The American gazette, or, the Constitutional journal — Salem, Mass., 1776-07-30 00:00:00, page 1

CONSTITUTIONAL
(Continued from our Inf.)
HOUSE of LORD S,
Tuesday, March 5.
LORD CARLISLE preferred to have
voted in favor of coercive merfures. Ac
tuated by the pufeft and most confeienti
ous principles, he felt no private scruples which
militated agsinft his publiccondud. Satisfied that
^biudion of America only could operate to the
dntereft of the mother-country, the noble Speaker
had joined a ministry who were Rruggling to main
tain the legiflativd authority of Greac-Britain.
Ai coercive measures were necessary, the Trea
ties were expedient. Should the map es Europe
he consulted, how inconsiderable a pare did Bri
tain form ? Could such a speck, even in a quarter
tu the globe, be supposed to pour cut the thou
sands necessary for its defence against surrounding
adversaries ? The vanity of such an expedition
was evident, and if evident, the necessity of hav
ing recourse to foreign aid was indisputable.
Lord Townshend {poke for the Treaties, and
1.1 favor of coercive measures ; profeffing at the
Rubric time the night!! veneration for those refpefta-
We per fonager who, through conscientious princi
^, entertained different opinions. The noble
' " ^, 4 > r m^!r entertained /mfr, on the
,%:©.. he ^u however pernfee t.te teverai A
merican charters ; and had fatisfied himfelf that
England was NOT the aggressor. The Britifa
parliament had a right to tax America. But th?
argument of right was now out of the question.
-The voice of reason was not to be heard amidif
thedin of arms. It was to be hoped the ensuing
campaign, if carried on with vigor, would decide
the dispute. If humilities were prolonged, not
withßanding the pacific appearances, France and
. Spain were not to be confided in. An attempt
would hardly be macle on Leland. The fate of
THUROT was too recent in remembrance.
Not, but if Jie troops sent from Ireland to Ame
rica had been replaced, even wih an equal num
ber of foreigners, the measure might haye been
far from inexpedient.
Lord Coventry deplored most pathetically
the approaching ruin of his country ; even whilst
he deplored it, he con fidered theevent as inevitable.
It was in the nature of things that states as well
33 individuals should expire. Immortality, was a
like denied to the body politic and the body natu
t. Longevity was all which could rationally be
elperkd. The concatenation of cause and effed
fr^mela kind of delliny, the effedsofwhich bman
Jvrrfcht could not avert, nor human wifdora pro
wide againtt. It. seemed of the ver, eface of
things, ;)at color.k^ frald prey on the vitals,
and deftrov -hep.rent from whom they issued.
They grew up from infarcy to an adult period,
and when c enured by age they naturally dis
claimed fubmnuon. Long had the noble speaker
seen, as in the glass of futurity, that dreadful aera
which was now bartering. He had considered
England and America as two mighty Rates floating
like bubbles on a furface. Whilst feperated each
•was fafe ; the moment the- shock of contention
enfred, one or both was sure to expire.'
Considered in such a point of view, the present
„contort was fraught with ruin to the parent Rate.
Instead of transporting armies to America, we
should vote a thanksgiving. We should separate
from the Colonies, and leave them to manage
their own concerns. Greater benefit than that
of commerce we never could derive. If we
^r#fped at empire it would end in ruin.
Those who deemed the war either just or politic,
-were as drfenfible for obtaining auxiliaries, as
Jhofe who viewed the quarrel as unjust and impoli
tic, ware to he applauded for arraigning the mea-
AMERICAN
VO L. I.
THE
O R,
TUESDAY, July 30, 1776.
\i\ a ffl K /
R&l^^^
The Duke of CUMBERLAND.
" My Lords,
" I heartily concur in the proposed address. 4
" think the noble Deke by proposing it, gave the
'' most demonstrable proof of duty to the King. 1
" trust that the part I now take, may not be con
" ftrued into the smallest difrefpe& for my brother.
" ft is the incopfidenue conduct of his ministers I
" arraign.——-—Alas ! that I should live to fee
" BRUNSWICKERS, formrely theDefeaders
66 of Liberty, now employed tof bjugate the Co
"Jouifts, and deftro -the cotßitu oval rights of
" fhail therefore refrain fre t faying any thing
"more on the fubjed."
The Duke of Cbandoie. The noble Duke who
made the motion,%as charged the supporters of
the measures refpeding America with favouring
designs subversive of the liber ties of their country.
I do assure his Grace, that iff thought the mea
sures he speaks of had any such tendency, nei
ther his Grace, nor any noble Lord in this House,
would be further than I from giving or affording
them the least countenance or fuppert. It is be
cause I am fully Satisfied, that those are perfc&ly
necessary and conßitutional, t^at Ihave uniformly
given them my fandion as a member of this
House ; and I will likewise add, that I am no left
convinced of the propriety of the measures, than
of the high integrity and abilities of those who
have advised them. The noble Duke has thrown
cut the most unjust charges a^d illfeuuded insinu
ations against the wlfole body of militia. Asa
Lord Lieutenant of a very refpe&able county, I
find myfelf included in the censure, and look up
on my honor very materially wounded. I am
certain I can answer for the corps which I have
the honor to command ; and nave reason to pre
sume it is universally so, that no officers but such
as are duly qualified to serve, are admitted. I
am authotifed to Gy that tL oob'e Duke is to
tally mistaken in his affertic^, id far as has come
within my own knowledge ^.i have a right to
presume, that he has been equally mistaken, as
applying to every other corps in hia Majesty's
service.
