Yale University Library
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WORKS
FOR SALE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, BY GEO, H. EVANS,
Granville, Middletown, N. J.
(The retail prices are annexed.)

PAINE'S POLITICAL
Works, a new edition, con
taining nearly 200 pages
more than any former A-
merican edition, in 2 vols. 3.50
PAINE'S THEOLOGI-
cal, Miscellaneous, and Po
etical Works, never before
published complete, 1 vol.
of 600 pages, 1.75
PAINE'S COMPLETE
Works, (Evans's Edition,)
in 3 vols. 5.00
TAYLOR'S DIEGESIS, 1.00
THE CORRESPONDENT
complete in 5 vols., each, 1.50
DISCUSSION on the Exist
ence of God, and Authenti
city of the Bible, between
Origen Bacheler and Ro-
bertDale Owen, 2 vols., 1.25
VICE UNMASKED: An
Essay on the Influence of
Law, by P. W. Grayson, 75
THE PHILOSOPHICAL
Dictionary of M. De Vol
taire, 75
VOLNEY'S RUINS, and
Law of Nations, 38
THE AGE OF REASON,
new ed., with Likeness, 38
THE ELEMENTS of Mo-^
dern, Materialism, 1.00
ECCE HOMO, 1.00
PALMER'S PRINCIPLES
of Nature, 75
VIEWof the DISCUSSION
between Owen and Camp
bell, 56
GOOD SENSE, by Mirabeau, 50
FRANCES WRIGHT'S
Lectures, 69
THE DEMURRER. By
Thomas Herttell, 50
SPIRITUAL MUSTARD
Pot, 38
A REVIEW] of the Eviden
ces of Christianity, by Ab-
aer Kneeland, 44

A Few DAYS in ATHENS, 38
QUEEN MAB, by Shelley, 38
THE RADICAL, by Paul
Brown, 50
JEFFERSON'S MANUAL, 50
MANUAL on HEALTH, 31
GOUGE on BANKING, 25
RIGHTS of Man to Property, 1.25
RIGHT S of AV OMAN, 75
THE YAHOO, 75
LAW of LIP>EL, Liberty of
the Press, &c. by Dr. Cooper, 75
CORNARO on Long Life, 19
LETTER to Professor Silli-
man, by Dr. Cooper, 50
ETERNITY of the Universe, 31
JEHOVAH UNVEILED, 25
EXPOSITION of CALVIN-
ism, by Dr. Cooper, 9
THE FABRICATION of
the Pentateuch Proved, 13
DOUBTS of INFIDELS, 13
SCRIPTURIAN'S CREED, 13
ORATION on Paine's Birth
day, 13
ORTHODOX BUBBLES, 13
ESSAYS on Public Education, 6
FRANCES WRIGHT'S
Lectures, each 6
CONSIDERATIONS for
Young Men, 6
THOUGHTS on Religion, 6
DIALOGUE between Epic-
tetus and bis Son, 6
CHRISTIAN Mysteries, 6
TO ANY MEMBER of Con
gress, (on Prayers,) 6
THE GOD of the Jews and
Christians, 6
THE FABLE of the Bees, 3
THIRD Gen. Epistle of Peter, 3
THE CHARACTER of the
Bible, 2
THE CHRISTIAN'S Creed, 2
ST. PETER'S Holiday, 2
FREE ENQUIRER'S Prayer, 2
NEW YORK MONTHLY
Philosophical Library, 12
Nos, for 2.50, or 26 for 5.00

Likeness of Voltaire, ' 10
Likeness of Palmer, 10
Likeness of Paine, 10
MESSENGERS ofTRUTH
or Pills for the Pious, a se
ries of Liberal Tracts, Vols.
I. and II., each 31
POPULAR TRACTS, edit
ed by Robert Dale Owen, 44
THE COMET^ 2 vols., con
taining various Lectures of
the Rev. Robt. Taylor, and
of the 'Lady of the Rotunda,'
in numbers $3 00, bound, 3.50
APOCRYPHAL New Testa
ment, 75
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE
for the Producers of Wealth,
by William H. Hale, 19
ADDRESS to the Working
Men of New England, by
Seth Luther, 19
SIX E S SAYS on Education,
from the New York Daily
Sentinel,

POLISH CHIEFS, 2 vols.
KNEELAND'S NATION-
al Hymns,
BARON D'HOLBACH'S
System of Nature, (abri'd,)
DIALOGUE of the GODS,
BYRON'S & SOUTHEY'S
Visions of Judgment,
KNEELAND'S DEFENCE
against the charge of Blas
phemy,
KNEELAND'S SPEECH,

75
25 13 6

13

38 13

N. VERY'S Forty Christians, 13
ELEGANTEXTRACTS, 6
POLITICAL Catechism, 4
A LIFE OF PAINE, 6
HARD TIMES, and a reme
dy Therefor, ¦ 2
MOULTON'S REPORT in
the New York Legislature
against the employment of
C haplains, 6
THE MODE of Protecting
Domestic Industry, hy Clin
ton Roosevelt, 20

lET George H. Evans has for sale all the liberal works published in
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LIBERAL TRACTS.
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some of the most celebrated authors, among whom are Dr. Cooper, R. D.
Owen, Thomas Herttell, Palmer, Burden, Stewart, &c. "'"
VOL. II. contains about the same number of Tracts.
The LIBERAL TRACTS are designed as antidotes to the mental poi
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JUST PUBLISHED,
THE REVELATION OF NATURE,
PREFACED BT A VIEW OF
THE MORAL STATE OF NATIONS.
The "Revelation of Nature" was originally published at the epoch of the
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CONTENTS OF THE
COMPLETE WORKS OF THOMAS PAINE,
, IN 3 VOLS.
AS PUBLISHED, AND SOLD WHOLESALE AND RETAIL,
BY GEORGE H. EVANS, '
GRANVILLE, MIDDLETOWN, N. J.

VOL. I.— POLITICAL.
Brief Sketch of the life: of Thomas Paine,
Common Sense,
Epistle to Quakers,
The Crisis, 16 numbers,
Public Good. On the claim of Virginia to the Western Territory,
Letter "to the Abbe Raynal,
—  ¦ to General Washington,
 from General Washington to Thomas Paine,
Dissertation on Government, the affairs of the Bank, and Paper
Money, '
Anecdote of James Monroe and Rufus King,
Address from Bqrdentown,
To the 'English people orrthe invasion of England,
To the French inhabitants of Louisiana, 'C-
To the citizens of Pennsylvania, on the proposal for calling a con
vention,
Of constitutions, governments, and charters,
Remarks on the political and military affairs of Europe,
Of the English Navy,
Remarks on Governor Lewis's speech to the Legislature, at Alba
ny, New York, ''¦'
Of Gun Boats,
Of the comparative. powers, and expense of ships of war, gun boats,
and fortifications,
Remarks on a string of resolutions offered by Mr. Hale, to the New
York House of Representatives at Albany,
Three letters to Morgan Lewis, on his prosecution of Thomas Far-
mar, for One hundred thousand dollars damages, .' i
On the question, Will tkere be war^ M---3
Royul Pedigree.

4>.
VOL. II.— POLITICAL.
Prospects on the Rubicon,
Rights of Man, Part:"'!. Being an answer to Mr. Burke's attack on
the French Revolution,
Rights of Man, Part II. Combining principles and practice,
Letter to the authors of the Republican,
. to the Abbe Sieyes,
Address to the Addressers, ' '
Letter to Lord Onslow,
Dissertation on First Principles of Goveriime'nt,
Speech delivered in the French National Convention,
Letter to Mr. Secretary Dundas, letter the first,
The decline and fall of the English system of Finance,
Letter to the people of France,
Reasons for preserving the life of Louis Capet, as delivered to the
National Convention,
Agrarian Justice, opposed to Agrarian Law, and to Agrarian Mo
nopoly,
Letter to the people of France, and the French armies, on the event
of the 18th Fructidor (Sep. 4, 1797) and its consequences,
Letter to Mr. Secretary Dundas, letter the second,
 to the Sheriff of the county of Sussex,
 to Sir Archibald Macdonald, Attorney General, letter the
first,
Letter to the Attorney General, on the prosecution against the
second part of the Rights of Man,
Letter on the propriety, of bringing Louis XVI. to trial,
Speech in the National Convention on the question, "shall or shall
not a respite of the sentence of Louis XVI. take place,"
On Louisiana and emissaries,
A challenge to the federalists to declare their principles,
Liberty of the press, /
The emissary Cullen, otherwise Carpenter,
Communication on Cullen,
Federalists beginning to reform,
To a friend of peace,
Notifications respecting the impostor Cullen, alias M'Cullen, alias
Carpenter, the associate of the Federalists of New York,
On the emissary Cullen,
Of the affairs of England, !1 '
To the people of New York,
Reply to Cheetham,
Extract of a letter to Dr. Mitchell, senator from the state of New
York,
Reprimand to James Cheetham,
Cheetham and his tory paper,
Note to Cheetham,
To the citizens of New York,
The emissary Cheetham,

To the federal faction,
Memorial to Congress,
To Congress,
To the honorable the Speaker of the house of Representatives.
t VOL. III.— THEOLOGICAL, MISCELLANEOUS, AND
POETICAL. THEOLOGICAL.
Preface,
Age of Reason, Part First,
Age of Reason, Part Second, »
Letter in answer to a friend, on the publication of the Age of Rea
son,
Letter to Mr. Erskine,
Discourse to the Society of Theophilanthropists,'
Letter to Camille Jordan,
Essay on Dreams, > „
Examination of passages in the New Testament,
Contradictory doctrines between Matthew and Mark,
Thoughts on a future state,
Reply to the Bishop of Llandaff,
Sabbath, or Sunday, ;
Future State, , .
Miracles, Origin of Free Masonry,
Letter to Samuel Adams,
Letter to -Andrew- A. Dean,
Remarks on R. Hall's Sermons,
Of the Word Religion, &c.
Of Cain and Abel,
The Tower of Babel, e
Of. the religion of Deism, -
To the Members of the Missionary Society,
Of the Sabbath Pay of Connecticut, .,
Of the Old and New Testament,
Hints towards forming a Society,
To Mr. Moore, of New York,:
To John Mason,
On Deism, and the Writings of Thomas Paine,
Of the Books of the New Testament,
Communication,
To the Editor of the Prospect, ,;•
Religions Intelligence, ., ;¦¦
Remarks by Mr. Paine,
The Strange Story of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
' Commentary on the Eastern Wise Men, < • • "
Tale of the Monk and Jew, MISCELLANEOUS.
Case of the Officers of Excise,

6
Petition to the board of Excise,
Letter to Dr Goldsmith,
Introduction to the Pennsylvania Magazine,
Cupid and Hymen,
Anecdote of Lord Malmsbury,
Letter to a friend,
Mathematical Question proposed,
Description of a new Electrical Machine,
New Anecdotes of Alexander the Great,
Letter to Thomas Clio Rickman,
Reflections on the life and death of Lord Clive,
Letter to a friend in Philadelphia,
Letter to Sir George Staunton, on Iron Bridges,
Preface to General Lee's Memoirs,
To Forgetfulness,
Letter to a gentleman at New York,
Essay on the Yellow Fever,
Letter to a friend,
Address and Declaration,
On the construction of Iron Bridges,
Useful and entertaining hints,
On the Utility of Magazines. TOETICAL.
Song — Hail Great Republic,
Boston Patriotic Song,
Song — To Columbia, &c.
Death of General Wolfe,
Song — Liberty Tree,
Impromptu on Bachelor's Hall,
Farmer Short's Dog Porter,;
Impromptu on a long nosed friend,
The*Snow Drop and Critic, a Dialogue,
Address to Lord Howe,
What is Love?
From the Castle in the Air, to the Little uorner of the World,
Epitaph on Thomas Paine.
Letter to George Washington,
Letters to the Citizens of the United States,
Will of Thomas Paine.

THE
CRISIS,
A WORK WRITTEN WHILE WITH THE ARMY OF
THE REVOLUTION,
WITH A VIEW OF STIMULATING THAT PATRIOTIC BAND TO PERSEVERE
Itl THEIR.
GLORIOUS STRUGGLE

RIGHTS OF MAN

BY THOMAS PAINE.

IN SIXTEEN NUMBERS.

GRANVILLE, MIDDLETOWN, N. J.
GEORGE H. EVANS.
1839.

THE CRISIS.

VOL I. 10

THE CRISIS.

NO. I

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer
soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from
the service of his country ; but he that stands it now, deserves
the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is
not easily conquered ; yet we have this consolation with us, that
the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we
obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly : 'tis dearness only that
gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
price upon its goods ; and it would be strange indeed, if so ce-
( lestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain,
with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she
has a right (not only to tax) but " to bind ms in all cases what
soever," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then
is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the ex
pression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to
God. Whether the independence of the continent was declared too
soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argu
ment ; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months
earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a
proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a
dependant state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our
own ; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal
it lost yet ; all that Howe has been doing for this month past, is
rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys
a year ago would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a
little resolution will soon recover.

76 THE CRISIS.
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but mv
secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will
not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsup-
portedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly
sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method
which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the in
fidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the govern
ment of the world, and given us up to the care of devils ; and as
I do not, J. cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can
look up to heaven for help against us : a common murderer, a
highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.
'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run
through a countrv. All nations and ages have been subject to
them : Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French
fleet of flat bottomed boats ; and in the fourteenth century the
whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was
driven back like men petrified with fear ; and this brave exploit
was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a
woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some
Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow
sufferers from ravage and ravishment ! Yet panics, in some
cases, have their uses ; they produce as much good as hurt.
Their duration is always short ; the mind soon grows through
them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar
advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypo
crisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise
have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same ef
fect on secret traitors, Which an imaginary apparition would have
upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of
man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised
tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize
with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.
As I was with the troops at fort Lee, and marched with them to
the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many cir
cumstances, which those who live at a distance, know but little or.
nothing of. Our situation there, was exceedingly cramped, the
place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and
the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one
fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no ar
my at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we shut our-

the crisis 77
selves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light ar
tillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the
apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys,
in which case fort Lee could be of no use to us ; for it must oc
cur to every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these
kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in
use no longer than the enemy directs his force against the parti
cular object, which such forts are raised to defend. Such was
our situation and condition at fort Lee on the- morning of.the 20th
of November, when an officer arrived with information that the
«nemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above : Ma
jor General Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately
ordered them under arms, and sent express to General Washing
ton at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry,
six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the
Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us,
about, six miles from us, and three from them. General Wash
ington arrived in about three quarters of an hour, and marched at
the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected
we should have a brush for ; however, they did not choose to dis
pute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the
bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a
mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and mads
their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hac
kensack, and. there passed the river. We brought off as much
baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The
simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on
till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania mi
litia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at
Newark, collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey militia,
and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that
they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior
to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in
generalship in not throwing a body offerees off from Staten Island
through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our
stores at Brunswick: and intercepted our march into Pennsylva
nia : but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must
likewise believe that their agents are under some providential
contro' -||

78 TBE CRISIS.
I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat
to the Delaware ; suffice it for the present to say, that both offi
cers and men, though greatly harrassed and fatigued, frequently
without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences
of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All
their wishes centered in one, which was, that the country would
turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has
remarked that king William never appeared to full advantage but
in difficulties and- ia action ; the same remark maybe made on
General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a na
tural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles,
but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude ; and
I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not
immediately see, that God hath blest him with uninterrupted
health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.-
I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks
on the state of our affairs ; and shall begin with asking the fol
lowing question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New-
England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war?
The answer is easy : New-England is not infested with tories,
and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these
men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger,
but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their
baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we
must change oar sentiments, or one or both must fall. And
what is a tory ? Good God ! what is he ? I should not be afraid
to go with a hundred whigs against a thousand tories, were they
to attempt to get into arms. Every tory is a coward ; for ser
vile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of toryism ;
and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never
can be brave.
But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn be
tween us, let us reason the matter together : your conduct is an
invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has
heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you
as the American cause is injured by you. He expects you will
all take up arms, and flock to his standard, with muskets on your
shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless you sup
port him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not tories, that he
wants.

the crisis. 79
I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel,
against the mean principles that are held by the tories: a noted
one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with
as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I
ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was
prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, " Well ! give
me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the continent but fully
believes that a separation must some time or other finally take
place, and a generous parent should have said, " If there must
be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace ;"
and this single reflection, well applied; is sufficient to awaken
every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy
as America. Her situation is remote from all * the wrangling
world, and she has nothing to do out to trade with them. A man
can distinguish in himself between temper and principle, and
I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that
America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign domi
nion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period ar
rives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror ; for though
the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can
never expire.
America did not, nor does not want force ; but she wanted a
proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of
a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting
off. From an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise
an army, and trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a
well-meaning militia. A summer's experience has now taught us
better ; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we were
able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God !
they are again assembling. I always considered militia as the
best troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not
do for a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an at
tempt on this city ; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he ia
ruined : if he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all
ai his side against a part on ours ; admitting he succeeds, the
consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent
will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states;
for he cannot go every where, it is impossible. I consider Howe
as the greatest enemy the tories have ; he is bringing a war into
their country, which, had it not been for him and partly for them-

60 the crisis
selves, they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish
with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names of whig and
tory may never more be mentioned ; but should the tories give him
encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely
wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent,
and the congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of
those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful bat
tle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two
years war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected per
sons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is
revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people,
who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked
their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to
argue against determined hardness ; eloquence may strike the
ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compas
sion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with preju
dice. Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a
friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to
stand the matter out : I call not upon a few, but upon all : not on
this state or that state, but on every state ; up and help us ; lay
your shoulders to the wheel ; better have too much force than too
little, when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the
future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope
and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at
one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say
not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands ;
throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but " show
your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters
not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the
blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home
counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice
alike. The heart that feels not now, is dead : the blood of his
children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time
when a little might have saved the whole,, and made them happy.
I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength
from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of
little minds to shrink ; but he whose heart is firm, and whose con
science approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto
isath.' My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and

THE CRISIS. 81
clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so for
as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war
for I think it murder ; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns
and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or
those that are in it, and to '? bind me in -all cases whatsoever," to
his absolute will, am I to suffer it t What signifies it to me, whe
ther he who does it is a king or a common man ; my countryman
or not my countryman ; whether it he dope, by an individual vil
lain, or an army of them ? If we reason to the root of things we
shall find no difference ; neither can any just cause be assigned
why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other.
Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I feel no concern from it ;
but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore
of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that
of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive
likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the
last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover
him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and tha
slain of America. *
There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and
this is one. There are persons too who see not the full extent of
the evft which threatens them, they solace themselves with hopes
that tne enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the mad
ness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do
justice ; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a
trick of war ; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the vio
lence of the wolf; and we ought to guard equally against both.
Howe's first object is partly by threats and partly by promises, to
terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their arms and receive
mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage, and
this is what the tories call making their peace, " a peace which
passeth all understanding!' indeed ! A peace which would be the
immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet
tnought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these
things ! Were the back counties to give up their arms, they
would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed : this
perhaps is what some tories would not be sorry for. Were the
home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to
the resentment of the back counties, who would then have it in
their power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were
VOL. I. U

82 THE CRISIS.
any one state to give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned
by all Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it from
the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the
chain of mutual love, and wo be to that state that breaks the com
pact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction,
and men must be either rogues or fools that will not see it. I
dwell not upon the powers of imagination ; I bring reason to
your ears ; and in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to
your eyes.
I thank God that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I
know our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While
our army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle, and it is no
credit to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited
a mean opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys ; but it is
great credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an
orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammu
nition, all our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had
four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipi
tate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the coun
try might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to
meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. The sign of fear
was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and
disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country,
the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again
collected and collecting, our new army at both ends of the conti
nent is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next
campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed.
This is our situation, and who will may know it. By perseve
rance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue ; by
cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils —
a ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations without
safety, and slavery without hope — our homes turned into barracks
and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for,
whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and Weep
over it ! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who be
lieves it not, let him suffer it unlamenled.
COMMON SENSE.
December 23 1776.

THE CRISIS.

=»>fo<=

OTO. II.
TO LORD HOWE.
What's in the name of lord that I should fear
To bring my grievance to the public ear 1
Churchill.
Universal empire is the prerogative of a writer. His con
cerns are with all mankind, and though he cannot command their
obedience, he can assign them their duty. The Republic ot
Letters is more ancient than monarchy, and of far higher charac
ter in the world than the vassal court of Britain ; he that rebels
against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason,
rebels against tyranny, has a better title to " Defender of the
Faith," than George the third.
As a military man your lordship may hold out the sword of
war, and call it the " ultima ratio regum ;" the last reason of
Kings ; we in return can show you the sword of justice, and call
it, " the best scourge of tyrants." The first of these two may
threaten, or even frighten for a while, and cast a sickly languor
over an insulted people, but reason will soon recover the debauch,
and restore them again to tranquil fortitude. Your lordship, I
find, has now commenced author, and published a Proclamation ;
I have published a Crisis ; as they stand, they are the antipodes
of each other ; both cannot rise at once, and one of them must
descend ; and so quick is the revolution of .things, that your lord
ship's performance, I see, has already fallen many degrees from
its first place, and is now just visible on the edge of the political
horizon. It is surprising to what a pitch of infatuation, blind folly and
obstinacy will carry mankind, and your lordship's drowsy
proclamation is a proof that it^does not even quit them in
their sleep. Perhaps you. thought America too was taking a nap,
and therefore chose, like Satan to Eve, to whisper the delusion

&4 THE CRISIS.
Softly, lest you should awaken her. This continent sir, is too
extensive to sleep all at once, and too watchful, even in its slum-
bersi, not to startle at the unhallowed foot of an invader. You
may issue your proclamations; and Welcome, for we have learned
io " reverence ourselves," and Scorn the insulting ruffian that
employs you. America, for your deceased brother's sake, would
gladly have shown you respect, and it is a new aggravation to her
feelings; that Howe should be forgetful, and raise his sword
against those, who at their own charge raised a monument to
his brother. But your master has commanded, and you have
hot enough of nature left to refuse. Surely ! there must be some
thing strangely degenerating in the love of monarchy, that can so
Completely wear a man down to an irigrate; and make him proud
to lick the dust that kings have trod upon. A few more years;
should you survive them; will bestow on you the title of " an old
man :" and in some hour of future reflection you may probably
find the fitness of Wolsey's despairing penitence — '" had I served
my God as faithfully as I have Served my king, he would not thus
have forsaken me in my old age."
The character you appear to us in, is truly ridiculous. Your
friends, the tories, announced your coming, with high descrip
tions of your unlimited powers ; but your proclamation has given
them the lie, by showing you to be a commissioner without au
thority. Had your powers been ever so great, they were nothing
to us, further than we pleased ; because we had the same right
which other nations had, to do what we thought was best.
" Tlie united states of America;" will Sound as pompdusly in
the world or in history, as " the kingdom of Great Britain ;" the
character of General Washington will fill a page with as much
lustre as that of Lord Howe : 'and the congress have as much
right to command the king and parliament in London, to desist
from legislation, as they or you have to command the congress.
Only suppose how laughable such an edict would appear from us;
and then, in that merry mood, do but turn the tables upon your
self, and you will see how your proclamation is received here.
Having thus placed you in a proper position in which you may
have a full view of your folly, and learn to despise it, I hold up to
you, for that purpose, the following quotation from your own
lunarian proclamation. — " And we (lord Howe and general
Howe) do command (and in his majesty's name forsooth) all

THE CRISIS.

So1

such persons as are assembled together, under the name of
general or provincial congresses, committees, conventions or other
associations, by whatever name or names known and distin
guished, to desist and cease from all such treasonable actings
and doings."
You introduce yOur proclamation by referring to your declara
tions of the 14th of July and 19th of September: In the last of
these, you sunk yourself below the character of a private gentle
man. That I may not seem to accuse you unjustly, I shall state
the circumstance : by a verbal invitation Of yours, communicated
to congress by General Sullivan; then a prisoner on his parole,
you signified your desire of conferring with some members of
that body as private gentlemen. It was beneath the dignity of
the American congress to pay any regard to a message that at
best was but a genteel affront, and had too much of the ministe
rial complexion of tampering with private persons ; and which
might probably have been the case", had the gentlemen who were
deputed on the business, possessed that kind of easy virtue which
an English courtier is so truly distinguished by. Your request,
however, was complied with; for honest men are naturally more
tender of their civil than their political fame. The interview
ended as every sensible man thought it would ; for your lordship
knows; as well as the writer of the Crisis, that it is impossible for
the king of England to promise the repeal, or even the revisal Of
any acts of parliament ; wherefore, on your part, you had nothing
to say, more than to request, in the room of demanding, the entire
surrender of the continent ; and then, if that was complied with;
to promise that the inhabitants should escape with their lives.
This was the upshot of the, conference. Y'Ou informed the con
ferees that you were two months in soliciting these powers. We
ask, what powers 1 for as commissioner yOu have hone. If yOu
mean the power of pardoning; it is an oblique proof that your
master was determined to sacrifice all before him ; and that you
were two months in dissuading him from his purpose. Another
evidence of his savage obstinacy ! FrOm your own account of
the nratter we may justly draw these two conclusions : 1st, That
you serve a monster ; and 2d, That never was a messenger sent
on a more foolish errand than yourself. This plain language may
perhaps sound uncouthly to an ear vitiated by courtly refinements ;

86 THE CRISIS.
but Words were made for use, and the fault lies in deserving them,
or the abuse in applying them unfairly.
Soon after your return to New-York, you published a very illi
beral and unmanly handbill against the congress ; for it was cer
tainly stepping out of the line of common civility, first to screen
your national pride by soliciting an interview with them as private
gentlemen, and in the conclusion to endeavor to deceive, the mul
titude by making a handbill attack on the whole body of the con
gress ; you got them together under one name, and abused them
under another. But the king you serve, and the cause you sup
port, afford you so few instances of acting the gentleman, that out
of pity to your situation the congress pardoned the insult by taking
no notice of it.
You say in that handbill, " that they, the congress, disavowea
every purpose for reconciliation not consonant with their extrava
gant and inadntissable claim of independence." Why, God bless
me ! what have you to do with our independence 1 We ask no
leave of yours to set it up ; we ask no money of yours to support
it ; we can do better without your fleets and armies than with
them ; you may soon have enough to do to protect yourselves
without being burdened with us. We are very willing to be at
peace with you, to buy of you and sell to you, and, like young be
ginners in the world, to work for our living ; therefore, why do
you put yourselves out of cash, when we know you cannot spare
it, and we do not desire you to run into debt ? I am willing, sir,
that you should see your folly in every point of view I can place it
in, and for that reason descend sometimes to tell you in jest what
I wish you to see in earnest. But to be more serious with you,
why do you say, " their independence?" To set you right, sir,
we tell you, that the independency is ours, not theirs. The con
gress were authorised by every state on the continent to publish
it to all the world, and in so doing are not to be considered as the
inventors, but only as the heralds that proclaimed it, or the office
from which the sense of the people received a legal form ; and it
was as much as any or all their heads were worth, to have treated
with you on the subject of submission under any name whatever.
But we know the men in whom we have trusted ; can England
say the same of her parliament 1
I come now more particularly to your proclamation of the 30th
of November last. Had you gained an entire conquest over all

THE CRISIS. 87
the armies of America, and then put forth a proclamation, offering
(what youcallj mercy, your conduct would have had some specious
show of humanity ; but to creep by surprise into a province, and
there endeavor to terrify and seduce the inhabitants from their just
allegiance to the rest by promises, which you neither meant, nor
were able to fulfil, is both cruel and unmanly : cruel in its effects ;
because, unless you can keep all the ground you have marched
over, how are you, in the words of your proclamation, to secure
to your proselytes " the enjoyment of their property ?" What'is, to
become either of your new adopted subjects, or your old friends,
the tories, in Burlington, Bordentown, Trenton, Mountholly, and
many other places, where you proudly lorded it for a few days,
and then fled with the precipitation of a pursued thief? What, I
say, is to become of those wretches ? What is to become of those
who went over to you from this city and state ? What more can
you can you say to them than " shift for yourselves V Or what
more can they hope for than to wander like vagabonds over the
face of the earth? You may now tell them to take their leave
of America, and all that once was theirs. Recommend them,
for consolation, to your master's court ; there perhaps they may
make a shift to live on the scraps of some dangling parasite, and
choose companions among thousands like themselves. A traitor
is the foulest fiend on earth.
In a political sense we ought to thank you for thus bequeath
ing estates to the continent ; we shall soon, at this rate, be able
to carry on a war without expense, and grow rich by the ill policy
of lord Howe, and the generous defection of the tories. Had
you set your foot into this city, you would have bestowed estates
upon us whioh we never thought of, by bringing forth traitors we
were unwilling to suspect. But these men, you'll say, " are his
majesty's most faithful subjects ;" let that honor, then, be all
their fortune, and let his majesty take them to himself.
I am now thoroughly disgusted with them ; they live in un
grateful ease, and bend their whole minds to mischief. It seems
as if God had given them over to a spirit of infidelity, and that
they are open to conviction in no other line but that of punish
ment. It is time to have done with tarring, feathering, carting,
and taking securities for their future good behaviour ; every sen
sible man must feel a conscious shame at seeing a poor fellow
hawked for a show about the streets, when it is known he is only

88 THE CRISIS.
the tqol of some principal villain, biassed into his offence by the
force of false reasoning, or bribed thereto, through sad necessity
We dishonor qurselves by attacking such trifling characters while
greater ones are suffered to escape ; 'tis our duty to find them
out, and their proper punishment would be to exile them from the
continent for ever. The circle of them is not so 'great as some
imagine ; the influence of a few have tainted many who are not
naturally corrupt. A continual circulation of lies among those
Who are not much in the way of hearing them contradicted, will
in time pass for truth ; and the crime lies not in the believer but
the inventor. I am not for declaring war with every man that ap-;
pears not so warm as myself: difference of constitution, temper,
habit of speaking, and many other things, will go a great way in
fixing the outward character of a man, yet simple honesty may
remain at bottom. Some men have naturally a military turn, and
can brave hardships and the risk of life with a cheerful face ;
others have not ; no slavery appears to them so great as the fa
tigue of arms, a\l no terror so powerful as that of personal dan
ger. What can we say? We cannot alter nature, neither ought
we to punish the son because the father begot him in a cowardly
mood. However, I believe most men have more courage than
they know of, and that a little at first is enough to begin with. I
knew the time when I thought that the whistling of a cannon ball
would have frightened me almost to death : but I have since tried
it, and find that I can stand it with as little discomposure, and, I
believe, with a much easier conscience than your lordship. The
same dread would return to me again were I in your situation,
for my solemn belief of your cause is, that it is hellish and dam
nable, and, under that conviction, every thinking man's heart
must fail him.
From a concern that a good cause should be dishonored by
the least disunion among us, I said in my former paper, No. 1.
" That should the enemy now be expelled, I wish, with all the
sincerity of a Christian, that the names of whig and tory might
never more be mentioned," but there is a knot of men among us
of such a venemous cast, that they will not admit even one's
good wishes to act in their favor. Instead of rejoicing that
heaven had, as it were, providentially preserved this city from
plunder and destruction, by delivering so great a part of the
enemy into our hands with so little effusion of blood, they stubr

TUB CRISIS. 89
bomly affected to disbelieve it till within an hour, nay, half an
hour, of the prisoners arriving ; and the Quakers put forth a tesr
timony, dated the 20th of December, signed " John Pemberton,"
declaring their attachment to the British government.* These
men are continually harping on the great sin of our bearing arms,
hut the king of Britain may lay waste the world in blood and fa-:
mine, and they, poor fallen souls, have nothing to say.
In some future paper I intend to distinguish between the differ
ent land of persons who have been denominated tories ; for this
I am clear in, that all are not so who have been called so, nor all
men whigs who were once thought so ; and as I mean not to
conceal the name of any true friend when there shall be occasion
to mention him, neither will I that of an enemy, who ought to be
known, let his rank, station or religion be what it may. Much
pains have been taken by some to set your lordship's private cha
racter in an amiable light, but as it has chiefly been done by men
who know nothing about you, and who are no ways remarkable
for their attachment to us, we have no just authoj^Ey for believing
it. George the third has imposed upon us by the same arts, but
time, at length, has done him justipe, and the same fate may pro
bably attend your lordship. Your avowed purpose here, is to
kill, conquer, plunder, pardon, and enslave : and the ravages of
your army through the Jerseys have been marked with as much
barbarism as if you had openly professed yourself the prince
of ruffians ; not even the appearance of humanity has been pre
served either on the march or the retreat of your troops ; no
general order that I could ever learn, has ever been issued to pre
vent or even forbid your troops from robbery, wherever they
came, and the only instance of justice, if it can be called such,
whiGh has distinguished you for impartiality, is, that you treated
and plundered all alike ; what could not be carried away has
been destroyed, and mahogany furniture has been deliberately
laid on fire for fuel, rather than the men should be fatigued with
* } have ever been careful of charging offences upon whole societies of men,
but as the paper referred to is put forth by' an unknown set of men, who claim
to themselves the right of representing the whole : and while the whole so- ,
ciety of Quakers admit its validity by a silent acknowledgment, it is impossi
ble that any distinction can be made by the public : and the more so, because -
the New- York paper of the 30th of December, printed by permission of our ,
enemies, says that " the Quakers begin to speak openly of their attachment to
the British constitution." ' We are certain that we have many friends among
them, and wish to know them. ,„,!,
vol. Iv 12

90 THE CRISIS.
cutting wood.* There was a time when the whigs confided
much in your supposed candor, and the tories rested themselves
in your favor ; the experiments have now been made, and failed ;
in every town, nay, every cottage, in the Jerseys, where your
arms have been, is a testimony against you. H6w you may rest
under this sacrifice of character I know not ; but. this I know,
that you sleep and rise with the daily curses of thousands upon
you ; perhaps the misery which the tories have suffered by your
proffered mercy, may give them some claim to their country's
pity, and be in the end the best favor you could show them.
In a folio general-order book belonging to Col. Rhol's batta
lion, taken at Trenton, and now in the possession of the council
of safety for this state, the following barbarous order is frequently
repeated, " His excellency the commander-in-chief orders, that
all inhabitants who shall be found with arms, not having an offi
cer with them, shall be immediately taken and hung up." How
many you may thus have privately sacrificed, we know not, and
the account can only be settled in another world. Your treat
ment of prisoners, in order to distress them to enlist into your
infernal service, is not to be equalled by any instance in Europe.
Yet this is the humane lord Howe and his brother, whom the to
ries and their three-quarter kindred, the Quakers, or some of
them at least, have been holding up for patterns of justice and
mercy !
A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad
men ; and whoever will be at the pains of examining strictly into
things, will find that one and the same spirit of oppression and
impiety, more or less, governs through your whole party in both
countries : not many days ago, I accidentally fell in company
with a person of this city noted for espousing your cause, and on
my remarking to him, " that it appeared clear to me, by the late
providential turn of affairs, that God Almighty was visibly on our
side," he replied, " We care nothing for that, you may have Him,
and welcome ; if we have but enough of the devil on our side,
we shall do." However carelessly this might be spoken, matters

* As some people may doubt the truth of such wanton destruction, I think
it necessary to infotm them, that one of the people called Quakers, who lives
at Trenton, gave me this information, at the house of Mr. Michael Hutchin
son, (one of the same profession,) who lives near Trenton ferry on the Penn
sylvania side, Mr, Hutchinson being oresent.

THE CRISIS. 91
not, 'tis still the insensible principle that directs all your conduct,
and will at last most assuredly deceive and ruin you.
If ever a nation was mad and foolish, blind to its own interest
and bent on its own destruction, it is Britain. There are such
things as national sins, and though the punishment of individuals
may be reserved to another world, national punishment can only
be inflicted in this world. Britain, as' a nation, is, in my inmost
belief, the greatest and most ungrateful offender against God on
the face of the whole earth : blessed with all the commerce she
could wish for, and furnished, by a vast extension of dominion,
with the means of civilizing both the eastern and western world,
she has made no other use of both than proudly to idolize her
own " thunder," and rip up the bowels of whole countries for
what she could get : Like Alexander, she has made war her
sport, and inflicted misery for prodigality's sake. The blood of
India is not yet repaid, nor the wretchedness of Africa yet re
quited. Of late she has enlarged her list of national cruelties,
by her butcherly destruction of the Caribbs of St. Vincents, and
returning an answer by the sword to the meek prayer for " Peace,
liberty and safety." These are serious things, and whatever a
foolish tyrant, a debauched court, a trafficing legislature, or a
blinded people may think, the national account with heaven must
some day or other be settled : all countries have sooner or later
been called to their reckoning ; the proudest empires have sunk
when the balance was struck ; and Britain, like an individual
penitent must undergo her day of sorrow, and the sooner it hap
pens to her the better : as I wish it over, I wish it to come, but
withal wish that it may be as light as possible.
Perhaps your lordship has no taste for serious things ; by your
connexions in England I should suppose not : therefore. I shall
drop this part of the subject, and take it up in a line in which you
will better understand me.
By what means, may I ask, do you expect to conquer Ame
rica? If you could not effect it in the summer, when our army
was less than yours, nor in the winter, when we had none, how
are you to do it 1 In point of generalship you have been outwit
ted, and in point of fortitude outdone ; your advantages turn out
to your loss, and show us that it is in our power to ruin you by
gifts : like a game of drafts, we can move out of one square to
let you come in, in order that we may afterwards take two or

32 THE CRISIS.
three for one ; and as we can always keep a double corner for
ourselves, we can always prevent a total defeat. You cannot be
so insensible, as not to see that we have two to one the advan
tage of you, because we conquer by a drawn game, and you lose
by it. Burgoyne might have taught your lordship this know-.
ledge ; he has been long a student in the doctrine of chances.
I have no other idea of conquering countries than by subduing
the armies which defend them : have you done thisj or can you
do it ? If you have not," it would be civil in you to let your pro
clamations alone for the present ; otherwise, you will ruin more
tories by your grace and favor, than you will whigs by your arms.
Were you to obtain possession of this cityj you would not
know what to do with it more than to plunder it. To hold it in the
manner you hold New-York, would be an additional dead weight
upon your hands : and if a general conquest is your object, you
had better be without the city than with it. When you have de
feated all our armies, the cities will fall into your hands of them
selves ; but to creep into them in the manner you got into Prince
ton, Trenton, &c. is like robbing an orchard in the night before
the fruit be ripe, and running away in the morning. Your expe
riment in the Jerseys is sufficient to teach you that you have
something more to do than barely to get into other people's
houses ; and your new converts, to whom you promised all man
ner of protection, and seduced into new guilt by pardoning them
from their former virtues, must begin to have a very contemptible
opinion both of your power and your policy. Your authority
in the Jerseys is now reduced to the small circle which your
army occupies, and your proclamation is no where else seen un
less it be to be laughed at. The mighty subduers of the conti
nent have retreated into a nut-shell, and the proud forgivers of
our sins are fled from those they came to pardon ; and all this at
a time when they were despatching vessel after vessel to England
with the great news of every day. In short', you have managed
your Jersey expedition so very dexterously, that the dead onlv
are conquerors, because none will dispute the ground with them.
In all the wars which you have formerly been concerned in,
you had only armies to contend with ; in this case you have both
an army and a country to combat with. In former wars, the
countries followed the fate of their capitals ; Canada fell with
Quebec, and Minorca with Port Mahon or St. Phillips ; by sub-

THE CRISIS. US
duing those, the conquerors opened a way into, and became mas
ters of the country : here it is otherwise ; if you get possession
of a city here, you are obliged to shut yourselves up in it, and
can make no other use of it, than to spend your country's money
in. This is all the advantage you have drawn from New- York ;
and you would draw less from Philadelphia; beeause it requires
more force to keep it, and is much further from the sea. A
pretty figure you and the tories would cut in this city, with a river
full of ice, and a town full of fire ; for the immediate consequence
of your getting here would be, that you would be cannonaded out
again; and the tories be obliged to make good the damage ; and
this sooner or later will be the fate of New- York;
I wish to see the city saved, not so much from military as from
natural motives. 'Tis the hiding place of women and children;
and lord Howe's proper business is with our armies. When I
put all the circumstances together which ought to be taken, I
!augh at your notion of conquering America. Because you lived
in a little country) where an army might run over the whole in a
few days; and where a single company of soldiers might put a
multitude to the route-, yougexpected to find it the same here. It
is plain that you brought over with you all the narrow notions
you were bred up with; and imagined that a proclamation in the
kihg'fe name was to do great things ; but Englishmen always
travel for knowledge; and your lordshipj I hopej will return, if
you return at all, much wiser than you came;
We may be surprised by events we did not expect, and in that
interval of recollection you may gain some "temporary advantage:
such Was the case a few weeks ago, but we soon ripen again into
reason, collect our strength; and while you are preparing for a
triumph; we come upon you with a defeat. Such it has been,
and such it Would be were you to try it a hundred times over.
Were you to garrison the places you might march over, in order
to secure their subjection; (for remember you can do it by no
other means,) your army would be like a stream of water running
to nothing; By the time you extended from New- York to Vir
ginia, you1 would be reduced to a string of drops not capable of
hanging together ; while we; by retreating from state to state}
like a river turning back upon itself; would acquire strength in
the same proportion as you lost it, and in the end be capable of
overwhelming vbu. The country, in the mean time, would r,uf-

94 THE CRISIS.
fer, but it is a day of suffering, and we ought to expect it. What
we contend for is worthy the affliction we may go through. If
we get but bread to eat, and any kind of raiment to put on, we
ought not only to be contented, but thankful. More than that we
ought not to look for, and less than that heaven has not yet suf
fered us to want. He that would sell his birth right for a little
salb, is as worthless as he who sold it for porridge without salt.
And he that would part with it for a gay coat, or a plain coat,
ought for ever to be a slave in buff. What are salt, sugar and
finery, to the inestimable blessings of " Liberty and safety !"
Or what are the inconveniences of a few months to the tributary
bondage of ages ? The meanest peasant in America, blest with
these sentiments, is a happy man compared with a New- York
tory ; he can 'eat his morsel without repining, and when he has
done, can sweeten it with a repast of wholesome air ; he can take
his child by the hand and bless it, without feeling the conscious
shame of neglecting a parent's duty.
Tn publishing these remarks I have several objects in view.
On your part they are to expose the folly of your pretended
authority as a commissioner ; the wickedness of your cause in
general ; and the impossibility of your conquering us at any rate.
On the part of the public, my intention is, to show them their true
and solid interest ; to encourage them to their own good, to re
move the fears and falsities which bad men have spread, and
weak men have encouraged ; and to excite in all men a love for
union, and a cheerfulness for duty.
I shall submit one more case to you respecting your conquest
of this country, and then proceed to new observations.
Suppose our armies in every part of this continent were imme
diately to disperse, every man to his home, or where else he
might be safe, and engage to re-assemble again on a certain fu
ture day ; it is clear that you would then have no army to con
tend with, yet you would be as much at a loss in that case as you
are now ; you would be afraid to send your troops in parties over
the continent, either to disarm or prevent us from assembling,
lest they should not return ; and while you kept them together,
having no army of ours to dispute with, you could not call it a
conquest ; you might furnish out a pompous page in the London
Gazette or a New- York paper, but when we returned at the ap-

THE CRISIS. 95
pointed time, you would have the same work to do that you had
at first.
It has been the folly of Britain to suppose herself more pow
erful than she really is, and by that means has arrogated to her
self a rank in the world she is not entitled to : for more than this
century past she has not been able to carry on a war without
foreign assistance. In Marlborough's campaigns, and from that
day to this, the number of German troops and officers assisting
her have been about equal with her own ; ten thousand Hessians
were sent to England iast war to protect her from a French inr
vasion ; and she would have cut but a poor figure in her Cana-
' dian and West-Indian expeditions, had not America been lavish
both of her money and men to help her along. The only instance
in which she was engaged singly, that I can recollect, was against
the rebellion in Scotland, in the years 1745 and 1746, and in
that, out of three battles, she was twice beaten, till by thus re
ducing their numbers, (as we shall yours,) and taking a supply
ship tbat was coming to Scotland with clothes, arms and money,
(as we have often done,) she was at las? enabled to defeat them.
England was never famous by land ; her officers have generally
been suspected of cowardice, have more of the air of a dancing-
master than a soldier, and by the samples which we have taken
prisoners, we give the preference to ourselves. Her strength, of
late, has lain in her extravagance ; but as her finances and credit
are now low, her sinews in that line begin io fail fast. As a na
tion she is the poorest in Europe ; for were the whole kingdom,
and all that is in it, to be put up for sale like the estate of a bank
rupt, it would not fetch as much as she owes ; yet this thought
less wretch must go to war, and with the avowed design, too, of
making us beasts of burden, to support her in riot and debauchery,
and to assist her afterwards in distressing those nations who are
now our best friends. This ingratitude may suit, a tory, or the
unchristian peevishness pf a fallen Quaker, but none else.
'Tis the unhappy temper of the English to be pleased with any
war, right or wrong, be it but successful ; but they soon grow
discontented with ill fortune, and it is an even chance that they are
as clamorous for peace next summer, as the king and his minisr
ters were for war last winter. In this natural view of things, your
lordship stands in a very critical situation : your whole character

96 THE CRISIS.
is now staked upon your laurels ; if they wither, you wither with
them ; if they flourish, you cannot live long to look at them; and
at any rate, the black account hereafter is not far off. What
lately appeared to us misfortunes, were only blessings in disguise ;
and the seeming advantages on your side have turned out to our
profit. Even our loss of this city, as far as we can see, might be
a principal gain to us : the more surface you spread over, the
thinner you will be, and the easier wiped away ; and our conso
lation under that apparent disaster would be, that the estates of
the tories would become securities for the repairs. In short,
there is no old ground we pan fail upon, but some new foun
dation rises again to support us. " We have put, sir, our hands
to the plough, and cursed be he that looketh back."
Your king, in his speech to parliament last spring, declared,
" That he had no doubt but the great force they had enabled him
to send to America, would effectually reduce the rebellious colo
nies," It has not, neither can it ; but it has done just enough to
lay the foundation of its own next year's ruin. You are sensible
that you left England in a divided, distracted state of politics,
and, by the command you had here, you became a principal prop
in the court party ; their fortunes rest on yours ; by a single ex
press you can fix their value with the public, and the degree to
which their spirits shall rise or fall ; they are in your hands as
stock, and you have the secret of the alley with you. Thus;
situated and connected, you become the unintentional mechanic
cal instrument of your own and their overthrow. The king and
his ministers put conquest out of doubt, and the credit of both
depended on the proof. To support them in the interim, it was
necessary that you should make the most of every thing, and we
can tell by Hugh Game's New-York paper what the complexion
of the London Gazette is. With such a list of victories the nar
tion cannot expect you will ask new supplies ; and to confess
your want of them, would give the lie to your triumphs, and im
peach the king and his ministers of treasonable deception. If
you make the necessary demand at home, your party sinks ; if
you make it not, you sink yourself; to ask it now is too late, and
to ask it before was too soon, and unless it arrive quickly will be
of no use. In short, the part you have to act, cannot be acted ;
and I am fully persuaded that all you have to trust to is, to do the

THE CRISIS, 97
best you can with what force you have got, or little more,
Though we have greatly exceeded you in point of generalship
and bravery of men, yet, as a people, we have not entered into
the full soul of enterprise ; for I, who know England and the disr
position of the people well, am confident, that it is easier for us
to effect a revolution there, than you a conquest here ; a few
thousand men landed in England with the declared design of de?
posing the present king, bringing his ministers to trial, and setting
pp the Duke of Gloucester in his stead, would assuredly carry
their point, while you were grovelling here ignorant of the mat
ter. As I send all my papers to England, this, like Common
Sense, will find its way there ; and though it may put one party
on their guard, it will inform the other, and the nation in general,
of our design to help them.
Thus far, sir, I have endeavored to give you a picture of pre
sent affairs : you may draw from it what conclusions you please.
I wish as well to the true prosperity of England as you can, but I
consider independence as America's natural right and interest,
and never could see any real disservice it would be to Britain. If
an English merchant receives an order, and is paid for it, it sig
nifies nothing to him who governs the country. This is my creed
pf politics. If I have any where expressed myself over-warmly,
'tis from a fixed, immoveable hatred I have, and ever had, to cruel
men and cruel measures. I have likewise an aversion to monarr
chy, as being too debasing to the dignify of man ; but I never
troubled others with my notions till very lately, nor ever pub
lished a syllable in England in my life. What I write is pure
nature, and my pen and my soul have ever gone together. My
writings I have always given away, reserving only the expense of
printing and p$per, and sometimes not even that. I never courted
either fame or interest, and my manner of life, to those who know
jt, will justify what I say. My study is to be useful, and if your
'lordship loves mankind as well as I do, you would, seeing you
cannot conquer us, cast about and lend your hand towards ac
complishing a peace. Our independence, with God's blessing,
«re will maintain against all the world ; but as we wish to avoid
evil ourselves, we wish not to inflict it on others. I am never
pyer-inquisitive into the secrets of the cabinet, but I have some
potion, that if you neglect the present opportunity, that it will not
vol i. 13

99 THE CRISIS.
be in our power to make a separate peace with you afterwards ;
for whatever treaties or alliances we form, we shall most faith
fully abide by ; wherefore you may be deceived if you think you
can make it with us at any time. A lasting independent peace
is my wish, end and aim ; and to accomplish that, " I pray God
the Americans may never be defeated, and I trust while they have
good officers, and are well commanded," and willing to be com
manded, " that they never will be."
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, Jan. 13, 1777.

