It is eaſy getting into holes and corners, and talking of reconciliation: But do ſuch men ſeriouſly conſider how difficult the taſk is, and how dangerous it may prove, ſhould the Continent divide thereon? Do they take within their view all the various orders of men, whoſe ſituation and circumſtances, as well as their own, are to be conſidered therein? Do they put themſelves in the place of the ſufferer, whoſe all is already gone, and of the ſoldier, who hath quitted all for the defence of his country? If their ill judged moderation be ſuited to their own private ſituations only, regardleſs of others, the event will convince them, that "they are reckoning without their hoſt."
Put us, ſay ſome, upon the footing we were on in 1763: To which I anſwer, the requeſt is not now in the power of Britain to comply with, neither will ſhe propoſe it; but if it were, and even ſhould be granted, I aſk, as a reaſonable queſtion, by what means is ſuch a corrupt and faithleſs court to be kept to its engagements? Another Parliament, nay, even the preſent, may hereafter repeal the obligation, on the pretence of its being violently obtained, or unwiſely granted; and in that caſe, where is our redreſs?—No going to law with nations; cannon are the barriſters of crowns; and the ſword, not of juſtice, but of war, decides the ſuit. To be on the footing of 1763, it is not ſufficient that the laws only be on the ſame ſtate, but that our circumſtances likewiſe be put on the ſame ſtate; our burnt and deſtroyed towns repaired or built up, our private loſſes made good, our public debts (contracted for defence) diſcharged, otherwiſe we ſhall be millions worſe than we were at that enviable period. Such a requeſt, had it been complied with a year ago, would have won the heart and ſoul of the Continent; but now it is too late. "The Rubicon is paſſed."
Beſides, the taking up arms, merely to enforce the repeal of a pecuniary law, ſeems as unwarrantable by the divine law, and as repugnant to human feelings, as the taking up arms to enforce the obedience thereto. The object, on either ſide, doth not juſtify the means; for the lives of men are too valuable to be caſt away on ſuch trifles. It is the violence which is done and threatned to our perſons; the deſtruction of our property by an armed force; the invaſion of our country by fire and ſword, which conſcientiouſly qualifies the uſe of arms: And the inſtant in which ſuch a mode of defence became neceſſary, all ſubjection to Britain ought to have ceaſed; and the independency of America ſhould have been conſidered, as dating its æra from, and publiſhed by, the firſt muſket that was fired againſt her. This line is a line of conſiſtency; neither drawn by caprice, nor extended by ambition; but produced by a chain of events, of which the Colonies were not the authors.
I ſhall conclude theſe remarks with the following timely and well intended hints. We ought to reflect, that there are three different ways by which an independency may hereafter be effected; and that one of thoſe three will, one day or other, be the fate of America, viz. by the legal voice of the people in
