The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1775-02-06 00:00:00, page 1

BOSTO N.
4 number of little, fallacious, inflammatory pamphlets,
aiming to reflet dishonour on the late mos rejpeflable
Continental Congress, and to render abortive the wisest
measures for thefalvation ofthofe colonies, have been
lately published at New-York, by an infamous little Jet
of Hirelings, under the tuition and command of an higb
fjing, Romanifed EecleJiafick', and since retailed here
in the Maffacbaftts Gazettes, by one of our kenneled
troftitutes, and bribed incendiaries, the parafitical,
leafing Philanthr^p. The following Strides on one
of those Pamphlets, are chiefly deigned to take oft that
imprefiion of terror, aubich the author s chimerical ar
rangement of military matters, was intended to make ort
the minds ofbis ley's judicious and timorous readers of
both sexes, the las refuge of the deft airing cabal. This
performance does honour to the author us a foldter and a
writer, and we doubt not the friends of Liberty will
be highly gratifed witb the publication.
The WHOLE of a Pamphlet intitled
STRICTURES on a Pamphlet, intitled " A Friendly
Address to all reasonable Americans, on the Subje& of
cur Political Confront."
Addressed to the People of America.
" Let's canvass him in his broad Cardinal's hat.'
Shakesp.
A PAMPHLET, entitled A Friendly Address
to all reasonable Americans, advertised and
fold by Mr. James Rivington, of New-York, is of
so extraordinary a nature that it is difficult for any
man, who is interested in the welfare of the com
munity (whatever contempt he may have for the per
formance) to remain silent.—l know not whether
the author is a Layman or an Ecclesiastic, but he
bears Wrongly the characters of the latter. He has
the want of candour and truth, the apparant spirit
of persecution, the unforgivingnefs, the deadly ha
tred to dissenters, and the zeal of arbitrary power,
which has distinguished churchmen in all ages, and
more particularly the high part of the churcli of
England; I cannot help therefore considering him
as one of this order.
The design of this pamphlet is manifeftly to dis
solve the spirit of union, and check the noble ardor
prevailing through the continent; but his zeal so
far out-runs his abilities, that there is the greatest
reason to think that his reverence has laboured to
little effeft. His diferetion seems to be still less
than his genius. A man of common judgment
would not so wantonly have attacked the general
reigning principles and opinions of a people, whom
he intends to seduce or intimidate out of their rights
and privileges: For instance, I believe there are at
lead ninety-nine Americans in an hundred, who
think that Charles the firft was an execrable tyrant,
that he met with no harder fate than he deserved,
and that his two sons ought in justice to have made
th- fame exit. To descant therefore on the crimi
nality of the remittance made to that tyrant ; to affe&
on every occasion giving the title of rebellion to the
civil war which brought him to justice, is a degree
of weakness which no man who is not blinded by
the daemon ofjacobitifm could possibly be guilty of.
---But to preach up in this enlightened age (as he
does in almost express terms) passive obedience, is a
mark of lunacy, or at leak it proves that the moment
a head begins to itfh for a mitre, it loses the faculty
of reasoning, for if the principle of paflive obedience
is admitted, the gracious Prince, for whom his reve
rence profeffes so great a devotion, isa down-rightu
furper, and the parliament of which he speaks so re
fpe&fully,Lords and Commons,are rebels and traitors.
The doctrines he aims to inculcate are as follow.
That the parliament has a right to tax you without
ybur consent ; that the duty upon tea is no tax ; that
this duty is your only grievance ; that the cause of
Bolton is their own concern ; that it is not your
cause; that the punishment of Bolton is a just pu
nishment; that it is not equal to their crimes ; that
the Bostonians are rebels, traitors, and pampered fa
rratics ; that the Congress arc little better; that no
Containing the Freshest ADVICES,
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1775.
CONNECTICUT
AND
WEEKLY
Open to all PARTIES-—not under the influence of ANY.
mifeondud of administration can juftify or cxcufe
open difrefpeQ ; that fuhmiflion is to be paid to the
higher powers, whatever charader they be ; that an
Apostle enjoined submission to the tyrant Nero; that
of all the people under heaven the King's American
fubje€ls have the least capfe for complaint; that the
present confufion of the Colonies has been occasion
ed by falfe alarms ; that none of your legal rights
have been invaded; no injury has been done you,
and consequently that you can never be jellified in
resenting that of which you have no reason to com
plain; that you are no judges of the rights of Par
liament; that the parliament ought to ad according
to their own judgment, not according to yours, even
in things which concern you principally and solely;
'that they assert they have the right in quellion ; that
you have never proved they have not ; that you have
always believed or allowed they have it until the
present occasion ; that the Quebec Bill is a just and
constitutional bill ; that the Canadians are likely to
prove the best and most loyal fubjeds in his Majes
ty's American dominions ; that there is too much
reason to believe that the minds of the Americans
are unprincipled, and their hearts disposed for re
bellion ; that since the reduction of Canada they
have been bloated with a vain opinion of their own
power and importance; that the iflaud of Great
Britain is able to govern (that is, to dragoon) ten
Americas ; that the moment it is known that Ame
rica is no longer under the protection of Great-Bri
tain, all the maritime powers of Europe would foin
to ravage your fecuporL; plunder and seize ,Q)lr
ships merely for the pleasure of ravaging* ; that a/1
the maritime powers of the world would not dispos
sess Great-Britain of the empire of the sea even when
America is separated from her. Now I challenge
the world to produce so many wicked sentiments,
stupid principles, audaciously falfe assertions, and
monstrous absurdities, crowded together into so small
a compass. All his positions are indeed so felf-evi
dently absurd and falfe, that it would be an insult
to American understandings, seriously to attempt re
futing them. I Ihall only beg leave to take notice
of the curious argument he uses to prove the duty on
tea to be no tax, it is that, unless we consent to the
tax we are not to pay the duty. We may refufe
purchasing it if we please. The fame logic would
demo^ftrate that a duty on beer, candles or soap
would be no tax, as we are not absolutely obliged to
drink beer ; we may drink water, we may go to bed
before it is dark, and we are not forced to wash our
shirts. His assertion that Great-Britain, when di
vorced from her colonies, will dill hold the empire
of the fens in spite of all the powers of the worl^, is
still more ingenious. It amounts to this, that with
out the possible means of procuring timber, iron,
plank, masts, pitch, tar or hemp, to furnifh out a
single frigate, they may build more ships than all the
world put together; that when her nursery for sea
men is destroyed, and all the commerce on which
* This is perhaps the mos prepoferous idea that ever
was hatched in a distempered brain. America (more par
ticularly since the difiractions in Poland have taken place)
has been the great granary or cella penaria of Europe.
