Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1775-04-17 00:00:00, page 6

The SPEECH of the Right Honourable the Earl of
CHATHAM, in the House of Lords, Jan. 20,
1775, on the following motion made by his Lordfoip.
" That an humble address be presented to his Maje
sty, most humbly to advise, and beseech him, that
in order to open a way towards an happy settlement
of the dangerous troubles in America, by beginning
to allay ferments and foften animosities there; and
above all, for preventing in the mean time, any sud
den and fatal catastrophe at Boston, now fuffering
under the daily irritation of an army before their
eyes, and posted in their town. It may graciously
please his Majesty, that immediate orders be dispatch
ed to General Gage/dr removing his Majesty's forces
from the town of Boston, as soon as the rigour of the
season, and other circumstances indispensable to the
fafety and accommodation of the said troops, may
render the fame pradicable.”
My Lords,
I RISE with vast astonishment to fee these papers*
brought to your table in folate a period of this bu
siness ; papers, I am sure, the contents of which are
* The whole of the American papers juf then delivered
in at the table by Lord Dartmouth, at the command of
bis Majesty.
similar, but we are ton conceited to profit from
inch experience. PHILIP THE SECOND, and
his seventeen provinces, are the w OUNTERPAR T
of what WE arc ading. The debates in his coun
cil on fending the DUKE OF ALVA into the
Netherlands, are applicable in every part. He
was advised by two sensible men, to repair thither
himfelf, and hear the complaints of his people, be
fore he came to such rash refilves. But the majo
rity said, as in this case, that his glory was com
promitted.—lt was not religion only, but TAX
ING WITHOUT CONSENT OF THEIR
S FATES, that brought matters to the lad extre
mity : The Duke of Alva, it is true, was victori
ous every where at firft, but his cruelties were but
sowing the serpents teeth. The GUES, the BEG
GARS of the briel, esteemed at that time infinitely
more despicable than the New Englandmen are
represented, gave the firft shock to the power of
Spain—ln comparing the probability of events, can
any man fay Great Britain has such a propped of
victory in the contest as Spain might then have ex
peded? yet we know the event, and how that
mighty empire was rent in pieces.—The present
resolution hurries us into that situation from which
there is no retreating. It obliges the Americans
immediately TO ACT. By declaring them in
REBEL LION, they must have recourse TO ARMS;
all negociation is cut off —I think the word RE
BELLION both impolitic and unjuftifiable. I beg
to know what paper on your table can vindicate
that term ? The firft law officer of the crown said,
a number of men committing TREASON was
REBELLION." —I differ from him in the defini
tion ; According to my conception of the phrase,
they mult be in MILITARY ARRAY, to effect
some military purpose. One hundred men COIN
ING MONEY are NOT in rebellion tho' com
mitting treason. Infurre&ions to pull down inclo
fures is not rebellion, though deemed a constructive
levying war. In the case of PURCHASE and
DEMERCE for pulling down the meeting houses,
they were convided of TREASON, but no on:
ever thought of faying the confederates or affocia
ates were in REBELLION. I think we Should be
very cautious how we criminate bodies of men on
such intelligence. I dare fay the noble Lord has
been deceived himfelf. But this I' affirm, HE HAS
HIT HERTO CONSTANTLY DECEIVED
THIS HOUSE. It appears to me that no intelli
gence from GENERALGAGE can be DEPEND
ED ON. I beg the House will attend particularly
to what I now fay, before they engage their LIVES
and FORTUNES. It appears GENERAL GAGE
has regularly DECEIVED administration. No
event has turned out as he foretold, or gave reason
to hope ; the next letter constantly contradi&s the
expectations raised by the former. He seems never
to have known what they were about, no doubt
grossly imposed on himfelf, but the fads are un
deniable. When he firft arrived, he writes, “ the
malecontents were abashed, and the friends of go
vernment would soon appear." Next “ his ex
pedations from the Assembly were disappointed,"
and he dissolves them in surprise: then " there
would be no Congress :" next, though there would
be a Congress, they would differ and disagree ;" in
short, led on and leading others by vain expectati
ons, till the very last letter which announces a to
tal difaffedion, and which I believe to be the true
state of the provinces.
