of ſtreet and town, and calls him countryman, i. e. county-man: But if in their foreign excurſions they ſhould aſſociate in France, or any other part of Europe, their local remembrance would be enlarged into that of Engliſhmen. And by a juſt parity of reaſoning, all Europeans meeting in America, or any other quarter of the globe, are countrymen; for England, Holland, Germany, or Sweden, when compared with the whole, ſtand in the ſame places on the larger ſcale, which the diviſions of ſtreet, town and county, do on the ſmaller ones; diſtinctions too limited for Continental minds. Not one third of the inhabitants, even of this province, are of Engliſh deſcent. Wherefore, I reprobate the phraſe of parent or mother country applied ta England only, as being falſe, ſelfiſh, narrow and ungenerous.
But admitting that we were all of Engliſh deſcent, what does it amount to? Nothing. Britain being now an open enemy, extinguiſhes every other name and title; and to ſay that reconciliation is our duty, is truly farcical. The firſt King of England, of the preſent line (William the Conqueror) was a Frenchman, and half the Peers of England are deſcendents from the ſame country; wherefore, by the ſame method of reaſoning, England ought to be governed by France.
Much hath been ſaid of the united ſtrength of Britain and the Colonies; that in conjunction, they might bid defiance to the world: But this is mere preſumption; the fate of war is uncertain, neither do the expreſſions mean any thing, for this Continent would never ſuffer itſelf to be drained of inhabitants, to ſupport the Britiſh arms in either Aſia, Africa, or Europe.
Beſides, what have we to do with ſetting the world at defiance? Our plan is commerce, and that well attended to, will ſecure us the peace and friendſhip of all Europe, becauſe it is the intereſt of all Europe to have America a free port. Her trade will always be a protection, and her barrenneſs of gold and ſilver will ſecure her from invaders.