THE CRISIS.

»=4oe

no. in.

In the progress of politics, as in the common occurrences of
life, we are not only apt to forget the ground we have travelled
over, but frequently neglect to gather up experience as we go.
We expend, if I may so say, the knowledge of every day on the
circumstances that produce it, and journey on in search of new
matter and new refinements : but as it is pleasant and sometimes
useful to look back, even to the first periods of infancy, and trace
the turns and windings through whieh we have passed, so we may
likewise derive many advantages by halting a while in our politi
cal career, and taking a review of the wondrous complicated la
byrinth of little more than yesterday.
Truly may we say, that never did men grow old in so short a
time ! We have crowded the business of an age into the compass
of a few months, and have been driven' through such a rapid suc
cession of things, that for the want of leisure to think, we una
voidably wasted knowledge as we came, and have left nearly as
much behind us as we brought with us : but the road is yet rich
with the fragments, and, before we fully lose sight of them, will
repay us for the trouble of stopping to pick them up.
Were a man to be totally deprived of memory, he would be in
capable of forming any just opinion; every thing about him would
seem a chaos ; he would have even his own history to ask from
every one ; and by not knowing how the world went in his ab
sence, he would be at a loss to know how it ought to go on when
he recovered, or rather, returned to it again. In like manner,
though in a less degree, a too great inattention to past occurrences
retards and bewilders our judgment in every thing ; while, on the

100 THE CRISIS.
contrary, by comparing what is past with what is present, we fre
quently hit on the true character of both, and become wise with
very little trouble; It is a kind of counter-march, by which we
get into the rear of time, and mark the movements and meaning
of things as we make our return. There are certain circum
stances, which, at the time of their- happening, are a kind of riddles,
and as every riddle is to be followed by its answer, so those kind
of circumstances will be followed by their events* and those events
are always the true solution. A considerable space of time may
lapse between, and unless we continue our observations from the
one to the other, the harmony of them will pass away unnoticed :
but the misfortune is, that partly from the pressing necessity of
some instant things, and partly from the impatience of our own
tempers, we are frequently in such a hurry to make out the mean
ing of every thing as fast as it happens, that we thereby never
truly understand it ; and not only start new difficulties to our
selves by so doing* but, as it were, embarrass Providence in her
good designs.
I have been civil in stating this fault on a large scale* for, as it
now stands, it does not appear to be levelled against any particu
lar set of men ; but were it to be refined a little further* it might
afterwards be applied to the tories with a degree of striking pro
priety : those men have been remarkable for drawing sudden con
clusions from single facts. The least apparent mishap on our
side, or the least seeming advantage on the part of the enemy*
have determined with them the fate of a whole campaign. By
this hasty judgment they have converted a retreat into a defeat 5
mistook generalship for error ; while every little advantage pur
posely given the enemy, either to weaken their strength by divi
ding it, embarrass their councils by multiplying their objects* or to
secure a greater post by the surrender of a less, has been instantly
magnified into a conquest. Thus, by quartering ill policy upon
ill principles* they have frequently promoted the cause they de*
signed to injure, and injured that which they intended to promote;
It is probable the campaign may open before this number comSs
from the press. The enemy have Long lain idle* and amused
themselves with carrying on the war by proclamations only.
While they continue their delay our strength increases* and were
they to move»to action now, it is a circumstantial proof that they
have no reinforcement coming ; wherefore, in either case, the

THE CRISIS. 161
comparative advantage will be ours. Like a wounded* disabled
whale, they want Only time and room to die in ; and though in
the agony of their exit, it may be unsafe to live within the flapping
of their tail* yet every hour shortens their date* and lessens their
power of mischief. If any thing happens while this riiimber is in
the press* it will afford me a subject for the last pages df it. At
present I am tired of waiting ; and as neither' the enemy* nor the
state of politics have yet produced any thing new* I am thereby
left in the field of general, matter* undirected by any striking or
particular object. This Crisis, therefore* will be made up rather
Of variety than novelty, and consist more of things Useful thart
things wonderful;
The success of the cause* the union of the people, and the
means of supporting and securing both* are points which cannot
be too much attended to. He who doubts of the former is a de«
spending coward, and he who wilfully disturbs the latter is a trai
tor. Their characters are easily fixed, and under these short de
scriptions I leave them for the present.
One of the greatest degrees of sentimental union which Ame
rica ever knew, was in denying the right of the British parliament
" to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." The declaration
is* in its form* an almighty one, and is the loftiest stretch of arbi
trary power that ever one set of men, or one country claimed
over another. Taxation was nothing more than the putting the des
clared right into practice ; and this failing, recourse was had to
arms, as a means to establish both the right and the practice, or
to answer a worse purpose* which will be mentioned in the course
of this number. And in order to repay themselves the expense
of an army* and to profit by their own injustice* the colonies were*
by another law, declared to be in a state of actual rebellion* and
Of consequence all property therein would fall to the conquerors.
The colonies* On their part, first, denied the right ; secondly,
they suspended the use of taxable articles, and petitioned against
the practice oftaxation : and these failing, they, thirdly, defended
their property by force, as soon as it was forcibly invaded, and
in answer to the declaration of rebellion and non-protection, pub
lished their declaration of independence and right of self-pro^
tection; These, in a few words, are the different stages of the quarrel J
and the parts are so intimately and necessarily connected with

102 THE CRISIS.
each other as to admit of no separation. A person, to use a
trite phrase, must be a whig or a tory in the lump. His feelings,
as a man, may be wounded ; his charity, as a Christian, may be
moved ; but his political principles must go through all the cases
on one side or the other. He cannot be a whig in this stage,
and a tory in that. If he says he is against the united inde
pendence of the continent, he is to all intents and purposes against
her in all the rest ; because this last comprehends the whole.
And he may just as well say, that Britain was right in declaring
us rebels ; right in taxing us ; and right in declaring her " right
to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." It signifies nothing
what neutral ground, of his own creating, he may skulk upon for
shelter, for the quarrel in no stage of it hath afforded any such
ground ; and either we or Britain are absolutely right or abso
lutely wrong through the whole.
Britain, like a gamester nearly ruined-, hath now put all her
losses into one bet, and is playing a desperate game for the total.
If she wins it, she wins from me my life ; she wins the continent
as the forfeited property of rebels ; the right of taxing those that
are left as reduced subjects ; and the power of binding them
slaves : and the single tlie which determines this unparalleled
event is, whether we support our independence or she overturn
it. This is coming to the point at oncp. Here is the touch
stone to try men by. He that is not a supporter of the indepen
dent states of America, in the same degree that his religious and
political principles would suffer him to support the government of
any other country, of which he called himself a subject, is, in the
American sense of the word, A Tort ; and the instant that he en
deavors to bring his toryism into practice, he becomes a traitor.
The first can only be detected by a general test, and the law hath
already provided for the latter.
It is unnatural and impolitic to admit men who would root up
our independence to have any share in our legislation, either as
electors or representatives ; because the support of our indepen
dence rests, in a great measure, on the vigor and purity of our
public bodies. Would Britain, even in time of peace, much less
in war, suffer an election to be carried by men who professed
themselves to be not her subjects, or allow such to sit in parlia
ment ? Certainly not.

THE CRISIS. 103
But there are a certain species of tories with whom conscience
or principle hath nothing to do, and who are so from avarice
only. Some of the first fortunes on the continent, on the part of
the whigs, are staked on the issue of our present measures. And
shall disaffection only be rewarded with security? Can any
thing be a greater inducement to a miserly man, than the hope of
making his mammon safe ? And though the scheme be fraught
with every character of folly, yet, so long as he supposes, that by
doing nothing materially criminal against America on one part,
and by expressing his private disapprobation against indepen
dence, as palliative with the enemy on the other part, he stands
m a safe line between both ; while, I say, this ground be suf
fered to remain, craft, and the spirit of avarice, will point it out,
and men will not be wanting to fill up this most contemptible of
all characters.
These men, ashamed to own the sordid cause from whence
their disaffection springs, add thereby meanness, to meanness, by
endeavoring to shelter themselves under the mask of hypocrisy ;
that is, they had rather be thought to be tories from some kind of
principle, than tories by having no principle at all. But till such
time as they can show some real reason, natural, political, or
conscientious, on which their objections to independence are
founded, we are not obliged to give them credit for being tories
of the first stamp, but must set them down as tories of the last.
In the second number of the Crisis," I endeavored to show the
impossibility of the enemy's making any conquest of America,
that nothing was wanting on our part but patience and perseve
rance, and that, with these virtues, our success, as far as human
speculation could discern, seemed as certain as fate. But as
there are many among us, who, influenced by others, have regu
larly gone back from the principles they once held, in proportion
as we have gone forward ; and as it is the unfortunate lot of many
a good man to live within the neighborhood of disaffected ones ; I
shall, therefore, for the sake of confirming the one and recovering
the other, endeavor, in the space of a page or two, to go over some
of the leading principles in support • of independence. It is a
much pleasanter task to prevent vice than to punish it, and, how
ever our tempers may be gratified by resentment, or our national
expenses eased by forfeited estates, harmony and friendship, is,
nevertheless, the happiest condition a country can be blest with.

104 THE CRISIS.
The principal arguments in support of independence may bo
comprehended under the four following heads.
1st, The natural right of the continent to independence.
2d, Her interest in being independent.
3d, The necessity, — and
4th, The moral advantages arising therefrom-
1st, The natural right of the pontinent to independence, is a
point which never yet was called in question. It will not even
admit of a debate. To deny such a right, would be a kind 01
atheism against nature : and the best answer to such an objection
would be, »k The fool hath said in his heart there is no God."
2d, The interest of the continent in being independent is a
point as clearly right as the former. America, by her own inter
nal industry, and unknown to all the powers of Europe, was, at
the beginning of the dispute, arrived at a pitch of greatness, trade
and population, beyond which it was the interest of Britain not to
suffer her to pass, lest she should grow too powerful to be kept
subordinate. She began to view this country with the same un
easy malicious eye, with which a covetous guardian would view
his ward, whose estate he had been enriching himself by for
twenty years, and saw him just arriving at manhood. And Ame
rica owes no more to Britain for her present maturity, than the
ward would to the guardian for being twenty-one years of age.
That America hath flourished at the time she was under the go
vernment of Britain, is true ; but there is every natural reason to
believe, that had she been an independent country from the first
settlement thereof, uncontrolled by any foreign power, free to
make her own laws, regulate and encourage her own commerce,
she had by this time been of much greater worth than now. The
Case is simply this : the first settlers in the different colonies were
Jeft to shift for themselves, unnoticed and unsupported by any
European government : but as the tyranny and persecution of the
old world daily drove numbers to the new, and as, by the favor of
heaven on their industry and perseverance, they grew into impor
tance, so, in a like degree, they became an object of profit to the
greedy eyes of Europe. It was impossible, in this state of in?
fancy, however thriving and promising, that they could resist the
power of any armed invader that should seek to bring them under
his authority. In this situation, Britain thought it worth her
while to claim them, and the continent received and acknowledged

THE CRISiJS, 106
the claimer. It was, in reality, of no very great importance who
was her master, seeing, that from the force and ambition of the
different powers of Europe, she must, till she acquired strength
enough to assert her own right, acknowledge some one. As
well, perhaps, Britain as another ; and it might have been as well
to have been under the states of Holland as any. The same
hopes of engrossing and profiting by her trade, by not oppressing
it too much, would haye operated alike with any master, and pro
duced to the colonies tbe same effects. The clamor of protec
tion, likewise, was all a farce ; because, in order to make that
protection necessary, she must first, by her own quarrels, create
us enemies. Hard times indeed !
To know whether it be the interest of the continent to be inde->
pendent, we need only ask this easy, simple question : Is it the
interest of a man to be a boy all his life ? The answer to one
will be the answer to both. America hath been one continued
scene of legislative contention from the first king's representative
to the last ; and this was unavoidably founded in the natural op
position of interest between the old country and the new. A
governor sent from England, or receiving his authority therefrom,
ought never to have been considered in any other light than that
of a genteel commissioned spy, whose private business was infor
mation, and his pubhc business a kind of civilized oppression.
In the first of these characters he was to watch the tempers, sen
timents and disposition of the people, the growth of trade, and the
increase of private fortunes ; and, in the latter, to suppress all
such acts of the assemblies, however beneficial to the people,
which did not directly or indirectly throw some increase of power
pr profit into die hands of those that sent him.
America, till now, could never be called a free country, .be
cause her legislation depended on the will of a man three thou
sand miles distant, whose interest was in opposition to ours, and
who, by a single " no," could forbid what law he pleased.
The freedom of trade, likewise, is, to a trading country, an
article of such importance, that the principal source of wealth
depends upon it; and it is impossible that any country can
flourish, as it otherwise might do, whose, commerce is engrossed, ,
cramped and fettered by the laws and mandates of another — yet
these evils, and more than I can here enumerate, the continent
has suffered by being under the government of England, By an
vol i. 14

106 THE CRISIS.
independence we clear the whole at once — put an end to th*
business of unanswered petitions and fruitless remonstrances —
exchange Britain for Europe — shake hands with the world — live
at peace with the world — and trade to any market where we can
buy and sell.
3d, The necessity, likewise, of being independent, even before
it was declared, became so evident and important, that the conti
nent ran the risk of being ruined every day that she delayed K.
There was reason to believe that Britain would endeavor to make
an European matter of it, and, rather than lose the whole, would
dismember it, like Poland, and dispose of her several claims to
the highest bidder. Genoa, failing in her attempts to reduce
Corsica, made a sale of it to the French, and such traffics have
been common in the old world. We had at that time no ambas
sador in any part of Europe, to counteract her, negociations, and
by that means she had the range of every foreign court uncontra
dicted on our part. We even knew nothing of the treaty for the
Hessians till it was concluded, and the troops ready to embark.
Had we been independent before, we had probably prevented her
obtaining them. We had no credit abroad, because of our rebel
lious dependancy. Our ships could claim no protection in
foreign ports, because we afforded them no justifiable reason for
granting it to us. The calling ourselves subjects, and at the
same time fighting against the power which we acknowledged,
was a dangerous precedent to all Europe. If the grievances jus
tified thejaking up arms, they justified our separation ; if they
did not justify our separation, neither could they justify our taking
up arms. All Europe was interested in reducing us as rebels,
and all Europe (or the greatest part at least) is interested in sup
porting us as independent states. At home our condition was
still worse ; our currency had no foundation, and the fall of it
would have ruined whig and tory alike. We had no other law
than a kind of moderated passion ; no other civil power than an
honest mob ; and no other protection than the temporary attach
ment of one man to another. Had independence been delayed a
few months longer, this continent would have been plunged into
irrecoverable confusion : some violent for it, some against it, till,
in the general cabal, the rich would have been ruined, and the
poor destroyed. It is to independence that every tory owes the
present stfety which he lives in ; for by that, and that only, we

THE CRISIS. 10T
emerged from a state of dangerous suspense, and became a regu
lar people.
The necessity, likewise, of being independent, had there been
no rupture between Britain ,and America, would, in a little time,
have brought one on. The increasing importance of commerce,
the weight and perplexity of legislation, and the entangled state
of European politics, would daily have shown to the continent the
impossibility of continuing subordinate ; for, after the coolest re
flections on the matter, this must be allowed, that Britain was too
jealous of America to govern it justly ; too ignorant of it to
govern it well ; and too far distant from it to govern it at all.
4th. But what weigh most with all men of serious reflection
are, the moral advantages arising from independence : war and
desolation have become the trade of the old world ; and America
neither could, nor can be under the government of Britain with
out becoming a sharer of her guilt, and a partner in all the dismal
commerce of death. The spirit of1 duelling, extended on a na
tional scale, is a proper character for European wars. They
have seldom any other motive than pride, or any other object
than fame. The conquerors and the conquered are generally
ruined alike, and the chief difference at last is, that the one
marches home with his honors, and the other without them, 'Tis
the natural temper of the English to fight for a feather, if they
suppose that feather to be an affront ; and America, without the
right of asking why, must have abetted in every quarrel, and
abided by its fate. It is a shocking situation to live in, that one
country must be brought into all the wars of another, whether the
measure be right or wrong, or whether she will or not ; yet this,
in the fullest extent, was, and ever would be, the unavoidable
consequence of the connexion. Surely the Quakers forgot their
own principles, when, in their late Testimony, they called this
connexion, with these military and miserable appendages hanging
to it-—" the happy constitution."
Britain, for centuries past, has been nearly fifty years out of
every hundred at war with some power or other. It certainly
ought to be a conscientious as well as political consideration
with America, not to dip her hands in the bloody work of Europe.
Our situation affords us a retreat from their cabals, and the pre
sent happy union of the states bids fair for extirpating the future
use of arms from one quarter of the world ; yet such have been

10S THE CRISIS
the irreligious politics of the present leaders of the Quakers, that,
for the sake of they scarce know what* they would cut off every
hope of such a blessing by tying this continent to Britain, like
Hector to the chariot wheel of Achilles* to be dragged through
all the miseries of endless European wars.
The connexion, viewed from this ground* is distressing to
every man who has the feelings of humanity. By having Britain
for our master, we became enemies to the greatest part of Europe,
and they to us : and the consequence was war inevitable. By
being our own masters, independent of any foreign one* we have
Europe for our friends, and the prospect of an endless peace
among ourselves, Those who were advocates for the British
government over these colonies, were obliged to limit both their
arguments, and their ideas to the period of an European peace
only : the moment Britain became plunged in war, every sup-.
posed convenience to us vanished, and all we could hope for was
not to be ruined. Could this be a desirable condition for a young
country to be in ?
Had the French pursued their fortune immediately after the
defeat of Braddock last war* this city and province had then ex
perienced the woful calamities of being a British subject. A
scene of the same kind might happen again ; for America* con
sidered as a subject to the crown of Britain* would ever have
been the seat of war, and the bone of contention between the two
powers. On the whole, if the future expulsion of arms from one quarter
of the world would be a desirable object to a peaceable man ; —
if the freedom of trade to every part of it can engage the attention
of a man of business ; — if the support or fall of millions of cur
rency can affect our interests; — if the entire possession of estates,
by cutting off the lordly claims of Britain over the soil, deserves
the regard of landed property ; and if the right of making our
own laws, uncontrolled by royal or ministerial spies or mandates,
be worthy our care as freemen ; — then are all men interested in
the support of independence ; and may he that supports it not,
be driven from the blessing, and live unpitied beneath the servile
sufferings of scandalous subjection !
We have been amused with the tales of aiicient wonders ; we
have read, and wept over the histories of other nations : ap
plauded, censured, or pitied, as their cases affected us. The

THE CRISIS. 109
fortitude and patience of the sufferers — the justness of their
cause — the weight of their oppressions and oppressors — the ob
ject to be saved or lost — with all the consequences of a defeat or
a conquest — have, in the hour of sympathy, bewitched our hearts*
and chained it to their fate : but where is the power that ever
made war upon petitioners ? Or where is the war on which a
world was staked till now ?
We may not, perhaps, be wise enough to make all the advan
tages we ought of our independence ; but they are* nevertheless,
marked and presented to us with every character of great and
good, and worthy the hand of him who sent them. I look through
the present trouble to a time of tranquillity, when we shall have
it in our power to set an example of peace to all the world. Were
the Quakers really impressed and influenced by the quiet princi
ples they profess to hold* they would, however they might disap
prove the means, be the first of all men to approve of indepen
dence, because, by separating ourselves from the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah, it affords an opportunity never given to man be*
fore, of carrying their favorite principle of peace into general
practice, by establishing governments that shall hereafter exist
without wars. 0 ! ye fallen, cringing, priest and Pemberton-
ridden people ! What more can we say of ye than that a reli
gious Quaker is a valuable character, and a political Quaker a
real Jesuit.
Having thus gone Over some Of the principal points in support
of independence; I must now request the reader to return back
with me to the period when it first began to be a public doctrine*
and to examine the progress it has made among the various
classes of men. The era I mean to begin at, is the breaking out
Of hostilities, April 19th, 1775. Until this event happened* the
Continent seemed to view the dispute as a kind of law-suit for a
matter of right, litigating between the old country and the new *
and she felt the same kind and degree of horror, as if she had
seen an oppressive plaintiff,' at the head of a band of ruffians.
enter the court, while the cause was before it, and put the judge*
the jury, the defendant and his counsel, to the sword. Perhaps
a more heart-felt convulsion never reached a country with the
same degree of power and rapidity before, and never may again.
Pity for the sufferers, mixed with indignation at the violence, and
heightened with apprehensions of undergoing the same fate

110 THE CRISIS.
made the affair of Lexington the affair of the continent. Every
part of it felt the shock, and all vibrated together. A general
promotion of sentiment took place : those who had drank deeply
into whiggish principles, that is, the right and necessity not only
of opposing, but wholly setting aside the power of the crown as
soon as it became practically dangerous (for in theory it was al
ways so) stepped into the first stage of independence ; while ano
ther class of whigs, equally sound in principle, but not so san
guine in enterprise, attached themselves the stronger to the
cause, and fell close in with the rear of the former ; their partition
was a mere point. Numbers of the moderate men, whose chief
fault, at that time, arose from their entertaining a better opinion
of Britain than she deserved, convinced now of their mistake,
gave her up, and publicly declared themselves good whigs
While the tories, seeing it was no longer a laughing matter, either
sunk into silent obscurity, or contented themselves with coming
forth and abusing general Gage : not a single advocate appeared
to justify the action of that day ; it seemed to appear to every
one with the same magnitude, struck every one with the same
force, and created in every one the same abhorrence. From this
period we may date the growth of independence.
If the many circumstances which happened at this memorable
time, be taken in one view, and compared with each other, they
will justify a conclusion which seems not to have been attended
to, I mean a fixed design in the king and ministry of driving Ame
rica into arms, in order that they might be furnished with a pre
tence for seizing the whole continent, as the immediate property
of the crown. A noble plunder for hungry courtiers !
It ought to be remembered, that the first petition from the con
gress was at this time unanswered on the part of the British
king. That the motion, called lord North's motion, of the 20th
of February, 1775, arrived in America the latter end of March.
This motion was to be laid by the several governors, then in
being, before the assembly of each province ; and the first assem
bly before which it was laid, was the assembly of Pennsylvania, in
May following. This being a just state of the case, I then ask,
why were hostilities commenced between the time of passing the
resolve in the house of commons, of the 20th of February, and
the time of the assemblies meeting to deliberate upon it? De
grading and infamous as that motion was, there is, nevertheless,

THE CRISIS. Ill
reason to believe that the king and his adherents were afraid the
colonies would agree to it, and lest they should, took effectual
care they should not, by provoking them with hostilities in the <
interim. They had not the least doubt at that time of conquering
America at one blow ; and What they expected to get by a con
quest being infinitely greater than any, thing they could hope to
get either by taxation or accommodation, they seemed determined
to prevent even the possibility of hearing each other, lest America
should disappoint their greedy hopes of the whole, by listening
even to their own terms. On the one hand they refused to hear
the petition of the continent, and on the other hand took effectual
care the continent should not hear them.
That the motion of the 20th February and the orders for com
mencing hostilities were both concerted by the same person or
persons, and not the latter by general Gage, as was falsely imagin
ed at first, is evident from an extract of a letter of his to the ad
ministration, read among other papers in the house of commons ;
in which he informs his masters, " That though their idea of his
disarming certain counties was a right one, yet it required him to
be master of the country, in order to enable him to execute it." This
was prior to the commencement of hostilities, and consequently
before the motion of the 20th February could be deliberated on
by the several assemblies.
Perhaps it may be asked, why was the motion passed, if there
was at the same time a plan to aggravate the Americans not to lis
ten to it 1 Lord North assigned one reason himself, which was
a hope of dividing them. This was publicly tempting them to
reject it ; that if, in case the injury of arms should fail in provok
ing them sufficiently, the insult of such a declaration might fill it
up. But by passing the motion and getting it afterwards rejected
in America, it enabled them, in their wretched idea of politics,
among other things, to hold up the colonies to foreign powers,
with every possible mark of disobedience and rebellion. They
had applied to those powers not to supply the continent with
arms, ammunition, &c. and it was necessary they should incense
them against us, by assigning on their own part some seeming
reputable reason why. By dividing, it had a tendency to weaken
the states, and likewise to perplex the adherents of America in
England. But the principal scheme, and that which has marked
their character in every part of their conduct, was a design of

112 THE CRISIS.
precipitating the colonies into a state which they might afterwards
deem rebellion, and, under that pretence, put an end to all future
complaints, petitions and remonstrances, by seizing the whole at
once. They had ravaged one part of the globe, till it could glut
them no longer; their prodigality required new plunder, and
through the East India article tea they hoped to transfer their
rapine from that quarter of the world to this. Every designed
quarrel had its pretence ; and the same barbarian avarice accom
panied the plant . to America, which ruined the country that pro-;
duced it.
That men never turn rogues without turning fools is a maxim,
sooner or later, universally true. The commencement of hostili
ties, being in the beginning of April, was, of all times the worst
chosen : the congress were to meet the tenth of May following,
and the distress the continent felt at this unparalleled out
rage gave a stability to that body, which no other circumstance
could have done. It suppressed, too, all inferior debates, and
bound them together by a necessitous affection, without giving
them time to differ upon trifles. The suffering, likewise, softened
the whole body of the people into a degree of pliability, which laid
the principal foundation-stone of union, order and government ;
and which, at any other time, might only have fretted and then
faded away unnoticed and unimproved: but Providence, who
best knows how to time her misfortunes as well as her immediate
favors, chose this to be the time, and who dare dispute it ?
It did not seem the disposition of the people, at this crisis, to heap
petition upon petition, while the former remained unanswered i
the measure, however, was carried in congress, and a second
petition was sent ; of which I shall only remark that it was sub
missive even to a dangerous fault, because the prayer of it appeal
ed solely to, what it called the prerogative of the crown, while the
matter in dispute was confessedly constitutional. But even this
petition, flattering as it was, was still not so harmonious as the
chink of cash, and consequently not sufficiently grateful to the
tyrant and his ministry. From every circumstance it is evident,
that it was the determination of the British court to have nothing
to do with America but to conquer her fully and absolutely. Thev
were certain of success, and the field of battle was the only place
of treaty. I am confident there are thousands and tens of thou
sands in America who wonder now that they should ever have

THE CRISIS 113
thought otherwise ; but the sin of that, day was the sin of civility,
yet it operated against our present good in the same manner that
a civil opinion of the devil would against our future peace.
Independence was a doctrine scarce and rare, even towards the
conclusion of the year 1775 ; all our politics had been founded
on the hope or expectation of making the matter up — a hope,
which, though general on the side of America, had never entered
the head or heart of the British court. Their hope was conquest
and confiscation. Good heavens ! what volumes of thanks does
America owe to Britain ? What infinite obligation to the tool that
fills, with paradoxical vacancy, the throne ! Nothing but the
sharpest essence of villany. compounded with the strongest dis
tillation of folly, could have produced a menstruum that would
have effected a separation. The congress in 1774, administered
an abortive medicine to independence, by prohibiting the importa
tion of goods, and the succeeding congress rendered the dose still
more dangerous by continuing it. Had independence been a
settled system with America, (as Britain has advanced,) she ought
to have doubled her importation, and prohibited in some degree
her exportation. And this single circumstance is sufficient to
acquit America before any jury of nations, of having a continental
plan of independence in view : a charge which, had it been true,
would have been honorable, but is so grossly false, that either the
amazing ignorance or the wilful dishonesty of the British court, is
effectually proved by it.
Tbe second petition, like the first, produced no answer ; it was
scarcely acknowledged to have been received ; the British court
were too determined in their villainy even to act it artfully, and in
their rage for conquest neglected the necessary subtleties for ob
taining it. They might have divided, distracted and played a
thousand tricks with us, had they been as cunning as they were
cruel. This last indignity gave a new spring to independence. Those
who knew the savage obstinacy of the king, and the jobbing, gam
bling spirit of the court, predicted the fate of the petition, as soon
as it was sent from America ; for the men being known, their
measures were easily foreseen. As politicians we ought not so
much to ground our hopes on the reasonableness of the thing
we ask, as on the reasonableness of the person of whom we ask
vol. i. 15

114 THE CRISIS.
it : who would expect discretion from a fool, candor from a tyrant,
or justice from a villain ?
As every prospect of accommodation seemed now to fail fast,
men began to think seriously on the matter ; and their reason
being thus stripped of the false hope which had long encompassed
it, became approachable by fair debate : yet still the bulk of the
people hesitated ; they startled at the novelty of independence,
without once considering that our getting into arms at first was a
taore extraordinary novelty, and that all other nations had gone
through the work of independence before us. They doubted
likewise the ability of the continent to support it, without reflecting
that it required the same force to obtain an accommodation by
arms as an independence. If the one was acquirable, tbe other
was the same ; because, to accomplish either, it was necessary
that our strength should be too great for Britain to subdue ; and
it was too unreasonable to suppose, that with the power of being
masters, we should submit to be servants.* Their caution at
this time was exceedingly misplaced ; for if they were able to
defend their property and maintain their rights by arms, they, con
sequently, were able to defend and support their independence ;
and in proportion as these men saw the necessity and correctness
of the measure, they honestly and openly declared and adopted it,
and the part that they have acted since, has done them honor and
fully established their characters. Error in opinion has this pe
culiar advantage with it, that the foremost point of the contrary
ground may at any time be reached by the sudden exertion of a
thought ; and it frequently happens in sentimental differences, that
some striking circumstance, or some forcible reason quickly con-
* In this state of political suspense the pamphlet Common Sense made its
appearance, and the success it met with does not become me to mention. Dr.
Franklin, Mr. Samuel and John Adams, were severally spoken of as the
supposed author. I had not, at that time, the pleasure either of personally
knowing or being known to the two last gentlemen. The favor of Dr. Frank
lin's friendship I possessed in England, and my introduction to this part of
the world was through his patronage. I happened, when a school-boy, to
pick up a pleasing natural history of Virginia, and my inclination from that
day of seeing the western side of the Atlantic never left me. In October, 1775,
Dr. Franklin proposed giving me such materials as were in his hands,
towards completing a history of the present transactions, and seemed desirous
of having the first volume out the next spring. I had then formed the outlines
of Common Sense, and finished nearly the first part; and as I supposed the
doctor's design in getting out a history, was to open the new year with a new
system, I expected to surprise him with a production on that subject, much
earlier than he thought of; and without informing him what I was doing, got '
it ready for the press as fast as I conveniently could, and sent him the first
pamphlet that *ras printed Qff.

THE CRISIS. 115
«eived, will effect in an instant what neither argument nor exam
ple could produce in an age.
I find it impossible in the small compass I am limited to, to
trace out the pi ogress which independence has made on the minds
of the different classes of men, and the several reasons by which
they were moved* With some, it was a passionate abhorrence
against the king of England and his ministry, as a set of savages
and brutes ; and these men, governed by the agony or a wounded
mind, were for trusting every thing to hope and heaven, and bid
ding defiance at once. With others, it was a growing conviction
that the scheme of the British court was to create, ferment and
drive on a quarrel, for the sake of confiscated plunder : and men
of this class ripened into independence in proportion as the evi
dence increased. While a third class conceived it was the true
interest of America, internally and externally, to be her own mas
ter, and gave their support to independence, step by step, as they
saw her abilities to maintain it enlarge. With many, it was a
compound of all these reasons ; while those who were too callous
to be reached by either, remained, and still remain tories.
The legal necessity of being independent, with several collateral
reasons, is pointed out in an elegant masterly manner, in a
charge to the grand jury for the district of Charleston, by the
Hon. William Henry Drayton, chief justice of South Carolina.
This performance, and the address of the convention of New-
York, are pieces, in my humble opinion, of the first rank in Ame
rica. The principal causes why independence has not been so uni
versally supported as it ought, are fear and indolence, and the
causes why it has been opposed, are, avarice, down-right villany,
and lust of personal power. There is not such a being in America
as a tory from conscience ; some secret defect or other is inter
woven in the character of all those, be they men or women, who
can look with patience on the brutality, luxury and debauchery
of the British court, and the violations of their army here. A wo
man's virtue must sit very lightly on her who can even hint a
favorable sentiment in their behalf. It is remarkable that the whole
race of prostitutes m New York were tories ; and the schemes
for supporting the tory cause in this city, for which several are
now in jail, and one hanged, were concerted and carried on in
common bawdy-houses, assisted by those who kept them.

116 THE CRISIS.
The connexion between vice and meanness is a fit subject for
satire, but when the satire is a fact, it cuts with the irresistible
power of a diamond. If a Quaker, in defence of his just rights,
his property, and the chastity of his house, takes up a musket, he
is expelled the meeting ; but the present king of England, who
seduced and took into keeping a sister of their society, is reve
renced and supported by repeated Testimonies, while the friendly
noodle from whom she was taken (and who is now in this city)
continues a drudge in the service of his rival* as if proud of being
cuckolded by a creature called a king.
Our support and success depend on such a variety of men
and circumstances, that every one who does but wish well,
is of some use : there are men who have a strange aversion to
arms, yet have hearts to risk every shilling in the cause, or in sup
port of those who have better talents for defending it. Nature,
in the arrangement of mankind, has fitted some for every service
in life : were all soldiers, all would starve and go naked, and were
none soldiers, all would be slaves. As disaffection to indepen
dence is the badge of a tory, so affection to it is the mark of a
Whig ; and the different services of the whigs, down from those
who nobly contribute every thing, to those who have nothing to
render but their wishes* tend all to the same centre, though with
different degrees of merit and ability. The larger we make the
circle, the more we shall harmonize* and the stronger we shall be.
All we want to shut out is disaffection, and, that excluded, we
must accept from each other such duties as we are best fitted to
bestow. A narrow system of politics, like a narrow system of re
ligion, is calculated only to sour the temper, and be at variance
with mankind.
All we want to know in America is simply this, who is for in
dependence, and who is not ? Those who are for it, will support
it, and the remainder will undoubtedly see the reasonableness of
paying the charges ; while those who Oppose or seek to betray it*
must expect the more rigid fate of the jail and the gibbet. There
is a bastard kind of generosity,' which being extended to all men,
is as fatal to society, on one hand, as the want of true generosity is
on the other. A lax manner of administering justice, falsely
termed moderation, has a tendency both to dispirit public virtue,
and promote the growth of public evils. Had the late committee
of safety taken cognizance of the last Testimony of the Quakers

THE CRISIS. 117"
and proceeded against such delinquents as were concerned there*
in,. they had, probably, prevented the treasonable plans which have
been concerted since. When one villain is suffered to escape* it
encourages another to proceed, either from a hope of escaping
likewise, or an apprehension that we dare not punish. It has
been a matter of general surprise, that no notice was taken of the
incendiary publication of the Quakers, of the 20th of November
last : a publication evidently intended to promote sedition and
treason, and encourage the enemy, who were then within a day's
march of this city, to proceed on and possess it. I here present
the reader with a memorial which Was laid before the board of
safety a few days after the Testimony appeared. Not a member
of that board* that I conversed with, but expressed the highest de
testation of the perverted principles and conduct of the Quaker
junto, and a wish that the board would take the matter up ; not
withstanding which, it was suffered to pass away unnoticed, to the '
encouragement of new acts of treason, the general danger of the
cause, and the disgrace of the state.
To the honorable the Council of Safety of the State of
Pennsylvania.
At a meeting of a reputable number of the inhabitants of the city
of Philadelphia, impressed with a proper sense of the justice of
the cause which this continent is engaged in, and animated with
a generous fervor for supporting the same, it was resolved, that
the following be laid before the board of safety :
" We profess liberality of sentiment to all men ; with this dis*
tinction only, that those who do not deserve it would become wise
and seek to deserve it. We hold the pure doctrines of universal
liberty of conscience* and conceive it our duty to endeavor to se
cure that sacred right to others, as well as to defend it for our
selves ;,for we undertake not to judge of the religious rectitude of
tenets, but leave the whole matter to Him who made us.
" We persecute no man, neither will we abet in the persecution
of any man for religion's sake ; our common relation to others
being that of fellow-citizens and fellow-subjects of one single
community ; and in this line of connexion we hold out the right
hand "of fellowship to all men. But we should conceive ourselves
to be unworthy members of the free and independent states of
America, were we unconcernedly to see or to suffer any treason-

118 THE CRISIS.
able wound, public or private, directly or indirectly, to be given
against the peace and safety of the same. We inquire not into
the rank of the offenders, nor into their religious persuasion ; we
have no business with either, our part being only to find them out
and exhibit them to justice.
" A printed paper, dated the 20th of November, and signed
' John Pemberton,' whom we suppose to be an inhabitant of this
city, has lately been dispersed abroad, a copy of which accompa
nies this. Had the framers and publishers of that paper conceiv
ed it their duty to exhort the youth and others of their society, to
a patient submission under the present trying visitations, and
humbly to wait the event of heaven towards them, they had therein
shown a Christian temper, and We had been silent ; but the anger
and political virulence with which their instructions are given* and
the abuse with which they stigmatize all ranks of men, not think
ing like themselves, leave no doubt on our minds from what spirit
their publication proceeded : and it is disgraceful to the pure
cause of truth, that men can dally with words of the most sacred
import, and play them off as mechanically as if religion consisted
only in contrivance. We know of no instance in which the Qua
kers have been compelled to bear arms, or to do any thing which
might strain their conscience ; wherefore their advice, ' to with
stand and refuse to submit to the arbitrary instructions and ordin
ances of men,' appear to us a false alarm, and could only be trea
sonably calculated to gain favor with our enemies, when they are
seemingly on the brink of invading this state, or, what is still
worse, to weaken the hands of our defence, that their entrance
into this city might be made practicable and easy.
" We disclaim all tumult and disorder in the punishment of
offenders ; and wish to be governed, not by temper but by reason,
in the manner of treating them. We are sensible that our cause
has suffered by the two following errors ; first, by ilUjudged lenity
to traitorous persons in some cases ; and, secondly, by only a
passionate treatment of them in others. For the future we dis
own both, and wish to be steady in our proceedings, and serious
in our punishments.
" Every state in America has, by the repeated voice of its in
habitants, directed and authorised the continental congress to
publish a formal declaration of independence of, and separation
from, the oppressive king and parliament of Great Bi itain ; and

THE CRISIS. 119
we look on every man as an enemy, who does not in some line
or other, give his assistance towards supporting the same ; at the
same time we consider the offence to be heightened to a degree
of unpardonable guilt, when such persons, under the show of reli
gion, endeavor, either by writing, speaking, or otherwise, to sub
vert, overturn, or bring reproach upon the independence of this
continent as declared by congress.
" The publishers of the paper signed ' John Pemberton,' have
called in a loud manner to their friends and connexions, ?•to with
stand or refuse' obedience to whatever 'instructions or ordinan
ces' may be published, not warranted by (what they call) * that
happy constitution under which they and others long enjoyed tran
quillity and peace.' If this be not treason, we know not what
may properly be called by that name.
" To us it is a matter of surprise and astonishment, that men with
the word ' peace, peace,' continually on their lips, should be so
fond of living under and supporting a government, and at the same
time calling it ' happy,' which is neVer better pleased than when
at war — that hath filled India with carnage and famine, Africa
with slavery, and tampered with Indians and negroes to cut the
throats of the freemen of America. We conceive it a disgrace to
this state, to harbor or, wink at such palpable hypocrisy. But as
we seek not to hurt the hair of any man's head, when we can
make ourselves safe without, we wish such persons to restore
peaoe to themselves and us, by removing themselves to some part
of the king of Great Britain's dominions, as by that means they
may live unmolested by us and we by them ; for our fixed opinion
is, that those who do not deserve a place among us, ought not to
have one.
" We conclude with requesting the council of safety to take
into consideration the paper signed ? John Pemberton,' and if it
shall appear to them to be of a dangerous tendency, or of a trea
sonable nature, that they would commit the signer, together with
such other persons as they can discover were concerned "therein,
into custody, until such time as some mode of trial shall ascertain
the full degree of their guilt and punishment ; in the doing of
which, we wish their judges, whoever they may be, to disregard
the man, his connexions, interest, riches, poverty, or principles of
religion, and to attend to the nature of his offence only."