Singling out the province of Massachusetts Bay,
can answer no purpose, but to expose our partiality,
It is the CAUSE of ALL, and the other colonies
can never be so mean as fitft to encourage and then
desert them before the general right is fettled.
The noble Lord talks next of flopping their
fisheries ; but he fays, " the ad is only to be tem
porary." Does the noble Lord think he can turn
the channels of trade as easily as he can turn the
majorities of this House? To explain the idea,
supposing the New England fisheries ftopt, their
utensils must waste and destroy. But will the En
glish merchant madly increase his flock, and fit out
new ships, if the ad is merely temporary ? If it is
perpetual the people in America are ruined. The
consequence is, that the French must in the end
reap the benefit of all this strange policy.
fellows, venders of twopenny wares, and falfhoods,
who under the ideaoftrade, fell every thing in their
power—honour, trust and conscience.
These fellows (for such is the lot ofhumanity) are
ever to be found in all countries—and are always in
great plenty when their country is at stake, who, with
out ever regarding consequences, and that general ruin
might ensue, press forward to the goal of lucre, and
cut out the shortest passage to their own interests.
Yet these are the men, who are held outto us to take
a true state of the country from ; men who ad upon the
most illiberal principles, children of the world; who
have no fixed residence—no lading attachments, but
to the shrine ofMammon. But it is not inch that
ever speak the voice of a people—it is the proprietors,
and tillers of the ground—men who have a permanent
—natural right in the place—and who from being nur
sed in the bof@m of cultivation, form strong and ho
nourable attachments to their country; —it is to these,
credit and authority are to be given, and from these
our best informations are to be drawn.
Much, my Lord, has been said about the author'ty
of Parliament in these cases, and when men are driven
for want of argument, they fly to this as their last re
fouree—" ads of Parliament (fay their advocates)
are sacred and should be implicitly submitted to—for
if the supreme power does not lodge somewhere ope
ratively and efFeXively, there must be an end of all le
gislation ! —But my Lords, they who argue, or rather
dogmatize in this manner, do not fee ths whole of this
qaeftion on great, wife and liberal grounds; for in all
free states the constitution is fixed, and all legislative
power and authority, wherever placed, either in col
leXive bodies, or individually, must derive under that
constitution who framed them.—Ads of legislation,
therefore, however strong and effective they may be,
when they are framed in thefpirit of this constitution, yet
when they resist—they attack their own foundation ;
for it is the constitution, and it alone, that limits both
sovereignty and allegiance.
This dodrine,my Lords, is no temporary dodrine,
takenup on particular occasions to answer particular
purposes—it is involved in no metaphyfieal doubts and
intricacies—but clear, precise, and determined—it is
recorded in all cur law books, it is written in the great
volume of nature —it is theeffe&tidl, unalterable right
already known, not duly to every lord in this NouU,
but almost to every person in this kingdom, who hs
made American affairsin the lead an object of enquiry;
yet now, in the very tail of this business, when mea
sures should be long fmce determined on, we are fur
nifhed with an empty parade of parchments—to tell us
what ?—why, what all the world knew before —that
the Americans, fore under injuries, and irritated by
wrongs, ftript of their inborn rights and dearest privile
ges, have refilled, and entered into associations for the
preservation of that blessing to which life and property
are but secondary considerations.
Give me leave to ask you, my Lords, how these as
sociations have been formed ? has the tide of corruption
yet flowed in upon their elections? have those delegates
been fuboroed ? or have great interest, great power,
or great threats been used (as is too much the case in
this our boasted mother country) to crayon out what
conduct they should adopt? no—nothing like this has
appeared; the electors seem to be prompted by no other
motive than that glorious and exalted one, the preserva
tion of their common liberties ,• and under this idea they
have been induced to appoint men competent to
so great an undertaking ; men of tried and found princi
ples, embarked in the lame great cause, and, from si
milar sentiments, taught to pity the miseries ofthe whole.
Invested then with this right (the choice of a free peo
ple) these Delegates have deliberated with prudence,
wisdom, and spirit; and,in consequence of their delibe
rations, have addressed the justice and honour of this
country. This is their fault—this is their crime; pe
titioning for that, without which a free people cannot
possibly exist ; —yet, for asking this boon, the unalien
able privilege of Englishmen, are they reprobated, and
stigmatized with the epithets of .ingrates —traitors —
and rebels.