Duke of Manchester: 'Whatever objefti
ons I may have to the original cause of the dispute
between botlf countries, however I may condemn
the mode in which it has been hitherto conduced,
or how muchfoever I may difepprove of the mea
fureef employing foreigners th make a conquest of
cur own fubjeds, and commission them to carry
all the horrors of a war into 1 part of the domi
nions of the British Crown ; I own I have Rill, if
possible, stronger and more material objections
against some matters which make their appear
ance in the treaties now before your Lordships
I think I perceive famething which bears the
Rrongeft, nay most unquivocal marks of that se
cret influence, that black © inflexion, which c.
penly or covertly, as opportunities served or cir
cumßances concurred, h^e pervaded our Couric
sure. The noble speaker cauE not embrace
either party. He would not give a vote because
the measures on the tapis met not his ideas. He
was notfo much of the philosopher, as to be ipdiffi
rent to the welfare of his country. Nor was hethat
citizen of the world, as to have an equal reliih
for every foil. England was the place of his na
tivity. To England he was attached. It gave
him unfpeakablc anxiety, therefore, to perceive a
contest commencing, which could end in a trans
fer of power. No longer would England, but
America, be the feat of empires Had the present
contest not began, the catastrophe might have been
delayed; as it was unhappily commenced,
the downfall of Great-Britain was thereby accele
rated.
Lord Effingham, I fheuld not have troubled
your Lordships upon a subject which has been fa
luu, and repeatedly dif^Rica in a. - ^ g_.t.% "u<
not three points which naturally present themfcirex
on the present eccafion ftrikg me very Rrongly.
Those are the force which America is able to cp
pofe to ours, with the resources for rifiintaining
that force, the profpea of success on our part,
and the means of defence against the attacks of
our natural enemies. The firft may be consider
ed in two lights, the number of troops America
will be able to bring into the field, and the mode
adopted for paying them. This, my Lords, is a
point that calls for ycarLordfhips most serious con
sideration. With such as deny the justice of 'the
war, it will operate as proving its impracticabi
lity, as well as injustice ; with such as contend for
its jurtice, it will create a very strong objeaiom
as to the expediency. By the measures proposed
by the Continental Congress for obliging every
province to contribute a certain number of meo,
and certain fpecific sum of money fbr their sup
port, it was directed that the inhabitants of each
province should be numbered, aud the men and
money proportioned to such returns. On this oc
casion, as might be expeded, the returns were
ffiorr, considerably, of the real number of fouls ;
notwithstanding this, they amounted to three mil
lions and a half, which is more by almost one half,
than any gross computation had amounted to. Ta
pay those men, the Congress gave orders to rtrike
off four millions of dollars in paper currency, which
sum, accordingly as the paper is emitted, is to
pass current in the refpeaive provinces where the
revenue arises. Thus, though paper be emitted
it is still paid away without incurring a debt; for
the supplies are by this means raised within the
year, every man contributing his awn share, and
the whole state, as one body, still left free of any
debt or incumbrance whatever. On the second
point, it is plain, including the foreigners, and
supposing the British corps complete, which £
am sure thefare not, the whole force a&ing on the
part of Great Britain, will not much exceed 40,-
coo effective men. Will any of your Lordihips
assert, or be perfugded to believe, that an army of
40,000 men will be able in one campaign, or in
any given time, to make a complete conquest of
three millions and a half of people, zealous for
their liberties, and refolately determined to de
fend them to the last extremity ?—I am sure there
not.
cils for feme years back. America is to be coerced,
no matter by what means. The blood and trea
sure of this country is to be lavishly thrown away
in effecting this purpose. A set of beggarly, ir>
fignificant German Princes are to be doubly sub.
fidized to give this extraordinary measure success.
But that is not all ; the commander of -this bod,
of mercenaries is to he inverted with the supreme
command, independent of the control of either
King or Parliament. If any dispute should arise,
where are the parties to appeal ? Not to the King,
for he has no power over them ; net the Parliament,
for they can pretend to none. Where then, as no
provision is made in the treaty. but to the Prince to
whom they belong ? Thus you will have a bodycf
12,000 men, with a veteran General at their head,
free from any control whatever. Suppose any dispute
fheuld arise between our Commanders and theirs,
who is to decide it ? The foreign General knows
no superior but his master ; and the confcqueace
will be, thatin any such event, all operations
mart cease till he receives inirudions from home ;
and thus the very end for which those ,foragners
are brought into the kingdom will be defeated,
and the nati6n put to a monstrous expence for no
thing.
If fc, then every freience to expcihion and
JOURNAL.
GAZETTE:
NUMB. 7.
THE