120 THE CRISIS.
The most cavilling sectarian cannot accuse the foregoing with
containing the least ingredient of persecution. The free spirit on
which the American cause is founded, disdains to mix with such
an impurity, and leaves it as rubbish fit only for narrow and suspi
cious minds to grovel in. Suspicion and persecution are weeds
of the same dunghill, and flourish together. Had the Quakers
minded their religion and their business, they might have lived
through this dispute in enviable ease, and none would have mo
lested them. The common phrase with these people is, ? Our
principles are peace.' To which may be replied, and your practices
are the reverse ;'for never did the conduct of men oppose their own
doctrine more notoriously than the present race of the Quakers.
They have artfully changed themselves into a different sort of
people to what they used to be, and yet have the address to persuade
each other that they are not altered ; like antiquated virgins, they
see not the havoc deformity has made upon them, but pleasantly
mistaking wrinkles for dimples, conceive themselves yet lovely
and wonder at the stupid world for not admiring them.
Did no injury arise to the public by this apostacy of the Quakers
from themselves, the public would have nothing to do with it ;
but as both the design and consequences are pointed against a
cause in which the whole community are interested, it is therefore
no longer a subject confined to the cognizance of the meeting only,
but comes, as a matter of criminality, before either the authority of
the particular state in which it is acted, or of the continent
against which it operates. Every attempt, now, to support the
authority of the king and parliament of Great Britain over Ameri
ca, is treason against every state ; therefore it is impossible that
any one can pardon or screen from punishment an offender against
all. But to proceed : while the infatuated tories of this and other
states were last spring talking of commissioners, accommo
dation, making the matter up, and the Lord knows what stuff and
nonsense, their good king and ministry were glutting themselves
with the revenge of reducing America to unconditional submission,
and solacing each other with the certainty of conquering it in one
campaign. The following quotations are from the parliamentary
register of the debates of the house of lords, March 5th, 1776 :
" The Americans," says lord Talbot,* " have been obstinate,
* Steward of tho king's household.

THE CRISIS. 1-21
undutiful, and ungovernable from the very beginning, from their
first early and infant settlements ; and I am every day more and
more convinced that this people never will be brought, back to
their duty, and the subordinate relation they stand in to this coun
try, till reduced to unconditional, effectual submission ; no conces
sion on our part, no lenity, no endurance, will have any other
effect but that of increasing their insolence."
" The struggle," says lord Townsend,* " is now a struggle for
power ; the die is cast, and the only point which now remains to
Oe determined, is, in what manner the war can be most effectually
prosecuted and speedily finished, in order to procure that uncondi
tional submission, which has been so ably stated by the noble earl
with the white staff;" (meaning lord Talbot,) "and I have no
reason to doubt that the measures now pursuing will put an end to
the war in the course of a single campaign. Should it linger longer,
we shall then have reason to expect that some foreign power
will interfere, and take advantage of our domestic troubles and
civil distractions."
Lord Littletoni " My sentiments are pretty well known. I
shall only observe now that lenient measures have had no other
effect than to produce insult after insult ; that the more we con
ceded, thehigher America rose in her demands, and the more inso
lent she has grown. It is for this reason that I am now for the
most effective and decisive measures ; and am of opinion that no
alternative is left us, but to relinquish America for ever,' or finally
determine to compel her to acknowledge the legislative authority
of this country ; and it is the principle of an unconditional submis
sion I would be for maintaining."
Can words be more expressive than these ? Surely the tories
will believe the tory lords ! The truth is, they do believe them
and know as frilly as any whig on the continent knows, that the
king and ministry never had the least design of an accommodation
with America, but an absolute, unconditional conquest. And the
part which the tories were to act, was, by downright lying, to en
deavor to put the continent off its guard, and to divide and sow
discontent in the minds of such whigs as they might gain an influ
ence over. In short, to keep up a distraction here, that the force
sent from England might be able to conquer in " one campaign."
* Formerly, general Townsend, at Quebec, and late lord-lieutenant of Ireland,
*Ol I. 16

122 THE CRISIS.
They and the ministry were, by a different game, playing into each
others hands. The cry of the tories in England was, MJVb recon
ciliation, no accommodation," in order to obtain the greater mili
tary force ; while those in America were crying nothing but " re
conciliation and accommodation," that the force sent might con
quer with the less resistance.
But this ?' single campaign" is. over, and America not con
quered. The whole work is yet to do, and the farce much less to
do it with. Their condition is both despicable and deplorable :
out of cash — out of heart, and out of hope. A country furnished
with arms and ammunition, as America now is, with three millions
of inhabitants, and three thousand miles distant from the nearest
enemy that can approach her, is able to look and laugh them in
the face.
Howe appears to have two objects in view, either to go up the
North river, or come to Philadelphia.
By going up the North river, he secures a retreat for his army
through Canada, but the ships must return if they return at all, the
same way they went ; as our army would be in the rear, the
safety of their passage down is a doubtful matter. By such a
motion he shuts himself from all supplies from Europe, but
through Canada, and exposes his army and navy to the danger of
perishing. The idea of his cutting off the communication be
tween the eastern and southern states, by means of the North
river, is merely visionary. He cannot do it by his shipping ; be
cause no ship can lay long at anchor in any river within reach of
the shore ; a single gun would drive a first rate from such a
station. This was fully proved last October at forts Washington
and Lee, where one gun only, on each side of the river, obliged
two frigates to cut and be towed off in an hour's time. Neither
can he cut it off by his army ; because the several posts they
must occupy, would divide them almost to nothing, and expose
them to be picked up by ours like pebbles on a river's bank ; but
admitting that he could, where is the injury ? Because, while his
whole force is cantoned out, as sentries over the water, they will
be very innocently employed, and the moment they march into
the country, the communication opens.
The most probable object is Philadelphia, and the reasons are
many. Howe's business is to conquer it, and in proportion as he
finds himself unable to the task, he will employ his strength to die-

THE CRISIS. 123
tress women and weak minds, in order to accomplish through their
fears what he cannot accomplish by his own force. His coming
or attempting to come to Philadelphia is a circumstance that
proves his weakness : for ao general that felt himself able to take
the field and attack his antagonist, would think of bringing his
army into a city ia the summer time ; and this mere shifting the
scene from place to place, without effecting any thing, has feeble
ness and cowardice on the face of it, and holds him up in a con
temptible light to all who can reason justly and firmly. By seve
ral informations from New York, it appears that their army in
general, both officers and men, have given up the expectation of
conquering America ; their eye now is fixed upon the spoil. They
suppose Philadelphia to be rich with stores, and as they think to
get more by robbing a town than by attacking an army, their
movement towards this city is probable. We are not now con
tending against an army of soldiers, but against a band of thieves,
who had rather plunder than fight, and have no other hope of con
quest than by cruelty.
They expect to get a mighty booty, and strike another general
panic, by making a sudden movement and getting possession of
this city ; but unless they ean march out as well as in, or get the
entire command of the river, to remove off their plunder,, they may
probably be stopped with the stolen goods upon them. They
' have never yet succeeded wherever they have been opposed, but
at fort Washington. At Charleston their defeat was effectual.
At Ticonderoga they ran away. In every skirmish at Kings-
bridge and the White Plains they were obliged to retreat, and
the instant that our arms were turned upon them in the Jerseys,
they turned likewise, and those that turned not were taken.
The necessity of always fitting our internal police to the cir
cumstances of the times we live in, is something so strikingly ob
vious, that no sufficient objection can be made against it. The
safety of all societies depends upon it ; and where this point is
not attended to, the consequences will either be a general languor
or a tumult. The encouragement and protection of the gooJ
subjects of any state, and the suppression and punishment of bad
ones, are the principal objects for which all authority is instituted,
and the line in which it ought to operate., We have in this city'a
strange variety of men and characters, and the circumstances of
the times require that they should be publicly known ; it is not tne

124 THE CRISIS.
number of tories that hurt us, so much as the not finding out who
they are ; men must now take one side or the other, and abide by
the consequences : the Quakers, trusting to their short-sighted
sagacity, have, most unluckily for them, made their declaration in
their last Testimony, and we ought now to take them at their
word. They have voluntarily read themselves out of the con
tinental meeting, and cannot hope to be restored to it again but by
payment and penitence. Men whose political principles are
founded on avarice, are beyond the reach of reason, and the only
cure of toryism of this cast, is to tax it. A substantial good
drawn from a real evil, is of the same benefit to society, as if
drawn from a virtue ; and where men have not public spirit
to render themselves serviceable, it ought to be the study of
government to draw the best use possible from their vices. When
the governing passion of any man, or set of men, is once known,
the method of managing them is easy ; for even misers, whom no
public virtue can impress, would become generous, could a heavy
tax be laid upon covetousness
The tories, have endeavored to insure their property with the
enemy, by forfeiting their reputation with us ; from which may be
justly inferred, that their governing passion is avarice. Make
them as much afraid of losing on one side as on the other, and
you stagger their toryism ; make them more so, and you reclaim
them ; for their principle is to worship the power which they are
most afraid of.
This method of considering men and things together, opens
into a large field for speculation, and affords me an opportunity of
offering some observations on the state of our currency, so as to
make the support of it go hand in hand with the suppression of
disaffection and the encouragement of public spirit.
The thing which first presents itself in inspecting the state of
the currency, is, that we have too much of it, and that there is a
necessity of reducing the quantity, in order to increase the value.
Men are daily growing poor by the very means that they take to
get rich ; for in the same proportion that the prices of all goods
on hand are raised, the value of fill money laid by is reduced. A
simple case will make this clear; let a man have 100/. in cash,
and as many goods on hand as will to-day sell for 201. but not
content with the present market price, he raises them to 40Z. and
by so doing obliges others, in their own defence, to raise cent, per

THE CRISIS. 129
cent, likewise ; in this case it is evident that his hundred pounds
laid by, is reduced fifty pounds in value ; whereas, had the market
lowered cent, per cent, his goods would have sold but for ten, but
his hundred pounds would have risen in value to two hundred ;
because it would then purchase as many goods again, or support
his family as long again as before. And* strange as it may seem*
he is one hundred and fifty pounds the poorer for raising his goods*
to what he would have been had he lowered them ; because the
forty pounds which his goods sold for, is* by the general raise of
the market cent, per cent., rendered of no more value than the ten
pounds would be had the market fallen in the same proportion ;
and, consequently, the whole difference of gain or loss is on the
difference in value of the hundred pounds laid by, viz. from fifty
to two hundred. This rage for raising goods is for several
reasons much more the fault of the torie,s than the whigs ; and yet
the tories (to their shame and confusion ought they to be told of
it) are by far the most noisy and discontented. The greatest part
of the whigs, by being now either in the army or employed in some
public service, are buyers only and not sellers^ and as this evil has
its origin in trade* it cannot be charged on those who are out of it.
But the grievance has now become toogeneral to be remedied
by partial methods, and the only effectual cure is to reduce the
quantity of money : with half the quantity we should be richer
than we are now, because' the value of it would be doubled, and
consequently our attachment to it increased ; for it is not the
number of dollars that a man has, but how far they will go, that
makes him either rich or poor.
These two points being admitted, viz. that the quantity of
money is too great, and that the prices of goods can only be
effectually reduced by reducing the quantity of the money, the
next point to be considered is, the method how to reduce it.
The circumstances of the times, as before observed, require that
the public characters of all men should now be fully understood*
and the only general method of ascertaining it is by an oath or
affirmation, renouncing all allegiance to the king of Great Britain,
and to support the independence of the United States, as declared
by congress. Let, at the same time, a tax of ten, fifteen, or
twenty per cent, per annum, to be collected quarterly, be levied
on all property. These alternatives, by being perfectly volun
tary, will take in all sorts of people. Here is the test ; here is the

126 THE CRISIS.
tax. He who takes the former, conscientiously proves his affec
tion to the cause, and binds himself to pay his quota by the best
services in his power, and is thereby justly exempt from the latter ;
and those who choose the latter, pay their quota in money, to be
excused from the former, or rather, it is the price paid to us for
their supposed, though mistaken, insurance with the enemy.
But this is only a part of the advantage which would arise by
knowing the different characters of men. The whigs stake every
thing on the issue of their arms, while the tories, by their disaffec*
tion, are sapping and undermining their strength ; and, of conse
quence, the property of the whigs is the more exposed thereby ;
and whatever injury their estates may sustain by the movements
of the enemy, must either be borne by themselves, who have done
every thing which has yet been done, or by the tories, who have
not only done nothing, but have, by their disaffection, invited the
enemy on.
In the present crisis we ought to know, square by square and
house by house, who are in real allegiance with the United Inde-
pendent States, and who are not. Let but the line be made clear
and distinct, and all men will then know what they are to trust to.
It would not only be good policy but strict justice, to raise fifty or
one hundred thousand pounds, or more, if it is necessary, out of the
estates and property of the king of England's votaries* resident in
Philadelphia, to be distributed, as a reward to those inhabitants of
the city and state, who should turn out and repulse the enemy*
should they attempt to march_this way ; and likewise* to bind the
property of all such persons to make good the damages which that
of the whigs might sustain. In the undistinguishable mode of
conducting a war, we frequently make reprisals at sea, on the
vessels of persons in England* who are friends to our cause,
compared with the resident tories among us.
In every former publication of mine, from Common Sense
down to the last Crisis, I have generally gone on the charitable
supposition, that the tories were rather a mistaken than a criminal
people, and have applied argument after argument, with all the
candor and temper which I was capable of, in order to set every
r>art of the case clearly and fairly before them, and if possible to
reclaim them from ruin to reason. I have done my duty by them
and have now done with that doctrine, taking it for granted, that
tnose who yet hold their disaffection, are, either a set of avaricious

THE CRISIS. 127
miscreants, who would sacrifice the continent to save themselves,
or a banditti of hungry traitors, who are hoping for a division of
the spoil. To which maybe added, a list of crown or proprietary
dependants, who, rather than go without a portion of power, would
be content to share it with the devil. Of such men there is no
hope ; and their obedience will only be according to the- danger
set before them, and the power that is exercised over them.
A time will shortly arrive, in which, by ascertaining the char
acters of persons now, we shall be guarded against their mischiefs
then ; for in proportion as the enemy despair of conquest, they
will be trying the arts of seduction and the force of fear by all the
mischiefs which they can inflict. ButVin war we may be certain
of these two things, viz. that cruelty in an enemy* and motions
made with more than usual parade, are always signs of weakness.
He that- can conquer, finds his mind too free and pleasant to be
brutish ; and he that intends to conquer, never makes too much
show of his strength.
We now know the enemy we have to do with. While drunk with
the certainty of victory, they disdained to be civil ; and in propor
tion as disappointment makes them sober, and their apprehensions
of an European war alarm them, they will become cringing and
artful ; honest they cannot be. But our answer to them, in either
condition they may be in, isyshort and full — " As free and inde
pendent states we are willing to make peace with you to-morrow,
but we neither can hear nor reply in any other character."
If Britain cannot conquer us, it proves that she is neither able
to govern nor protect us, and our particular situation now is such,
that any connexion with her would be unwisely exchanging a half-
defeated enemy for two powerful ones. Europe, by every ap
pearance, is now on the eve, nay, on the morning twilight of a
war, and any alliance with George the third, brings France and
Spain upon our backs ; a separation from him attaches them to
our side ; therefore, the only road to peace, honor and commerce,
is Independence. Written this fourth year of the union, which God preserve,
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, April 19, 1777

THE CRISIS.

WO. IV.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like
men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. The event of yes
terday was one of those kind alarms which is just sufficient to
rouse us to duty, without being of consequence enough to de
press our fortitude. It is not a field of a few acres of ground,
but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the
enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequence will be the
same. Look back at the events of last winter and the present year,
there you will find that the enemy's successes always contributed
to reduce them. What they have gained in ground, they paid so
dearly for in numbers, that their victories have in the end amount
ed to defeats. We have always been masters at the last push,
and always shall be while we do our duty. Howe has been once
on the banks of the Delaware, and from thence driven back with
loss and disgrace : and why not be again driven from the Schuyl
kill ? His condition and ours are very different. He has every
body to fight, we have only his one army to cope with, and which
wastes away at every engagement : we can not only reinforce, but
can redouble our numbers ; he is cut off from all supplies, and
must sooner or later inevitably fall into our hands.
Shall a band of ten or twelve thousand robbers, who are this
day fifteen hundred or two thousand men less in strength than
they were yesterday, conquer America, or subdue even a single
state ? The thing cannot be, unless we sit down and suffer them

the cnisis. 129
to do it. Another such a brush, notwithstanding we lost the
groui>d, would, by still reducing the enemy, put them in a condi
tion to be afterwards totally defeated.
Could our whole army have come up to the attack at one time,
the consequences had probably been otheiwise ; but our having
different parts of the Brandywine creek to guard, and the uncer
tainty which road to Philadelphia the enemy would attempt to
take, naturally afforded them an opportunity of passing with their
main body at a place where only a part of ours could be posted ;
for it must strike every thinking man with conviction, that it re
quires a much greater force to oppose an enemy in several places,
than is sufficient to defeat him in any one place.
Men who are sincere in defending their freedom, will always
feel concern at every circumstance which seems to make against
them ; it is the natural and honest consequence of all affectionate
attachments, and the want of it is a vice. But the dejection lasts
only for a moment ; they soon rise out of it with additional vigor ;
the glow of hope, courage and fortitude, will, in a little time, sup
ply the place of every inferior passion, and kindle the whole heart
into heroism.
There is a mystery in the countenance of some causes, which
we have not always present judgment enough to explain. It
is distressing to see an enemy advancing into a country, but it is
the only place in which we can beat them, and in which we have
always beaten them, whenever they made the attempt. The
nearer any disease approaches to a crisis, the nearer it is to a
cure. Danger and deliverance make their advances together,
and it is only the last push, in which one or the other takes the
lead. There are many men who wijl do their duty when it is not
wanted ; but a genuine public spirit always appears most when
there is most occasion for it. Thank God ! our army, though fa
tigued, is yet entire. The attack made by us yesterday, was un
der many disadvantages, naturally arising from the uncertainty ot
knowing which route the enemy would take ; and, from that cir
cumstance, the whole of our force could not be brought up to
gether time enough to engage all at once. Our strength is yet
reserved ; and it is evident that Howe does not think himself a
gainer by the affair, otherwise he would this morning have moved
down and attacked general Washington.
vol i. 17

130 the crisis.
Gentlemen of the city and country, it is in your power, by a
spirited improvement of the present circumstance, to turn it to
a real advantage. Howe is now weaker than before, and every
shot will contribute to reduce him. You are more immediately
interested than any other part of the continent ; your all is at
stake ; it is not so with the general cause ; you are devoted by
the enemy to plunder and destruction : it is the encouragement
which Howe, the chief of plunderers, has promised his army.
Thus circumstanced, you may save yourselves by a manly resis
tance, but you can have no hope in any other conduct. I never
yet knew our brave general, or any part of the army, officers or
men, out of heart, and I have seen them in circumstances a thou
sand times more trying than the present. It is only those that are
not in action, that feel languor and heaviness, and the best way to
rub it off is to turn out, and make sure work of it.
Our army must undoubtedly feel fatigue, and want a reinforce
ment of rest, though not of valour. Our own interest and happi
ness call upon us to give them every support in our power, and make
the burden of the day, on which the safety of this city depends, as ¦
light as possible. Remember, gentlemen, that we have forces both
to the northward and southward of Philadelphia, and if the enemy
be but stopped till those can arrive, this city will bn saved, and
the enemy finally routed. You have too much at stake to hesi
tate. You ought not to think an hour upon the matter, but to-
spring to action at once. Other states have been invaded, have
likewise driven off the invaders. Now our time and turn is come,
and perhaps the finishing stroke is reserved for us. When we
look back on the dangers we have .been saved from, and reflect
on the success we have been blessed with, it would be sinful
either to be idle or to despair.
I close this paper with a short address to general Howe. You,
sir, are only lingering out the period that shall bring with it your
defeat. You have yet scarce began upon the war, and the fuithei
you enter, the faster will your troubles thicken. vWhat you now
enjoy is only a respite from ruin; an invitation to destructions
something that will lead on to our deliverance at your expense.
We know the cause which we are engaged in, and though a pas
sionate fondness for it- may make us grieve at every injury which
threatens it, yet, when the moment of concern is over, the deter
mination to dutv returns. We are not moved by the gloomy

the crisis. 131
smile of a worthless king, but by the ardent glow of genercus
patriotism. We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free,
and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in. In
such a case we are sure that we are right ; and we leave to yon
the despairing reflection of being the tool of a miserable tyran*
COMMON SENSE
Philadelphia, Sept. 12, 1777.

THE CRISIS.

WO. V.
TO GEN. SIR WILLIAM HOWE;
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority
of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in
contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavor
ing to convert an atheist by scripture. Enjoy, sir, your insensi
bility of feeling and reflecting. It is the prerogative of animals.
And no man will envy you thdse honors, in which a savage only
can be your rival and a bear your master.
As the generosity of this country rewarded your brother's ser
vices last war, with an elegant monument in Westminster Abbey,
it is consistent that she should bestow some mark of distinction
upon you. You certainly deserve her notice, and a conspicuous
place in the catalogue of extraordinary persons. Yet it would be
a pity to pass you from the World in state, and consign you to
magnificent oblivion among the tombs, without telling the future
beholder why. Judas is as much known as John, yet history
ascribes their fame to very different actions.
Sir William hath undoubtedly merited a monument ; but of
What kind, or With what inscription, where placed or how embel
lished, is a question that would puzzle all the heralds of St.
James's in the prdfoundest mood of historical deliberation. We
are at no loss, sir, to ascertain your real character; but somewhat
perplexed how to perpetuate its identity, and preserve it uninjured
from the transformations of time or mistake. A statuary may
give a false expression to your bust, or decorate it with some
equivocal emblems, by which you may happen to steal into repu-

the crisis. 133
tation and impose upon the hereafter traditionary world. Ill na
ture or ridicule may conspire, or a variety of accidents combine
to lessen, enlarge, or change Sir William's fame ; and no doubt
but he who has taken so much pains to be singular m his conduct,
would choose to be just as singular in his exit, his monument and
his epitaph.
The usual honours of the dead, td be sure* are not sufficiently
sublime* to escort a character like yoil to the republic of dust and
ashes ; for however men may differ in their ideas of grandeur or
of government here, the grave is nevertheless a perfect republic.
Death is not the monarch of the dead* but of the dying. The
moment he obtains a conquest he loses a subject* and, like the
foolish king you serve, will, iri the end, war himself out of all his
dominions. As a proper preliminary towards the arrangement of your fune
ral honours, we readily admit of your new rank of knighthood.
The title is perfectly in character, and is your own, more by merit
than creation. There are knights of various orders, from the
knight of the windmill to the knight of the post. The former is
your patron for exploits, and the latter will assist you in settling
your accounts. No honorary title could be more happily applied !
The ingenuity is sublime! And your royal master hath discover'
ed more genius in fitting you therewith, than iri generating the
most finished figure for a button, or descanting On the properties
of a button mould.
But how, sir, shall we dispose of you ? The invention of a
statuary is exhausted, and Sir William is yet unprovided with a
monument. America is anxious to bestow her funeral favours
upon you, and wishes to do jt in a manner that shall distinguish
yOu from all the deceased heroes of the last war. The Egyptian
method of embalming is not known to the present age, and hiero
glyphical pageantry hath outlived the science of decyphering it.
Some other method* therefore* must be thought of to immortalize
the new knight Of the windmill and post. Sir William, thanks to
his stars; is not oppressed with very delicate ideas. He has no
ambition Of being wrapped up and handed about in myrrh, aloes
and cassia. Less expensive odors will suffice ; and it fortunately
happens, that the simple genius of America hath discovered the
art of preserving bodies, and embellishing them too, with much
greater frugality than the ancients. In balmage, sir, of humble

134 THE CRISIS.
tar, you will be as secure as Pharaoh, and in a hieroglyphic of
feathers, rival in finery all the mummies of Egypt.
As you have already made your exit from the moral world, and
by numberless acts both of passionate and deliberate injustice
engraved an " here lyelh" on your deceased honor, it must be
mere affectation in you to pretend concern at the humours or
opinions of mankind respecting you. What remains of you may
expire at any time. The sooner the better. For he who survives
his reputation, lives out of despite of himself, like a man listening
to his own reproach.
Thus entombed and ornamented, I leave you to the inspection
of the curious, and return to the history of your yet surviving ac
tions. — The character of Sir William hath undergone some ex
traordinary revolutions since his arrival in America. It is now
fixed and known ; and we have nothing to hope from your can
dor or to fear from your capacity. Indolence and inability bave
too large a share in your composition, ever to suffer you to be any
thing more than the hero of little villanies and unfinished adven
tures. That, which to some persons appeared moderation in you
at first, was not produced by any real virtue of your own, but by
a contrast of passions, dividing and holding you in perpetual irre
solution. One vice will frequently expel another, without the
least merit in the man ; as powers in contrary directions reduce
each other to rest.
It became you to have supported a dignified solemnily of cha
racter ; to have shown a superior liberality of soul ; to have won
respect by an obstinate perseverance in maintaining order, and to
have exhibited on all occasions, such an unchangeable gracious-
ness of conduct, that while we beheld in you the resolution of an
enemy, we might admire in you the sincerity of a man.. You
came to America under the high sounding titles of commander
and commissioner ; not only to suppress what you call rebellion,
by arms, but to shame it out of countenance, by the excellence of
your example. Instead of which, you have been the patron of
low and vulgar frauds, the encomager of Indian cruelties ; and
have imported a cargo of vices blacker than those which you pre
tend to suppress.
Mankind are not universally agreed in their determination of
right and wrong ; but there are certain actions which the consent
of all nations and individuals hath branded with the unchangeable

the crisis. 135
name of meanness. In the list of human vices we find some of
such a refined constitution, they cannot be carried into practice
without seducing some virtue to their assistance ; but meanness
hath neither alliance nor apology. It is generated in the dust and
sweepings of other vices, and is of such a hateful figure that all
the rest conspire to disown it. Sir William, the commissioner of
George the third, hath at last vouchsafed to give it rank and pedi
gree. He has placed the fugitive at the council board, and dubbed
it companion of the order of knighthood.
The particular act of meanness which I allude to in this de
scription, is forgery. You, sir, have ahetted and patronised the
forging and uttering counterfeit continental bills. In the same
New- York newspapers in which yopr own proclamation under
your master's authority was published, offering, or pretending to
offer, pardon and protection to these states, there were repeated
advertisements of counterfeit money for sale, and persons who
have come officially from you, and under the sanction of your flag,
have been taken up in attempting to put therri off.
A conduct so basely mean in a public character is without pre
cedent or pretence. Every nation on earth, whether friends or
enemies, will unite in despising you. 'Tis an incendiary war
upon society, which nothing can excuse or palliate. — An improve
ment upon beggarly villany — and shows an inbred wretchedness
of heart made up between the venomous malignity of a serpent
and the spiteful imbec;i!ity of an inferior reptile.
The laws of any civilized country would condemn you to the
gibbet without regard to your rank or titles, because it is an ac
tion foreign to the usage and custom of war ; and should you
fall into our hands, which pray "God you may, it will be a doubtful
matter whether we are to consider you as a military prisoner or
q prisoner for felony.
Besides, it is exceedingly unwise and impolitic in you, or any
other persons in the English service ; to promote or even encour
rage, or wink at the crime of forgery, in any case whatever.
Because, as the riches of England, as a nation, are chiefly in pa
per, and the far greater part of trade among individuals is carried
on bv the same medium, that is, by notes and drafts on one ano
ther, they, therefore, of all people in the world, ought to endea
vour to keep forgery out of sight, and, if possible, not to revive
the idea of it. It is dangerous to make men familar with a crime

136 THE CRISIS.
which they may afterwards practise to much greater advantage
against those who first taught them. Several officers in the
English army have made their exit at the gallows for forgery on
their agents ; for we all know, who know any thing of England,
that there is not a more necessitous body of men, taking them
generally, than what the English officers are. They contrive to
make a show at the expense of the tailors, and appear clean at
the charge of the washer-women.
England, hath at this time, nearly two hundred million pounds
sterling of public money in paper, for which she hath no real pro
perty : besides a large circulation of bank notes, bank post bills,
and promissory notes and drafts of private bankers, merchants
and tradesmen. She hath the greatest quantity of paper currency
and the least quantity of gold and silver of any nation in Europe ;
the real specie which is about sixteen millions sterling, serves
only as change in large sums, which are always made in paper, or
for payment in small ones. Thus circumstanced, the nation is
put to its wit's end, and obliged to be severe almost to criminality,
to prevent the practice and growth of forgery. Scarcely a ses
sion passes at the Old Bailey, or an execution at Tyburn, but
witnesseth this truth, yet you, sir, regardless of the policy which
her necessity obliges her to adopt, have made your whole army
intimate with the crime. And as a]} armies, at the conclusion of
a war, are too apt to carry into practice the vices of the campaign,
it will probably happen, that England will hereafter abound in
forgeries, to which art, the practitioners were first initiated under
your authority in America. You, sir, have the honour of adding
a new vice to the military catalogue ; and the reason, perhaps,
why the invention was reserved for you, is, because no general
before -was mean enough even to think of it.
That a man whose soul is absorbed in the low traffic of vulgar
yice, is incapable of moving in any superior region, is clearly
shown in you by the event of every campaign. Your military
exploits have been without plan, object or decision. Can it be
possible that you or your employers suppose that the possession
of Philadelphia will be any ways equ^l to the expense or expecta
tion of the nation which supports you? What advantages does.
England derive from any achievements of yours ? To her it is
perfectly indifferent what place you are in, so long as the business

THE CRISIS. 137
of conquest is unperformed and the charge of maintaining you
remains the same.
If the principal events of the three campaigns be attended to, the
balance will appear against yOu at the close of each ; but the last,
in point of importance to us, has exceeded the former two. It is
pleasant to look back on dangers past, and equally as pleasant to
meditate on present ones when the way out begins to appear.
That period is now arrived, and the long doubtful winter of war
is changing to the sweeter prospects of victory and joy. At the
close of the campaign, in 1775, you were obliged to retreat from
Boston. In the summer of 1776, you appeared with a numerous
fleet and army in the harbor of New- York. By what miracle the
continent was preserved in that season of danger is a subject of
admiration ! If instead of wasting your time against Long-Island,
you had run up the North river, and landed any where above
New- York, the consequence must have been, that either yon
would have compelled general Washington to fight you with very
unequal numbers, or he must have suddenly evacuated the city
with the loss of nearly all the stores of his army, or have surren
dered for want of provisions ; the situation of the place naturally
producing one or the other of these events.
The preparations made to defend New=York were, neverthe
less, wise and military ; because your forces were then at sea,
their numbers uncertain ; storms, sickness, or a variety of acci
dents might have disabled their coming, or so diminished them on
their passage, that those which survived would have been incapa
ble of opening the campaign with any prospect of success ; in
Which case the defence would have been sufficient and the place
preserved : for cities that have been raised from nothing with an
infinitude of labor and expense, are not to be thrown away on the
bare probability of their being taken. On these grounds the pre
parations made to maintain New- York were as judicious as
the retreat afterwards. While you, in the interim, let slip the
very opportunity which seemed to put conquest in your power.
Through the whole of that campaign you had nearly double
(the forces which general Washington immediately commanded.
The principal plan at that time, on our part, was to wear away the
season with as little loss as possible, and to raise the army for
the next year. Long-Island, New- York, forts Washington and
Lee were not defended after your superior force was known,
voi. i. 18

138 THE CRISIS,
under any expectation of their being finally maintained, but as a
range of outworks, in the attacking of which your time might be
wasted, your numbers reduced, and your vanity amused by posses
sing them on our retreat. It was intended to have withdrawn the
garrison from fort Washington after it had answered the former of
those purposes, but the fate of that day put a prize into your
hands without much honor to yourselves.
Your progress through the Jerseys was accidental ; you had it
not even in contemplation, or you would not have sent a principal
part of your forces to Rhode-Island before hand. The utmost
hope of America in tbe year 1776, reached no higher than that
she might not then be conquered. She had no expectation of
defeating you in that campaign. Even the most cowardly
tory allowed, that, could she withstand the shock of that summer
her independence would be past a doubt. You had then greatly
the advantage of her. You were formidable. Your military
knowledge was supposed to be complete. Your fleets and forces
arrived without an accident. You had neither experience nor
reinforcements to wait for. You had nothing to do but to begin,
and your chance lay in the first vigorous onset.
America was young and unskilled. She was obliged to trust
her defence to time and practice ; and hath, by mere dint of per
severance, maintained her cause, and brought the enemy to a
condition, in which she is now capable of meeting him on any
grounds. It is remarkable that in the campaign of 1776, you gained no
more, notwithstanding your great force, than what was given you
by consent of evacuation, except fort Washington ; while every
advantage obtained by us was by fair and hard fighting. The
defeat of Sir Peter Parker was complete. The conquest of the
Hessians at Trenton, by the remains of a retreating army, which
but a few days before you affected to despise, is an instance of
their heroic perseverance very seldom to be met with. And the
victory over the British troops at Princeton, by a harrassed and
wearied party, who had been engaged the day before and march
ed all night without refreshment, is attended with such a scene of
circumstances and superiority of generalship, as will ever give
it a place in the first rank in the history of great actions.
When I look back on the gloomy days of last winter, and see
America suspended by a thread, I feel a triumph of joy at the

THE CRISIS. 139
recollection of her delivery, and a reverence for the characters
which snatched her from destruction. To doubt now would be
a species of infidelity, and to forget the instruments which saved
us then would be ingratitude.
The close <sf that campaign left us with the spirit of con
querors. The northern districts were relieved by the retreat of
general CarJeton over the lakes. The army under , your com
mand were hunted back and had their bounds prescribed. The
continent began to feel its military importance, and the winter
passed pleasantly away in preparations for the next campaign.
However confident you might be on your first arrival, the result
of the year 1776 gave you some idea of the difficulty, if not
impossibility of conquest. To this reason I ascribe your delay
in opening the campaign of 1777. The face of matters, on
the close of the former year, gave you no encouragement to pur
sue a discretionary war as soon as the spring admitted the taking
the field ; for though conquest, in that case, would have given
you a double portion of fame, yet the experiment was too hazard
ous. The ministry, had you failed, would have shifted the
whole blame upon you, charged you with having acted without
orders, and condemned at once both your plan and execution.
To avoid the misfortunes, which might have involved you and
your money accounts in perplexity and suspicion, you prudently
waited the arrival of a plan of operations from England, which
was that you should proceed for Philadelphia by way of the
Chesapeake, and that Burgoyne, after reducing Ticonderoga,
should take his rout by Albany, and, if necessary, join you.
The splendid laurels of the last campaign have flourished in the
north. In that quarter America has surprised the world, and laid
the foundation of this year's glory. The conquest of Ticonde
roga, (if it may be called a conquest) has, like all your other
victories, led on to ruin. Even the provisions taken in that fort
ress (which by general Burgoyne's return was sufficient in bread
and flour for nearly 5000 men for ten weeks, and in beef and
pork .for the same number of men for one month) served only to
hasten his overthrow, by enabling him to proceed to Saratoga, the
place of his destruction. A short review of the operations of the
last campaign will show the condition of affairs on both sides.
You have taken Ticonderoga and marched into Philadelphia.
These are all the events which the year hath produced on your

140 THE CRISIS.
part. A trifling campaign indeed, compared with tbe expenses
of England and the conquest of the continent. On the other
side, a considerable part of your northern force has been routed
by the New- York militia under general Herkemer. Fort Stan-
wix has bravely survived a compound attack of soldiers and
savages* and the besiegers have fled. The battle of Bennington
has put a thousand prisoners into our hands, with all their arms,
stores, artillery and baggage. General Burgoyne, in two engage
ments, has been defeated ; himself, his army, and all that were
his and theirs are now ours. Ticonderoga and Independence
are retaken, and not the shadow of an enemy remains in all the
northern districts. At this instant we have upwards of eleven
thousand prisoners, between sixty and seventy pieces of brass
ordinance* besides small arms, tents, stores* &c.
In order to know the real value of those advantages, we must
reverse the scene, and suppose general Gates and the force
he commanded, to be at your mercy as prisoners, and general
Burgoyne, with his army of soldiers and savages, to be already
joined to you in Pennsylvania. So dismal a picture can scarcely
be looked at. It has all the tracings and colorings of horror
and despair ; and excites the most swelling emotions of gratitude*
by exhibiting the miseries we are so graciously preserved from.
I admire the distribution of laurels around the continent. It is
the earnest of future union. South-Carolina has had her day of
sufferings and of fame ; and the other southern states have
exerted themselves in proportion to the force that invaded or
insulted them. Towards the close of the campaign, in 1776*
these middle states were called upon and did their duty nobly.
They were . witnesses to the almost expiring flame of human
freedom. It was the close struggle of life and death. The line
of invisible division : and on which* the unabated fortitude of a
Washington prevailed, and saved the spark that has since blazed
in the north with unrivalled lustre*
Let me ask, sir, what great exploits have you performed ?
Through all the variety of changes and opportunities which the
war has produced* I know no one action of yours that can be
styled masterly. You have moved in and out, backward and
forward, round and round* as if valor consisted in a military jig.
The history and figure of your movements would be truly ridicu
lous could they be justly delineated. They resemble the labours

THE. CRISIS. 141
of a puppy pursuing his tail ; the end is still at the same distance*
and all the turnings round must be done over again.
The first appearance of affairs at Ticonderoga wore such an
unpromising aspect* that it was necessary, in July, to detach a
part of the forces to the support of that quarter, which were other
wise destined or intended to act against you ; and this, perhaps, haS
been the means of postponing your downfall to another campaign*
The destruction of one army at a time is work enough. We
know* sir* what we are about* what we have to do, and how td
do it.
Your progress from the Chesapeake, was marked by no capital
stroke of policy or heroism; Your principal aim was to get
general Washington between the Delaware and Schuylkill, and
between Philadelphia and your army. In that situation* with a
river on each of his flanks* which united about five miles below
the city* and your army above him* you could have intercepted
his reinforcements and supplies* cut off all his communication with
the country, and* if necessary, have despatched assistance to
Open a passage for- general Burgoyne. This scheme was too visi-*
ble to succeed : for had general Washington suffered you to
command the open country above him, I think it a very reason
able conjecture that the conquest of Burgoyne would not have
taken place, because you could, in that case* have relieved him*
It was therefore necessary, while that important victory was in
suspense, to trepan you into a situation in which you could only
be on the defensive* without the power of affording him assis
tance. The manoeuvre had its effect* and Burgoyne was con
quered. -
There has been something unmilitary and passive in you from
the time of your passing the Schuylkill and getting possession of
Philadelphia, to the close of the campaign. You mistook a trap
for a conquest* the probability of which had been made known to
Europe, and the edge of your triumph taken off by our own infor
mation long before. ,
Having got you into this situation, a scheme for a general at*
tack upon you at Germantown was carried into execution ori
the 4th of October, and though the success was not equal to the
excellence of the plan, yet the attempting it proved the genius of
America to be on the rise, and her power approaching to super!*
ority. The obscurity of the morning was your best friend, for a

142 THE CRISIS.
fog is always favourable to a hunted enemy. Some weeks after
this you likewise planned an attack on general Washington, while
at Whitemarsh. You marched out with infinite parade, but on
finding him preparing to attack you next morning, you prudently
turned about, and retreated to Philadelphia with all the precipita
tion of a man conquered in imagination.
Immediately after the battle of Germantown, the probability of
Burgoyne's defeat gave a new policy to affairs in Pennsylvania,
and it was judged most consistent with the gerieral safety of
America, to wait the issue of the northern campaign. Slow and
sure is sound work. The news of that victory arrived in our
camp on the 18th of October, and no sooner did the shout of joy,
and the report of the thirteen canrion reach your ears, than you
resolved upon a retreat, and the next day, that is, on the 19th,
you withdrew your drooping army into Philadelphia. This move
ment Was evidently dictated byfear ; arid carried with it a positive
confession that you dreaded a second attack. It was hiding
yourself among women arid children, arid sleeping away the
choicest part of a campaign in expensive inactivity. An army in
a city can never be a conquering army. The situation admits
only of defence. It is mere shelter : and every military power
in Europe will conclude you to be eventually defeated.
The time when you made this retreat was the very time you
Ought to have fought a battle, in order to put yourself in a con
dition of recovering in Pennsylvania what you had lost in Sarato
ga. And the, reason why you did not, must be either prudence or
cowardic'6 ; ¦ the former supposes your inability, and the latter
needs no explanation. I draw no conclusions, sir, but such as
are naturally deduced from known and visible facts, and such a&
will always have a being while the facts which produced them re
main unaltered.
After this retreat a hew difficulty arose which exhibited the
power of Britain in a very contemptible light ; which was the at
tack and defence of Mud-Island. For several weeks did that
little unfinished fortress stand out against all the attempts of admi
ral and general Howe. It was the fable of Bender realized on
the Delaware. Scheme after scheme, and force upon force were
tried and defeated. The garrison, with scarce any thing to cover
them but their bravery, survived in the midst of mud, shot and