Is it possible to conceive that the different maritime powers
should unite to deprive tbemfelves of the chief meant of fub
fflance, merely for the fans fake ? Is it not more natural
to fappofe that they would out bid each other for your
friendship and commerce on which so much depends ?
When the Low Countries withdrew tbemfelves from the
dominion of Spain, did England, France, and the other
powers immediately ft about ravaging their fa ports and
fixing their Jhips ? Did they not, on the contrary, exert
tbemfelves direftly and indirectly to affifi them I The case
is fmilar, the event would be similar ; and that Great-
Britain would not be powerful enough at sea, when fepa
ratedfrom her colonies, to prevent this affifance, I foall
refer my readers to Maffie's efimates, the autboriy of which
has never been disputed, and which demonflrates, that more
than half the naval power of Great-Britainfands a# her
American foundation.
THE
^^B^^^^ t^^^
both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
the exigence of seamen depends, is annihilated, the*
will then be able to man more fleets than the whole
universe put together. But! am ashamed of tres
passing on the public patience; in making ftri&ures
on such ridiculous articles, I shall therefoic pass to
some questions which have not been so much agitat
ed, and on which if I mistake not, his reverence lays
the greatest stress ; for as he modefily declares, that
he has no opinion of your courage, it was natural for
him to consider intimidation and terror, as the moft'
powerful dgures of rhetoric. Regular armies from
Great-Britain, Hessians, Hanoverians, royal fland*-
aids erected, fkilful Generals, legions of Canadians; *
and unnumbered tribes of savages ; swords flaming
in the front and rear, pestilence, desolation and fa
mine, are all marlhailed in a most dreadful order by
this church militant author.- -But let us somewhat
minutely examine the pidure, an,tfee Whether,
ftript of its falfe colouring, it has any thing really
terrifying. His Reverence begins with assuring us,
that there is no room to doubt, but that such an ar
my as was employed in the tedu&ion of Canada
(that is, an army of seven thousand men) would be
more than fufficient for the conquest of all the difaf
feded American Colonies, (which are in fa& all the
Colonies) should such a resolution become necessary
in order to reduce them to obedience. For my own
part! think there is very great reason to doubts that
seven thousand, even of the best troops, are able to
conquer two hundred thousand of the inoh difor
merly peasantry upon earth, if they are animated in
defence of every thing they hold most dear and fa-.
cred ; and there is still greater reason to doubt, that
seven thousand very indifferent troops cempofed of^
the refufe of an exhausted nation, few of whom have
seen a&ion of any kind, should be able to conquer
two huudred thousand active, vigorous yeomanry,
fired with the noble ardor, we fee prevalent through
the continent, all armed, all expert in the use of arms
almost from their cradles. The success of Quebec
it is true, does infinite honour to the.Englifh arms,
the army was, I believe, only seven thousand, the
enemy were perhaps more than double, but sixteen
thousand men are not two hundred thousand. TL;
fate of Canada, depended upon one decisive action,
but it is impossible to calculate how many victories
must be gained before these Colonies could be fub
dv^d, whereas a single victory gained by the colonies
must decide the contest in their favour. In the af
fair of Quebec there is another circumstance to be
considered, it was Wolfe, who commanded ; a man
of the most wonderful talents, formed to level ail dif
ficulties ; to render the most despicable soldiery, al
most instantaneously, an army of heroes. In ihort,
the genius of the man was so extraordinary, the e
vent was so extraordinary that no inferences can be
drawn from it ; but this without preemption ma,
be asserted, that no General now exiting in the Bri=
tifli service, would with double or treble his number
have succeeded in the fame circumflances. One
thing more I must add in honour of that illustrious
perronage, that the fame greatness of foul whicli
qualified him to conquer the natural hereditary ene
mies of his country, would have made him reject
with horror the Hangman's office, which others who
are not endued with conquering attributes, will with
readiness accept.
It is notorious that Mr. Wolfe was not only the
firft of soldiers, but that he was a most liberal virtu
ous citizen, that he was passionately attached to the
liberties of his country, and of mankind ; and that
he was particularly an enemy to large Handing ar
mies in time of peace. It is on the other hand re
markable, that all the advocates for Handing armies,
all those who are the fondeft of the saddling and pa
rade of war are the most active in avoiding real
service.
h [NUMBER s^.j
CObßAkt
^ HARTFORD
INTELLIGENCER.
This tremendous soothsayer, on the supposition
that so great a miracle fhould.happen in our favour,
as that the trifling body of five hundred thousand
men, though firmly united (for every man in Arne,