THE CRISIS. 148
shells, and were at last obliged to give it up more to the powers of
time and gunpowder than to military superiority of the besiegers.
It is my sincere opinion that matters are in a much worse con
dition with you than what is generally known. Your master's
speech at the opening of parliament, is like a soliloquy on ill luck.
It shows him to be coming a little to his reason, for sense of pain
is the first symptom of recovery in profound stupefaction. His
condition is deplorable. He is obliged to submit to all the insults
of France and Spain, without daring to know or resent them ;
and thankful for the most trivial evasions to the most humble
remonstrances. The time was when he could not deign an an
swer to a petition from America, and the time now is when he
dare not give an answer to an affront from France. The oapture
of Burgoyne's army will sink his consequence as much in Europe
as in America. In his speech he expresses his suspicions at the
warlike preparations of France and Spain, and as he has only the
one army which you command to support his character in the world
with, it remains very uncertain when, or in what quarter it will be
most wanted, or can be best employed ; and this will partly
account for the great care you take to keep it from action and
attacks, for should Burgoyne's fate be yours, which it probably
will, England may take her endless farewell not only of all
America but of all the West-Indies.
Never did a nation invite destruction upon itself with the eager
ness and the ignorance with which Britain has done. Bent upon
the ruin of a young and unoffending country, she has drawn the
sword that has wounded herself to the heart, and in the agony of
her resentment has applied a poison for a cure. Her conduct
towards America is a compound of rage and lunacy ; she aims at
the government of it, yet preserves neither dignity nor character
in her methods to obtain it. Were government a mere manu
facture or article of commerce, immaterial by whom it should be
made or sold, we might as well employ her as another, but when
we consider it as the fountain from whence the general manners
and morality of a country take their rise, that the persons intrusted
With the execution thereof are by their serious example and aur
thority to support these principles, how abominably absurd is the
idea of being hereafter governed by a set of men who haye been
guilty of forgery, perjury, treachery, theft, and every species of
yijlcny which the lowest wretches on earth could practise or

144 THE CRISIS.
invent. What greater public curse can befal any country than to
be under such authority, and what greater blessing than to be de
livered therefrom. The soul of any man of sentiment would
rise in brave rebellion againt them, and spurn them from the
earth. The malignant and venomous tempered general Vaughan has
amused his savage fancy in burning the whole town of Kingston,
in York government, and the late governor of that state, Mr.
Tyron, in his letter to general Parsons, has endeavoured to justify
it, and declared his wish to burn the houses of every commitee*
man in the country. Such a confession from one who was once
intrusted with the powers of civil government, is a reproach to
the character. But it is the wish and the declaration of a man,
whom anguish and disappointment have driven to despair, and
who ' is daily decaying into the grave with constitutional rotten
ness. There is not in the compass of language a sufficiency of words
to express the baseness of your king, his ministry and his army.
They have refined upon villany till it wants a name. To the
fiercer vices of former ages they have added the dregs and scum*
mings of the most finished rascality, and are so completely sunk
in serpentine deceit, that there is not left among them one gener*
ous enemy.
From such men and suoh masters, may the gracious hand of
Heaven preserve America ! And though the sufferings she now
endures are heavy, and severe, they are like straws in the wind
compared to the weight of evils she would feel under the govern
ment of your king, and his pensioned parliament.
There is something in meanness which excites a species of
resentment that never subsides, and something in cruelty which
Stirs up the heart to the highest agony of human hatred ; Britain
hath filled up both these characters till no addition can be made,
and hath not reputation left with us to obtain credit for the slightest
promise. The will of God hath parted us, and the deed is regis*
tered for eternity. When she shall be a spot scarcely visible
among the nations, America shall flourish the favorite of heaven,
and the friend of mankind.
For the domestic happiness of Britain and the peace of the
world, I wish she had not a foot of land but what is circumscribed
within her own island. Extent of dominion has been her ruin,

"r THE CRISIS. 145
and instead of civilizing others has brutalized herself. Her late
reduction of India, under Clive and his successors, was not so
properly a conquest as an extermination of mankind. She is the
only power who could practise the prodigal barbarity of tying men
to the mouths of loaded cannon and blowing them away. It
happens that general Burgoyne, who made the report of that
horrid transaction, in the house of commous, is now a prisoner
with us, and though an enemy, I can appeal to him for the truth of
it, being confident that he neither can nor will deny it. Yet
Clive received the approbation of the last parliament.
When we take a survey of mankind, we cannot help cursing the
wretch, who, to the unavoidable misfortunes of nature, shall wil
fully add the calamities of war. One would think there were evils
enough in the world without studying to increase them, and that life
is sufficiently short without shaking the sand that measures it. The
histories of Alexander, and Charles of Sweden, are the histories
.of human devils ; a good man cannot think of their actions
without abhorrence, nor of their deaths without rejoicing. To see
the bounties of heaven destroyed, the beautiful face of nature
laid waste, and the choicest works of creation and art tumbled
into ruin, would fetch a curse from the soul of piety itself. But in
this country the aggravation is heightened by a new combination
of affecting circumstances. America was young, and, compared
with other countries, was virtuous. None but a Herod of uncomr
mon malice would have made war upon infancy and innocence ^
and none but a people of the most finished fortitude, dared under
those circumstances, have resisted the tyranny. The natives, or
meir ancestors, had fled from the former oppressions of England,
and with the industry of bees had changed a wilderness into a
habitable world. To Britain they were indebted for nothing.
The country was the gift of heaven, and God alone is their
Lord and Sovereign.
The time, sir, will come when you, in a melancholy hour, shall
reckon up your miseries by your murders in America. Life, with
you, begins to wear a clouded aspect. The vision of pleasurable
delusion is wearing away, and changing to the barren wild of age
and sorrow. The poor reflection of having served your king
will yield you no consolation in your parting moments. He will
crumble to the same undistinguished ashes with yourself, and have
sins enough of his own to answer for. It is not the farcical
vol. i. 19

146 THE CRISIS.
benedictions of a bishop, nor the cringing hypocrisy of a court of
chaplains, nor the formality of an act of parliament, that can
change guilt into innocence, or make the punishment one pang
the less. You may, perhaps, be unwilling to be serious, but this
destruction of the goods of Providence, this havoc of the human
race, and this sowing the world with mischief, must be accounted
for to him who made and governs it, To us they are only pre
sent sufferings, but to him they are deep rebellions.
If there is a sin superior to every other, it is that of wilful and
offensive war. Most other sins are circumscribed within narrow
limits, that is, the power of one man cannot 'give them a very
general extension, and many kinds of sins have only a mental
existence from which no infection arises ; but he who is the
author of a war, lets loose the whole contagion of hell, and opens
a vein that bleeds a nation to death. We leave it to England and
Indians to boast of these honors ; we feel no thirst for such
savage glory ; a nobler flame, a purer spirit animates America.
She has taken up the sword of virtuous defence ; she has bravely
put herself between Tyranny and Freedom, between a curse and
a blessing, determined to expel the one and protect the other.
It is the object only of war that makes it honourable. And if
there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which
America is now engaged. She invaded no land of yours. She
hired no mercenaries to burn your towns, nor Indians to massacre
their inhabitants. She wanted nothing from you, and was indebted
for nothing to you : and thus circumstanced, her defence is
honorable and her posterity is certain.
Yet it is not on the justice only, but likewise on the importance
of this cause that I ground my seeming enthusiastical confidence
of our success. The vast extension of America makes her of
too much value in the scale of Providence, to be cast, like a
jpearl before swine, at the feet of an European island ; and of
much less consequence would it be that Britain were sunk in the
sea than that America should miscarry. There has been such a
chain of extraordinary events in the discovery of this country at
first, in the peopling and planting it afterwards, in the rearing and
nursing it to its present state, and in the protection of it through
the present war, that no man can doubt, but Providence hath some
nobler end to accomplish, than the gratification of the petty

THE CRISIS. 147
elector of Hanover, or the ignorant and insignificant king of Bri
tain. As the blood of the martyrs hath been the seed of the Christian
church, so the political persecutions of England will and has al
xeady enriched America with in8ustry, experience, union, and im
portance. Before the present era she was a mere chaos of
unconsented colonies, individually exposed to the ravages of the
Indians and the invasion of any power that Britain should be at
war with. She had nothing that she could call her own. Her
felicity depended upon accident. The convulsions of Europe
might have thrown her from one conqueror to another, till she had
been the slave of all, and ruined by every one ; for until she had
spirit enough to become her own master, there was no knowing to
which master she should belong. That period, thank God, is
past, and she is no longer the dependant, disunited colonies of
Britain, but the Independent and United States of America,
knowing no master but heaven and herself. You, or your king,
may call this " delusion," " rebellion," or what name you please.
To us it is perfectly indifferent. The issue will determine the
character, and time will give it a name as lasting as his own.
You have how, sir, tried the fate of three campaigns, and can
fully declare to England, that nothing is to be got on your
part, but blows and broken bones, and nothing on hers but
waste of trade and credit, and an increase of poverty and
taxes. You are now only where you might have been two
years ago, without the loss of a single ship, and yet not a
step more forward towards the conquest of the continent ;
because, as I have already hinted, " an army in a city can
never be a conquering army." The full amount of your losses,
since the beginning of the war, exceeds twenty thousand men,
besides millions of treasure, for which you have nothing in ex
change. Our expenses, though great, are circulated within our
selves. Yours is a direct sinking of money, and that from both
ends at once ; first, in hiring troops out of the nation, and in pay
ing them afterwards, because the money in neither case can re
turn to Britain. We are already in possession of the prize, you
only in pursuit of it. To us it is a real treasure, to you it would
be only an empty triumph. Our expenses will repay themselves
with tenfold interest, while yours entail upon you everlasting
poverty.

148 THE CRISIS.
Take a review* sir, c f the ground which you have gone over,
and let it teach you policy, if it cannot honesty. You stand but
on a very tottering foundation. A change of the ministry in Eng
land may probably bring your measures into question, and your
head to the block. Clive, with all his successes, had some diffi
culty in escaping, and yours being all a war of losses, will afford
you less pretensions; and your enemies more grounds for im
peachment. Go home, sir, and endeavour to save the remains of your ruined
country, by a just representation of the madness of her measures;
A few moments, well applied, may yet preserve her from political
destruction. I am not one of those who wish to see Europe in a
flame, because I am persuaded that such an event will not shorten
the war. The rupture, at present, is confined between the two
powers of America and England. England finds that she cannot
conquer America, and America has no wish to conquer England.
You are fighting for what you can never obtain, and we defending
what we never mean to part with. A few words, therefore, settle
the bargain. Let England mind her own business and we will
mind ours. Govern yourselves, and we will govern ourselves.
You may then trade where you please unmolested by us, and we
will trade where we please unmolested by you ; and such articles
as we can purchase of each other better than elsewhere may be
mutually done. If it were possible that you could carry on the
war for twenty years you must still come to this point at last, or
worse, and the sooner you think of it the better it will be for you.
My official situation enables me to know the repeated insults
which Britain is obliged to put up with from foreign powers, and
the wretched shifts that she is driven to, to gloss them over. Her
reduced strength and exhausted coffers in a three years war with
America, hath given a powerful superiority to France and Spaim
She is not now a match for them. But if neither councils can
prevail on her to think, nor sufferings awaken her to reason, she
must e'en go on, till the honour of England becomes a proverb of
contempt, and Europe dub her the Land of Fools.
I am, Sir, with every wish for an honourable peace,
Your friend, enemy, and countryman,
COMMON SENSE

THE CRISIS.

ui

TO THE INHABITANTS OP AMERICA.

With all the pleasure with which a man exchanges bad com
pany for good, I take my leave of Sir William and return to you;
It is now nearly three years since the tyranny of Britain received
its first repulse by the arms of America. A period which has
given birth to a new world, and erected a monument to the folly
of the old.
I cannot help being sometimes surprised at the complimentary
references which I have seen and heard made to ancient histories
and transactions. The wisdom, civil governments, and sense of
honor of the states of Greece and Rome, are frequently held
up as objects of excellence and imitation. Mankind have
lived to very little purpose, if* at this period of the world, they
must go two or three thousand years back for lessons and exam
ples.- We do great injustice to ourselves by placing them in
such a superior line. We have no just authority for it, neither
can we tell why it is that we should suppose ourselves in
ferior. Could the mist of antiquity be cleared a<vay, and men and
things be viewed as they really were, it is more than probable
that they would admire us, rather than we them. America has
surmounted a greater variety and combination of difficulties,
than; I believe, ever fell to the share of any one people, in the
same space of time, and has replenished the world wjith more
useful knowledge and sounder maxims of civil government than
were ever produced in any age before. Had it not been for
America, there had been no such thing as freedom left throughout
the whole universe. England hath lost hers in a long chain
Of right reasoning from wrong principles; and it is from this
country, now, that she must learn the resolution to redress herself,
and the wisdo"m how to accomplish it.
The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed Of the
spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time that fhey
were determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed
their power to enslave the rest of mankind. But this distinguish
ed era is blotted by no one misanthropical vice. In short, if the
principle on which the cause is founded, the universal blessings'
that are to arise from it, the difficulties that accompanied it, the*
wisdom with which it has been debated, the fortitude by which it

15t THE CRISIS.
has been supported, the strength of the power which we had to
oppose, and the condition in which we undertook it, be all
taken in one view, we may justly style it the most virtuous
and illustrious revolution that ever graced the history of man
kind. A good opinion of ourselves is exceedingly necessary in pri
vate fife* but absolutely necessary in public life, and of the
utmost importance in supporting national character. I have no
notion of yielding the palm of the United States to any Grecians
or Romans that were ever born. We have equalled the bravest'
in times of danger, and excelled the wisest in construction of civil
governments. From this agreeable eminence let us take a review of present
affairs. The spirit of corruption is so inseparably interwoven
with British politics, that their ministry suppose all mankind
are governed by the same motives. They have no idea of
a people submitting even to temporary inconvenience from an
attachment to rights and privileges. Their plans of business
are calculated by the hour and for the hour, and are uniform
in nothing but the corruption which gives them birth. They
never had, neither have they at this time, any regular plan for
the conquest of America by arms. They know not how to go
about it, neither have they power to effect it if they did know.
The thing is not Within the compass of human practicability, for
America is too extensive either to be fully conquered or passively
defended. But she may be actively defended by defeating or
making prisoners of the army that invades her. And this is
the only system of defence that cart be effectual in a large
country. There is something in a war carried on by invasion which
makes it differ in circumstances from any other mode of war,
because he who conducts it cannot tell whether the ground he
gains be for him, or against him, when he first obtains it. In
the winter of 1776, general Howe marched with an air of victory
through the Jerseys, the consequence of which was his defeat ;
and general Burgoyne at Saratoga experienced the same fate
from the same cause. The Spaniards, about two years ago, were
defeated by the Algerines in the same manner, that is, their first
triumphs became a trap in which they were totally routed. And
whoever will attend to the circumstances and events of a

THE CRISIS. Igl
war carried on by invasion, will find, that any invader, in order
to be finally conquered must first begin to conquer.
I confess myself one of those who believe the loss of Phila
delphia to be attended with more advantages than injuries.
The case stood thus : The enemy imagined, Philadelphia to be
of more importance to ns than it really was ; for we all know
that it had long ceased to be a port : not a cargo of goods had
been brought into it for near a twelvemonth, nor any fixed
manufactories, nor even ship-building, carried on in it ; yet as
the enemy believed the conquest of it to be practicable, and to
that belief added the absurd idea that the soul of all America
was centred there, and would be conquered there, it naturally
follows that their possession qf it, by not answering' the end
proposed, must break up the plans they had so foolishly gone
upon, and either oblige them to form a new one, for which
their present strength is not sufficient, or to give over the
attempt. We never had so small an army to fight against, nor so fair
an opportunity of final success as now. The death wound is
already given. The day is ours if we follow it up^ The enemy,
by his situation, is within our reach, and by his reduced strength
is within our power. The ministers of Britain may rage as
they please, but our part is to conquer their armies. Let them
wrangle and welcome, but let it not draw qur attention from the
one thing needful. Here, in this spot is our own business to be
accomplished, our felicity secured. What we have now to do
is as clear as light, and the way to do it is as straight as a line.
It needs not to be commented upon, yet, in order to be per
fectly understood I will put a case that cannot admit of a mis
take. Had the armies under generals Hqwe and Burgoyne been
united, and taken post at Germantqwn, and had the northern army
under general Gates been joined to that under general Washing
ton, at Whitemarsh, the consequence would have been a general
action ; and if in that action we had killed and taken the same
number of officers and men, that is, between nine and ten thou
sand, with the same quantity of artillery, arms, stores, &c. as
have been taken at tbe northward, and obliged general Howe with
the remains of bis army, that is, with the same number he now

152 THE CRISIS.
commands, to take shelter in Philadelphia, we should certainly
have thought ourselves the greatest heroes in the world ; and
should, as soon as the season permitted, have collected together
all the force of the continent and laid siege to the city, for it
requires a much greater force to besiege an enemy in a town
than to defeat him in the field. The case now is just the same
as if it had been produced by the means I have here supposed.
Between nine and ten thousand have been killed and taken, all
their stores are in our possession, and general Howe, in conse
quence of that victory, has thrown himself for shelter into Phila
delphia. He, or his trifling friend Galloway, may form what
pretences they please, yet no just reason can be given for their
going into winter quarters so early as the 19th of October, but
their apprehensions of a defeat if they continued out, or their con
scious inability of keeping the field with safety. I see no advan
tage which can arise to America by hunting the enemy from state
to state. It is a triumph without a prize, and wholly unworthy
the attention of a people determined to conquer. Neither can
any state promise itself security while the enemy remains in a
condition to transport themselves from one part of the continent
to another. Howe, likewise, cannot conquer where we have no
army to oppose, therefore any such removals in him are mean
and cowardly, and reduces Britain to a common pilferer. If
he retreats from Philadelphia, he will be despised ; if he slays,
he may be shut up and starved out, and the country, if he advances
into it, may become his Saratoga. He has his choice of evils
and we of opportunities. If he moves early, it is not only a sign
but a proof that he expects no reinforcement, and his delay will
prove that he either waits for the arriyal of a plan to go upon,
or force to execute it, or both; in which case our strength will
increase more than his, therefore in any case we cannot be wrong
if we do but proceed.
The particular condition of Pennsylvania deserves the attention
of all the other states. Her military strength must not be
estimated by the number of inhabitants. Here are men of all
nations, characters, professions and interests. Here are the
firmest whigs, surviving, like sparks in the ocean, unquenched
and uncooled in the midst of discouragement and disaffection.
Here are men losing their all with cheerfulness, and collecting
fire and fortitude from the flames of their own estates. Here are

THE CRISIS. 153
ethers skulking in secret, many making a market of the times,
and numbers who are changing to whig or tory with the circum
stances of every day.
It is by mere dint of fortitude and perseverance that the whigs
of this state have been able to maintain so good a countenance,
and do even what they have done. We want help, and the sooner
it can arrive the more effectual it will be. The invaded state,
be it which it may, will always feel an additional burden upon its
back, and be hard set to support its civil power with sufficient
authority : and this difficulty will rise or fall, in proportion as the
other states throw in their assistance to the common Cause.
The enemy will most probably make many manoeuvres at the
opening of this campaign, to amuse and draw off the attention of
the several states from the one thing needful. We may expect to
hear of alarms and pretended expeditions to this place and that
place, to the southward, the eastward, and the northward, all
intended to prevent our forming into one formidable body. The
less the enemy's strength is, the more subtleties of this kind will
' they make use of. Their existence depends upon it, because
the force of America, when collected, is sufficient to swallow their
present army up. It is therefore our business to make short
work of it, by bending our whole attention to this one principal
point, for the instant that the main body under general Howe is
defeated, all the inferior alarms throughout the continent, like so
many shadows, will follow his downfall.
The only way to finish a war with the least possible bloodshed,
or perhaps without any, is to collect an army, against the power of
which the enemy shall have no chance. By not doing this, we
prolong the war, and double both the calamities and expenses of
it. What a rich and happy country would America be, were she,
by a vigorous exertion, to reduce Howe as she has reduced Bur
goyne. Her currency would rise to millions beyond its present
value. Every man would be rich, and every man would have it
in his power to be happy. And why not do these things ? What
is there to hinder ? America is her own mistress and can do
what she pleases.
If we had not at this time a man in the field, we could, neverthe
less, raise an army in a few weeks sufficient to overwhelm all the
force which general Howe at present commands. Vigor and
determination will do any thing and every thing*. We began the
vol: u 2b

154 THE CRISIS.
war with this kind of spirit, why not end it with tbe same ? Here,
gentlemen, is the enemy. Here is the army. The interest, the
happiness of all America, is centred in this half ruined spot.
Come and help us. Here are laurels, come and share them.
Here are tories, come and help us to expel them. Here are
whigs that will make you welcome, and enemies that dread your
coming. The worst of all policy is that of doing things by halves. Penny
wise and pound foolish, has been the ruin of thousands. The
present spring, if rightly improved, will free us from all troubles,
and save us the expense of millions. We have now only one army
to cope with. No opportunity can be fairer ; no prospect more
promising. I shall conclude this paper with a few outlines of a
plan, either for filling up the battalions with expedition, or for
raising an additional force, for any limited time, on any sudden
emergency. That in which every man is interested, is every man's duty to
support. And any burden which falls equally on all men, and
from which every man is to receive an equal benefit, is consistent
with the most perfect ideas of liberty. I would wish to revive
something of that virtuous ambition which first called America into
the field. Then every man was eager to do his part, and perhaps
the principal reason why we have in any degree fallen therefrom,
is, because we did not set a right value by it at first, but left it to
blaze out of itself, instead of regulating and preserving it by just
proportions of rest and service.
Suppose any state whose number of effective inhabitants was
80,000, should be required to furnish 3,200 men towards the
defence of the continent on any sudden emergency.
1st, Let the whole number of effective inhabitants be divided
into hundreds ; then if each of those hundreds turn out four men,
the whole number of 3,200 will be had.
2d, Let the name of each hundred men be entered in a book,
and let four dollars be collected from each man, with as much
more as any of the gentlemen, whose abilities can afford it, shall
please to throw in, which gifts likewise shall be entered against
the names of the donors.
3d, Let the sums so collected be offered as a present, over and
above the bounty of twenty dollars, to any four who maj
be inclined to propose themselves as volunters : if more than

THE CRISIS. 155
four offer, the majority of the subscribers present shall deter
mine which ; if none offer, then four out of the hundred shall
be taken by lot, who shall be entitled to the said sums, and shall
either go, or provide others that will, in the space pf six days.
4th, As it will always happen, that in the space of ground on
which an hundred men shall live, there will be always a number of
persons who, by age and infirmity, are incapable of doing personal
service, and as such persons are generally possessed of the
greatest part of the property in any country, their portion of ser
vice, therefore, will be to furnish each man with a blanket, which
will make a regimental coat, jacket, and breeches, or clothes in
lieu thereof, and another for a watch cloak, and two pair of shoes ;
for however choice people may be of these things matters not in
cases of this kind ; those who live always in houses can find
many ways to keep themselves warm, but it is a shame and a sin
to suffer a soldier in the field to want a blanket while there is one
in the country.
Should the clothing not be wanted, the superannuated or infirm
persons possessing property, may, in lieu thereof, throw in their
money subscriptions towards increasing the bounty ; for though
age will naturally exempt a person from personal service, it can
not exempt him from his share of the charge, because the men are
raised for the defence of property and liberty jointly.
There never was a scheme against which objections might not
be raised. But this alone is not a sufficient reason for rejection.
The only line to judge truly upon, is, to draw out and admit all
the objections which cari fairly be made, and place against them
all the contrary qualities, conveniences and advantages, then by
striking a balance you come at the true character of any scheme
principle or position.
The most material advantages of the plan here proposed are,
ease, expedition, and cheapness ; yet the men so raised get a
much larger bounty than is any where at present given ; because
all the expenses, extravagance, and consequent idleness of recruit
ing are saved or prevented. The country incurs no new debt nor
interest thereon ; the whole matter being all settled at once
and entirely done with. It is a subscription answering all the
purposes of a tax, without either the charge or trouble of collect
ing. The men are ready for the field with the greatest possible
expedition, because it becomes the duty of the 'inhabitants them-

156 THE CRISIS.
selves, in every part of the country, to find their proportion Of men,
instead of leaving it to a recruiting sergeant, who, be he ever so
industrious, cannot know always where to apply.
I do not propose this as a regular digested plan, neither will the
limits of this paper admit of any further remarks upon it. I be
lieve it to be a hint capable of much improvement, and as such
submit it to the public.
COMMON SENSE.
Lancaster, March 21, 1778.

THE CRISIS.

=ojoe

WO. VI.

TO. THE EARL OP CARLISLE, GENERAL CLINTON,
AND WILLIAM EDEN, Esq. BRITISH COM
MISSIONERS, AT NEW- YORK.
There is a dignity in the warm passions of a whig, which
ia never to be found in the cold malice of a tory. In the one
nature is only heated — in the other she is poisoned. The
instant the former has it in his power to punish, he feels a dis
position to forgive ; but the canine venom of the latter knows
no relief but revenge. This general distinction will, I believe,
apply in all cases, and suit as well the meridian of England as
America. As I presume your last proclamation will undergo the stric
tures of other pens, I shall confine my remarks to only a few
parts thereof. All that you have said might have been com
prised in half the compass. It is tedious and unmeaning, and'
only a repetition of your former follies, with here and there an
offensive aggravation. Your cargo of pardons will have no mar
ket — It is unfashionable to look at them — even speculation is at
an end. They have become a perfect drug, and no way calcu
lated for the climate.
In the course of your proclamation you say, " The policy as
well as the benevolence of Great Britain have thus far checked
the extremes of war, when they tended to distress a people still
considered as their fellow subjects, and to desolate a country
shortly to be'come again a source of mutual advantage." What
you mean by " the benevolence of Great Britain" is to me incon
ceivable. To put a plain question ; do you consider yourselves
men or devils 1 For until this point is settled, no determinate
sense can be put upon the expression. You have already equal-

158 THE CRISIS.
led, and in many cases excelled, the savages of either Indies ;
and if you have yet a cruelty in store you must have imported it,
unmixed with every human material, from the original warehouse
of hell.
To the interposition of Providence, and her blessings on our
endeavours, and not to British benevolence, are we indebted for
the short chain that limits your ravages. Remember you do not
at this time, command a foot of land on the continent of Amer
ica. Staten-Island, York-Island, a small part of Long-Island,
and Rhode-Island, circumscribe your power ; and even those
you hold at the expense of the West-Indies. To avoid a defeat,
or prevent a desertion of your troops, you have taken up your
quarters in holes and corners of inaccessible security ; and in
order to conceal what every one can perceive, you now endea
vour to impose your weakness upon us for an act of mercy. If
you think to succeed by such shadowy devices, you are but in
fants in the political world ; you have the A, B, C, of stratagem
yet to learn, and are wholly ignorant of the people you have to
contend with. Like men in a state of intoxication, you forget
that the rest of the world have eyes, and that the same stupidity
which conceals you from yourselves exposes you to their satire
and contempt.
The paragraph which I have quoted, stands as an introduction
to the following : " But when that country (America) professes
the unnatural design, not only of estranging herself from us, but
of mortgaging herself and her resources to our enemies, the
whole contest is changed : and the question is how far Great
Britain may, by every means in her power, destroy or render use
less, a connexion contrived for her ruin, and the aggrandizement
of France. Under such circumstances, the laws of self-preser
vation must direct the conduct of Britain, and if the British colo
nies are to become an accession to France, will direct her
to render that accession of as little avail as possible to her
enemy." I consider you in this declaration, like madmen biting in the
hour of death. It contains likewise a fraudulent meanness ; for,
in order to justify a barbarous conclusion, you have advanced a
false position. The treaty we have formed with France is open,
noble, and generous. It is true policy, founded on sound philoso
phy, and neither a surrender or mortgage, as you would scanda-

THE CRISIS. 159
lously insinuate. I have seen every article, and speak from
positive knowledge. In France, we have found an affectionate
friend and faithful ally ; in Britain, we have found nothing but
tyranny, cruelty, and infidelity.
But the happiness is, that the mischief you threaten, is not in
your power to exe.cute ; and if it were, the punishment would
return upon you in a ten-fold degree. The humanity of America
hath hitherto restrained her from acts of retaliation, and the affec
tion she retains for many individuals in England, who have fed,
clothed and comforted her prisoners, has, to the present day,
warded off her resentment, and operated as a screen to the whole.
But even these considerations must cease, when national objects
interfere and oppose them. Repeated aggravations will provoke
a retort, and policy justify the measure. We mean now to
take you seriously up upon your own ground and principle, and
as you do, so shall you be done by.
You ought to know, gentlemen, that England and Scotland, are
far more exposed to incendiary desolation than America, in her
present state, can possibly be. We occupy a country, with but
few towns, and whose riches consist in land and annual produce.
The two last can suffer but little, and that only within a very
limited compass. In Britain it is otherwise. Her wealth lies
chiefly in cities and large towns, the depositories of manufac
tures and fleets of merchantmen. — There is not a nobleman's
country seat but may be laid in ashes by a single person. Your
own may probably contribute to the proof: in short, there is no
evil which cannot be returned when you come to incendiary mis
chief. — The ships in the Thames, may certainly be as easily set
on fire, as the temporary bridge was a few years ago ; yet of that
affair no discovery was ever made ; and the loss you would sus
tain by such an event, executed at a proper season, is in
finitely greater than any you can inflict. The East-India
house, and the bank, neither are, nor can be secure from this sort
of destruction, and, as Dr. Price justly observes, a fire at the
latter would bankrupt the nation. It has never been the" custom
of France and England when at war, to make those havocs on
each other, because the ease with which they could retaliate,
rendered it as impolitic as if each had destroyed his own.
But think not, gentlemen, that our distance secures you, or our
invention fails us. We can much easier accomplish such a point

160

THE CRISIS.

than any nation in Europe. We talk the same language, dress in
the same habit, and appear with the same manners as yourselves.
We can pass from one part of England to another unsuspected ;
many of us are as well acquainted with the country as you are,
and should you impolitically provoke us, you will most assuredly
lament the effects of it. Mischiefs of this kind require no army
to execute them. The means are obvious, and the opportunities
unguardable. I hold up a warning to your senses, if you have
any left, and " to the unhappy people likewise, whose affairs are
committed to you."* I call not with the rancour of an enemy,
but the earnestness of a friend, on the deluded people of Eng
land, lest, between your blunders and theirs, they sink beneath
the evils contrived for us.
" He who lives in a glass house," says a Spanish proverb,
" should never begin throwing stones." This, gentlemen, is ex
actly your case, and you must be the most ignorant of mankind,
or suppose us so, not to see on which side the balance of ac
counts will fall. There are many other modes of retaliation,
which, for several reasons, I choose not to mention. But be as
sured of this, that the instant you put your threat into execution,
a counter-blow will follow it. If you openly profess yourselves
savages, it is high time we should treat you as such, and if no
thing but distress can recover you to reason, to punish will
become an office of chanty.
While your fleet lay last winter in the Delaware, I offered my
service to the Pennsylvania navy-board then at Trenton, as one
who would make a party with them, or any four or five gentlemen,
on an expedition down the river to set fire to it, and though it was
not then accepted, nor the thing personally attempted, it is more
than probable that your own folly will provoke a much more
ruinous act. Say not when mischief is done, that you had not
warning, and remember that we do not begin it, but mean to re
pay it. Thus much for your savage and impolitic threat.
In another part of your proclamation you say, " But if the honors
of a military life are become the object of the Americans, let
them seek those honors under the banners of their rightful sove
reign, and in fighting the battles of the united British empire,
against our late mutual and natural enemies." Surely ! the union
* General Clinton's letter to Congress.

THE CRISIS. 161
of absurdity with madness was never marked in more distinguish
able lines than these. Your rightful sovereign, as you call him,
may do well enough for you, who dare not inquire into the hum
ble capacities of the man ; but we, who estimate persons and
things by their real worth, cannot suffer our judgments to be so
imposed upon ; and unless it is your wish to see him exposed, it
ought to be your endeavour to keep him out of sight. The less
you have to say about him the better. We have done with him,
and that ought to be answer enough. You have been often told
so. Strange ! that the answer must be so often repeated. You
go a begging with your king as with a brat, or with some unsale
able commodity you were tired of; and though every body tells
you no, no, still you keep hawking him about. But there is one
that will have him in a little time, and as we have no inclination
to disappoint you of a customer, we bid nothing for him.
The impertinent folly of the paragraph that I have just quoted,
deserves no other notice than to be laughed at and thrown by,
but the principle on which it is founded is detestable. We are
invited to submit to a man who has attempted by every cruelty
to destroy us, and to join him in making war against France, who
is already at war against him for our support.
Can Bedlam, in concert with Lucifer, form a more mad and
devilish request ? Were it possible a people could sink into such
apostacy they would deserve to be swept from the earth like the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The proposition is an
universal affront to the rank which man holds in the creation,
and an indignity to him who placed him there. It supposes him
made up without a spark of honour, and under no obligation to
God or man.
What sort of men or Christians must you suppose the Ameri
cans to be, who, after seeing their most humble petitions insult
ingly Rejected ; the most grievous laws passed to distress them
in every quarter ; and undeclared war let loose upon them, and
Indians and negroes invited to the slaughter ; who, after seeing
their kinsmen murdered, their fellow citizens starved to death in
prisons, and their houses and property destroyed and burned ;
who, after the most serious appeals to heaven ; the most solemn
abjuration by oath of all government connected with you, and the
most heart-felt pledges and protestations of faith to each other ;
vol I. 21

162 THE CRISIS.
and who, after soliciting the friendship, and entering into alliances
with other nations, should at last break through all these obliga
tions, civil and divine, by complying with your horrid and infer
nal proposal. Ought we ever after to be considered as a part
of the human race? Or ought we not rather to be blotted from
the society of mankind, and become a spectacle of misery to the
world? But there is something in corruption, which, like a
jaundiced eye, transfers the colour of itself to the object it looks
upon, and sees every thing stained and impure ; for unless you
were capable of such conduct yourselves, you would never have
supposed such a character in us. The offer fixes your infamy.
It exhibits you as a nation without faith ; with whom oaths and
treaties are considered as trifles, and the breaking them as the
breaking of a bubble. Regard to decency, or to rank, might have
taught you better ; or pride inspired you, though virtue could not.
There is not left a step in the degradation of character to which
you can now descend ; you have put your foot on the ground
floor, and the key of the dungeon is turned upon you.
That the invitation may want nothing of being a complete
monster, you have thought proper to finish it with an assertion
which has no foundation, either in fact or philosophy; and as Mr.
Ferguson, your secretary, is a man of letters, and has made civil
society his study, and published a treatise on that subject, I ad
dress this part to him.
In the close of the paragraph which I last quoted, France is
styled the "natural enemy" of England, and by way of lugging
us into some strange idea, she is styled "the late mutual and
natural enemy" of both countries. I deny that she ever was
the natural enemy of either ; and that there does not exist in
nature such a principle. The expression is an unmeaning bar
barism, and wholly unphilosophicaS, when applied to beings of the
same species, let their station in the creation be what it may.
We have a perfect idea of a natural enemy when we think of
the devil, because the enmity is perpetual, unalterable, and una-
bateable. It admits neither of peace, truce, or treaty ; conse
quently the warfare is eternal, and therefore it is natural. But
man with man cannot arrange in the same opposition. Their
quarrels are accidental and equivocally created. They become
friends or enemies as the change of temper, or the cast of inter
est inclines them. The Creator of man did not constitute then

THE CRISIS. 163
the natural enemy of each other. He has not made any one
order of beings so. Even wolves may quarrel, still they herd
together. If any two nations are so, then must all nations be so,
otherwise it is not nature but custom, and the offence frequently
originates with the accuser. England is as truly the natural ene
my of France, as France is of England, and perhaps more so.
Separated from the rest of Europe, she has contracted an unso
cial habit of manners, and imagines in others the jealousy she
creates in herself. Never long satisfied with peace, she supposes
the discontent universal, and buoyed up with her own importance,
conceives herself the only object pointed at. The expression
has been often used, and always with a fraudulent design ; for when
the iJea of a n.itural enemy is conceived, it prevents all other
inquiries, and the real cause of the quarrel is hidden in the univer
sality of the conceit. Men start at the notion of a natural enemy,
and ask no other question. . The cry obtains credit like the
alarm of a mad dog, and is one of those kind of tricks, which,
by operating on the common passions, secures their interest
through their folly.
But we, sir, are not to be thus imposed upon. We live in a
large world, and have extended our ideas beyond the limits and
prejudices of an island. We hold out the right hand of friend
ship to all the universe, and we conceive that there is a sociali
ty in the manners of France, which is much better disposed to
peace and negociation than that of England, and until the latter
becomes more civilized, she cannot expect to live long at peace
with any power. Her common language is vulgar and offensive,
and children with their milk suck in the rudiments of insult —
" The arm of Britain ! The mighty arm of Britain ! Britain
that shakes the earth to its centre and its poles ! The scourge
of France ! The terror of the world ! That governs with a
nod, and pours down vengeance like a God." This language
neither makes a nation great or little ; but it shows a savageness
of manners, and has a tendency to keep national animosity alive.
The entertainments of the stage are calculated to the same end,
and almost every public exhibition is tinctured with insult. Yet
England is always in dread of France. Terrified at the appre
hension of an invasion. Suspicious of being outwitted in a
treaty, and privately cringing though she is publicly offending.
Let her, therefore, reform her manners and do justice, and sho

164

THE CRISIS.

will find the idea of a natural enemy, to be only a phantom 01
her own imagination.
Little did I think, at this period of the war, to see a proclama
tion which could promise you no one useful purpose whatever, and
tend only to expose you. One would think that you were just
awakened from a four years' dream, and knew nothing of what
had passed in the interval. Is jthis a time to be offering pardons,
or renewing the long forgotten subjects of charters and taxation?
Is it worth your while, after every force has failed you, to
retreat under the shelter of argument and persuasion ? Or can
you think that we, with nearly half your army prisoners, and in
alliance with France, are to be begged or threatened into submis
sion by a piece of paper ? But as commissioners at a hundred
pounds sterling a week each, you conceive yourselves bound to
do something, and the genius of ill fortune told you, that you
must write.
For my own part, I have not put pen to paper these several
months. Convinced of our superiority by the issue of every
campaign, I was inclined to hope, that that which all the rest of
the world now see, would become visible to you, and therefore
felt unwilling to ruffle your temper by fretting you with repetitions
and discoveries. There have been intervals of hesitation in your
conduct, from which it seemed a pity to disturb you, and a cha
rity to leave you to yourselves. You have often stopped, as if
you intended to think, but your thoughts have ever been too early
or too late.
There was a time when Britain disdained to answer, or even hear
a petition from America. That time is past, and she in her turn
is petitioning our acceptance. We now stand on higher ground,
and offer her peace ; and the time will come when she perhaps in
vain,will ask it from us. The latter case is as probable as the former
ever was. She cannot refuse to acknowledge our independence
with greater obstinacy than she before refused to repeal her laws :
and if America alone could bring her to the one, united with
France she will reduce her to the other. There is something in
obstinacy which differs from every other passion ; whenever it
fails it never recovers, but either breaks like iron, or crumbles
sulkily away like a fractured arch. Most other passions have
their periods of fatigue and rest ; their suffering and their cure ;
but obstinacy has no resource, and the first wound is mortal.

THE CRISIS. 165
You have already begun to give it up, and you will, from the
natural construction of the vice, find yourselves both obliged and
inclined to do so.
If you look back you see nothing but loss and disgrace. If
you look forward the same scene continues, and the close is an
impenetrable gloom. You may plan and execute little mischiefs,
but are they worth the expense they cost you, or will such partial
evils have any effect on the general cause ? Your expedition to
Egg-Harbour, will be felt at a distance like an attack upon a hen
roost, and expose you in Europe, with a sort of childish phrenzy.
Is it worth while to keep an army to protect you in writing procla
mations, or to get once a year into winter-quarters ? Possessing
yourselves of towns is not conquest, but convenience, and in
which you will one day or other be trepanned. Your retreat from
Philadelphia, was only a timely escape, and your next expedition
may be less fortunate.
It would puzzle all the politicians in the universe to conceive
what you stay for, or why you should have staid so long. You
are prosecuting a war in which you confess you have neither
object nor hope, and that conquest, could it be effected, would
not repay the charges : in the mean while the rest of your
affairs are running to ruin, and a European, war kindling against
you. In such a situation, there is neither doubt nor difficulty ;
the first "rudiments of reason will determine the choice, for if
peace can be procured with more advantages than even a con
quest can be obtained, he must be an idiot indeed that hesitates.
But you are probably buoyed up by a set of wretched mortals,
who, having deceived themselves, are cringing, with the duplicity
of a spaniel, for a little temporary bread. Those men will tell
you just vlrhat you please. It is their interest to amuse, in order
to lengthen out their protection. They study to keep you amongst
them for that very purpose ; and in proportion as you disregard
their advice, and grow callous to their complaints, they will stretch
into improbability, and season their flattery the higher. Charac
ters like these, are to be found in every country, and every coun
try will despise them.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, Oct. 20, 1778.

THE CRISIS.

WO. VII.

TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND.
There are stages in tbe business of serious life in which to
amuse is cruel, but to deceive is to destroy ; and it is of little
consequence, in the conclusion, whether men deceive themselves,
or submit, by a kind of mutual consent, to the impositions of each
other. That England has long been under the influence of delu
sion or mistake, needs no other proof than the unexpected and
wretched situation that she is now involved in : and so powerful
has been the influence, that no provision was ever made or thought
of against the misfortune, because the possibility of its happening
was never conceived.
The general and successful resistance of America, the conquest
of Burgoyne, and a war in France, were treated in parliament as
the dreams of a discontented opposition, or a distempered ima
gination. They were beheld as objects unworthy of a serious
thought, and the bare intimation of them afforded the ministry a
triumph of laughter. Short triumph indeed ! For every thing
which has been predicted has happened, and all that was promised
has failed. A long series of politics so remarkably distinguished
by a succession of misfortunes, without one alleviating turn, must
certainly have something in it systematically wrong. It is suffi
cient to awaken the most credulous into suspicion, and the most
obstinate into thought. Either the means in your power are
insufficient, or the measures ill planned ; either the execution has
been bad, or the thing attempted impracticable ; or, to speak more
emphatically, either you are not able or heaven is not willing.
For, why is it that you have not conquered us? Who, or what

THE CRISIS. 167
has prevented you ? You have had every opportunity that you
could desire, and succeeded to your utmost wish in every prepara
tory means. Your fleets and armies have arrived in America with
out an accident. No uncommon misfortune hath intervened. No
foreign nation hath interfered until the time which you had allot
ted for victory was past. The. opposition, either in or out of parlia
ment, neither disconcerted your measures, retarded or diminished
your force. They only foretold your fate. Every ministerial
scheme was carried with as high a hand as if the whole nation had
been unanimous. Every thing wanted was asked for, and every
thing asked for was granted.
A greater force was not within the compass of your abilities to
send, and the time you sent it was of all others the most favorable.
Sou were then at rest with the whole world beside. You had the
range of every court in Europe uncontradicted by us. You
amused us with a tale of commissioners of peace, and under that
disguise collected a numerous army and came almost unexpect
edly upon us. The force was much greater than we looked for ;
and that which we had to oppose if with, was unequal in numbers,
badly armed, and poorly disciplined ; beside which, it was embo
died only for a short time, and expired within a few months after
your arrival. We had governments to form ; measures to con
cert ; an army to train, and every necessary article to import or
to create. Our non-importation scheme had exhausted our
stores, and your command by sea intercepted our supplies. We
were a people unknown, and unconnected with the political world,
and strangers to the disposition of foreign powers. Could you
possibly wish for a more favourable conjunction of circumstances ?
i'et all these have happened and passed away, and, as it were,
left you with a laugh. They are likewise events of such an
original nativity as can never happen again, unless a new world
should arise from the ocean.
If any thing can be a lesson to presumption, surely the circum-
ccs of this war will have their effect. Had Britain been defeated
by any European power, her pride would have drawn consolation
from the importance of her conquerors ; but in the present case, she
is excelled by those that she affected to despise, and her own opin
ions retorting upon he.rself, become an aggravation of her disgrace.
Misfortune and experience are lost upon mankind, when they
produce neither reflection nor reformation. Evils, like poisons,

168 THE CRISIS.
have their uses, and there are diseases which no other jemedy can
reach. It has been the crime and folly of England to suppose
herself invincible, and that, without acknowledging or perceiving
that a full third of her strength was drawn from the country she is
now at war with. The arm of Britain has been spoken of as the
arm of the Almighty, and she has lived of late as if she thought
the whole world created for her diversion. Her politics, instead
of civilizing, has tended to brutalize mankind, and under the vain,
unmeaning title of " Defender of the Faith," she has made war
like an Indian against the religion of humanity. Her cruelties in
the East Indies will never be forgotten ; and it is somewhat re
markable that the produce of that ruined country, transported to
America, should there kindle up a war to punish the destroyer.
The chain is continued, though with a mysterious kind of ilnifor-
mity both in the crime and the punishment. The latter runs par
allel with the former, and time and fate will give it a perfect
illustration. When information is withheld, ignorance becomes a reasonarie
excuse ; and one would charitably hope that the people of Eng
land do not encourage cruelty from choice but from mistake.
Their recluse situation, surrounded by the sea, preserves them
from the calamities of war, and keeps them in the dark as to the
conduct of their own armies. They see not, therefore they feel
not. They tell the tale that is told them and believe it, and ac
customed to no other news than their own, they receive it, strip
ped of its horrors and prepared for the palate of the nation,
through the channel of the London Gazette. They are made to
believe that their generals and armies differ from those of other
nations, and have nothing of rudeness or barbarity in them. They
suppose them what they wish them to be. They feel a disgrace
m thinking otherwise, and naturally encourage the belief from a
partiality to themselves. There was a time when I felt the same
prejudices, and reasoned from the same errors ; but experience,
sad and painful experience, has taught me better. What the con
duct of former armies was, I know not, but what the conduct ot
the present is, I well know. It is low, cruel, indolent and profli
gate ; and had the people of America no other cause for separa
tion than what the army has occasioned, that alone is cause suffi
cient-

the crisis. 169
The field of politics in England is far more extensive than
that of news. Men have a right to reason for themselves, and
though they cannot contradict the intelligence in the London
Gazette, they may frame upon it what sentiments they please.
But the misfortune is, that a general ignorance has prevailed
over the whole nation respecting America. The ministry and
minority have both been wrong. The former was always so
the latter only lately so. Politics, to be executively right, must
have a unity of means and time, and a defect in either over
throws the whole. The ministry rejected the plans of the mi
nority while they were practicable, and joined in them when
they became impracticable. From wrong measures they got
into wrong time, and have now completed the circle of ab
surdity by closing it upon themselves.
I happened to come to America a few months before the
breaking out of hostilities. I found the disposition of the people
such, that they might have been led by a thread and gpvern-
ed by a reed. Their suspicion was quick and penetrating, but
rhc.r attachment to Britain was obstinate, and it was at that
time a kind of treason to speak against it. They disliked the
ministry, but they esteemed the nation. Their idea of griev
ance operated without resentment, and their single object was
reconciliation. Bad as I believed the ministry to be, I never
conceived them capable of a measure so rash and wicked as
the commencing, of hostilities ; much less did I imagine the
nation would encourage it. I viewed the dispute as a kind of
law-suit, in which I supposed the parties would find a way either
to decide or settle it. I had no thoughts of independence or of
arms. The world could not then have persuaded me that I
should be either a soldier or an author. If I had any talents for
either, they were buried in me, and might ever have continued
so, had not the necessity of the times dragged and driven them
into action. I had formed my plan of life, and conceiving my
self happy, wished every body else so. But when the country,
into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears,
it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. Those
who had been long settled had something to defend ; those who
had just come had something to pursue ; and the call and the
concern was equal and universal. For in a country where ail
vol. I. 22

170 the crisis.
men were once adventurers, the difference of a few years in
their arrival could make none in their right.
The breaking out of hostilities opened a new suspicion in the
politics of America, which, though at that time very rare, has
since been proved to be very nght. What I allude to is, " a
secret and fixed determination in the British cabinet to annex
America to the crown of England as a conquered country." If
this be taken as the object, then the whole line of conduct pur
sued by the ministry, though rash in its origin and ruinous in its
consequences, is nevertheless uniform and consistent in its parts.
It applies to every case and resolves every difficulty. But if
taxation, or any thing else, be taken in its room, there is no pro
portion between the object and the charge. Nothing but the
whole soil and property of the country can be placed as a pos
sible equivalent against the millions which the ministry expend
ed. No taxes raised in America could possibly repay it. A
revenue of two millions sterling a year would not discharge the
sum and interest accumulated thereon, in twenty years.
Reconciliation never appears to have been the wish or the
object of the administration, they looked on conquest as certain
and infallible, and, under that persuasion, sought to drive the
Americans into what they might style a general rebellion, and
then, crushing them with arms in their hands, reap the rich har
vest of a general confiscation, and silence them for ever. The
dependants at court were too numerous to be provided for in
England. The market for plunder in the East-Indies was over ;
and the profligacy of government required that a new mine
should be opened, and that mine could be no other than Ame
rica, conquered and forfeited. They had no where else to go.
Every other channel was drained ; and extravagance, with the
thirst of a drunkard, was gaping for supplies.
If the ministry deny this to have been their plan, it becomes
them to explain what was their plan. For either they have
abused us in coveting property they never labored for, or thev
have abused you in expending an amazing sum upon an incom
petent object. Taxation, as I mentioned before, could never be
worth the charge of obtaining it by arms ; and any kind of formal
obedience which America could have made, would have weighed
with the lightness of a laugh against such a load of expense. It
ia therefore most probable, that the ministry will at last justify

^ the crisis. 171
their policy by their dishonesty, and openly declare, that their
original design was conquest : and in this case, it well becomes
the people of England to consider how far the nation would have
been benefitted by the success.
In a general view, there are few conquests that repay the
charge of making them, and mankind are pretty well convinced
that it can never be worth their while to go to war for profit's
sake. If they are made war upon, their country invaded, or their
existence at stake, it is their duty to defend and preserve them
selves, but in every other light, and from every other cause, is war
inglorious and detestable. But to return to the case in question —
When conquests are made of foreign countries, it is supposed
that the commerce and dominion of the country which made them
are extended. But this could neither be the object nor the con
sequence of the present war. You enjoyed the whole commerce
before. It could receive no possible addition by a conquest, but
on the contrary, must diminish as the inhabitants were reduced
in numbers and wealth. You had the same dominion over the
country which you used to have, and had no complaint to make
against her for breach of any part of the contract between you or
her, or contending against any established custom, commercial,
political or territorial. The country and commerce were both
your own when you began to conquer, in the same manner and
form as they had been your own an hundred years before. Na
tions have sometimes been induced to make conquests for the
sake of reducing the power of their enemies, or bringing it to a
balance with their own. But this could be no part of your plan.
No foreign authority was claimed here, neither was any such au
thority suspected by you, or acknowledged or imagined by us.
What then, in the name of heaven, could you go to war for ? Or
what chance could you possibly have in the event, but either to
hold the same country which you held before, and that in a much
worse condition, or to lose, with an amazing expense, what you
might have retained without a farthing of charges.
- War never 'can be the interest of a trading nation, any more
than quarrelling can be profitable to a man in business. But to
make war with those who trade with us, is like setting a bull-dog
upon a customer at the shop-door. The least degree of common
sense shows the madness of the latter, and it will apply with tho
same force of conviction to the former. Piratical nations, having

172 THE CRISIS.
neither commerce or commodities of their own to lose, may make
war upon all the world, and lucratively find their account in it ;
but it is quite otherwise with Britain : for, besides the stoppage
of trade in time of war, she exposes more of her own property to
be lost, than she has the chance of taking from others. Some
ministerial gentlemen in parliament have mentioned the greatness
of her trade as an apology for the greatness of her loss. This is
miserable politics indeed ! Because it ought to have been given
as a reason for her not engaging in a war at first. The coast of
America commands the West-India trade almost as effectually as
the coast of Africa does that of the Straits ; and England can no
more carry on the former without the consent of America, than
she can the latter without a Mediterranean pass.
In whatever light the weir with America is considered upon
commercial principles, it is evidently the interest of the people of
England not to support it ; and why it has been supported so
long, against the clearest demonstrations of truth and national
adyantage, is, to me, and must be to all the reasonable world, a
matter of astonishment. Perhaps it may be said that I live in
America, and write this from interest. To this I reply, that my
principle is universal. My attachment is to all the world, and
not to any particular part, and if what I advance is right, no mat
ter where or who it comes from. We have given the proclama
tion of your commissioners a currency in our newspapers, awl I
have no doubt you will give this a place in yours. To obligo
and be obliged is fair.
Before I dismiss this part of my address, I shall mention one
more circumstance in which I think the people of England have
been equally mistaken : and then proceed to other matters.
There is such an idea existing in the world, as that of national
honor, and this falsely understood, is oftentimes the cause of war.
In a Christian and philosophical sense, mankind seem to have
stood still at individual civilization, and to retain as nations all
the original rudeness of nature. Peace by treaty is only a ces
sation of violence for a reformation of sentiment. • It is a substi
tute for a principle that is wanting and ever will be wanting till
the idea of national honor be rightly understood. As individuals
we profess ourselves Christians, but as nations we are heathens,
Romans, and what not. I remember the late admiral Saunders
declaring in the house of commons, and that in the time of peace,

THE CRISIS. 173
" That the city of Madrid laid in ashes was not a sufficient atone
ment for the Spaniards taking off the rudder of an English sloop
of war." I do not ask whether this is Christianity or morality,
I ask whether it is decency ? whether it is proper language for a
nation to use ? In private life we call it by the plain name of
bullying, and the elevation of rank cannot alter its character. It
' is, I think, exceedingly easy to define what ought to be under
stood by national honor ; for that which is the best character for
an individual is the best character for a nation ; and wherever the
latter exceeds or falls beneath the former, there is a departure
from the line of true greatness.
I have thrown out this observation with a design of applying it
to Great Britain. Her ideas of national honor, seem devoid of
that benevolence of heart, that universal expansion of philan
thropy, and that triumph over the rage of vulgar prejudice, with
out which man is inferior to himself, and a companion of common
animals. To know whom she shall regard or dislike, she asks
what country they are of, what religion they profess, and what
property they enjoy. Her idea of national honor seems to con
sist in national insult, and that to be a great people, is to be nei
ther a Christian, a philosopher, or a gentleman, but to threaten
with the rudeness of a bear, and to devour with the ferocity of a
lion. This perhaps may sound harsh and uncourtly, but it is too
true, and the more is the pity.
I mention this only as her general character. But towards
America she has observed no character at all ; and destroyed by
her conduct what she assumed in her title. She set out with the
title of parent, or. mother country. The association of ideas
which naturally accompany this expression, are filled with every
thing that is fond, tender and forbearing. They have an energy
peculiar to themselves, and, overlooking the accidental attach
ment of common affections, apply with infinite softness to the
first feelings of the heart. It is a political term which every
mother can feel the force of, and every child can judge of. It
needs no painting of mine to set it off, for nature only can do it
justice. But has any part of your conduct to America corresponded
with the title you set up ? If in your general national character
you are unpolished and severe, in this you are inconsistent and
unnatural, and you must have exceeding false notions of national

*

174 THE CRISI3.
honor, to suppose that the world can admire a want of humanity,
or that national honor depends on the violence of resentment,
the inflexibility of temper, or the vengeance of execution.
I would willingly convince you, and that with as much temper
as the times will suffer 'me to do, that as you opposed your own
interest by quarrelling with us, so likewise your national honor,
rightly conceived and understood, was no ways called upon to
enter into a war with America ; had you studied true greatness
of heart, the first and fairest ornament of mankind, you would
have acted directly contrary to all that you have done, and the
world would have ascribed it to a generous cause ; besides
which, you had (though with the assistance of this country) se
cured a powerful name by the last war. You were known and
dreaded abroad ; and it would have been wise in you to have
suffered the world to have slept undisturbed under that idea. It
was to you a force existing without expense. It produced to
you all the advantages of real power ; and you were stronger
through the universality of that charm, than any future fleets and
armies may probably make you. Your greatness was so secured
and interwoven with your silence, that you ought never to have
awakened mankind, and had nothing to do but to be quiet. Had
you been true politicians you would have seen all this, and con
tinued to draw from the magic of a name, the force and authority
of a nation.
Unwise as you were in breaking the charm, you were still
more unwise in the manner of doing it. Sampson only told the
secret, but you have performed the operation ; you have shaven
your own head, and wantonly thrown away the locks. America
was the hair from which the charm was drawn that infatuated the
world. You ought to have quarrelled with no power ; but with"
her upon no account. You had nothing to fear from any conde
scension you might make. You might have humored her, oven
if there had been no justice in her claims, without any risk to
your reputation ; for Europe, fascinated by your fame, would
have ascribed it to your benevolence, and America, intoxicated
by the grant, would have slumbered in her fetters.
But this method of studying the progress of the passions, in
order to ascertain the probable conduct of mankind, is a philoso
phy in politics which those who preside at St. James's have no
conception of. They know no other influence than corruption.

THE CRISIS. 175
and reckon all their probabilities from precedent. A new case
is to them a new world, and while they are seeking for a parallel
they get lost. The talents of lord Mansfield can be estimated at
best no higher than those of a sophist. He understands the
subtleties but not the elegance of nature ; and by continually
viewing mankind through the cold medium of the law, never
thinks of penetrating into the warmer region of the mind. As
for lord North, it is his happiness to have in him more philosophy
than sentiment, for he bears flogging like a top, and sleeps the
better for it. His punishment becomes his support, for while he
suffers the lash for his sins, he keeps himself up by twirling about.
In politics, he is a good arithmetician, and in every thing else
nothing at all.
There is one circumstance which comes so much within lord
North's province as a financier, that I am surprised it should es
cape him, which is, the different abilities of the two countries in
supporting the expense ; for, strange as it may seem, England
is not a match for America in this particular. By a curious kind
of revolution in accounts, the people of England seem to mistake
their poverty for their riches ; that is, they reckon their national
debt as a part of their national wealth. They make the same
kind of error which a man would do, who after mortgaging his
estate, should add the money borrowed, to the full value of the
estate, in order to count up his worth, and in this case he would
conceive that he got rich by running into debt. Just thus it is
with England. The government owed at. the beginning of this
war one hundred and thirty-five millions sterling, and though the
individuals to whom it was due, had a right to reckon their shares
as so much private property, yet to the nation collectively it was
so much poverty. There is as effectual limits to public debts as
to private ones, for when once the money borrowed is so great as
to require the whole yearly revenue to discharge the interest
thereon, there is an end to further borrowing ; in the same man
ner as when the interest of a man's debts amounts to the yearly
income of his estate, there is an end to his credit. This is nearly
the case with England, the interest of her present debt being at
least equal to one half of her yearly revenue, so that out of ten
millions annually collected by taxes, she has but five that she can
call her own.

176 THE CRISIS
The very reverse of this was the case with America ; sne be
gan the war without any debt upon her, and in order to carry it
on, she neither raised money by taxes, nor borrowed it upon in
terest, but created it ; and her situation at this time continues so
much the reverse of yours that taxing would make her rich,
whereas it would make you poor. When we shall have sunk
the sum which we have created, we shall then be out of debt, be
just as rich as when we began, and all the while we are doing it
shall feel no difference, because the value will rise as the quan
tity decreases.
There was not a country in the world so capable of bearing
the expense of a war as America ; not only because she was not
in debt when she began, but because the country is young and
capable of infinite improvement, and has an almost boundless
tract of new lands in store ; whereas England has got to her ex
tent of age and growth, and has no unoccupied land or property
in reserve. The one is like a young heir coming to a large im
provable estate ; the other like an old man whose chances are
over, and his estate mortgaged for half its worth.
In the second number of the Crisis, which I find has been re
published in England, I endeavored to set forth the impractica
bility of conquering America. I stated every case, that I con
ceived could possibly happen, and ventured to predict its conse
quences. As my conclusions were drawn not artfully, but natu
rally, they have all proved to be true. I was upon the spot ;
knew the politics of America, her strength and resources, and by
a train of services, the best in my power to render, was honored
with the friendship of the congress, the army and the people. I
considered the cause a just one. I know and feel it a just one,
and under that confidence never made my own profit or loss an
object. My endeavor was to have the matter well understood on
both sides, and I conceived myself tendering a general service,
by setting forth to the one the impossibility of being conquered,
and to the other the impossibility of conquering. Most of the
arguments made use of by the ministry for supporting the war,
are the very arguments that ought to have been used against sup
porting it ; and the plans, by which they thought to conquer, are
the very plans in which they were sure to be defeated. They
have taken every thing up at the wrong end. Their ignorance is
astonishing, and were you in my situation you would see it.

THE CRISIS. 177
They may, perhaps, have your confidence, but I am persuaded
that they would make very indifferent members t-f congress. I
know what England is, and what America is, and from the com
pound of knowledge, am better enabled ,to judge of the issue,
than what the king or any of his ministers can be.
In this number I have endeavored to .show the ill policy and
disadvantages of the war. I believe many of my remarks are
new. Those which are not so, I have studied to improve and
place in a manner that may be clear and striking. Your failure
is, I am persuaded, as certain as fate. America is above your
reach. She is at least your equal in the world, and her inde
pendence neither rests upon your consent, nor can it be pre
vented by your arms. In short, you spend your substance in
vain, and impoverish yourselves without a hope.
But suppose you had conquered America, what advantages,
collectively or individually, as merchants, manufacturers, or con
querors, could you have looked for. This is an object you
seemed never to have attended to. Listening for the sound of
victory, and led away by the phrenzy of Arms, you neglected to
reckon either the cost or the consequences. You must all pay
towards the expense ; the poorest among you must bear his
share, and it is both your right and your duty to weigh seriously
the matter. Had America been conquered, she might have
been parcelled out in grants to the favorites at court, but no
share of it would have fallen to you. Your taxes would not
have been lessened, because she would have been in no condi
tion to have paid any towards your relief. We are rich by a
contrivance of our own, which would have ceased as soon as you
became masters. Our paper money will be of no use in Eng
land, and silver and gold we have none. In the last war you
made many conquests, but were any of your taxes lessened
thereby ? On the contrary, were you not taxed to pay for the
charge of making them, and have not the same been the case in
<»very war ?
To the parliament I wish to address myself in a more particu
lar manner. They appear to have supposed themselves partners
in the cfaace, and to have hunted with the lion from an expecta
tion of aright in the booty ; but in this it is most probable they
would, as legislators', have been disappointed. The case is quite
a new one, and many unforeseen difficulties would have arisen
vot. «. 23

178 THE CRISIS.
thereon. The parliament claimed a legislative right over Ame
rica, and the war originated from that pretence. But the army
is supposed to belong to the crown, and if America had been
conquered through their means, the claim of the legislature
would have been suffocated in the conquest. Ceded, cr con
quered, countries are supposed to be out of the authority of par
liament. Taxation is exercised over them by prerogative and
not by law. It was attempted to be done in the Grenadas a few
years ago, and the only reason why it was not done was because
the crown had made a prior relinquishment of its claim. There
fore, parliament have been all this while supporting measures for
the establishment of their authority, in the issue of which, they
would have been triumphed over by the prerogative. This might
have opened a new and interesting opposition between the par
liament and the crown. The crown would have said that it con
quered for itself, and that to conquer for parliament was an un
known case. The parliament might have replied, that. America
not being a foreign country, but a country in rebellion, could not
be said to be conquered, but reduced ; and thus continued their
claim by disowning the term. The crown might have rejoined,
that however America might be considered at first, she became
foreign at last by a declaration of independence, and a treaty with
France ; and thai her case being, by that treaty, put within the
law of nations, was out of the law of parliament, who might have
maintained, that as their claim over America had never been sur
rendered, so neither could it be taken away. The crown might
have insisted, that though the claim of parliament could not be
taken away, yet, being an inferior, it might be superseded ; and
that, whether the claim was withdrawn from the object, or the
object taken from the claim, the same separation ensued ; and
that America being subdued after a treaty with France, was to
all intents and purposes a regal conquest, and of course the sole
property of the king. The parliament, as the legal delegates oi
the people, might have contended against the term " inferior,'.'
and rested the case upon the antiquity of power, and this woulo
have brought on a set of very interesting and rational questions.
1st, What is the original fountain of power and honor in any
country? ,,,,,.
2d, Whether the prerogative does not belong to the people ?

THE CRISIS. 179
3d, Whether there is any such thing as the English consti
tution ?
4th, Of what use is the crown to the people?
5th, Whether he who invented a crown was not an enemy to
mankind ?
6th, Whether it is not a shame for a man to spend a million a
year and do no good for it, and whether the money might not be
better applied ?
7th, Whether such a man is not better dead than alive ?
8th, Whether a congress, constituted like that of America, is
not the most happy and consistent form of government in the
world ? — With a number of others of the same import.'
In short, the contention about the dividend might have dis
tracted the nation ; for nothing is more common than to agree in
the conquest and quarrel for the prize ; therefore it is, perhaps,
a happy circumstance, that our successes have prevented the
,¦ *
dispute. If the parliament had been thrown out in their claim, which it
is most probable they would, the nation likewise would have
been thrown out in their expectation ; for as the taxes would
have been laid on by the ciown without the parliament, the reve
nue arising therefrom, if any could have arisen, would not have
gone into the exchequer, but into the privy purse, and so far
from lessening the taxes, would not even have been added lo
them, but served only as pocket money to the crown. The
more I reflect on this matter, the more I am astonished at the
blindness and ill policy of my countrymen, whose wisdom seems
to operate without discernment, and their strength without an
object. To the great bulwark of the nation, I mean the mercantile and
manufacturing part thereof, I likewise present my address. It is
your interest to see America an independent, and not a conquer
ed country. If conquered, she is ruined ; and if ruined, poor ;
consequently the trade will be a trifle, and her credit doubtful.
If independent, she flourishes, and from her flourishing must
your profits arise. It matters nothing to you who governs
America, if yoiir manufactures find a consumption there. Some
articles will Consequently be obtained from other places, and it is
right that they should ; but the demand for others will increase,
by the great influx of inhabitants which a state of independence

ISO THE CRISIS.
and peace will occasion, and in the final event you may be en
riched. The commerce of America is perfectly free, and ever
will be so. She will consign away no part of it to any nation.
She has not to her friends, and certainly will not to her enemies,
though it is probable that your narrow-minded politicians, think
ing to please you thereby, may some time or other unnecessarily
make such a proposal. Trade flourishes best when it is free,
and it is weak policy to attempt to fetter it. Her treaty with
France is on the most liberal and generous principles, and the
Fiench, in their conduct towards her, have proved themselves to
be philosophers, politicians, and gentlemen.
To the ministry I likewise address myself. You, gentlemen,
have studied the ruin of your country, from which it is not within
your abilities to rescue her. Your attempts to recover her are
as ridiculous as your plans which involved her are detestable.
The commissioners, being about to depart, will probably bring
you this, and with it my sixth number, addressed to them ; and
in so doing they carry back more Common Sense than they
brought, and you likewise will have more than when you sent
them. Having thus addressed you severally, I conclude by address
ing you collectively. It is a long lane that has no turning. A
period of sixteen years of misconduct and misfortune, is cer
tainly long enough for any one nation to suffer under : and upon
a supposition that war is not declared between France and you,
I beg to place a line of conduct before you that will easily lead
you out of all your troubles. It has been hinted before, and can
not be too much attended to.
Suppose America had remained unknown to Europe till the
present year, and that Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, in another
voyage round the world, had made the first discovery of her, in
the same condition that she is now in, of arts, arms, numbers,
and civilization. What, I ask, in that case, would have been
your conduct towards her? For that will point out what it
ought to be now. The problems and their solutions are equal,
anil the right line of the one is the parallel of the other. The
question takes in every circumstance that can possibly arise. It
reduces politics to a simple thought, and is moreover a moc'e of
investigation, in which, while you are studying your interest the
simplicity of the case will cheat you into good temper. Eou

THE CRISIS. 181
have nothing to do but to suppose that you have found America,
and she appears found to your hand, and while in the joy of your
heart you stand still to admire her, the path of politics rises
straight before you.
Were I disposed to paint a contrast, I could easily set off what
you have done in the present case, against what you would have
done in that case, and by justly opposing them, conclude a pic
ture that would make you blush. But, as when any of the
prouder passions are hurt, it is much better philosophy to let a
man slip into a good temper than to attack" him in a bad one ;
for that reason, therefore, I only state the case, and leave you to
reflect upon it.
To go a little back into politics, it will be found that the true
interest of Britain lay in proposing and -promoting the indepen
dence of America immediately after the last peace ; for the ex
pense which Britain had then incurred by defending America as
her own dominions, ought to have shown her the policy and ne
cessity of changing the style of the country, as the best probable
method of preventing future wars and expense, and the only
method by which she could hold the commerce without the
charge of sovereignty. Besides which, the title which she as
sumed, of parent country, led to, and pointed out the propriety,
wisdom and advantage of a separation ; for, as in private life,
children grow into men, and by setting up for themselves, extend
and secure the interest of the whole family, so in the settlement
of colonies large enough to admit of maturity, the same policy
should be pursued, and the same consequences would follow.
Nothing hurts the affections both of parents and children so
much, as living too closely connected, and keeping up the dis
tinction too long. Domineering will not do over those, who, by
a progress in life, have become equal in rank to their parents,
that is, when they have families of their own ; and though they
may conceive themselves the subjects of their advice, will not
suppose them the objects of their government. I do not, by
drawing this parallel, mean to admit the title of parent country,
because, if it is due any where, it is due to Europe collectively,
and the first settlers from England were driven here by persecu
tion. I mean only to introduce the term for the sake of policy
and to show from your title the line of your interest.

182 THE CRISIS.
When you saw the state of strength and opulence, and that by
her own industry, which America had arrived at, you ought to
have advised her to set up for herself, and proposed an alliance
of interest with her, and in so doing you would have drawn, and
that at her own expense, more real advantage, and more military
supplies and assistance, both of ships and men, than from any
weak and wrangling government that you could exercise over
her. In short, had you studied only the domestic politics of a
family, you would have learned how to govern the state ; bul,
instead of this easy and natural line, you flew out into every
thing which was wild and outrageous, till, by following the pas
sion and stupidity of the pilot, you wrecked the vessel within
sight of the shore.
Having shown what you ought to have done, I now proceed to
show why it was not done. The caterpillar circle of the court,
had an interest to pursue, distinct from, and opposed to yours ;
for though by the independence of America and an alliance there
with, the trade would have continued, if not increased, as in many
articles neither country can go to a better market, and though by
defending and protecting herself, she would have been no expense
to you, and consequently your national charges would have de
creased, and your taxes might have been proportionably lessened
thereby ; yet the striking off so many places from the court ca
lendar was put in opposition to the interest of the nation. The
loss of thirteen government ships, with their appendages, here
and in England, is a shocking sound in the ear of a hungry cour
tier. Your present king and ministry will be the ruin of you ;
and you had better risk a revolution and call a congress, than be
thus led on from madness to despair, and from despair to ruin.
America has set you the example, and you may follow it and be
free. I now come to the last part, a war with France. This is what
no man in his senses will advise you to, and all good men would
wish to prevent. Whether Fiance will declare war against you,
is not for me in this place to mention, or to hint, even if I knew
it; but it must be madness in you to do it first. The matter is
come now to a full crisis, and peace. is easy if willingly set about.
Whatever you may think, France has behaved handsomely to
you. She would have been unjust to herself to have acted
otherwise than she did ; and having accepted our offer of al-

THE CRISIS. 183
nance she gave you genteel notice of it. There was nothing in
her conduct reserved or indelicate, and while she announced her
determination to support her treaty, she left you to give the first
offence. America, on her part, has exhibited a chaiacter of
firmness to the world. Unprepared and unarmed, without form
or government, she singly opposed a nation that domineered
over half the globe. The greatness of the deed demands re
spect ; and though you may feel resentment, you are compelled
both to wonder and admire.
Here I rest my arguments and finish my address. Such ,as it
is, it is a gift, and you are welcome. It was always my design to
dedicate a Crisis to you, when the time should come that would
properly make it a Crisis ; and when, likewise, I should catch
myself in a temper to write it, and suppose you in a condition to
read it. That time has now arrived, and with it the opportunity
of conveyance. For the commissioners — poor commissioners !
having proclaimed, that " yet forty days and Nineveh shall be
overthrown," have waited out the date, and, discontented with
their God, are returning to their gourd. And all the harm I
wish them is, that it may not wither about their ears, and that
they may not make their exit in the belly of a whale.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 1778.
P. S. Though in the tranquillity of my mind I have concluded
with a laugh, yet I have something to mention to the commis
sioners, which, to them, is serious and worthy their attention.
Their authority is derived from an act of parliament, which like
wise describes and limits their official powers. Their commis
sion, therefore, is only a recital, and personal investiture, of those
powers, or a nomination and description of the persons who are
to execute them. Had it contained any thing contrary to, or
gone beyond the line of, the written law from which it is derived,
and by which it is bound, it would, by the English constitution,
have been treason in the crown, and the king been subject to an
impeachment. He dared not, therefore, put in his commission
what you have put in your proclamation, that is, he dared not
have authorised you in that commission to burn and destroy any
thing in America. You are both in the act and in the commis
sion styled commissioners for restoring peace, and the methods for

184 THE CRISIS.
doing it are there pointed out. Your last proclamation is signed
by you as commissioners under that act. You make parliament
the patron of its contents. Yet, in the body of it, you insert mat
ters contrary both to the spirit and letter of the act, and what
likewise your king dared not have put in his commission to you.
The state of things in England, gentlemen, is too ticklish for you
to run hazards. You are accountable to parliament for the exe
cution of that act according to the letter of it. Your heads may
pay for breaking it, for you certainly have broke it by exceeding
it. And as a friend, who would wish you to escape the paw of
the lion, as well as the belly of the whale, I civilly hint to you, to
keep within compass.
Sir Harry Clinton, strictly speaking, is as accountable as the
rest ; for though a general, he is likewise a commissioner, acting
under a superior authority. His first obedience is due to the
act ; and his plea of being a general, will not and cannot clear
him as a commissioner, for that would suppose^ the crown, in its
single capacity, to have a power of dispensing with an act of par
liament. Your situation, gentlemen, is nice and critical, and the
more so because England is unsettled. Take heed ! Remember
the times of Charles the first ! For Laud and Stafford fell by
trusting to a hope like yours.
Having thus shown you the danger of your proclamation, I now
show you the folly of it. The means contradict your design ;
you threaten to lay waste, in order to render America a useless
acquisition of alliance to France. I reply, that the more destruc
tion you commit (if you could do it) the more valuable to France
you make that alliance. You can destroy only houses and goods ;
and by so doing you increase our demand upon her for materials
and merchandize ; for the wants of one nation, provided it has
freedom and credit, naturally produces riches to the other ; and,
as you can neither ruin the land nor prevent the vegetation, you
would increase the exportation of our produce in payment, which
would be to her a new fund of wealth. In short, had you cast
about for a plan on purpose to enrich your enemies, you could
not have hit upon a better.
C. S.

THE CRISIS.

sro. viii.
ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND.
-" Trusting (says the king of England in his speech of No
vember last,) in the divine providence, and in the justice of my
cause, I am firmly resolved to prosecute the war with vigor,
and to make every exertion in order to compel our enemies to
equitable terms of peace and accommodation." To this de
claration the United States of America, and the confederated
powers of Europe will reply, if Britain will have war, she shall
have enough, of it.
Five years have nearly elapsed since the commencement of
hostilities, and every campaign, by a gradual decay, has lessened
your ability to conquer, without producing a serious thought on
your condition or your fate. Like a prodigal lingering in an ha
bitual consumption, you feel the relics of life, and mistake them
for recovery. New schemes, like new medicines, have adminis
tered fresh hopes, and prolonged the disease instead of curing it.
A change of generals, like a change of physicians, served only
to keep the flattery alive, and furnish new pretences for new ex
travagance. " Can Britain fail?"* Has been proudly asked at the un
dertaking of every enterprize, and that " whatever she wills is
fate,"-f has been given with the solemnity of prophetic con
fidence, and though the question has been constantly replied
to by disappointment, and the prediction falsified by misfor
tune, yet still the insult continued, and your catalogue of na
tional evils increased therewith. Eager to persuade the world '
* Whitehead's new-year's ode for 1776.
f Ode at the installation of lord North, for Chancellor of the university of
Oxford. vol.. i. 24

186 THE CRISIS. ,
of her power, she considered destruction as the minister of
greatness, and conceived that the glory of a nation like that of
an Indian, lay in the number of its scalps and tbe miseries which
it inflicts. Fire, sword and want, as far as the arms of Britain could ex
tend them, have been spread with wanton cruelty along the coast
of America ; and while you, remote from the scene of suffering,
had nothing to lose and as little to dread, the information reached
you like a tale of antiquity, in which the distance of time defaces
the conception, and changes the severest sorrows into convers
able amusement.
This makes the second paper, addressed perhaps in vain, to
the people of England. That advice should be taken wherever
example has failed ; or precept be regarded where warning
is ridiculed, is like a picture of hope resting on despair : but
when time shall stamp with universal currency, the facts you
have long encountered with a laugh, and the irresistible evi
dence of accumulated losses, like the hand writing on the
wall, shall add terror to distress, you will then, in a conflict of
suffering, learn to sympathize with others by feeling for your
selves. The triumphant appearance of the combined fleets in the
channel and at your harbor's mouth, and the expedition of
captain Paul Jones, on the western and eastern coasts of
England and Scotland, will, by placing you in the condi
tion of an endangered country, read to you a stronger lec
ture on the calamities of invasion, and bring to your minds
a truer picture of promiscuous distress, than the most fin
ished rhetoric can describe or the keenest imagination con
ceive. Hitherto you have experienced the expenses, but nothing
of the miseries of war. Your disappointments have been
accompanied with no immediate suffering, and your losses
came to you only by intelligence. Like fire at a distance
you heard not even the cry ; you felt not the danger, you
saw not the confusion. To you every thing has been for
eign but the taxes to support it. You knew not what it
was to be alarmed at midnight with an armed enemy in the
streets. You were strangers to the distressing scene of a
family in flight, and to the thousand restless cares and ten

THE CRISIS. 1S7
der sorrows that incessantly arose. To see women and
children wandering in the severity of winter, with the broken
remains of a well furnished house, and seeking shelter in
every crib and hut, were matters' that you had no concep
tion of. You knew not what it was to stand by and see your
goods chopped for fuel, and your beds ripped to pieces to make
packages for plunder. The misery of others, like a tempestuous
night, added to the pleasures of your own security. You even
enjoyed the storm, by contemplating the difference of conditions,
and that, which carried sorrow into the breasts of thousands,
served but to heighten in you a species of tranquil pride.— Yet
these are but the fainter sufferings of war, when compared with
carnage and slaughter, the miseries of a military hospital, or a
town in flames.
The people of America, by anticipating distress, had fortified
their minds against every species you could inflict. They had
resolved to abandon their homes, to resign them to destruction,
and to seek new settlements rather than submit. Thus familia
rized to misfortune, before it arrived, they bore their portion with
the less regret : the justness of their cause was a continual
source of consolation, and the hope of final victory, which never
left them, served to lighten the load and sweeten the cup allotted
them to drink.
But when their troubles shall become yours, and invasion be
transferred upon the invaders, you will have neither their extend
ed wilderness to fly to, their cause to comfort you, nor their hope
to rest upon. Distress with them was sharpened by no self-re
flection. They had not brought it on themselves. On ' the con
trary, they had by every proceeding endeavored to avoid it, and
had descended even below the mark of Congressional character,
to prevent a war. The national honor or the advantages of in
dependence were matters, which at the commencement of the
dispute, they had never studied, and it was only at the last mo
ment that the measure iwas resolved on. Thus circumstanced,
they naturally and conscientiously felt a dependance upon provi
dence. They had a clear pretension to it, and had they failed
therein, infidelity had gained a triumph.
But your condition is the reverse of theirs. Every thing ypu
suffer you have sought : nay, had you created mischiefs on pur
pose to inherit them, you could not have secured your title by a

IBS THE CRISIS.
firmer deed. The world awakens with no pity at your complaints.
You felt none for others ; you deserve none for yourselves. Na
ture does not interest herself in cases like yours, but, on the con
trary, turns from them with dislike, and abandons them to punish
ment. You may now present memorials to what court you
please, but so far as America is the object, none will listen. The
policy of Europe, and the propensity there in every mind to curb
insulting ambition, and bring cruelty to judgment, are unitedly
against you ; and where nature and interest reinforce each other,
the compact is too intimate to be dissolved.
Make but the case of others your own, and your own theirs,
and you will then have a clear idea of the whole. Had France
acted towards her colonies as you have done, you would have
branded her with every epithet of abhorrence ; and had you like
her, stepped in to succour a struggling people, all Europe must
have echoed with your own applauses. But entangled in the pas
sion of dispute, you see it not as you ought, and form opinions
thereon which suit with no interest but your own. You wonder
that America does not rise in union with you to impose on herself
a portion of your taxes and reduce herself to unconditional sub
mission. You are amazed that the southern powers of Europe
do not assist you in conquering a country which is afterwards to
be turned against themselves ; and that the northern ones do not
contribute to reinstate you in America who already enjoy the
market for naval stores by the separation. You seem surprised
that Holland does not pour in her succours, to maintain you mis
tress of the seas, when her own commerce is suffering by your
act of navigation ; or that any country should study her own in
terest while yours is on the carpet.
Such excesses of passionate folly, and unjust as well as unwise
resentment, have driven you on, like Pharaoh, to unpitied mise
ries, and while the importance of the quarrel shall perpetuate your
disgrace, the flag of America will carry it round the world. The
natural feelings of every rational being will be against you, and
wherever the story shall be told, you will have neither excuse nor
consolation left. With an unsparing hand, and an insatiable mind,
you have desolated the world, to gain dominion and to lose it ;
and while, in a phrenzy of avarice and ambition, the east and the
west are doomed to tributary bondage, you rapidly earned destruc
tion as the wages of a nation.

THE CRISIS. 189
At the thoughts of a war at home, every man amongst you
ought to tremble. The prospect is far more dreadful there than
in America. Here the party that was against the measures of
the continent were in general composed of a kind of neutrals,
who added strength to neither army. There does not exist a
being so devoid of sense and sentiment as to covet " uncondition
al submission," and therefore no man in America could be with
you in principle. Several might from a cowardice of mind, pre
fer it to the hardships and dangers of opposing it ; but the same
disposition that gave them such a choice, unfitted them to act
either for or against us. But England is rent into parties, with
equal shares of resolution. The principle which produced the
war divides the nation. Their animosities are in the highest state
of fermentation, and both sides, by a call of the militia, are in
arms. No human foresight can discern, no conclusion can be
formed, what turn a war might take, if once set on foot by an in
vasion. She is not now in a fit disposition to make a common
cause of her own affairs, and having no conquests to hope for
abroad, and nothing but expenses arising at home, her every thing
is staked upon a defensive combat, and the further she goes the
worse she is off. .
There are situations that a nation may be in, in which peace
or war, abstracted from every other consideration, may be politi
cally right or wrong. When nothing can be lost by a war, but
what must be lost without it, war is then the policy of that coun
try ; and such was the situation of America at the commencement
of hostilities : but when no security can be gained by a war, but
what may be accomplished by a peace, the case becomes re
versed, and such now is the situation of England.
That America is beyond the reach of conquest, is a fact which
experience has shown and time confirmed, and this admitted,
what, I ask, is now the object of contention ? If there be any
honor in pursuing self-destruction with inflexible passion — if na
tional suicide be the perfection of national glory, you may, with
all the pride of criminal happiness, expire unenvied and unrival
led. But when the tumult of war shall cease, and the tempest of
present passions be succeeded by calm reflection, or when those,
who, surviving its fury, shall inherit from you a legacy of debts
and misfortunes, when the yearly revenue shall scarcely be able
to discharge the interest of the one, and no possible remedy be

190 THE CRISIS.
left for the other, ideas, far different from the present, will arise,
and imbitter the remembrance of former follies. A mind dis
armed of its rage, feels no pleasure m contemplating a frantic
quarrel. Sickness of thought, the sure consequence of conduct
like yours, leaves no ability for enjoyment, no relish for resent
ment ; and though, like a man in a fit, you feel not the injury of
the struggle, nor distinguish between strength and disease, the
weakness will nevertheless be proportioned to the violence, and
the sense of pain increase with the recovery.
To what persons or to whose system of politics you owe your
present state of wretchedness, is a matter of total indifference to
America. They have contributed, however unwillingly, to set
her above themselves, and she, in the tranquillity of conquest, re
signs the inquiry. The case now is not so properly who began
the war, as who continues it. That there are men in ah coun
tries to whom a state of war is a mine of wealth, is a fact never
to be doubted. Characters like these naturally breed in the pu
trefaction of distempered times, and after fattening on the dis
ease, they perish with it, or, impregnated with the stench, retreat
into obscurity. ,
But there are several erroneous notions to which you likewise
owe a share of your misfortunes, and which, if'continued, will
only increase your trouble and your losses. An opinion hangs
about the gentlemen of the minority, that America would relish
measures under their administration, which she would not from
the present cabinet. On this rock lord Chatham would have split
had he gained the helm, and several of his survivors are steering
the same course. Such distinctions in the infancy of the argu
ment had some degree of foundation, but they now serve no other
purpose than to lengthen out a war, in which the limits of a dis
pute, being fixed by the fate of arms, and guaranteed by treaties,
are not to be changed or altered by trivial circumstances.
The ministry, and many of the minority, sacrifice their time in
disputing on a question with which they have nothing to do, name
ly, whether America shall be independent or not ? Whereas the
only question that can come under their determination is, whethet
they will accede to it or not ? They confound a military ques
tion with a political one, and undertake to supply by a vote what
they lost by a battle. Say, she shall not be independent, ana it
will signify as much as if they voted against a decree of fate, or

THE CRISIS. 191
say that she shall, and she will be no more independent than be
fore. Questions, which when determined, cannot be executed,
serve only to show the folly of dispute and the weakness of dis
putants. From a long habit of calling America your own, you suppose
her governed by the same prejudices and conceits which govern
Yourselves. Because you have set up a particular denomination
of religion to the exclusion of all others, you imagine she must
do the same, and because you, with an unsociable narrowness of
mind, have cherished enmity against France and Spain, you sup-
Dose her alliance must be defective in friendship. Copying her
notions of the world from you, she formerly thought as you in
structed, but now feeling herself free, and the prejudice removed,
she thinks and acts upon a different system. It frequently hap
pens that in proportion as we are taught to dislike persons and
countries, not knowing why, we feel an ardor of esteem upon the
removal of the mistake : it seems as if something was to be made
amends for, and we eagerly give into every office of friendship, to
atone for the injury of the error.
But, perhaps, there is something in the extent of countries,
which, among the generality of people, insensibly communicates
extension of the mind. The soul of an islander, in its native
state, seems bounded by the foggy confines of the water's edge,
and all beyond affords to him matters only for profit or curiosity,
not for friendship. His island is to him his world, and fixed to
that, his every thing centres in it ; while those, who are inhabit
ants of a continent, by casting their eye over a larger field, take
in likewise a larger intellectual circuit, and thus approaching
nearer to an acquaintance with the universe, their atmosphere of
thought is extended, and their liberality fills a wider space. In
short, our minds seem to be measured by countries when we are
men, as they are by places when we are children, and until some
thing happens to disentangle us from the prejudice, we serve un
der it without perceiving it. *
In addition to this, it may be remarked, that men who study
any universal science, the principles of which are universally
known, or admitted, and applied without distinction to the com
mon benefit of all countries, obtain thereby a larger share of phi
lanthropy than those who only study national arts and improve
ments. Natural philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, carry

192 THE CRISIS.
the mind from the country to the creation, and give it a fitness
suited to the extent. It was not Newton's honor, neither could it
be his pride, that he was an Englishman, but that he was a philo
sopher : the1 heavens had liberated him from the prejudices of an
island, and science had expanded his soul as boundless as his
studies.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, March, 1780.

THE CRISIS.

NO. IX.

3=*=.=

Had America pursued her advantages with half the spirit that
she resisted her misfortunes, she would, before now, have been a
conquering and a peaceful people ; but lulled in the lap of soft
tranquillity, she rested on her hopes, and adversity only has con
vulsed her into action. Whether subtlety or sincerity at the close
of the last year, induced the enemy to an appearance for peace, is
a point not material to know : it is sufficient that we see the effects
it has had on our politics, and that we sternly rise to resent the
delusion. The war, on the part of America, has been a war of natural
feelings. Brave in distress ; serene in conquest ; drowsy while
at rest ; and in every situation generously disposed to peace. A
dangerous calm, and a most heightened zeal, have, as circum
stances varied, succeeded each other. Every passion, but that
of despair, has been called to a tour of duty ; and so mistaken
has been the enemy, of our abilities and disposition, that when she
supposed us conquered, we rose the conquerors. The extensive
ness of the United States, and the variety of their resources ; the
universality of their cause, the quick operation of their feelings, and
the similarity of their sentiments, have, in every trying situation,
produced a something, which, favored by providence, and pursued
with ardor, has accomplished in an instant the business of a cam
paign. We have never deliberately sought victory, but snatched
it ; and bravely undone in an hour, the blotted operations of a
season. The reported fate of Charleston, like the misfortunes of 1776,
has at last called forth a spirit, and kindled up a flame, which per
haps no other event could have produced. If the enemy has cir-
vol. i. 25

194 THE CRISIS
culated a falsehood, they have unwisely aggravated us into life,
and if they have told us a truth, they have unintentionally done us
a service. We were returning with folded arms from the fatigues
of war, and thinking and sitting leisurely down to enjoy repose.
The dependence that has been put upon Charleston threw a
drowsiness over America. We looked on the business done —
the conflict over — the matter settled — or that all which remained
unfinished would follow of itself. In this state of dangerous re
laxation, exposed to the poisonous infusions of the enemy, and
having no common danger to" attract our attention, we were ex
tinguishing, by stages, the ardor we began with, and surrendering
by piece-meals the virtue that defended us.
Afflicting as the loss of Charleston may be, yet if it universally
rouse us from the slumber of twelve months past, and renew in us
the spirit of former days, it will produce an advantage more im
portant than its loss. America ever is what she thinks herself to
be. Governed by sentiment, and acting her own mind, she be
comes, as she pleases the victor or the victim.
It is not the conquest of towns, nor the accidental capture of
garrisons, that can reduce a country so extensive as this. The
sufferings of one part can never be relieved by the exertions of
another, and there is no situation the enemy can be placed in, that
does not afford to us the same advantages which he seeks himself.
By dividing his force, he leaves every post attackable. It is a
mode of war that carries with it a confession of weakness, and
goes on the principle of distress, rather than conquest.
The decline of the enemy is visible, not only in their operations,
but in their plans ; Charleston originally made but a secondary
object in the system of attack, and it is now become their principle-
one, because they have not been able to succeed elsewhere. It
would have carried a cowardly appearance in Europe had they
formed their grand expedition, in 1776, against a part of the con
tinent where there was no army, or not a sufficient one to oppose
them ; but failing year after year in their impressions here, and to
the eastward and northward, they deserted their capital design, and
prudently contenting themselves with what they can get, give a
flourish of honor to conceal disgrace.
But this piece-meal work is not conquering the continent. It
is a discredit in them to attempt it, and in us to suffer it. It is
now full time to put an end to a war of aggravations, which, on one

THE CRISIS. 195
side, has no possible object, and on the other, has every induce
ment which honor, interest, safety and happiness can inspire. If
we suffer them much longer to remain among us, we shall become
as bad as themselves. An association of vice will reduce us more
than the sword. A nation hardened in the practice of iniquity
knows better how to profit by it, than a young country newly cor
rupted. We are not a match for them in the line of advantageous
guilt, nor they for us on the principles which we bravely set out
with. Our first days were our days of honor. They have marked the
character of America wherever the story of her wars are told : and
convinced of this, we have nothing to do, but wisely and unitedly
to tread the well known track. The progress of a war is often as
ruinous to individuals, as the issue of it is to a nation ; and it is not
only necessary that our forces be such that we be conquerors in the
end, but that by timely exertions we be secure in the interim. The
present campaign will afford an opportunity which has never pre
sented itself before, and the preparations for it are equally neces
sary, whether Charleston stand or fall. Suppose the first, it is in
that case only a failure of the enemy, not a defeat. All the con
quest that a besieged town can hope for, is, not to be conquered ;
and compelling an enemy to raise the siege, is to the besieged
a victory, But there must be a probability amounting almost to
certainty, that would justify a garrison marching out to attack a
retreat. Therefore should Charleston not be taken, and the ene
my abandon the siege, every other part of the continent should pre
pare to meet them ; and, on the contrary, should it be taken, the
same preparations are necessary to balance the loss, and put our
selves in a condition to co-operate with our allies, immediately on
their arrival.
We are not now fighting our battles alone, as we were in 1776 ;
England, from a malicious disposition to America, has not only
not declared war against France and Spain, but the better to pro
secute her passions here, has afforded -those powers no military
object, and avoids them, to distress us. She will suffer her West
India islands to be overrun by France, and her southern settle
ments to be taken by Spain, rather than quit the object that grati
fies her revenge. This conduct, on the part of Britain, has point
ed out the propriety of France sending a naval and land force to
co-operate with America on the spot. Their arrival cannot be
very distant, nor the ravages of the enemy long. The recruit-

196 THE CRISIS.
ing the army, and procuring the supplies, are the two things most
necessary to be accomplished, and a capture of either of the
enemy's divisions will restore to America peace and plenty.
At a crisis, big, like the present, with expectation and events,
the whole country is called to unanimity and exertion. Not an
ability ought now to sleep, that can produce but a mite to the
general good, nor even a whisper to pass that militates against
it. The necessity of the case, and the importance of the conse
quences, admit no delay from a friend, no apology from an ene
my. To spare now, would be the height of extravagance, and to
consult present ease, would be to sacrifice it perhaps forever.
America, rich in patriotism and produce, can want neither men
nor supplies, when a serious necessity calls them forth. The
slow operation of taxes, owing to the extensiveness of collec
tion, and their depreciated value before they arrived in the trea
sury, have, in many instances, thrown a burden upon govern
ment, which has been artfully interpreted by the enemy into a
general decline throughout the country. Yet this, inconvenient as
it may at first appear, is not only remediable, but may be turned to
an immediate advantage ; for it makes no real difference, whether
a certain number of men, or company of militia (and in this coun
try every man is a militia-man) are directed by law to send a re
cruit at their own expense, or whether a tax is laid on them for that
purpose, and the man hired by government afterwards. The first,
if there is any difference, is both cheapest and best, because it
saves the expense which would attend collecting it as a tax, and
brings the man sooner into the field than the modes of recruiting
formerly used ; and, on this principle, a law has been passed in
this state, for recruiting two men from each company of militia,
which will add upwards of a thousand to the force of the country.
But the flame which has broke forth in this city since the report
from New- York, of the loss of Charleston, not only does honor to
the place, but, like the blaze of 1776, will kindle into action the
scattered sparks throughout America. The valor of a country
may be learned by the bravery of its soldiery, and the general cast
of its inhabitants, but confidence of success is best discovered by
the active measures pursued by men of property; and wher the
spirit of enterprise becomes so universal as to act at once on ail
ranks of men, a war may then, and not till then, be styled truly
popular.

THE CRISIS. 197
In 1776, the ardor of the enterprising part was considerably
checked by the real revolt of some, and the coolness of others.
But in the present case, there is a firmness in the substance and
property of the country to the public cause. An association has
been entered into by the merchants, tradesmen, and principal
inhabitants of the city, to receive and support the new state
money at the value of gold and silver ; a measure which, while
it does them honor, will likewise contribute to their interest, by
rendering the operations of the campaign convenient and effec
tual. Nor has the spirit of exertion stopped here. A voluntary
subscription is likewise began, to raise a fund of hard money, to
be given as bounties, to fill up the full quota of the Pennsylvania
line. It has been the remark of the enemy, that every thing in
America has been done by the force of government ; but when
she sees individuals throwing in their voluntary aid, and facilitating
the public measures in concert with the established powers of the
country, it will convince her that the cause of America stands not
on the will of a few, but on the broad foundation of property and
popularity. Thus aided and thus supported, disaffection will decline, and
the withered head of tyranny expire in America. The ravages of
the enemy will be short and limited, and like all their former ones,
will produce a victory over themselves.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia,- June 9, 1780.
6^" At the time of writing this number of the Crisis, the loss
of Charleston, though believed by some, was more confidently
disbelieved by others. But there ought to be no longer a doubt
upon the matter. Charleston is gone, and I believe for the want
of a sufficient supply of provisions. The man that does not now
feel for the honor of the best and noblest cause that ever a country ¦
engaged in, and exert himself accordingly, is no longer worthy of
a peaceable residence among a people determined to be free.
C. S.

THE CRISIS.

NO. X.

ON THE SUBJECT OF TAXATION.
It is impossible to sit down and think seriously on the affairs
¦of America, but the original principles on which she resisted, and
the glow and ardor which they inspired, will occur like the un-
defaced remembrance of a lovely scene. To trace over in
imagination the purity of the cause, the voluntary sacrifices that
were made to support it, and all the various turnings of the war in
its defence, is at once both paying and receiving respect. The
principles deserve to be remembered, and to remember them
rightly is repossessing them. In this indulgence of generous re
collection, we become gainers by what we seem to give, and the
more we bestow the richer we become.
So extensively right was the ground on which America pro
ceeded, that it not only took in every just and liberal sentiment
which could impress the heart, but made it the direct interest ol
every class and order of men to defend the country. The war, on
the part of Britain, was originally a war of covetousness. The
sordid, and not the splendid passions gave it being. The fertile
fields and prosperous infancy of America appeared to her as mines
for tributary wealth. She viewed the hive, and disregarding the
industry that had enriched it, thirsted for the honey. But in the
present stage of her affairs, the violence of temper is added to the
rage of avarice ; and therefore, that which at the first setting out
proceeded from purity of principle and public interest, is now
heightened by all the obligations of necessity ; for it requires
but little knowledge of human nature to discern what would be
the consequence, were America again reduced to the subjection

THE CRISIS. 199
of Britain. Uncontrolled power, in the hands of an in
censed, imperious, and rapacious conqueror, is an engine of
dreadful execution, and wo be to that country over which it can be
exercised. The names of whig and tory would then be sunk in
the general term of rebel, and the oppression, whatever it might
be, would, with very few instances of exception, light equally on
all. Britain did not go to war with America for the sake of dominion,
because she was then in possession ; neither was it for the ex
tension of trade and commerce, because she had monopolized the
whole, and the country had yielded to it ; neither was it to
extinguish what she might call rebellion, because before she began
no resistance existed. It could then be from no other motive than
avarice, or a design of establishing, in the first instance, the same
taxes in America as arewpaid in England (which, as I shall pre
sently show, are above eleven times heavier than the taxes we
now pay for the present year, 1780) o'r, in the second instance, to
confiscate the whole property of America, in case of resistance ¦
and conquest of the latter, of which she had then no doubt.
I shall now proceed to show what the taxes in England are, and
what the yearly expense of the present war is to her — what the
taxes of this country amount to, and whatthe annual expense of
defending it effectually will be to us ; and shall endeavor con
cisely to point out the cause of our difficulties, and the advantages
on one side, and the consequences on the other, in case we do, or
do not, put ourselves in an effectual state of defence. I mean
to be open, candid, and. sincere. I see a universal wish to expel
the enemy from the country, a murmuring because the war is not
carried on with more vigor, and my intention is to show, as
shortly as possible, both thereason and the remedy.
The number of souls in England (exclusive of Scotland and
Ireland) is seven millions,* and the number of souls in America
is three millions.
The amount of taxes in England (exclusive Of Scotland and
Ireland) was, before the present war commenced, eleven millions
six hundred and forty-two thousand six hundred and fifty-three
pounds sterling ; which, on an average, is no less a sum than one
pound thirteen shillings and three-pence sterling per head per
* This is taking the highest number that the people of England have been,
or can be rated at.

200 THE CRISIS.
annum, men, women and children ; besides county taxes, taxes
for the support of the poor, and a tenth of all the produce of the
earth for the support of the bishops and clergy.* Nearly five
millions of this sum went annually to pay the interest of the
national debt, contracted by former wars, and the remaining sum
of six millions six hundred and forty-two thousand six hundred
pounds was applied to defray the yearly expense of government,
the peace establishment of the army and navy, placemen, pen
sioners, &c, consequently the whole of the enormous taxes being
thus appropriated, she had nothing to spare out of them towards
defraying the expenses of the present war or any other. Yet had
she not been in debt at the beginning of the war, as we were not,
and, like us, had only a land and not a naval war to carry on, her
then revenue of eleven millions and a half pounds sterling would
have defrayed all her annual expensesipf war and government
within each year
But this not being the case with her, she is obliged to borrow
about ten millions pounds sterling, yearly, to prosecute the war
that she is now engaged in, (this year she borrowed twelve) and
lay on new taxes to discharge the interest ; allowing that the pre
sent war has cost her only fifty millions sterling, the interest
thereon, at five per cent., will be two millions and an half; there
fore the amount of her taxes now must be fourteen millions,
* The following is taken from Dr. Price's state of the taxes of England, p.
96, 97, 98.
An account of the money drawn from the public by taxes, annually, being
the medium of three years before the year 1776.
Amount of customs in England 2,52S,275Z
Amount of the excise in England 4,649,892
Land tax at 3s. , 1,300,000
Land tax at. Is. in the pound 450,000
Salt duties 218,739
Duties on stamps, cards, dice, advertisements, bonds, leases,
indentures, newspapers, almanacks, &c. 280,788
Duties on houses and windows 385,369
Post office, seizures, wine licences, hackney coaches, &c 250,000
Annual profits from lotteries 150,000
Expense of collecting the excise in England 297,887
Expense of collecting the customs in England 468,700
' Interest of loans on the land tax at 4s. expenses of collec
tion, militia, &c. 250,000
Perquisites, &c. to custom-house officers, &c supposed 250,000
Expense of collecting the salt duties in England 10 1-2 per
cent. 27,000
Bounties on fish exported 18,000
Expense of collecting the duties on stamps, cards, adver
tisements, &c. at 5 and 1-4 per cent. 18,000
Total 11,642,6531.

THE CRISIS, 201
wftich on an average is no less than forty shillings sterling, per
head, men, women and children, throughout the nation. Now as
this expense of fifty millions was borrowed on the hopes of con
quering America, and as it was avarice which first induced her to
¦commence the war, how truly wretched and deplorable would the
condition of this country be, were she, by her own remissness, to
suffer an enemy of such a disposition, and so circumstanced, to
reduce her to subjection.
I now proceed to the revenues of America.
I have already stated the number of souls in America to be
three millions, and by a calculation that I have made, which 1
have every reason to believe is sufficiently correct, the whole
expense of the war, and the support of the several governments,
maybe defrayed for two million pounds sterling annually; which,
on an average, is thirteen shillings and four pence per head, men,
women, and children, and' the peace establishment at the end of
the war, will be but three quarters of a million, or five shillings
sterling per head. Now, throwing out of the question every thing
¦of honor, principle, happiness, freedom and reputation in the
world, and taking it up on the simple ground of interest, I put the
following case :
Suppose Britain was to conquer America, and, as a conqueror,
was to lay her under no other conditions than to pay the same
proportion towards her annual revenue which the people of Eng
land pay ; our share, in that case, would be six million pounds
sterling yearly ; can it then be a question, whether it is best to
raise two millions to defend the country, and govern it ourselves,
and only three quarters of a million afterwards, or pay six millions
to have it conquered, and let the enemy govern it ?
Can it be supposed that conquerors would choose to put them-
¦selves in a worse condition than what they granted to the conquer
ed ? In England, the tax on rum is five shillings and one penny
sterling per gallon, which is one silver dollar and fourteen coppers.
Now would it not be laughable to imagine, that after the expense
they have been at, they would let either whig or tory drink it
cheaper than themselves ? Coffee, which is so inconsiderable an
article of consumption and support here, is there loaded with a
duty, which makes the price between five and six shillings per
pound, and a penalty of fifty pounds sterling on any person detect
ed in roasting it in his own house. There is scarcely a necessary
TO! , i, 26

202 THE CRISIS.
of life that you can eat, drink, wear, or enjoy, that is not there
loaded with a tax ; even the light from heaven is only permitted
to shine into their dwellings by paying eighteen pence sterling
per window annually ; and the humblest drink of life, small beer,
cannot there be purchased without a tax of nearly two coppers
per gallon, besides a heavy tax upon the malt, and another on tho
hops before it is brewed, exclusive of a land-tax on the earth which
produces them. In short, the condition of that country, in point
of taxation, is so oppressive, the number of ber poor so great, and
the extravagance and rapaciousness of the court so enormous,
that, were they to effect a conquest of America, it is then only that
the distresses of America would begin. Neither would it signifj
any thing to a man whether he be whig or tory. The people o<
England, and the ministry of that country, know us by no such dis
tinctions. What they want is clear, solid revenue, and the modes
which they would take to procure it, would operate alike on all.
Their manner of reasoning would be short, because they would
naturally infer, that if we were able to carry on a war of five or siy
years against them, we were able to pay the same taxes which
they do.
I have already stated that the expense of conducting the present
war, and the government of the several slates, may be done for
two millions sterling, and the establishment in the time of peace,
for three quarters of a million.*
As to navy matters, they flourish so well, and are so well at
tended to by individuals, that I think it consistent on every
principle of real use and economy, to turn the navy into hard
money (keeping only three or four packets) and apply it to the
service of the army. We shall not have a ship the less ; the use
of them, and the benefit from them, will be greatly increased, and
their expense saved. We are now allied with a formidable naval
power, from whom we derive the assistance of a navy. And the
line in which we can prosecute the war, so as to reduce the com
mon enemy and benefit the alliance most effectually, will be by
attending closely to the land service.
I estimate the charge of keeping up and maintaining an army
officering them, and all expenses included, sufficient for the de-
* I have made the calculations in sterling, because it is a rate generally
Known in all the states, and because, likewise, it admits of an easy compari
son between our expenses to support the war, and those of the enemy. Four
silver dollars and a half is one pound sterling, and three pence over.

THE CRISIS. 203
fence of the country, to be equal to the expense of forty thousand
men at thirty pounds sterling per head, which is one million two
hundred thousand pounds.
I likewise allow four hundred thousand pounds for continental
expenses at home and abroad.
And four hundred thousand pounds for the support of the several
state governments — the amount will then be,
For the army f,200,000Z.
Continental expenses at home and abroad 400,000
Government of the several states 400,000

Total 2,000,000?.
I take the proportion of this state, Pennsylvania, to be an
eighth part of the thirteen United States ; the quota then for us to
raise will be two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling ; two
hundred thousand of which will be our share for the support and
pay of the army, and continental expenses at home and abroad,
and fifty thousand pounds for the support of the state government.
In oi der to gain an idea of the proportion in which the raising
such a sum will fall, I make the following calculation.
Pennsylvania contains three hundred and seventy-five thousand
inhabitants, men, women and children ; which is likewise an eighth
of the number of inhabitants of the whole United States : there
fore, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling to be raised
among three hundred and seventy-five thousand persons, is, on an
average, thirteen shillings and four pence per head, per annum, or
something more than one shilling sterling per month. And our
proportion of three quarters of a million for the government of
the country, in time of peace, will be ninety-three thousand seven
hundred and fifty pounds sterling ; fifty thousand of which will be
for the government expenses of the state, and .forty-three thou
sand seven hundred and fifty pounds for continental expenses
at home and abroad.
The peace establishment then will, on an average, be five
shillings sterling per head. Whereas, was England now to stop,
and the war cease, her peace establishment would continue the
same as it is now, viz. forty shillings per head ; therefore was our
taxes necessary for carrying on the war, as much per head as hers
now is, and the difference to be only whether we should, at the
end of the war, pay at the rate of 'five shillings per head, or fortv

204 THE CRISIS.
shillings per head, the case needs no thinking of. But as we
can securely defend and keep the country for one third less than
what our burden would be if it was conquered, and support the
governments afterwards for one eighth of what Britain would levy
on us, and could I find a miser whose heart never felt the emotion
of a spark of principle, even that man, uninfluenced by every love
but the love of money, and capable of no attachment but to his
interest, would and must, from the frugality which governs him,
contribute to the defence of the country, or he ceases to be a
miser and becomes an ideot. But when we take in with it every
thing that can ornament mankind ; when the line of our interest
becomes the line of our happiness ; when all that can cheer and
animate the heart ; when a sense of honor, fame, character, at
home and abroad, are interwoven not only with the security but
the increase of property, there exists not a man in America, unless
he be an hired emissary, who does not see that his good is connect
ed with keeping up a sufficient defence.
I do not imagine that an instance can be produced in the world,
of a country putting herself to such an amazing charge to
conquer and enslave another, as Britain has done. The sum
is too great for her to think of with any tolerable degree of
temper ; and when we consider the burden she sustains, as well as
the disposition she has shown, it would be the height of folly in us
to suppose that she would not reimburse herself by the most rapid
means, had she America once more within her power. With such
an oppression of expense, what would an empty conquest be to
her ! What relief under such circumstances could she derive from
a victory without a prize ? It was money, it was revenue she first
went to war for, and nothing but that would satisfy her. It is not
the nature of avarice to be satisfied with any thing else. Every
passion that acts upon mankind has a peculiar mode of opera
tion. Many of them are temporary and fluctuating ; they admit
of cessation and variety. But avarice is a fixed, uniform passion.
It neither abates of its vigor nor changes its object ; and the rea
son why it does not, is founded in the nature of things, for wealth
has not a rival where avarice is a ruling passion. One beauty
may excel another, and extinguish from the mind of man the pic
tured remembrance of a former one : but wealth is the phoenix of
avarice, and therefore cannot seek a new object, because there is
not another in the world.

THE CRISIS. 205
I now pass on to show the value of the present taxes, and com
pare them with the annual expense ; but this I shall preface with a
few explanatory remarks.
There are two distinct things which make the payment of taxes
difficult ; the one is the large and real value of the sum to be paid,
and the other is the scarcity of the thing in which the payment is
to be made ; and although these appear to be one and the same,
they are in several instances not only different, but the difficulty
springs from different causes.
Suppose a tax to be laid equal to one half of what a man's
yearly income is, such a tax could not be paid, because the pro
perty could not be spared ; and on the other hand, suppose a
very trifling tax was laid, to be collected in pearls, such a tax like
wise could not be paid, because they could not be had. Now any
person may see that these are distinct cases, and the latter of
them is a representation of our own.
That the difficulty cannot proceed from the former, that is, from
the real value or weight of the tax, is evident at the first view to
any person who will consider it.
The amount of the quota of taxes for this state, for the present
year, 1780, (and so in proportion for every other state) is twenty
millions of dollars, which, at seventy for one, is but sixty-four
thousand two hundred and eighty pounds three shillings sterling,
and on an average, is no more than three shillings and fivepence
sterling per head, per annum, per man, woman and child, or three
pence two-fifths per head per month. Now here is a clear,
positive fact, that cannot be contradicted, and which proves that
the difficulty cannot be in the weight of the tax, for in itself it is a
trifle, and far from being adequate to our quota of the expense of
the war. The quit-rents of one penny sterling per acre on only
one half of the state, come to upwards of fifty thousand pounds,
which is almost as much as all the taxes of the present year, and
as those quit-rents made no part of the taxes then paid,, and are
now discontinued, the quantity of money drawn for "public service
this year, exclusive of the militia fines, which I shall take notice
of in the process of this work, is less than what was paid and pay
able in any year preceding the revolution, and since the last war :
what I mean is, that the quit-rents and taxes taken together came
to a larger sum then, than the present taxes without the quit-rents
do now.

206 THE CRISIS.
My intention by these arguments and calculations is to place the
difficulty to the right cause, and show that it does not proceed
from the weight or worth of the tax, but from the scarcity of the
medium in which it is paid ; and to illustrate this point still fur
ther, I shall now show, that if the tax of twenty millions of dollars
was of four times the 'real value it now is, or nearly so, which
would be about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling,
and would be our full quota, this sum would have been raised with
more ease, and have been less felt, than the present sum of only
sixty-four thousand two hundred and eighty pounds.
The convenience or inconvenience of paying a tax in money
arises from the quantity of money that can be spared out of trade.
When the emissions stopped, the continent was left in posses
sion of two hundred millions of dollars, perhaps as equally dis
persed as it was possible for trade to do it. And as no more was
to be issued, the rise or fall of prices could neither increase nor
diminish the quantity: It therefore remained the same through
all the fluctuations of trade and exchange.
Now had the exchange stood at twenty for one, which was the
rate congress calculated upon when they arranged the quota of the
several states, the latter end of last year, trade would have been
carried on for nearly four times less money than it is now, and
consequently the twenty millions would have been spared with
much greater ease, and when collected would have been of almost
four times the value that they now are. And on the other hand,
was the depreciation to be ninety or one hundred for one, the
quantity required for trade would be more than at sixty or seventy
for one, and though the value of them would be less, the difficulty
of sparing the money out of trade would be greater. And on
these facts and arguments I rest the matter, to prove that it is not
the want of property, but the scarcity of the medium by which the
proportion of property for taxation is to be measured out, that
makes the embarrassment which we lie under. There is not
money enough, and, what is equally as true, the people will not let
there be money enough.
While I am on the subject of the currency, I shall offer one re
mark which will appear true to every body, and can be accounted
for by nobody, which is, that the better the times were, the worse
the money grew ; and the worse the times were, the better the
money stood. It never depreciated by any advantage obtained

THE CRISIS. 207
by the enemy. The troubles of 1776, and the loss of Philadel
phia in 1777, made no sensible impression on it, and every one
knows that the surrender of Charleston did not produce the least
alteration in the rate of exchange, which, for long before, and for
more than three months after, stood at sixty for one. It seems as
if the certainty of its being our own, made us careless of its value,
and that the most distant thoughts of losing it made us hug it the
closer, like something we were loth to part with ; or that we de
preciate it for our pastime, which, when called to seriousness by
the enemy, we leave off to renew again at our leisure. In short,
our good luck seems to break us, and our bad makes us whole.
Passing on from this digression, I shall now endeavor to bring
into one view the several parts which I have already stated, and
form thereon some propositions, and conclude.
I have placed before the reader, the average tax per head, paid
by the people of England ; which is forty shillings sterling.
And I have shown the rate on an average per head, which will
defray all the expenses of the war to us, and support the several
governments without running the country into debt, which is thir
teen shillings and fourpence.
I have shown what the peace establishment may be conducted
for, Viz. an eighth part of what it would be, if under the govern
ment of Britain.
And I have likewise shown what the average per head of the
present taxes are, namely, three shillings and fivepence sterling,
or threepence two-fifths per month ; and that their whole yearly
value, in sterling, is only sixty-four thousand two hundred and
eighty pounds. Whereas our quota, to keep the payments equal
with the expenses, is two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
Consequently, there is a deficiency of one hundred and eighty-five
thousand seven hundred and twenty pounds, and the same pro
portion of defect, according to the several quotas, happens in every
other state. And this defect is the cause why the army has been
so indifferently fed, clothed and paid. It is the cause, likewise,
of the nerveless state of the campaign, and the insecurity of the
country. N°w, if a tax equal to thirteen and fourpence per head,
will remove all these difficulties, and make people secure in their
homes, leave them to follow the business of their stores and farms
unmolested, and not only keep out, but drive out the enemy from
Ihe country ; and if the neglect of raising this sum will let them

208 THE CRISIS.
in, and produce the evils which might be prevented — on which
side, I ask, does the wisdom, interest and policy lie ? Or, rather,
would it not be an insult to reason, to put the question ? The sum
when proportioned out according to the several abilities of the
people, can hurt no one, but an inroad from the enemy ruins
hundreds of families.
Look at the destruction done in this city. The many houses
totally destroyed, and others damaged ; the waste of fences in the
country round it, besides the plunder of furniture, forage, and
provisions. I do not suppose that half a million sterling would
reinstate the sufferers ; and, does this, I ask, bear any proportion
to the expense that would make us secure. The damage, on an
average, is at least ten pounds sterling per head, which is as much
as thirteen shillings and fourpence per head comes to for fifteen
years. The same has happened on the frontiers, and in the Jer
seys, New- York, and other places where the enemy has been —
Carolina and, Georgia are likewise suffering the same fate.
That the people generally do not understand the insufficiency
of the taxes to carry on the war, is evident, not only from com
mon observation, but from the construction of several peti
tions, which were presented to the assembly of this state, against
the recommendation of congress of the 18th of March last, for
taking up and funding the present currency at forty for one, and
issuing new money in its stead. The prayer of the petition was,
that the currency might be appreciated by taxes (meaning the pre
sent taxes) and that part of the taxes be applied to the support of
the army, if the army could not be otherwise supported. Now it
could not have been possible for such a petition to have been pre
sented, had the petitioners known, that so far from part of the
taxes being sufficient for the support of the army, the whole of them
falls three-fourths short of the year's expenses.
Before I proceed to propose methods by which a sufficiency ot
money may be raised, I shall take a short view of the general state
of the country.
Notwithstanding the weight of the war, the ravages of the
enemy, and the obstructions she has thrown in the way of trade
and commerce, so soon does a young country outgrow misfor
tune, that America has already surmounted many that heavily
oppressed her. For the first year or two of the war, we were shut
up within our ports, scarce venturing to look towards the ocean.

THE CRISIS. 209
Now our rivers are beautified with large and valuable vessels, our
stores filled with merchandize, and the produce of the country has
a ready market, and an advantageous price. Gold and silver,
that for a while seemed to have retreated again within the bowels
of the earth, have once more risen into circulation, and every day
adds new strength to trade, commerce and agriculture. In a
pamphlet, written by Sir John Dalrymple, and dispeised in Ameri
ca in the year 1775, he asserted, that, two twenty-gun ships, nay,
says he, tenders of those ships, stationed between Albemarle sound
and Chesapeake bay, would shut up the trade of America for 600
miles. How little did Sir John Dalrymple know of the abilities
of America !
While under the government of Britain, the trade of this country
was loaded with restrictions. It was only a few foreign ports
which we were allowed to sail to. Now it is otherwise ; and al
lowing that the quantity of trade is but half what it was before the
war, the case must show the vast advantage of an open trade,
because the present quantity under her restrictions could not sup
port itself ; from which I infer, that if half the quantity without the
restrictions can bear itself up nearly, if not quite, as well as the
whole fwhen subject to them, how prosperous must the condition
of America be when the whole shall return open with all the world.
By the trade I do not mean the employment of a merchant only,
but the whole interest and business of the country taken collec
tively. It is not so much my intention, by this publication, to propose
particular plans for raising money, as it is to show the necessity
and the advantages to be derived from it. My principal design is
to form the disposition of the people to the measures which I am
fully persuaded it is their interest and duty to adopt, and which
needs no other force to accomplish them than the force of being
felt. But as every hint may be useful, I shall throw out a sketch,
and leave others to make such improvements upon it as to them
may appear reasonable.
The annual sum wanted is two millions, and the average rate
m which it falls, is thirteen shillings and fourpence per head.
Suppose, then, that we raise half the sum and sixty thousand
pounds over. The average rate thereof will be seven shillings
per head.
vol i. 27

210 THE CRISIS.
In this case we shall have half the supply that we want, and as
annual fund of sixty thousand pounds whereon to borrow the
other million ; because sixty thousand pounds is the interest vif a
million at six per cent. ; and if at the end of another year we should
be obliged, by the continuance of the war, to borrow another
million, the taxes will be increased to seven shillings and six
pence ; and thus for every million borrowed, an additional tax,
a jua.1 to sixpence per head, must be levied.
The sum to be raised next year will be one million and sixty
thousand pounds : one half of which I would propose should be
raised by duties on imported goods, and prize goods, and the
other half by a tax on landed property and houses, or such other
means as each state may devise.
But as the duties on imports and prize goods must be the same
in all the states, therefore the rate per cent., or what other form
the duty shall be laid, must be ascertained and regulated by con
gress, and ingrafted in that form into the law of each state : and
the monies arising therefrom carried into the treasury of each state.
The duties to be paid in gold or silver. .
There are many reasons why a duty on imports is the most
convenient duty or tax that can be collected ; one of which is, be
cause the whole is payable in a few places in a country, and it
likewise operates with the greatest ease and equality, because as
every one pays, in proportion to what he consumes, so people in
general consume in proportion to what they can afford, and there
fore the tax is regulated by the abilities which every man supposes
himself to have, or in other words, every man becomes his own
assessor, and pays by a little at a time, when it suits him to buy.
Besides, it is a tax which people may pay or let alone by not con
suming the articles ; and though the alternative may have no
influence on their conduct, the power of choosing is an agreeable
thing to the mind. For my own part, it would be a satisfaction to
me, was there a duty on all sorts of liquors during the war, as in
my idea of things it would be an addition to the pleasures of
society, to know, that when the health of the army goes round, a
few drops from every glass become theirs. How often have I
heard an emphatical wish, almost accompanied with a tear, " Ohr
that our poor fellows in the field had some of this! " Why then
need we suffer under a fruitless sympathy, when there is a way t©>
enjoy both the wish and the entertainment at oncet

THE CRISIS. 211
But the great national policy of putting a duty upon imports is,
that it either keeps the foreign trade in our own hands, or draws
something for the defence of the country from every foreigner
who participates it with us.
Thus much for the first half of the taxes, and as each state will
best devise means to raise the other half, I shall confine my
remarks to the resources of this state.
The quota, then, of this state, of one million and sixty thousand
pounds, will be one hundred and thirty-three thousand two hun
dred and fifty pounds, the half of which is sixty-six thousand six
hundred and twenty-five pounds ; and supposing one fourth part
of Pennsylvania inhabited, then a tax of one bushel of wheat on
every twenty acres of land, one with another, would produce the
sum, and all the present taxes to cease. Whereas, the tithes o
the bishops and clergy in England, exclusive of the taxes, are up
wards of half a bushel of wheat on every single acre of land, good
and bad, throughout the nation.
In the former part of this paper, I mentioned the militia fines,
but reserved speaking to the matter, which I shall now do. The
ground I shall put it upon is, that two millions sterling a year will
support a sufficient army, and all the expenses of war and govern
ment, without having recourse to the inconvenient method of
continually calling men from their employments, which, of all
others, is the most expensive and the least substantial. I consider
the revenues created by taxes as the first and principal thing, and
fines only as secondary and accidental things. It was not the
intention of the militia law to apply the fines to any thing else but
the support of the militia, neither do they produce any revenue to
the state, yet these fines amount to more than all the taxes : for
taking the muster-roll to be sixty thousand men, the fine on forty
thousand who may not attend, will be sixty thousand pounds
sterling, and those who muster, will give up a portion of time
equal to half that sum, and if the eight classes should be called
within the year, and one third turn out, the fine on the remaining
forty thousand would amount to seventy-two millions of dollars,
besides the fifteen shillings on every hundred pounds of property,
and the charge of seven and a half per cent, for collecting, in cer
tain instances, which, on the whole, would be upwards of two
hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

212 THE CRISIS.
Now if those very fines disable the country from raising a
sufficient revenue without producing an equivalent advantage,
would it not be for the ease and interest of all parties to increase
the revenue, in the manner I have proposed, or any better, if a
better can be devised, and cease the operation of the fines ? I
would still keep the militia as an organized body of men, and
should there be a real necessity to call them forth, pay them out of
the proper revenues of the state, and increase the taxes a third or
fourth per cent, on those who do not attend. My limits will not
allow me to go further into this matter, which I shall therefore
close with this remark ; that fines are, of all modes of revenue,
the most unsuited to the minds of a free country. When a man
pays a tax, he knows that the public necessity requires it, and
therefore feels a pride in discharging his duty ; but a fine seems
an atonement for neglect of duty, and of consequence is paid with
discredit, and frequently levied with severity.
I have now only one subject more to speak of, with which I
shall conclude, which is, the resolve of congress of the 18th of
March last, for taking up and funding the present currency at
forty for one, and issuing new money in its stead.
Every one knows that I am not the flatterer of congress, but in
this instance they are right ; and if that measure is supported, the
currency will acquire a value, which, without it, it will not. But
this is not all : it will give relief to the finances until such time as
they can be properly arranged, and save the country from being
immediately double taxed under the present mode. In short,
support that measure, and it will support you.
I have now waded through a tedious course of difficult business,
and over an untrodden path. The subject, on every point in
which it could be viewed, was entangled with perplexities, and
enveloped in obscurity, yet such are the resources of America,
that she wants nothing but system to secure success.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, Oct. 6, 1780.

THE CRISIS.

NO. XI.

ON THE KING OF ENGLAND'S SPEECH.
i
Op all the innocent passions which actuate the human mind,
there is none more universally prevalent than curiosity. It
reaches all mankind, and in matters which concern us, or concern
us not, it alike provokes in us a desire to know them.
Although the situation of America, superior to every effort to
enslave her, and daily rising to importance and opulence, hath
placed her above the region of anxiety, it has still left her within
the circle of curiosity ; and her fancy to see the speech of a man
who had proudly threatened to bring her to his feet, was visibly
marked with that tranquil confidence which cared nothing about
its contents. It was inquired after with a smile, read with a laugh,
and dismissed with disdain.
But, as justice is due, even to an enemy, it is right to say, that
the speech is as well managed as the embarrassed condition of
their affairs could well admit of ; and though hardly a line of it is
true, except the mournful story of Cornwallis, it may serve to
amuse the deluded commons and people of England, for whom it
was calculated.
" The war," says the speech, " is still unhappily prolonged
by that restless ambition which first excited our enemies to
commence it, and which still continues to disappoint my earnest
wishes and diligent exertions to restore the public tranquillity."

214 THE CRISIS.
How easy it is to abuse truth and language, when men, by ha
bitual wickedness, have learned to set justice at defiance. That
the very man who began the war, who with the most sullen inso
lence refused to answer, and even to hear the humblest of all
petitions, who hath encouraged his officers and his army in the
most savage cruelties, and the most scandalous plunderings, who
hath stirred up the Indians on one side, and the negroes on the
other, and invoked every aid of hell in his behalf, should now,
with an affected air of pity, turn the tables from himself, and
charge to another the wickedness that is his own, can only be
equalled by the baseness of the heart that spoke it.
To be nobly wrong is more manly than to be meanly right, is
an expression I once used on a former occasion, and it is equally
applicable now. We feel something like respect for consistency
even in error. We lament the virtue that is debauched into a
vice, but the vice that affects a virtue becomes the more detest
able : and amongst the various assumptions of character, which
hypocrisy has taught, and men have practised, there is none that
raises a higher relish of disgust, than to see disappointed invete
racy twisting itself, by the most visible falsehoods, into an ap
pearance of piety which it has no pretensions to.
" But I should not," continues the speech, " answer the trust
committed to the sovereign of a free people, nor make a suitable
return to my subjects for their constant, zealous, and affectionate
attachment to my person, family and government, if I consented
to sacrifice, either to my own desire of peace, or to their tempo
rary ease and relief, those essential rights and permanent interests,
upon the maintenance and preservation of which, the future
strength and security of this country must principally depend."
That the man whose ignorance and obstinacy first involved
and still continues the nation in the most hopeless and expensive
of all wars, should now meanly flatter them with the name of a
free people, and make a merit of his crime, under the disguise of
their essential rights and permanent interests, is something which
disgraces even the character of perverseness. Is he afraid they
will send him to Hanover, or what does he fear ? Why is the
sycophant thus added to the hypocrite, and the man who pretends
to govern, sunk into the humble and submissive memorialist ?
What those essential rights and permanent interests are, on
which the future strength and security of England must princi-

THE CRISIS. 215
pally depend, are not so much as alluded to. They are words
which impress nothing but the ear, and are calculated -only for the
sound. But if they have any reference to America, then do they
amount to the disgraceful confession, that England, who once as
sumed to be her protectress, has now become her dependant.
The British king and ministry are constantly holding up the vast
importance which America is of to England, in order to allure
the nation to carry on the war : now, whatever ground there is for
Jhis idea, it ought to have operated as a reason for not beginning
it ; and, therefore, they support their present measures to their
own disgrace, because the arguments which they now use, are a
direct reflection on their former policy.
" The favorable appearance of affairs," continues the speech,
" in the East Indies, and the safe arrival of the numerous com
mercial fleets of my kingdom, must have given you satisfaction."
That things are not quite so bad every where as in America
may be some cause of consolation, but can be none for triumph.
One broken leg is better than two, but still it is not a source of
joy : and let the appearance of affairs in the East Indies be ever
so favorable, they are nevertheless worse than at first, without a
prospect of their ever being better. But the mournful story of
Cornwallis was yet to be told, and it was necessary to give it the
softest introduction possible.
" But in the course of this year," continues the speech, " my
assiduous endeavors to guard the extensive dominions of my
crown have not been attended with success equal to the justice
and uprightness of my views." — What justice and uprightness
there was in beginning a war with America, the world will judge
of, and the unequalled barbarity with which it has been conducted,
is not to be worn from the memory by the cant of snivelling
hypocrisy. " And it is with great concern that I inform you that the
events of war have been very unfortunate to my arms in Virginia,
having ended in the loss of my forces in that province." — And
our great concern is that they are not all served in the same
manner. " No endeavors have been wanting on my part," says the
speech, " to extinguish that spirit of rebellion which our enemies
have found means to foment and maintain in the colonies ; and to

216 THE CRISIS.
restore to my deluded subjects in America that happy and pros
perous condition which they formerly derived from a due obe
dience to the laws."
The expression of deluded subjects is become so hacknied and
contemptible, and the more so when we see them making prison
ers of whole armies at a time, that the pride of not being laughed
at would induce a man of common sense to leave it off. But
the most offensive falsehood in the paragraph, is the attributing'
the prosperity of America to a wrong cause. It was the unre
mitted industry of the settlers and their descendants, the hard
labor and toil of persevering fortitude, that were the true causes
of the prosperity of America. The former tyranny of England
served to people it, and the virtue of the adventurers to improve
it. Ask the man, who, with his axe hath cleared a way in the
wilderness, and now possesses an estate, what made him rich,
, and he will tell you the labor of his hands, the sweat of his brow,
and the blessing of heaven. Let Britain but leave America to
herself and she asks no more. She has risen into greatness
without the knowledge and against the will of England, and has
a right to the unmolested enjoyment of her own created wealth.
" I will order," says the speech, " the estimates of the ensuing
year to be laid before you. I rely on your wisdom and public
spirit for such supplies as the circumstances of our affairs shall
be found to require. Among the many ill consequences which
attend the continuation of the present war, I most sincerely re
gret the additional burdens which it must unavoidably bring upon
my faithful subjects."
It Js strange that a nation must run through such a labyrinth, of
trouble, and expend such a mass of wealth to gain the wisdom
which an hour's reflection might have taught. The final supe
riority of America over every attempt that an island might make
to conquer her, Was as naturally marked in the constitution of
things, as the future ability of a giant over a dwarf is delineated
in his features while an infant. How far providence, to accom
plish purposes which no human wisdom could foresee, permitted
such extraordinary errors, is still a secret in the womb of time,
and must remain so till futurity shall give it birth.
" In the prosecution of this great and important contest," says
the speech, " in which we are engaged, I retain a firm confidence
in the protection of divine providence, and a perfect conviction in

THE CRISIS. 217
the justice of my cause, and I have no doubt, but, that by the
concurrence and support of my parliament, by the valour of my
fleets and armies, and by a vigorous, animated, and united exer
tion of the faculties and resources of my people, I shall be en
abled to restore the blessings of a safe and honorable peace to
all my dominions."
The king of England is one of the readiest believers in the
world. In the beginning of the contest he passed an act to put
America out of the protection of the crown of England, and
though providence, for seven years together, hath put him out of
her protection, still the man has no doubt. Like Pharaoh on the
edge of the Red sea, he sees not the plunge he is making, and
precipitately drives across the flood that is closing over his head.
I think it is a reasonable supposition, that this part of the
speech was composed before the arrival of the news of the cap
ture of Cornwallis : for it certainly has no relation to their con
dition at the time it was spoken. But, be this as it may, it is
nothing to us. Our line is fixed. Our lot is cast ; and America,
the child of fate, is arriving at maturity. We have nothing to do
but by a spirited and quick exertion, to stand prepared for war or
peace. Too great to yield, and too noble to insult ; superior to
misfortune, and generous in success, let us untaintedly preserve
the character which we have gained, and show to future ages an
example of unequalled magnanimity. There is something in the
cause and consequence of America that has drawn on her the
attention of all mankind. The world has seen her brave. Her
love of liberty ; her ardour in supporting it ; the justice of her
claims, and the constancy of her fortitude has won her the esteem
of Europe, and attached to her interest the first power in that
country. Her situation now is such, that to whatever point, past, present
or to come, she casts her eyes, new matter rises to convince her
that she is right.. In her conduct towards her enemy, no re
proachful sentiment lurks in secret. No sense of injustice is
left upon the mind. Untainted with ambition, and a stranger to
revenge, her progress hath been marked by providence, and she,
in every stage of the conflict, has blest her with success.
But let not America wrap herself up in delusive hope and sup
pose the business done. The least remissness in preparation,
the least relaxation in execution, will only serve to prolong tho
vol. i, 28

218 t,H:e crisis.
war, and increase expenses. If our enemies can draw consola
tion from misfortune, and exert themselves upon despair, how
much more ought we, who are to win a continent by the conquest,
and have already an earnest of success ?
Having, in the preceding part, made my remarks on the seve
ral matters which the speech contains, I shall now make my re
marks on what it does not contain.
There is not a syllable in it respecting alliances. Either the
injustice of Britain is too glaring, or her condition too desperate,
or both, for any neighboring power to come to her support. In
the beginning of the contest, when she had only America to con
tend with, she hired assistance from Hesse, and other smaller
states of Germany, and for nearly three years did America,
young,, raw, undisciplined and unprovided, stand against the
power of Britain, aided by twenty thousand foreign troops, and
made a complete conquest of one entire army. The remem
brance of those things ought to inspire us with confidence and
greatness of mind, and carry us through every remaining difficul
ty with content and cheerfulness. What are the little sufferings
of the present day, compared with the hardships that are past ?
There was a time, when we had neither house nor home in safety ;
when every hour was the hour of alarm and danger ; when the
mind, tortured with anxiety, knew no repose^and every thing but
hope and fortitude, was bidding us farewell.
It is of use to look back upon these -things ; to call to mind
the times of trouble and the scenes of complicated anguish that
are past and gone. Then every expense was cheap, compared
with the dread of conquest and the misery of submission. We
did not stand debating upon trifles, or contending about the ne
cessary and unavoidable charges of defence. Every one bore
his lot of suffering, and looked forward to happier days, and
scenes of rest.
Perhaps one of the greatest dangers which any country can be
exposed to, arises from a kind of trifling which sometimes steals
upon the mind, when it supposes the danger past ; and this un
safe situation marks at this time the peculiar crisis of America.
What would she once have given to have known that her con
dition at this day should be what it now is ? And yet we do not
seenr to place a proper value upon it, nor vigorously pursue the
necessary measures to secure, itt We know that we cannot be

• THE CRISIS. ;'&t&
defended, nor yet defend ourselves, without trouble and expense,.
We Jiave no right to expect it ; neither ought we to look for it
We are a people, who, in our situation, differ from all the world.
We form one common floor of public good, and, Whatever is om
charge, it. is paid for our own interest and upon our owa'accbunt.
Misfortune and experience have now taught us system and
method; and the arrangements for carrying on the war are re
duced to rule and order. The quotas of the several state?, are
ascertained, and I intend in a future publication to show what they
are, and the necessity as well as the advantages of vigorously
providing them.
In the mean time, I shall conclude this paper with an instance
of British clemency, from Smollett's'History of England, vol. xi.
p. 239, printed in London. It will serve to show how dismal the
situation of a conquered people is, and that the only security is
an effectual defence.
We all know that the Stuart family and the house of Hanover
opposed each other for the crown of England. The Stuart family
stood first in the line of succession, but the other was the most
successful. In July, 1745, Charles, the son of the exiled king, landed in
Scotland, collected a, small force, at no time exceeding five or Six
thousand men, and made some attempts to re-establish his claim.
The late duke of Cumberland, uncle to the present king of Eng
land, was sent against him, and on the 16th of April following,
Charles was totally defeated at Cullodcn, in Scotland. Success
and power are the only situations in which clemency can be shown,
and those who are cruel, because they are victorious, can With
the same facility act any other degenerate character.
" Immediately after the decisive action at Culloden, the duke
of Cumberland took possession of Invernessj; where six and
thirty deserters, convicted by a court martial, were ordered to be
executed : then he detached several parties to ravage the coun
try. One of these apprehended the lady Mackintosh, who was
sent prisoner to Inverness, plundered her house, and drove away
her cattle, though her husband was actually in the service of the
government. The castle of lord Lovat was destroyed. The
French prisoners were sent to Carlisle and Penrith : Kilmarnock,
Balmerino, Cromartie, and his son, the lord Macleod, were con
veyed by sea to London ; and those of an inferior rank were

220 THE CRISIS.
confined in different prisons. The marquis of Tullibardine, to
gether with a brother of the earl of Dunmore, and Murray,
the pretender's secretary, were seized and transported to the
tower of London, to which the earl of Traquaire had been com
mitted on suspicion ; and the eldest son of , lord Lovat was impri
soned in the castle of Edinburgh. In a word, all the jails in
Great Britain, from the capital, northwards, were filled with those
unfortunate captives ; and great numbers of them were crowded
together in the holds of ships, where they perished in the most de
plorable manner, for want of air and exercise. Some rebel chiefs
escaped in two French frigates that arrived on the coast of Loch-
aber about the end of April, and engaged three vessels belong
ing to his Britannic majesty, which they obliged to retire. Others
embarked on board a ship on the coast of Buchan, and were con
veyed to Norway, from whence they travelled to Sweden. In the
month of May, the duke of Cumberland advanced with the army
into the Highlands, as far as fort Augustus, where he encamped ;
and sent off detachments on all hands, to hunt down the fugitives,
and lay waste the country with fire and sword. The castles of
Glengary and Lochiel were plundered -«nd burned ; every house,
hut, or habitation, met with the same fate, without distinction ;
and all the cattle and provision were carried off ; the men were
either shot upon the mountains, like wild beasts, or put to death
in cold blood, without form of trial ; the women, after having
seen their husbands and fathers murdered, were subjected to bru
tal violation, and then turned out naked, with their children, to
starve on the barren heaths. One whole family was enclosed in
a barn, and consumed to ashes. Those ministers of vengeance
were so alert in the execution of their office, that in a few days
there was neither house, cottage, man, nor beast, to be seen within
the compass of fifty miles ; all was ruin, silence, and desolation."
I have here presented the reader with one of the most shocking
instances of cruelty ever practised, and I leave it to rest on his
mind, that he may be fully impressed with a sense of the destruc
tion he has escaped, in case Britain had conquered America ; and
likewise, that he may see and feel the necessity, as well for his
own personal safety, as for the honor, the interest, and happiness
of the whole community, to omit or delay no one preparation
necessary to secure the ground which we so happily stand upon.

THE CRISIS. 221

TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA.
On the expenses, arrangements and disbursements for carrying on
the war, and finishing it with honor and advantage.
When any necessity or occasion has pointed out the conve
nience of addressing the public, I have never made it a considera
tion whether the subject was popular or unpopular, but whether it
was right or wrong ; for that which is right will become popular,
and that which is wrong, though by mistake it may obtain the cry
or fashion of the day, will soon lose the power of delusion, and
sink into disesteem.
A remarkable instance of this happened in the case of Silas
Deane ; and I mention this circumstance with the greater ease,
because the poison of his hypocrisy spread over the whole
country, and every man, almost without exception, thought me
wrong in opposing him. The best friends I then had, except Mr.
Laurens, stood at a distance, and this tribute, which is due to his
constancy, I pay to him with respect, and that the readier,
because he is not here to hear it. If it reaches him in his im
prisonment, it will afford him an agreeable reflection.
" As he rose like a rocket, he would fall like a stick," is a meta
phor which I applied to Mr. Deane, in the first piece which I
published respecting him, and he has exactly fulfilled the descrip
tion. The credit he so unjustly obtained from the public, he lost
in almost as short a time. The delusion perished as it fell, and
he soon saw himself stripped of popular support. His more
intimate acquaintances began to doubt, and to desert him long
before he left America, and at his departure, he saw himself the
object of general suspicion. When he arrived in France, he
endeavored to effect by treason what he had failed to accomplish
by fraud. His plans, schemes and projects, together with his
expectation of being sent to Holland to negotiate a loan of money,
had all miscarried. He then began traducing and accusing
America of every crime, which could injure her reputation.
" That she was a ruined country ; that she only meant to make a
tool of France, to get what money she could out of her, and then
to leave her, and accommodate with Britain." Of all which and
much more, colonel Laurens and myself, when in France,

222 ' V?he" crisis.
informed Dr. Franklin, who had not before heard of it. And to
complete the eharacter^of a traitor, he has, •by' letters to this
country since, some of which, in his own hand writing, are now in
the possession of congress, used every expression and argument
in his power, to injure the reputation of France, and to advise
America to renounce her alliance, and surrender up her indepen
dence.* Thus in France he abuses America, and in his letters
to America he abuses France ; and is endeavoring to create
disunion between the two countries, by the same arts of double-
dealing by which he caused dissentions among the commissioners
in Paris, and distractions in America. But his life has been fraud,
and his character is that of a plodding/plotting, cringing mercenary,
capable of any disguise that suited his purpose. His final detec
tion has very happily cleared up those mistakes, and removed that
uneasiness, which his unprincipled conduct occasioned. Every
one now Sees him in the same light ; for towards friends or
enemies he acted with the same deception and injustice, and his
name, like that of Arnold, ought now to be forgotten among us.
As this is the first time that I have mentioned him since my return
from France, it is my intention that it shall be the last. From
this digression, which for several reasons I thought necessary to
give, I now proceed to the purport of my address.
I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's
. war, the public's war, or tho war of the people in thejr own behalf,
for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their
own property. It is not the war of congress, the war of the
assemblies, or the war of goyernment in any line whatever. The
country first, by a mutual compact, resolved to defend their rights
and maintain their independence, at the hazard of their lives and
fortunes, they elected their representatives, by whom they appoint
ed their members of congress, and said, act you for us, and we will
support you. This is the true ground and principle of the war on
the part of America, and, consequently, there remains nothing to
do, but for every one to fulfil his obligation.
* Mr. William Marshall, of this city, formerly a pilot, who had been taken
at sea and carried to England, and got from thence to France, brought over
letters from Mr. Deane to America, one of which was directed to " Robert
Morris, Esq." Mr. Morris sent it unopened to congress, and advised Mr.
Marshall to deliver the others there, which he did. The letters were of the
same purport with thoce which have been already published under the signature
of S. Deane, to which they had frequent reference.

THE CRISIS. 223
It was next to impossible that a new country, engaged in a new
undertaking, could set off systematically right at first. She saw not
the extent of the struggle that she was involved in, neither could
she avoid the beginning. She supposed every step that she took,
and every resolution which she formed, would bring her enemy to
reason and close the contest. Those failing, she was forced into
new measures ; and these, like the former, being fitted to her
expectations, and failing in their turn, left her continually unpro
vided, and without system. . The enemy, likewise, was induced to
prosecute the war, from the temporary expedients we adopted for
carrying it on. We were continually expecting to see their credit
exhausted, and they were looking to see our currency fail ; and
thus, between their watching us, and we them, the hopes of both
have been deceived, and the childishness of the expectation has
served to increase the expense.
Yet who, through this wilderness of error, has been to blame ?
Where is the man who can say the fault, in part, has not been his ?
They were the natural, unavoidable errors of the day. They
were the errors of a whole country, which nothing but experience
could detect and time remove. Neither could the circumstances
of America admit of system, till either the paper currency was
fixed or laid aside. No calculation of a finance could be made
on a medium failing without reason, and fluctuating without rule.
But there is one error which might have been prevented
and was not ; and as it is not my custom to flatter, but to serve
mankind, I will speak it freely. It certainly was the duty of
every assembly on the continent to have known, at all times,
what was the condition of its treasury, and to have ascertained at
every period of depreciation, how much the real worth of the taxes
fell short of their nominal value. This knowledge, which might
have been easily gained, in the time of it, would have enabled
them to have kept their constituents well informed, and this is one
of the greatest duties of representation. They ought to have
studied and calculated the expenses of the war, the quota of each
state, and the consequent proportion that would fallon each man's
property for his defence ; and this must easily have shown to
them, that a tax of one hundred pounds could not be paid by a
bushel of apples or an hundred of flour, which was often the case
two or three years ago. But instead of this, which would have
been plain and upright dealing, the little line of temporary popu-

224 THE CRISIS.
larity, the feather of an hour's duration, was too much pursued ;
and in this involved condition of things, every state, for the want
of a little thinking, or a little information, supposed that it sup
ported the whole expenses of the war, when in fact it fell, by the
time the tax was levied and collected, above three-fourths short of
its own quota.
Impressed with a sense of the danger to which the country was
exposed by this lax method of doing business, and the prevailing
errors of the day, I published, last October was a twelvemonth,
the Crisis No. X., on the revenues of America, and the yearly
expense of carrying on the war. My estimation of the latter,
together with the civil list of congress, and the civil list of the
several states, was two million pounds sterling, which is very
nearly nine millions of dollars.
Since that time, congress have gone into a calculation, and
have estimated the expenses of the war department and the civil
list of congress (exclusive of the civil list of the several govern
ments) at eight millions of dollars ; and as the remaining million
will be fully sufficient for the civil list of the several states, the
two calculations are exceedingly near each other.
The sum of eight millions of dollars they have called upon the
states to furnish, and their quotas are as follows, which I shall
preface with the resolution itself.
" By the United States in congress assembled. October 30, 1781.
" Resolved, That the respective states be called upon to furnish
the treasury of the United States with their quotas of eight millions
of dollars, for the war department and civil list for the ensuing
year, to be paid quarterly, in equal proportions, the first payment
to be made on the first day of April next.
" Resolved, That a committee consisting of a member from
each state, be appointed to apportion to the severalstates the
quota of the above sum.
" November 2d. The committee appointed to ascertain the
proportions of the several states of the monies to be raised for
the expenses of the ensuing year, report the following resolu
tions :

THE CRISIS. 225
" That the sum of eight millions of dollars, as required to be
raised by the resolutions of the 30th of October last, be paid by
the states in the following proportion :
New-Hampshire  $ 373,598
Massachusetts  1,307,596
Rhode Island  216,684
Connecticut  747,196
New-York  373,598
New-Jersey  485,679
Pennsylvania  1,120,794
Delaware  112,085
Maryland  933,996
Virginia  1,307,594
North Carolina  622,677
South Carolina  373,59S
Georgia <  24,905
$8,000,000
" Resolved, That it be recommended to the several states, to
«ay taxes for raising their quotas of money for the United States,
separate from those laid for their own particular use."
On these resolutions I shall offer several remarks.
1st, On the sum itself, and the ability of the country.
2d, On the several quotas, and the nature of a union.
And, 3d, On the manner of collection and expenditure.
1st, On the sum itself, and the ability of the country. As I
know my own calculation is as low as possible, and as the sum
called for by congress, according to their calculation, agrees very
nearly therewith, I am sensible it cannot possibly be lower.
Neither can it be done for that, unless there is ready money to go
to market with ; and even in that case, it is only by the utmost
management and economy that it can be made to do.
By the accounts which were laid before the British parliament
last spring, it appeared that the charge of only subsisting, that is,
feeding their army in America, cost annually four million pounds
sterling, which is very nearly eighteen millions of dollars. Now
if, for eight millions, we can feed, clothe, arm, provide for, and
pay an army sufficient for our defence, the very comparison
shows that the money must be well laid out.
It may be of some use, either in debate or conversation, to
attend to the progress of the expenses of an army, because it will
enable us to see on what part any deficiency will fall.
voii. I. 29

226 THE CRISIS.
The first thing is, to feed them and provide for the ssck.
Second, to clothe them.
Third, to arm and furnish them.
Fourth, to provide means for removing them from place to
place. And,
Fifth, to pay them.
The first and second are absolutely necessary to them as men.
The third and fourth are equally as necessary to them as an army.
And the fifth is their just due. Now if the sum which shall be
raised should fall short, either by the several acts of the states for
raising it, or by the manner of collecting it, the deficiency will fall
on the fifth head, the soldiers' pay, which would be defrauding
them, and eternally disgracing ourselves. " It would be a blot on
the councils, the country, and the revolution of America, and a
man would hereafter be ashamed to own that he had any hand
in it.
But if the deficiency should be still shorter, it would next fall on
the fourth head, the means of removing the army from place to
place ; and, in this case, the army must either stand still where it
can be of no use, or seize on horses, carts, wagons, or any means
of transportation which it can lay hold of ; and in this instance
the country suffers. In short, every attempt to do a thing for less
than it can be done for, is sure to become at last both a loss and
a dishonor. But the country cannot bear it, say some. This has been the
most expensive doctrine that ever was held out, and cost America
millions of money for nothing. Can the country bear to be over
run, ravaged, and ruined by an enemy ? This will immediately
follow where defence is wanting, and defence will ever be wanting
where sufficient revenues are not provided. But this is only one
part of the folly. The second is, that when the danger comes,
invited in part by our not preparing against it, we have been
obliged, in a number of instances, to expend double the sums to
do that which at first might have been done for half the money.
But this is not all. A third mischief has been, that grain < of all
sorts, flour, beef, fodder, horses, carts, wagons, or whatever was
absolutely or immediately wanted, have been taken without pay.
Now, I ask, why was all this done, but from that extremely weak
and expensive doctrine, that the country could not bear it ? That
is, that she could not bear, in the first instance, that which would

THE CRISIS. 227
have saved her twice as much at last ; or, in proverbial language,
that she could not bear to pay a penny to? save a pound ; the con
sequence of which has been, that she has paid a pound for a
penny. Why are there so many unpaid certificates in almost
every man's hands, but from the parsimony of not providing suffi
cient revenues ? Besides, the doctrine contradicts itself ; because,
if the whole country cannot bear it, how is it possible that a part
should ? And yet this has been the case : for those things have
been had ; and they must be had ; but the misfortune is, that they
have been obtained in a very unequal manner, and upon expensive
credit, whereas, with ready money, they might have been purchased
for half the price, and nobody distressed.
But there is another thought which ought to strike us, which is,
now is the army to bear the want of food, clothing and other
necessaries ? The man who is at home, can turn himself a thou
sand ways, and find as many means of ease, convenience or
relief: but a soldier's life admits of none of those: their wants
cannot be supplied from themselves : for an army, though it is the
defence of a state, is at the same time the child of a country, or
must be provided for in every thing.
And lastly, The doctrine is false. There are not three millions
of people in any part of the universe, who live so well, or have
such a fund of ability as in America. The income of a common
laborer, who is industrious, is equal to that of the generality of
tradesmen in England. In the mercantile line, I have not heard
of one who could be said to be a bankrupt since the war began,
and in England they have been without number. In America
almost every farmer lives on his own lands, and in England not
one in a hundred does. In short, it seems as if the poverty of that
country had made them furious, and they were determined to risk
all to recover all.
Yet, notwithstanding those advantages on the part of America,
true it is, that had it not been for the operation of taxes for our
necessary defence, we had sunk into a state of sloth and poverty :
for there was more wealth lost by neglecting to till the earth in the
years 1776, '77, and '78, than the quota of taxes amounts to.
That which is lost by neglect of this kind, is lost for ever : whereas
that which is paid, and continues in the country, returns to us
again ; and at the same time that it provides us with defence, it
operates not only as a spur, but as a premium to our industry.

228 THE CRISIS.
I shall now proceed to the second head, viz. on the several
quotas, and the nature of a union.
There was a time when America had no other bond of union,
than that of common interest and affection. The whole country
flew to the relief of Boston, and, making her cause their own, par
ticipated in her cares and administered to her wants. The fate
of war, since that day, has carried the calamity in a ten-fold pro
portion to the southward ; but in the mean time the union has been
strengthened by a legal compact of the states, jointly and severally
ratified, and that which before was choice, or the duty of affection,
is now likewise the duty of legal obligation.
The union of America is the foundation-stone of her indepen
dence ; the rock on which it is built ; and is something so sacred
In her constitution, that we ought to watch every word we speak,
and every thought we think, that we injure it not, even by mistake.
When a multitude, extended, or rather scattered, over a continent
in the manner we were, mutually agree to form one common
centre whereon the whole shall move, to accomplish a particular
purpose, all parts must act together and alike, or act not at all,
and a stoppage in any one is a stoppage of the whole, at least for
a time. Thus the several states have sent representatives to assemble
together in congress, and they have empowered that body, which
thus becomes their centre, and are no other than themselves in
representation, to conduct and manage the war, while their con
stituents at home attend to the domestic cares of the country
their internal legislation, their farms, professions or employments :
for it is only by reducing complicated things to method and or
derly connexion that they can be understood with advantage, or
pursued with success. Congress, by virtue of this delegation,
estimates the expense, and apportions it out to the several parts
of the empire according to their several abilities ; and here the
debate must end, because each state has already had its voice,
and the matter has undergone its whole portion of argument, and
can no more be altered by any particular state, than a law of any
state, after it has passed, can be altered by any individual. For
with respect to those things which immediately concern the union,
and for which the union was purposely established, and is intended
to secure, each state is to the United States what each individual
is to the state he lives in. And it is on this grand point, thi'

\

THE CRISIS. 229
¦ -' 1
movement upon one centre, that our existence as a nation, our
happiness as a people, and our safety as individuals, depend.
It may happen that some state or other may be somewhat over
or under rated, but this cannot be much. The experience which
has been had upon the matter, has nearly ascertained their several
abilities. But even in this case, it can only admit of an appeal to
the United States, but cannot authorise any state to make the
alteration itself, any more than our internal government can admit
an individual to do so in the case of an act of assembly ; for if
one state can do it, then may another do the same, and the instant
this is done the whole is undone.
Neither is it supposable that any single state can be a judge ol
all the comparative reasons which may influence the collective
body in arranging the quotas of the continent, The circumstan
ces of the several states are frequently varying, occasioned by the
accidents of war and commerce, and it will often fall upon some
to help others, rather beyond what their exact proportion at
another time might be ; but even this assistance is as naturally
and politically included in the idea of a union, as that of any par
ticular assigned proportion ; because we know not whose turn it
may be next to want assistance, for which reason that state is the
wisest which sets thehest example.
Though in matters of bounden duty and reciprocal affection, it
is rather a degeneracy from the honesty and ardour of the heart to
admit any thing selfish to partake in the government of our con
duct, yet in cases where our duty, our affections, and our interest
all coincide, it may be of some use to observe their union. The
United States will become heir to an extensive quantity of vacant
land, and their several titles to shares and quotas thereof, will
naturally be adjusted according to their relative quotas, during the
war, exclusive of that inability which may unfortunately arise to
any state by the enemy's holding possession of a part ; but as
this is a cold matter of interest, I pass it by, and proceed to my
third head, viz.

230 THE CRISIS.
ON THE MANNER OF COLLECTION AND EXPENDITURE.
It hath been our error, as well as our misfortune, to blend the
affairs of each state, especially in money matters, with those of
the United States ; whereas it is our ease, convenience and
interest, to keep them separate. The expenses of the United
States for carrying on the war, and the expenses of each state for
its own domestic government, are distinct things, and to involve
them is a source of perplexity and a cloak for fraud. I love
method, because I see and am convinced of its beauty and advan
tage. It is that which makes all business easy and understood,
and without which, every thing becomes embarrassed and difficult.
There are certain powers which the people of each state have
delegated to their legislative and executive bodies, and there are
other powers which the people of every state have delegated to
congress, among which is that of conducting the war, and, conse
quently, of managing the expenses attending it ; for how else can
that be managed, which concerns every state, but by a delegation
from each ? When a state has furnished its quota, it has an un
doubted right to know how it has been applied, and it is as much
the duty of congress to inform the state of the one, as it is the
<3uty of the state to provide the other.
In the resolution of congress already recited, it is recommended
to the several states to lay taxes for raising their quotas of money
for the United States, separate from those laid for their own par
ticular use.'
This is a most necessary point to be observed, and the distinc
tion should follow all the way through. They should be levied,
paid and collected, separately, and kept separate in every instance.
Neither have the civil officers of any state, or the government of
that state, the least right to touch that money which the people pay
for the support of their army and the war, any more than congress
has to touch that which each state raises for its own use.
This distinction will naturally be followed by another. It will
occasion every state to examine nicely into the expenses of its
civil list, and to regulate, reduce, and bring it into better order
than it has hitherto been ; because the money for that purpose
must be raised apart, and accounted for to the public separately.
But while the monies of both were blended, the necessary nicety

THE CRISIS. 231
was not observed, and the poor soldier, who ought to have been
the first, was the last who was thought of.
Another convenience will be, that the people, by paying the
taxes separately, will know what they are for ; and will likewise
know that those which are for the defence of the country will cease
with thb war, or soon after. For although, as I have before ob
served, the war is their own, and for the support of their own
rights and the protection of their own property, yet they have the
same right to know, that they have to pay, and it is the want of
not knowing that is often the cause of dissatisfaction.
This regulation of keeping the taxes separate has given rise to
a regulation in the office of finance, by which it is directed,
" That the receivers shall, at the end of every month, make out
an exact account of the monies received by them respectively,
during such month, specifying therein the names of the persons
from whom the same shall have been received, the dates and the
sums ; which account they shall respectively cause to be pub
lished in one of the newspapers of the state ; to the end that every
citizen may know how much of the monies collected from him, in
taxes, is transmitted to the treasury of the United States for the
support of the war ; and also, that it may be known what monies
have been at the order of the superintendant of finance. It
being proper and necessary, that, in a free country, the people
should be as fully informed of the administration of their affairs
as the nature of things will admit."
It is an agreeable thing to see a spirit of order and economy
taking place, after such a series of errors and difficulties. A
government or an administration, who means and acts honestly,
has nothing to fear, and consequently has nothing to conceal ;
and it would be of use if a monthly or quarterly account was to
be published, as well of the expenditures as of the receipts. Eight
millions of dollars must be husbanded with an exceeding deal of
care to make it do, and, therefore, as the management must be
reputable, the publication would be serviceable.
I have heard of petitions which have been presented to the as
sembly of this state (and probably the same may have happened in
other states) praying to have the taxes lowered. Now the only
way to keep taxes low is, for the United States to have ready
money to go to market with : and though the taxes to be raised
for the present year will fall heavy, and there will naturally be

232 THE CRISIS.
some difficulty in paying them, yet the difficulty, in proportion as
money spreads about the country, will every day grow less, and
in the end we shall save some millions of dollars by it. We see
what a bitter, revengeful enemy we have to deal with, and any
expense is cheap compared to their merciless paw. We have
seen the unfortunate Carolineans hunted like partridges on the
mountains, and it is only by providing means for our defence, that
we shall be kept from the same condition. When we think or
talk about taxes, we ought to recollect that we lie down in peace
and sleep in safety ; that we can follow our farms or stores or
other occupations, in prosperous tranquillity ; and that these ines
timable blessings are procured to us by the taxes that we pay
In this view, our taxes are properly our insurance money ; they
are what we pay to be made safe, and, in strict policy, are the best
money we can lay out.
It was my intention to offer some remarks on the impost law of
five per cent, recommended by congress, and to be established as a
fund for the payment of the loan-office certificates, and other debts
of the United States ; but I have already extended my piece be
yond my intention. And as this fund will make our system of
finance complete, and is strictly just, and consequently requires
nothing but honesty to do it, there needs but little to be said
upon it.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, March 5, 1782.

THE CRISIS.

NO. XII.
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF NEWS.
Since the arrival of two, if not three packets, in quick succes
sion, at New-York, from England, a variety of unconnected news
has circulated through the country, and afforded as great a variety
of speculation. That something is the matter in the cabinet and councils of our
enemies, on the other side of the water, is certain — that they have
run their length of madness, and are under the necessity of,
changing their measures may easily be seen into ; but to what
this change , of measures may amount, or how far it may corres
pond with our interest, happiness and duty, is yet uncertain ; and
from what we have hitherto experienced, we have too much reason
to suspect them in every thing.
I do not address this publication so much to the people of
America as to the British ministry, whoever they may be, for if it
is their intention to promote any kind of negotiation, it is proper
they should know beforehand, that the United States have as
much honor as bravery ; and that they are no more to be seduced
from their alliance ; that their line of politics is formed and not
dependant, like that of their enemy, on chance and accident.
On our part, in order to know, at any time, what the British
government will do, we have only to find out what they ought not
to do, and this last will be their conduct. Forever, changing and
forever wrong ; too distant from America to improve in circum
stances, and too unwise to forsee them ; scheming without prin
ciple, and executing without probabihty, their whole line of
vol i. 30

234 THE CRISIS.
management has hitherto been blunder and baseness. Every
campaign has added to their loss, and every year to their disgrace ;
till unable to go on, and ashamed to go back, their politics nave
come to a halt, and all their fine prospects to a halter.
Could our affections forgive, or humanity forget the wounds
of an injured country — we might, under the influence of a momen
tary oblivion, stand still and laugh. But they are engraven where
no amusement can conceal them, and of a kind for which there is
no recompense. Can ye restore to us the beloved dead ? Can
ye say to the grave, give up the murdered? Can ye obliterate
from our memories those who are no more ? Think not then to
tamper with our feelings by insidious contrivance, nor suffocate
our humanity by seducing us to dishonor.
In March 1780, I published part of the Crisis, No. VIII., in
the newspapers, but did not conclude it in the following papers,
and the remainder has lain by me till the present day.
There appeared about that time some disposition in the British
cabinet to cease the further prosecution of the war, and as I had
formed my opinion that whenever such a- design should take
place, it would be accompanied with a dishonorable proposition
to America, respecting France, I had suppressed the remainder
of that number, not to expose the baseness of any such proposi
tion. But the arrival of the next news from England, declared
her determination to go on with the war, and consequently as the
political object I had then in view was not become a subject, it
was unnecessary in me to bring it forward, which is the reason it
was never published.
The matter which I allude to in the unpublished part, I shall
now make a quotation of, and apply it as the more enlarged state
of things, at this day, shall make convenient or necessary.
It was as follows :
" By the speeches which have appeared from the British par
liament, it is easy to perceive to what impolitic and imprudent
excesses their passions and prejudices have, in every instance,
carried them during the present war. Provoked at the upright and
honorable treaty between America and France, they imagined
that nothing more was necessary to be done to prevent its final
ratification, than to promise, through the agency of their commis
sioners (Carlisle, Eden, and Johnston) a repeal of their once
offensive acts of parliament. The ¦» anity of the conceit, was as

THE CRISIS. 235
unpardonable as the experiment was impolitic. And so convinc
ed am I of their wrong ideas of America, that I shall not wonder,
if, in their last stage of political phrenzy, they propose to her to
break her alliance with France, and enter into one with them.
Such a proposition, should it ever be made, and it has been al
ready more than once hinted at in parliament, would discover
such a disposition to perfidiousness, and such disregard of honoi
and morals, as would add the finishing vice to national corrup
tion. — I do not mention this to put America on the watch, but to
put England on her guard, that she do not, in the looseness of
her heart, envelope in disgrace every fragment of reputation." —
Thus far the quotation.
By the complexion of some part of the news which has trans
pired through the New-York papers, it seems probable that this
insidious era in the British politics is beginning to make its ap
pearance. I wish it may not ; for that which is a disgrace to
human nature, throws something of a shade over all the human
character, and -each individual feels his share of the wound that is
given to the whole.
The policy of Britain has ever been to divide America in some
way or other. In the beginning of the dispute, she practised
every art to prevent or destroy the union of the states, well know
ing that could she onc-e get them to stand singly, she could con
quer them unconditionally. Failing in this project in America,
¦she renewed it in Europe ; and, after the alliance had taken place,
she made secret offers to France to induce her to give up Ameri
ca ; and what is still more -extraordinary, she at the same time
made propositions to Dr. Franklin, then in Paris, the very court
to which she was secretly applying, to . draw off America^ from
France. But this is not all.
On the 14th of September, 1778, the British court, through
their secretary, lord Weymouth, made application to the marquis
d'Almadovar, the Spanish ambassador at London, to " ask the
mediation," for these were the words, of the court of Spain, for
the pii'pose of negociating a peace with France, leaving Ameri
ca (as I shall hereafter shew) out of the question. Spain readily
offered her mediation, aid likewise the city of Madrid as the
place of conference, but withal, proposed, that the United States
of America should be invited to the treaty, and considered as in
dependent during' the time the business Was negotiating. But

,236 THE CRISIS.
this was not the view of England. She wanted to draw France
from the war, that she might uninterruptedly pour out all her force
and fury upon America ; and being disappointed in this plan, as
well through the open and generous conduct of Spain, as the
determination of France, she refused the mediation which she had
solicited. I shall now give some extracts from the justifying memorial of
the Spanish court, in which she has set the conduct and character
of Britain, with respect to America, in a clear and striking point
of light.
The memorial, speaking of the refusal of the British court to
meet in conference, with commissioners from the United States,
who were to be considered as independent during the time of the
conference, says,
" It is a thing very extraordinary and even ridiculous, that the
court of London, who treats the colonies as independent, not
only in acting, but of right, during the war, should have a repug
nance to treat them as such only in acting during a truce, or sus
pension of hostilities. The convention of Saratoga ; the reputing
general Burgoyne as a lawful prisoner, in order to suspend his
trial ; the exchange and liberation of other prisoners made from
the colonies ; the having named commissioners to go and suppli
cate the Americans, at their own doors, request peace of them,
and treat with them and the congress : and, finally, by a thousand
other acts of this sort, authorized by the court of London, which
have been, and are true signs of the acknowledgment of their in
dependence. " In aggravation of all the foregoing, at the. same time the
British cabinet answered the king of Spain in the terms already
mentioned, they were insinuating themselves at the court of France
by means of secret emissaries, and making very great offers to
her, to abandon the colonies and make peace with England.
But there is yet more ; for at this same time the English minis
try were treating, by means of another certain emissary, with Dr.
Franklin, minister plenipotentiary from the colonies, residing at
Paris, to whom they made various proposals to disunite them
from France, and accommodate matters with England.
" From what has been observed, it evidently follows, that the
whole of the British politics was, to disunite the two courts ot
Paris and Madrid, by means of the suggestions and offers which

THE :Glt*SIS.' 237
she separately made to them ; and also to separate the colonies
from their treaties and engagements entered into with France,
and induce them to arm against the house of Bourbon, or more pro
bably to oppress them lohen they found, from breaking their en
gagements, that they stood alone and without protection.
" This, therefore, is the net they laid for the American states ;
that is to say, to tempt them with flattering and very magnificent
promises to come to an accommodation with them, exclusive of
any intervention of Spain or France, that the British ministry
might always remain the arbiters of the fate of the colonies.
" But the Catholic king (the king of Spain) faithful on the one
part of the engagements which bind him to the Most Christian
king (the king of France) his nephew ; just and upright on the
other, to his own subjects, whom he ought to protect and guard
against so many insults ; and finally, full of humanity and com
passion for the Americans and other individuals who suffer in the
present war ; he is determined to pursue and prosecute it, and to
make all the efforts in his power, until he can obtain a solid and
permanent peace, with full and satisfactory securities that it shall
be observed."
Thus far the memorial ; a translation of which into English,
may be seen in full, under the head of State Papers, in the Annual
Register, for 1779, p. 367.
The extracts I have here given, serve to show the various
¦ endeavors and contrivances of the enemy, to draw France from
her connexion with America, and to prevail on her to,make a
separate peace with England, leaving America totally out of the
question, and at the mercy of a merciless, unprincipled enemy.
The opinion, likewise, which Spain has formed of the British
cabinet character, for meanness and perfidiousness, is so exactly
the opinion of America, respecting it, that the memorial, in this
instance, contains our own statements and language ; for people,
however remote, who think alike, will unavoidably speak alike.
Thus we see the insidious use which Britain endeavoured to
make of the propositions of peace under the mediation of Spain.
I shall now proceed to the second proposition under the mediation
of the emperor of Germany and the empress of Russia ; the
general outline of which was, that a congress of the several
powers at war, should meet at Vienna, in 1781, to settle prelimi
naries of peace.

233 THE CRISIS.
I could wish myself at liberty to make use of all the infor
mation wnich I am possessed of on this subject, but as there is a
delicacy in the matter, 1 do not conceive it prudent, at least a.
present, to make references and quotations in the same manner
as I have done with respect to the mediation of Spain, who pub
lished the whole proceedings herself; and therefore, what comes
from me, on this part of the business, must rest on my own cre
dit with the public, assuring them, that when the whole proceed
ings, relative to the proposed congress of Vienna shall appear,
they will find my account,not only true, but studiously moderate.
We know at the time this mediation was on the carpet, the
expectation of the British king and ministry ran high with respect
to the conquest of America. The English packet which was
taken with the mail on board, and carried into l'Orient, in France,
contained letters from lord G. Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton,
which expressed in the fullest terms the ministerial idea of a total
conquest. Copies of those letters were sent to congress and
published in the newspapers of last year. Colonel Laurens
brought over the originals, some of which, signed in the hand
writing of the then secretary, Germaine, are now in mv posses
sion. Filled with these high ideas, nothing could be more insolen
towards America than the language of the British court en the
proposed mediation. A peace with France and Spain she anxi
ously solicited ; but America, as before, was to be left to he
mercy,vneither would she hear any proposition for admitting an
agent from the United States into the congress of Vienna.
On the other hand, France, with an open, noble, and manh
determination, and the fidelity of a good ally, would hear no
proposition for a separate peace, nor -even meet in congress
at Vienna, without an agent from America : and likewise that the
independent character of the United States, represented by the
agent, should be fully and unequivocally defined and settled before
any conference should be entered on. The reasoning of the
court of France on the several propositions of the two imperia.
courts, which relate to us, is rather in the style of an American
than an ally, and she advocated the cause of America as if sne
had been America herself. — Thus the second mediation, like the
first, proved ineffectual.

THE CRISIS. 239
But since that time, a reverse of fortune has overtaken the
British arms, and all their high expectations are dashed to the
ground. The noble exertions to the southward under general
Greene ; the successful operations of the allied arms in the
Chesapeake ; the loss of most of their islands in the West-Indies,
and Minorca in the Mediterranean ; the persevering spirit of Spain
against Gibraltar ; the expected capture of Jamaica ; the failure
of making a separate peace with Holland, and the expense of an
hundred millions sterling, by which all these fine losses were
obtained, have read them a loud lesson of disgraceful misfortune,
and necessity has called on them to change their ground.
In this situation of confusion and despair, their present councils
have no fixed character. It is now the hurricane months of Bri
tish politics. Every day seems td have a storm of its own, and
they are scudding under the bare poles of hope. Beaten, but
not humble ; condemned, but not penitent ; they act like men
trembling at fate and catching at a straw. From this convulsion.
in the entrails of their politics, it is more than probable, that the
mountain groaning in labor, will bring forth a mouse, as to its size.
and a monster in its make. They will try on America the same
insidious arts they tried on France and Spain.
We sometimes experience sensations to which language is not
equal. The conception is too bulky to be born alive, and in the
torture of thinking, we stand dumb. Our feelings, imprisoned by
their magnitude, find no way out — and, in the struggle of expres
sion, every finger tries to be a tongue. The machinery of the
body seems too little for the mind, and we look about for helps to
show our thoughts, by. Such must be the sensation of America,.
whenever Britain, teeming with corruption, shall propose to her
to sacrifice her faith.
But, exclusive of the wickedness, there is a personal offence
contained in every such attempt. It is calling us villians : for no
man asks another to act the villian unless he believes him inclined
to be one. No man attempts to seduce a truly honest woman.
It is the supposed looseness of her mind that starts the thoughts
of seduction, and he who offers it calls her a prostitute. Our
pride is always hurt by the same propositions which offend our
principles ; for when we are shocked at the crime we are wound
ed by the suspicion of our compliance.

240 THE CRISIS.
Could I convey a thought that might serve to regulate the pub
lic mind, I would not make the interest of the alliance the basis
of defending it. All the world" are moved by interest, and it
affords them nothing to boast of. But I would go a step higher,
and defend it on the ground of honour and principle. That our
public affairs have flourished under the alliance — that it-was wise
ly made, and has been nobly executed — that by its assistance we
are enabled to preserve our country from conquest, and expel
those who sought our destruction — that it is our true interest to
maintain it unimpaired, and that while we do so no enemy can
Conquer us, are matters which experience has taught us, and the
common good of ourselves, abstracted from principles of faith and
honor, would lead us to maintain the connexion.
But over and above the mere letter of the alliance, we have
been nobly and generously treated, and have had the same re
spect and attention paid to us, as if we had been an old establish
ed country. To oblige and be obliged is fair work among man
kind, and we want an opportunity of showing to the world that we
are a people sensible of kindness and worthy of confidence.
Character is to us, in our present circumstances, of more impor
tance than interest. We are a young nation, just stepping upon
the stage of public life, and the eye of the world is upon us to see
how we act. We have an enemy who is watching to destroy our
reputation, and who will go any length to gain some evidence
against us, that may serve to render our conduct suspected, and
our character odious ; because, could she accomplish this, wicked
as it is, the world would withdraw from us, as from a people not
to be trusted, and our task would then become difficult.
There is nothing which sets the character of a nation in a higher
or lower light with others, than the faithfully fulfilling, or perfi
diously breaking of treaties. They are things not to be tamper
ed with : and should Britain, which seems very probable, propose
to seduce America into such an act of baseness, it would merit
from her some mark of unusual detestation. It is one of those
extraordinary instances in which we ought not to be contented
with the bare negative of congress, because it is an affront on the
multitude as well as on the government. It goes on the supposi
tion that the public are not honest men, and that they mjy be
managed by contrivance, though they cannot be conquered by
arms. But, let the world and Britain know, that we are neither

THE CRISIS. 241
'to be bought nor sold. That our mind is great and fixed ; our
prospect clear ; and that we will support our character as firmly
as our independence.
But I will go still further ; general Conway, who made the
motion, in the British parliament, for discontinuing offensive war in
America, is a gentleman of an amiable character. We have no
personal quarrel with him. But he feels not as we feel ; he is
not in our situation, and that alone, without any other explanation,
is enough.
The British parliament suppose they have many friends in
America, and that, when all chance of conquest is over, they will
"be able to draw her from her alliance with France. Now, if I
have any conception of the human heart, they will fail in this
more than in any thing that they have yet tried.
This part of the business is not a question of policy only, but of
honor and honesty ; and the proposition will have in it something
so visibly low and base, that their partisans, if they have any, will
be ashamed of it. Men are often hurt by a mean action who are
not startled at a wicked one, and this will be such a confession of
inability, such a declaration of servile thinking, that the scandal
of it will ruin all their hopes.
In short, we have nothing to do but to go on with vigor and
¦determination. The enemy is yet in our country. They hold
New- York, Charleston and Savannah, and the very being in
those places is an offence, and a part of offensive war, and until
they can be driven from them, or captured in them, it would
be folly in us to listen to an idle tale. I take it for granted that
the British ministry are sinking under the impossibility of carry
ing on the war. Let them then come to a fair, and open peace
with France, Spain, Holland and America, in the manner that
she ought to do ; but until then, we can have nothing to say
to them.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, May 22, 1782.
VOL. I. 31

THE CRISIS.

HO. XIII.

TO SIR GUY CARLETON.
It is the nature of compassion to associate with misfortune ',
and I address this to you in behalf even of an enemy, a captain
in the British service, now on his way to the head-quarters of the
American army, and unfortunately doomed to death for a crime
not his own. A sentence so extraordinary, an execution so re
pugnant to every human sensation, ought never to be told with
out the circumstances which produced it : and as the destined
victim is yet in existence, and in your hands rest his life or death,
I shall briefly state the case, and the melancholy consequence.
Captain Huddy, of the Jersey militia, was attacked in a small
fort on Tom's River, by a party of refugees in the British pay and
service, was made prisoner, together with his company, carried to
New- York and lodged in the provost of that city : about three
weeks after which, he was taken out of the provost down to the
water-side, put into a boat, and brought again upon the Jersey
shore, and there, contrary to the practice of all nations but sa
vages, was hung up on a tree, and left hanging till found by our
people, who took him down and buried him.
The inhabitants of that part of the country where the murder
was committed, sent a deputation to general Washington with a
full and certified statement of the fact. Struck, as every human
breast must be, with such brutish outrage, and determined both
to punish and prevent it for the future, the general represented
the case to general Clinton, who then commanded, and demanded
that the refugee officer who ordered and attended the execution,
and whose name is Lippincut, should be delivered up as a mur-

the crisis. 243
derer ; and in case of refusal, that the person of some British
officer should suffer in his stead. The demand, though not re
fused, has not been complied with ; and the melancholy lot (not
by selection, but by casting lots) has fallen upon captain Asgill,
of the guards, who, as I have already mentioned, is on his way
from liancaster to camp, a martyr to the general wickedness of
the cause he engaged in, and the ingratitude of those whom he
served. The first reflection which arises on this black business is, what
sort of men must Englishmen be, and what sort of order and dis
cipline do they preserve in their army, when in the immediate
place of their head-quarters, and under the eye and nose of their
commander-in-chief, a prisoner can be taken at pleasure from his
confinement, and his death made a matter of sport.
The history of the most savage Indians does not produce in
stances exactly of this kind. They, at least, have a formality in
their punishments. With them it is the horridness of revenge,
but with your army it is a still greater crime, the horridness of
diversion. The British generals who have succeeded each other; from the
time of general Gage to yourself, have all affected to speak in
language that they have no right to. In their proclamations,
their addresses, their letters to general Washington, and their
supplications to congress (for they deserve no other name) they .
talk of British honor, British generosity, and British clemency, as
if those things were matters of fact ; whereas, we whose eyes are
open, who speak the same language with yourselves, many of
whom were born on the same spot with you, and who can no
more be mistaken in your words than in your actions, can de
clare to all the world, that so far as our knowledge goes, there is
not a more detestable character, nor a meaner or more barbarous
enemy, than the present British one. With us, you have forfeit
ed all pretensions to reputation, and it is only holding you like a
wild beast, afraid of your keepers, that you can be made manage
able. But to return to the point in question.
Though I can think no man innocent who has lent his hand to
destroy the country which he did not plant, and to ruin those that
he could not enslave, yet, abstracted from all ideas of right and
wrong on the original question, captain Asgill, in the present
case, is not the guilty man. The villain and the victim are here

244 THE CRISIS.
separated characters. You hold the one and we the other. Yon
disown, or affect to disown and reprobate the conduct of Lippin-
cut,.yet yon give him a sanctuary ; and by so doing you as effec
tually become the executioner of Asgill, as if you had put the
rope on his neck,, and dismissed him from the world. Whatever
your feelings on this interesting occasion may be are best known
to yourself. Within the grave of our own mind lies buried the
fate of Asgill. He becomes the corpse of your will, or the sur-
viver of your justice. Deliver up the one, and you save the
other ; withhold the one, and the other dies by your choice.
On our part the case is exceeding plain ; an officer has been
taken from his confinement and murder edt and the murderer is
within your lines. Your army has been guilty of a thousand in
stances of equal cruelty, but they have been rendered equivocal,.
and sheltered from personal detection. Here the crime is fixed ;
and is one of those extraordinary cases which can neither be de
nied nor palliated,, and to which the custom of war does not ap
ply ; for it never could be supposed that such a brutal outrage
would ever be committed. It is an original in the history of
civilized barbarians, and is truly British.
On your part you are accountable to us for the personal safety
of the prisoners within your walls. Here can be no mistake ;
they can neither be spies nor suspected as such ; your security is
not endangered, nor your operations subjected to miscarriage, by
men immured within a dungeon. They differ in every circum
stance from men in the field, and leave no pretence for severity
©f punishment. But if to the dismal condition of captivity with
you, must be added the constant apprehensions of death ; if to
be imprisoned is so nearly to be entombed ; and, if after all, the
murderers are to be protected, and thereby the crime encouraged,
wherein do you differ from Indians, either in conduct or character?
We can have no idea of your honor, or your justice, in any
future transaction, of what nature it may be, while you shelter
within your lines an outrageous murderer, and sacrifice in his
stead an officer of your own. If you have no regard to us, at
least spare the blood which it is your duty to save. Whether
the punishment will be greater on him, who, in this case, inno
cently dies, or on him whom sad necessity forces to retaliate, is,
in the nicety of sensation, an undecided question ? It rests with

THE CRISIS. 245
you to prevent the sufferings of both. You have nothing to do
but to give up the murderer, and the matter ends.
But to protect him, be he who he may, is to patronise his crime,
and to trifle it off by frivolous and unmeaning inquiries, is to pro
mote it. There is no declaration you can make, nor promise
you can give that will obtain credit. It is the man and not the
apology that is demanded.
You see yourself pressed on all sides to spare the life of your
own officer, for die he will if you withhold justice. The murder
of captain Huddy is an offence not to be borne with, and there is
no security which we can have, that such actions or similar ones
shall not be repeated, but by making the punishment fall upon
yourselves. To destroy the last security of captivity, and to take
the unarmed, the unresisting prisoner to private and sportive
execution, is carrying barbarity too high for silence. The evil
must be put an end to ; and the choice of persons rests with you.
But if your attachment to the guilty is stronger than to the inno
cent, you invent a crime that must destroy your character, and if
the cause of your king needs to be so supported, for ever cease,
sir, to torture our remembrance with the wretched phrases of
British honor, British generosity, and British clemency.
From this melancholy circumstance, learn, sir, a lesson of
morality. The refugees are men whom your predecessors have
instructed in wickedness, the better to fit them to their master's
purpose. To make them useful, they have made them vile, and
the consequence of their tutored villany is now descending on
the heads of their encouragers. They have been trained like
hounds to the scent of blood, and cherished in every species of
dissolute barbarity. Their ideas of right and wrong are worn
away in the constant habitude of repeated infamy,, till, like men
practised in execution, they feel not the value of another's life.
The task before you, though painful, is not difficult ; give up
the murderer, and save your officer, as the first outset of a neces
sary reformation.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, May 31, 1782.

THE CRISIS.

NO. XIV.

TO THE EARL OF SHELBURNE.
My lord, — A speech, which has been printed in several of the
British and New- York newspapers, as coming from your lordship.
in answer to one from the duke of Richmond, of the 10th of
July last, contains expressions and opinions so new and singular,
and so enveloped in mysterious reasoning, that I address this
publication to you, for the purpose of giving them a free and
candid examination. The speech that I allude to is in these
words :
" His lordship said, it had been mentioned in another place,
that he had been guilty of inconsistency. To clear himself of
this, he asserted that he still held the same principles in respect
to American independence which he at first imbibed. He had
been, and yet was of opinion, whenever the parliament of Great
Britain acknowledges that point, the sun of England's glory is
set forever. Such were the sentiments he possessed on a former
day, and such the sentiments he continued to hold at this hour.
It was the opinion of lord Chatham, as well as many other able
statesmen. Other noble lords, however, think differently ; and
as the majority of the cabinet support them, he acquiesced in the
measure, dissenting from the idea ; and the point is settled for
bringing the matter into the full discussion of parliament, where it
will be candidly, fairly, and impartially debated. The indepen
dence of America would end in the ruin of England ; and that a

THE CRISIS. 247
peace patched up with France, would give that proud enemy tbe
means of yet trampling on this country. The sun of England's
glory he wished not to see set forever ; he looked for a spark at
least to be left, which might in time light us up to a new day.
But if independence was to be granted, if parliament deemed that
measure prudent, he foresaw, m his own mind, that England was
undone. He wished to God that he had been deputed to con
gress, that he might plead thecause of that country as well as of
this, and that he might exercise whatever powers he possessed as
an- orator, to save both from ruin, in a conviction to congress,
that, if their independence was signed, their liberties were gone
forever. " Peace, his lordship added, was a desirable object, but it must
be an honorable peace, and not an humiliating one, dictated by
France, or insisted on by America. It was very true, that this
kingdom was not in a flourishing state, it was impoverished by
war. But if we were not rich, it was evident that France was
poor. If we were straitened in our finances, the enemy were
exhausted in their resources. This was a great empire ; it
abounded with brave men, who were able and willing to fight in a
common cause ; the language of humiliation should not, there
fore, be the language of Great Britain. His lordship said, that
he was not afraid nor ashamed of those expressions going to
America. There were numbers, great numbers there, who were
of the same way of thinking, in respect to that country being de
pendant on this, and who, with his lordship, perceived ruin and
independence linked together."
Thus far the speech ; on which I remark — That his lordship
is a total stranger to the mind and sentiments of America ; that he
has wrapped himself up in fond delusion, that something less
than independence, may, under his administration, be accepted ;
and he wishes himself sent to congress, to prove the most extra
ordinary of all doctrines, which is, that independence, the sub-
limest of all human conditions, is loss of liberty.
In answer to which we may say, that in order to know what the
contrary word dependance means, we have only to look back to
those years of severe humiliation, when the mildest of all petitions
could obtain no other notice than the haughtiest of all insults ;
and when the base terms of unconditional submission were de
manded, or undistinguishable destruction threatened. It is

248 THE' CRISIS.
nothing to us that the ministry have been changed, for they may
be changed again. The guilt of a government is the crime of a
whole country ; and the nation that can, though but for a moment,
think and act as England has done, can never afterwards be be
lieved or trusted. There are cases in which it is as impossible
to restore character to life, as it is to recover the dead. It is a
phenix that can expire but once, and from whose ashes there is no
resurrection. Some offences are of such a slight composition,
that they reach no further than the temper, and are created or
cured by a thought. But the sin of England has struck the heart
of America, and nature has not left in our power to sav we can
forgive. Your lordship wishes for an opportunity to plead before con
gress the cause of England and America, and to save, as you say,
both from ruin.
That the country, which, for more than seven years has sought
our destruction, should now cringe to solicit our protection, is
adding the wretchedness of disgrace to the misery of disappoint
ment ; and if England has the least spark of supposed honor left,
that spark must be darkened by asking, and extinguished by re
ceiving, the smallest favor from America ; for the criminal who
owes his life to the grace and mercy of the injured, is more
executed by the living, than he who dies.
But a thousand pleadings, even from your lordship, can have no
effect. Honor, interest, and every sensation of the heart, would
plead against you.- We are a people who think not as you think ;
and what is equally true, you cannot feel as we feel. The situa
tions of the two countries are exceedingly different. Ours has
been the seat of war ; yours has seen nothing of it. The most
wanton destruction has been committed in our sight ; the most
insolent barbarity has been acted on our feelings. We can look
round and see the remains of burnt and destroyed houses, once
the fair fruit of hard industry, and now the striking monuments of
British brutality. We walk over the dead whom we loved, in
every part of America, and remember by whom they fell. There
is scarcely a village but brings to life some melancholy thought,
and reminds us of what we have suffered, and of those we have
lost by the inhumanity of Britain. A thousand images arise to
us, which, from situation, you cannot see, and are accompanied
by as many ideas which you cannot know ; and therefore your

THE CRISIS. 249
supposed system of reasoning would apply to nothing, and all
your expectations die of themselves.
The question whether England shall accede to the indepen
dence of America, and which your lordship says is to undergo a
parliamentary discussion, is so very simple, and composed of so
few cases, that it scarcely needs a debate.
It is the only way out of an expensive aad ruinous war, which
has no object, and without which acknowledgment there can be,
no peace.
But your lordship says, the sun of Great Britain will set when
ever she acknowledges the independence of America. — Whereas
the metaphor would have been strictly just, to have left the sun
wholly out of the figure, and have ascribed her not acknowledging
it to the influence of the moon.
But the expression, if true, is the greatest confession of dis
grace that could be made, and furnishes America with the highest
notions of sovereign independent importance. Mr. Wedder-
burne, about the year 1776, made use of an idea of much the
same kind, — Relinquish America ! says he — What is it but to
desire a giant to shrink spontaneously into a dwarf.
Alas ! are those people who call themselves Englishmen, of so
little internal consequence, that when America is gone, or shuts
her eyes upon them, their sun is set, they can shine no more, but
grope about in obscurity, and contract into insignificant animals ?
Was America, then, the giant of the empire, and England only
her dwarf in waiting ? Is the case so strangely altered, that those
who once thought we could not live without them, are now brought
to declare that they cannot exist without us ? Will they tell to the
world, and that from their first minister of state, that America is
their all in all ; that it is by her importance only that they can live,
and breathe, and have a being ? Will they, who long since threat
ened to bring us to their feet, bow themselves at ours, and own
that without us they are not a nation ? Are they become so un
qualified to debate on independence, that they have lost all idea of
it themselves, and are calling to the rocks and mountains of
America to cover their insignificance ? Or, if America is lost, is
it manly to sob over it like a child for its rattle, and invite the
laughter of the world by declarations; of disgrace ? Surely, a
more consistent line of conduct would be to bear it without com
plaint ; and to show that, England, without America, can preserve
vol.. I. 32

250 THE CRISIS.
her independence, and a suitable rank with other European
powers. You were not contented while you had her, and to weep
for her now is childish.
But lord Shelburne thinks something may yet be done. What
that something is, or how it is to be accomplished, is a matter in
obscurity. By arms there is no hope. The experience of nearly
eight years, with the expense of an hundred million pounds ster
ling, and the loss of two armies, must positively decide that point.
Besides, the British have lost their interest in America with the
disaffected. Every part of it has been tried. There is no new
scene left for delusion : and the thousands who have been ruined
by adhering to thern, and have now to quit the settlements which
they had acquired, and be conveyed like transports to cultivate
the deserts of Augustine and Nova-Scotia, has put an end to all
further expectations of air}.
If you cast your eyes on the people of England, what have
they to console themselves with for the millions expended ? Or,
what encouragement is there left to continue throwing good
money after bad ? America can carry on the war for ten years
longer, and all the charges of government included, for less than
you can defray the charges of war and government for one year.
And I, who know both countries, know well, that the people of
America can afford to pay their share of the expense much better
than the people of England can. Besides, it is their own estates
and property, their own rights, liberties and government, that they
are defending ; and were they not to do it, they would deserve to
Pose all, and none would pity them. The fault would be their own,
and their punishment just.
The British army in America care not how long the war lasts.
They enjoy an easy and indolent life. They fatten on the folly
of one country and the spoils of another ; and, between theii
plunder and their pay, may go home rich. But the case is very
different with the laboring farmer, the working tradesman, and the
necessitous poor in England, the sweat of whose brow goes day
after day to feed, in prodigality and sloth, the army that is robbing
both them and us. Removed from the eye of that country that
supports thern, and distant from the government that employs
them, they cut and carve for themselves, and there is none to call
them to account.

THE CRISIS. 251
But England will be ruined, says lord Shelburne, if Americans
independent. Then, 1 say, is England already ruined, for America is already
independent : and if lord Shelburne will not allow this, he imme
diately denies the fact which he infers. Besides, to make Eng
land the mere creatuie of America, is paying too great a compli
ment to us, and too little to himself.
But the declaration is a rhapsody of inconsistency. For to
say, as lord Shelburne has numberless times said, that the war
against America is ruinous^ and yet to continue the prosecution
of that ruinous war for the purpose of avoiding ruin, is a language
which cannot be understood. Neither is it possible to see how
the independence of America is to accomplish the ruin of Eng
land after the war is over, and yet not affect it before. America
•cannot be more independent of her, nor a greater enemy to her,
he-eafter than she now is ; nor can England derive less advan
tages from her than at present : why then is ruin to follow in the
best state of the case, and not in the worst ? And if not in the
worst, why is it to follow at all ?
That a nation is to be ruined by peace and commerce, and
fourteen or fifteen millions a-year less expenses than before, is a
new doctrine in politics. We have heard much clamor of na
tional savings and economy ; but surely the true economy would
be, to save the whole charge of a silly, foolish, and headstrong
war ; because, compared with this, all other retrenchments are
baubles and trifles.
But is it possible that lord Shelburne can be serious in suppos
ing that the least advantage can be obtained by arms, or (hat any
advantage can be equai to the expense or the danger of attempting
it? Will not the capture of one army after another satisfy him,
must all become prisoners ? Must England ever be the sport of
hope, and the victim of delusion ? Sometimes our currency was
to fail ; another time our army was to disband -. then whole pro
vinces were to revolt Such a general said this and that; an
other wrote so and so ; lord Chatham was of this opinion ; and
lord somebody else of another. To-day 20,000 Russians and
20 Russian ships of the line were to come ; to-morrow the
-empress was abused without mercy or decency. Then the
emperor of Germany was to be bribed with a million of money,
and the king of Prussia was to do wonderful things. At one time

252 THE CRISIS.
it was, Lo here ! and then it was, Lo there! Sometimes this
power, and sometimes that power, was to engage in the war, just"
as if the whole world was as mad and foolish as Britain. And
thus, from year to year, has every straw been catched at, and
every Will- with-a-wisp led them a new dance.
This year a still newer folly is to take place. Lord Shelburne
wishes to be sent to congress, and he thinks that something may
be done.
Are not the repeated declarations of congress, and which all
America supports, that they will not even hear any proposals
whatever, until the unconditional and unequivocal independence
of America is recognised ; are not, I say, these declarations
answer enough ?
But for England to receive any thing from America now, after
so many insults, injuries and outrages, acted towards us, would
show such a spirit of meanness in her, that we could not but de
spise her for accepting it. And so far from lord Shelburne's
coming here to solicit it, it would be the greatest disgrace we
could do them to offer it. England would appear a wretch
indeed, at this time of day, to ask or owe any thing to the bounty
of America. Has not the name of Englishman blots enough
upon it, without inventing more ? Even Lucifer would scorn to
reign in heaven by permission, and yet an Englishman can creep
for only an entrance into America. Or, has a land of liberty so
many charms, that to be a door-keeper in it is better than to be
an English minister of state ?
But what can this expected something be ? Or, if obtained.
what can it amount to, but new disgraces, contentions and quar
rels ? The people of America have for years accustomed them
selves to think and speak so freely and contemptuously of
English authority, and the inveteracy is so deeply rooted, that a
person invested with any authority from that country, and
attempting to exercise it heje, would have the life of a toad under
a harrow. They would look on him as an interloper, to whom
their compassion permitted a residence. He would be no more
than the Mungo of a farce ; and if he disliked that, he must set
off. It would be a station of degradation, debased by our pity,
and despised by our pride, and would place England in a more
contemptible situation than any she has yet been in during the
war. We have too high an opinion of ourselves, ever to think of

THE CRISIS. 253
yielding again the least obedience to outlandish authority ; and
for a thousand reasons, England would be the last country in the
world to yield it to. She has been treacherous, and we know it.
Her character is gone, and we have seen the funeral.
Surely she loves to fish in troubled waters, and drink the cup
of contention, or she would not now think of mingling her affairs
with those of America. It would be like a foolish dotard taking
to his arms the bride that despises him, or who has placed on his
head the ensigns of her disgust. It is kissing the hand that boxes
his ears, and proposing to renew the exchange. The thought is
as servile as the war is wicked, and shows the last scene of the
drama to be as inconsistent as the first.
As America is gone, the only act of manhood is to let her go.
Your lordship had no hand in the separation, and you will gain no
honor by temporising politics. Besides, there is something so
exceedingly whimsical, unsteady, and even insincere in the present
conduct of England, that she exhibits herself in the most dis
honorable colors.
On the second of August last, general Carleton and admiral
Digby wrote to general Washington in these words :
" The resolution of the house of commons, of the 27th of
February last, has been placed in your excellency's \handsi and
intimations given at the same time that further pacific measures
were likely to follow. Since which, until the present time, we
have had no direct communications with England ; but a mail is
now arrived, which brings us very important information. We
are acquainted, sir, by authority, that negotiations for a general
peace have already commenced at Paris, and that Mr. Grenville
is invested with full powers to treat with all the parties at war, and
is now at Paris in execution of his commission. And we are fur
ther, sir, made acquainted, that his majesty, in order to remove any
obstacles to that peace which he so ardently wishes to restore, has
commanded his ministers to direct Mr. Grenville, that the inde
pendence of the Thirteen United Provinces, should be proposed
by him in the first instance, instead of making it a condition of a
general treaty."
Now, taking your present measures into view, and comparing
them with the declaration in this letter, pray what is the word of
your king, or his ministers, or the parliament, good for ? Must
we not look upon you as a confederated body of faithless,

254

THE CRISIS.

tieacherous men, whose assurances are fraud, and their language
deceit ? What opinion can we possibly form of you, but that you
are a lost, abandoned, profligate nation, who sport even with your
own character, and are to be held by nothing but the bayonet or
the halter?
To say; after this, that the sun of Great Britain will be set
whenever she acknowledges the independence of America, when
the not doing it is the unqualified lie of government, can be no
other than the language of ridicule, the jargon of inconsistency.
There were thousands in America who predicted the delusion,
and looked upon it as a trick of treachery, to take us from our
guard, and draw off our attention from the only system of finance,
by which we can be called, or deserve to be called, a sovereign,
independent people. The fraud, on your part, might be worth
attempting, but the sacrifice to obtain it is too high.
There are others who credited the assurance," because they
thought it impossible that men who had their characters to estab
lish, would begjn it with a lie. The prosecution of the war by
the former ministry was savage and horrid : since which it has
been mean, trickish, and delusive. The one went greedily into
the passion of revenge, the other into the subtleties of low con
trivance ; till, between the crimes of both, there is scarcely left a
man in America, be he whig or tory, who does not despise or de
test the conduct of Britain.
The management of lord Shelburne, whatever may be his
views, is a caution to us, and must be to the world, never to re
gard British assurances. A perfidy so notorious cannot be hid.
It stands even in the public papers of New-York, with the names
of Carleton and Digby affixed to it. It is a proclamation that the
king of England is not to be believed; that the spirit of lying is
the governing principle of the ministry. It is holding up the char
acter of the house of commons to public infamy, and warning all
men not to credit them. Such are the consequences which lord
Shelburne's management has brought upon his country.
After the authorized declarations contained in Carleton and
Digby's letter, you ought, from every motive of honor, policy and
prudence, to have fulfilled them, whatever might have been the
event. It was the least atonement that you could possibly make
to America, and the greatest kindness you could do to yourselves ;

. THE CRISIS. 255
,»,¦
for you will save millions by a general peace, and you will lose as
many by continuing the war.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, Oct. 29, 1782.
P. S. The manuscript copy of this letter is sent your lord
ship, by the way of our head-quarters, to New- York, inclosing a
late pamphlet of mine, addressed to the abbe Raynal, which will
serve to give your lordship some idea of the principles and senti
ments of America.
c. s.

THE CRISIS.

no. XV.

" The times that tried men's souls,"* are over — and the great
est and completest revolution the world ever knew, gloriously
and happily accomplished.
But to pass from the extremes of danger to safety — from the
tumult of war to the tranquillity of peace, though sweet in con
templation, requires a gradual composure of the senses to receive
it. Even calmness has the power of stunning, when it opens too
instantly upon us. The long and raging hurricane that should
cease in a moment, would leave us in a state rather of wonder
than enjoyment ; and some moments of recollection must pass,
before we could be capable of tasting the felicity of repose.
There are but few instances, in which the mind is fitted for sud
den transitions : it takes in its pleasures by reflection and compa
rison, and those must have time to act, before the relish for new
scenes is complete.
In the present case — the mighty magnitude of the object — the
various uncertainties of fate it has undergone — the numerous and
complicated dangers we have suffered or escaped — the eminence
We now stand on, and the vast prospect before us, must all con
spire to impress us with contemplation.
To see it in our power to make a world happy — to teach man
kind the art of being so — to exhibit, on the theatre of the universe,
a character hitherto unknown — and to have, as it were, a new
creation intrusted to our hands, are honors that command reflec
tion, and can neither be too highly estimated, nor too gratefully
received. * " These are the times that try men's souls." The Crisis No. I. published
December, 1776.

THE CRISIS. 257
In this pause then of recollection — while the storm is ceasing,
and the long agitated mind vibrating to a rest, let us look back on
the scenes we have passed, and learn from exDerience what is yet
to be done.
Never, I say, had a country so many openings to happiness as
this. Her setting out in fife, like the rising of a fair morning,
was unclouded and promising. Her cause was good. Her prin
ciples just and liberal. Her temper serene and firm. Her con
duct regulated by the nicest steps, and every thing about her wore
the mark of honor. It is not every country (perhaps there is
not another in the world) that can boast so fair an origin. Even
the first settlement of America corresponds with the character of
the revolution. Rome, once the proud mistress of the universe,
was originally a band of ruffians. Plunder and rapine made her
rich, arid her oppression of millions made her great. But Ame
rica need never be ashamed to tell her birth, nor relate the stages
by which she rose to empire.
The remembrance, then, of what is past, if it operates rightly,
must inspire her with the most laudable of all ambition, that of
adding to the fair fame she began with. The world has seen her
great in adversity. Struggling, without a thought of yielding,
beneath accumulated difficulties. Bravely, nay proudly, encoun
tering distress, and rising in resolution as the storm increased.
All this is justly due to her, for her fortitude has merited the cha
racter. Let, then, the world see that she can bear prosperity :
and that her honest virtue in time of peace, is equal to the bravest '
virtue in time of war.
She is now descending to the scenes of quiet and domestic life.
Not beneath the cypress shade of disappointment, but to enjoy
in her own land, and under her own vine, the sweet of her labors, ,
and the reward of her toil. — In this situation, may she never
forget that a fair national reputation is of as much importance as
independence. That it possesses a charm that wins upon the
world, and makes even enemies civil. — That it gives a dignity
which is often superior to power, and commands reverence where
pomp and splendor fail.
It would be a circumstance ever to be lamented and never to
be forgotten, were a single blot, from any cause whatever, suffer
ed to fall on a revolution, which to the end of time must be an
honor to the age that accomplished it : and which has contributed
vol. i. 33

258 the crisis'
more to enlighten the world, ar.d diffuse a spirit of freedom ancJ
liberality among mankind, than any human event (if this may be
called one) that ever preceded it.
It is not among the least of the calamities of a long continued
war, that it unhinges the mind from those nice sensations which
at other times appear so amiable. The continual spectacle of
wo blunts the finer feelings, and the necessity of bearing with the
sight, renders it familiar. In like manner, are many of the moral
obligations of society weakened, till the custom of acting by ne
cessity becomes an apology, where it is truly a crime. Yet let
but a nation conceive rightly of its character, and it will be
chastely just in protecting it. None ever began with a fairer than
America, and none can be under a greater obligation to pre
serve it.
The debt which America has contracted, compared with the
cause she has gained, and the advantages , to flow from it, ought
scarcely to be mentioned. She has it in her choice to do, and to
live as happily as she pleases. The world is in her hands. She
has no foreign power to monopolize her commerce, perplex her
legislation, or control her prosperity. The struggle is over, which
must one day have happened, and, perhaps, never could have
happened at a better time.* And instead of a domineering mas

* That the revolution began at the exact period of time best fitted to the
purpose, is sufficiently proved by the event. — -But the great hinge on which
,the whole machine turned, is the Union of the States : and this union was
naturally produced by the inability of any one state to support itself against
any foreign enemy without the assistance of the rest.
Had the states severally been less able than they were when the war began,
their united strength would not have been equal to the undertaking, and they
must in all human probability have failed. — And, on the other hand, had they
severally been more able, they might not have seen, or, what is more, might
not have felt, the necessity of uniting : and, either by attempting to stand
alone or in small confederacies, would have been separately conquered.
Now, as we cannot see a time (and many years must pass away before it
ean arrive) when the strength of any one state, or several united, can be equal
to the whole of the present United States, and as we have seen the extreme
difficulty of collectively prosecuting the war to a successful issue, and pre
serving our national importance in the world, therefore, from the experience
we have had, and the knowledge we have gained, we must, unless we make
a waste of wisdom, be strongly impressed with the advantage, as well as the
necessity of strengthening that happy union which has been our salvation,
and without which we should have been a ruined people.
While I was writing this note, I cast my eye on the pamphlet, Common
Sense, from which I shall make an extract, as it exactly applies to the case.
It is as follows ;
" I have never met with a man, either in England or America, who hath
not confessed it as his opinion that a separation between the countries would
lake place one time or other ; and there is no instance in which, we have

THE CRISIS. 259
ter. she ha? gained *.n ally, *vhose exemplary greatness, and
universal liberality, have extorted a confession even from her
enemies. With the blessings of peace, independence, and an universal
commerce, the states, individually and collectively, will have lei
sure and opportunity to regulate and establish their domestic con
cerns, and to put it beyond the power of calumny to throw the
least reflection on their honor. Character is much easier kept
than recovered, and that man, if any such there be, who, from
sinister views, or littleness of soul, lends unseen his hand to in
jure it, contrives a wound it will never be in his power to heal.
As we have established an inheritance for posterity, let that in
heritance descend, with every mark of an honorable conveyance.
The little it will cost, compared with the worth of the states, the
greatness of the object, and the value of national character, will
be a profitable exchange.
But that which must more forcibly strike a thoughtful, pene
trating mind, and which includes and renders easy all inferior
concerns, is the Union of the States. On this our great national
character depends. It is this which must give us importance
abroad and security at home. It is through this only, that we
are, or can be nationally known in the world ; it is the flag of the
United States which renders our ships and commerce safe on the
seas, or in a foreign port. Our Mediterranean passes must be
obtained under the same style. All our treaties, whether of alli
ance, peace or commerce, are formed under the sovereignty of
the United States, and Europe knows us by no other name or
title. The division of the empire into states is for our own conve
nience, but abroad this distinction ceases. The affairs of each
state are local. They can go no further than to itself. And
were the whole worth of even the richest of them expended in
shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to describe, what we call, the ripe
ness or fitness of the continent for independence.
•' As all men allow the measure, and differ only in their opinion of the
time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey of things, and
endeavor, if possible, to find out the very lime. But we need not to go far,
the inquiry ceases at once, for, the time has found us. The general concur
rence, the glorious union of all things prove the fact.
" It is not in numbers, but in a union, that our great strength lies. The
continent is just arrived at that pitch of strength, in which no single colony is
ible to support itself, and the whole, when united, can accomplish the matter ;
and either more or less than this, might be fatal in its effects. '"

260 THE CRISIS.
revenue,- it would not be sufficient to support sovereignty against
a foreign attack. In short, we have no other national sovereignty
than as United States. It would even be fatal for us if we had
— too expensive to be maintained^ and impossible to be support
ed. Individuals, or individual states, may call themselves what
they please ; but the world, and especially the world of enemies,
is not to be held in awe by the whistling of a name. Sovereignty
must have power to protect^all the parts that compose and consti
tute it : and as united states we are equal to the importance
of the title, but otherwise we are not. Our union, well and wise
ly regulated and cemented, is the cheapest way of being great —
the easiest way of being powerful, and the happiest invention in
government which the circumstances of America can admit of. —
Because it collects from each state, that which, by being inade
quate, can be of no use to it, and forms an aggregate that serves
for all.
The states of Holland are an unfortunate instance of the effects
of individual sovereignty. Their disjointed condition exposes
them to numerous intrigues, losses, calamities and enemies ; and
the almost impossibility of bringing their measures to a decision,
and that decision into execution, is to them, and would be to us,
a source of endless misfortune.
It is with confederated states as with individuals in society ;
something must be yielded up to make the whole secure. In this
view of things we gain by what we give, and draw an annual in
terest greater than the capital. — I ever feel myself hurt when I
hear the union, that great palladium of our liberty and safety, the
least irreverently spoken of. It is the most sacred thing in the
constitution of America, and that which every man should be
most proud and tender of. Our citizenship in the United States
is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state
is only our local distinction. By the latter we are known at
home, by the former to the world. Our great title is Americans
— our inferior one varies with the place.
So far as my endeavors could go, they have all been directed
to conciliate the affections, unite the interests, and draw and keep
the mind of the country together ; and the better to assist in this
foundation work of the revolution, I have avoided all places of
profit or office, either in the state I live in, or in the United States ;
kept myself at a distance from all parties and party connexions,

THE CRISIS. 261
and even disregarded all private and inferior concerns : and when
we take into view the great work which we have gone through,
and feel, as we ought to feel, the just importance of it, we shall
then see, that the little wranglings and indecent contentions of
personal parley, are as dishonorable to our characters, as they are
injurious to our repose.
It was the cause of America that made me an author. The
force with which it struck my mind, and the dangerous condition
the country appeared to me in, by courting an impossible and an
unnatural reconciliation with those who were determined to reduce
her, instead of striking out into the only line that could cement
and save her, a declaration op independence, made it im
possible for me, feeling as I did, to be silent : and if, in the course
of more than seven years, I have rendered her any service, I have
likewise added something to the reputation of literature, by freely
and disinterestedly employing it in the great cause of mankind,
and showing that there may be genius without prostitution.
Independence always appeared to me practicable and proba
ble ; provided the sentiment of the country could be formed and
neld to the object : and there is no instance in the worldftwhere
a people so extended, and wedded to former habits of thinking,
and under such a variety of circumstances, were so instantly and
effectually pervaded, by a turn in politics, as in the case of inde
pendence, and who supported their opinion, undiminished, through
6uch a succession of good and ill fortune, till they crowned it
with success.
But as the scenes of war are closed, and every man preparing
for home and happier times, I therefore take my leave of the sub
ject. I have most sincerely followed it from beginning to end,
and through all its turns and windings : and whatever country I
may hereafter be in, I shall always feel an honest pride at the
oart I have taken and acted, and a gratitude to nature and provi
dence for putting it in my power to be of some use to mankind.
COMMON SENSE.
Philadelphia, April 19, 1783.

THE CRISIS.

WO. XVI.

TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA.
In " Rivington's New- York Gazette," of December 6th, is a
publication, under the appearance of a letter from London, dated
September 30th ; and is on a subject which demands the attention
of the United States.
The public will remember that a treaty of commerce between
the United States and England was set on foot last spring, and
that until the said treaty could be completed, a bill was brought
into the British parliament by the thin chancellor of the exche
quer, Mr. Pitt, to admit and legalize (as the case then required)
the commerce of the United States into the British ports and do
minions. But neither the one nor the other has been completed.
The commercial treaty is either broken off, or remains as it began ;
and the bill in parliament has been thrown aside. And in lieu
thereof, a selfish system of English politics has started up, cal
culated to fetter the commerce of America, by engrossing to
England the carrying trade of the American produce to the West
India islands.
Among the advocates for this last measure is lord Sheffield, a
member of the British parliament, who has published a pamphlet
entitled " Observations on the Commerce of the American States."
The pamphlet has two objects ; the one is to allure the Ameri
cans to purchase British manufactures ; and the other to spirit up
the British parliament to prohibit the citizens of the United States
from trading to the West India islands.
Viewed in this light, the pamphlet, though in some parts dex
terously written, is an absurdity. It offends, in the very act of
endeavoring to ingratiate ; and his lordship, as a politician, ought

THE CRISIS. 263
not to have suffered the two objects to have appeared together.
The letter alluded to, contains extracts from the pamphlet, with
high encomiums on lord Sheffield, for laboriously endeavoring (as
the letter styles it) " to show the mighty advantages of retaining
the carrying trade."
Since the publication of this pamphlet in England, the com
merce of the United States to the West Indies, in American ves
sels, has been prohibited ; and all intercourse, except in British
bottoms, the property of, and navigated by British subjects,
cut off.
That a country has a right to be as foolish as it pleases, has
been proved by the practice of England for many years past : in
her island situation, sequestered from the world, she forgets that
her whispers are heard by other nations ; and in her plans of poli
tics and commerce, she seems not to know, that other votes are
necessary besides her own. America would be equally as foolish
as Britain, were she to suffer so great a degradation on her flag,
and such a stroke on the freedom of her commerce, to pass with
out a balance.
We admit the right of any nation to prohibit the commerce of
another into its own dominions, where there are no treaties to the
contrary ; but as this right belongs fo one side as well as the
other, there is always a way left to bring avarice and insolence to
reason. But the ground of security which lord Sheffield has chosen to
erect his policy upon, is of a nature which ought, and I think
must, awaken, in every American, a just and strong sense of na
tional dignity. Lord Sheffield appears to be sensible, that in ad
vising the British nation and parliament to engross to themselves
so great a part of the carrying trade of America, he is attempting
a measure which cannot succeed, if the politics of the United
States be properly directed to counteract the assumption.
But, says he, in his pamphlet, " It will be a long time before the
American states can be brought to act as a nation, neither are they
to be feared as such by us."
What is this more or less than to tell us, that while we have no
national system of commerce, the British will govern our trade by
their own laws and proclamations as they please. The quotation
discloses a truth too serious to be overlooked, and too mischiev
ous not to be remedied.

264 THE CRISIS. -i
Among other circumstances which led them to this discovery,
none could operate so effectually as the injudicious, uncandidand
indeCent opposition made by sundry persons in a certain state, to
the recommendations of congress last winter, for an import duty
of five per cent. It could not but explain to the British a weak
ness in the national power of America, and encourage them to
attempt restrictions on her trade, which otherwise they would not
have dared to hazard. Neither is there any state in the union,
.whose policy was more misdirected to its interest than the state I
allude to, because her principal support is the carrying trade,
which Britain, induced by the want of a well-centred power in the
United States to protect and secure, is now attempting to take
away. It fortunately happened (and to no state in the union
more than the state in question) that the terms of peace were
agreed on before the opposition appeared, otherwise, there cannot
be a doubt, that if the same idea of the diminished authority of
America had occurred to them at that time as has occurred, to
them since, but they would have made the same grasp at jthe
fisheries, as they have done at the carrying trade.
It is surprising that an authority which can be supported with so
much ease, and so little expense, and capable of such extensive
advantages to the country, should be cavilled at by those whose
duty it is to Watch over it, and whose existence as a people de
pends upon it. But this, perhaps, will ever be the case, till some
misfortune awakens us into reason, and the instance now before
us is but a gentle beginning of what America must expect, unless
she guards her union with nicer care and stricter honor. United,
she is formidable, and that with the least possible charge a nation
can be so : separated, she is a medley of individual nothings,
subject to the sport of foreign nations.
It is very probable that the ingenuity of commerce may have
found out a method to evade and supersede the intentions of the
British, in interdicting the trade with the West India islands.
The language of both being the same, and their customs well un
derstood, the vessels of one country may, by deception, pass for
those of another. But this would be a practice too debasing for
a sovereign people to stoop to, and too profligate not to be dis
countenanced. An illicit trade, under any shape it can be placed,
cannot be carried on without a violation of truth. America is
now sovereign and independent, and ought to conduct her affairs

THE CRISIS. 30.5
jn a regular style of character. She has the same right to say
that no British vessel shall enter her ports, or that no British ma
nufactures shall be imported, but in American bottoms, the pro
perty of, and navigated by American subjects, as Britain has tq
say the same thing respecting the West Indies. Or she may lay
a duty of ten, fifteen, or twenty shillings per ton (exclusive of
other duties) on every British vessel conning from any port of the
West Indies, where she is not admitted to trade, the said tonnage
to continue as long on her side as the prohibition continues on
the other.
But it is only by acting in union, that the usurpations of foreign
nations on the freedqm of trade can be counteracted, and secu
rity extended to the commerce of America. And when we view
a flag, which to the eye is beautiful, and to contemplate its rise
and origin inspires a sensation of sublime delight, our national
honor must unite with on* interest to prevent injury to the one, or
insult to the other.
COMMON SENSE.
New-York, JUmmber 9, 1733,

END OF THE CRISIS.

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