" Had the early situation ofthe people of Boston
been attended to, things would not have cometo this—
but the infant complaints ofßofton were dterally treat
ed like the capricious squalls of a child, who, it was said,
did not know whether it was aggrieved or rot. —But
full well I knew, at that time, that this child, if not
redressed, would soon resume the courage and voice of
a man. The Bostonians did not then complain upon
flight, or temporary evil; but on an evil which sap
ped the very vitals of their constitution, and reduced
all the great bleflings of life to chance, equivocation,
and insecurity. Full well I knew, that the sons of an
cestors borne under the fame free constitution, and
once breathing the fame liberal air as Englifhmen,—
ancestors, who even quitted this land of liberty, the
moment it became the land of oppreflion, and, in refill
ance to bigoted councils, and oppressive measures, tore
themselves from their dearest connexions ; I fay, full
well I knew, that the offspring of such ancestors would
refiftupon the fame principles, and on the fame occasi
ons.
It has, however, gone abroad, that the resolutions,
and petitions, of the Congress are not the real resoluti
ons and petitions ofthe sober, refpedable and difpafli
onate ; but the very dregs and refufe of the people ;
and to circulate this report the better, letters are hand
ed about from some very refpe&able merchants (as they
are called)from the different provinces. But well I know
how to describe such merchants—little paltry, pedling
But, my Lords, government so far from once turn
ing its eyes to the policy and deftruftive consequence
of this scheme, are constantly fending out more troops,'
and we are told, in the language of menace, that, if
seventeen thousand men wont do, fifty thousand (hall.
Tis true, my Lords, with this force they may ravage
the country; waste and destroy as they march; but in
the progress offeventeen hundred miles, can they occu
py the places they have passed? Will not a country,
which can produce three millions of people, wronged
and insulted as they are, start up like Hydras in eve
ry corner, and gather frefh strength from frefh oppo
sition ? Nay, what dependance can you have upon the
soldiery, the unhappy engines of your wrath ? They
are Englishmen, and must feel for Englishmen; and
their carrying muskets and bayonets about them, furc
ly, does not exclude them from the pale of civil com
munity. Do you think that these men, then, can turn
their armsagainft their brethren ? Surely no a
viflory must be to them a defeat carnage a fa
crifce.
“ But it is not merely three millions of people, the
produce of America, we have to combat with, in this
unnatural struggle; many more are on their fid?, difper
led over the face of this wide empire. Every whig in
this country is for them—lreland is with them to a man;
nay, even those Englishmen, who may now be temporally
inaXive, when they once come to be roused to d feofe
of recplleXion,—when they come to weigh the great
line of right, for which, their brethren in America
are contending, the sense of their own danger will in
ftruX them to range themselves on their fide.
Who then, in the name of Heaven, could advise this
measure ? Or who can continue to give this strange cd
unconstitutional advice ? I do not mean to level at one
Lian, or any particular set of men—but thus much I
will declare, that if his Majesty continues to hear such
counsellors—he will not only be badly advised—but un
done. —He may wear his crown, indeed, it is true, but
it will not be worth his wearing: robbed of so principal
a jewel as America, it will lose its luflre, and no lon
ger beam that effulgence, which should irradiate the
brow of Majesty. What then is to become of this
boasted Country of England, once so renowned in arts,
as well as arms? what is become of ber Constitution,
that has hitherto been the wonder as well as the envy
of furroanding nations ! has (be changed her civil power,
and salutary laws for a military code? or has she tranf
ferred her feat of empire to Conftantinople?—Has (be,
who has often shed her dearest blood in the manly resist
ance of despotism, now not only tamely submitted to it,
but fat down herfelf to forge the arbitrary chains ?
But our present Governors, alas! think so little of
this matter, that I hear General Gage has been thought
to have a^ed too tardy in this bufinete—that he has not
been fwift enough to execute vengeance, and (heath
the sword in the bowels of his countrymen. I really
pitythe unfortunate situation of that Gentleman, who
has approved himfelf en many occasions a gallant soldier,
and humane man; tor what, from being under the dis
agreeable predicant :i t ofdoing his cuty on the one fide,
and his own feelings of justice and policy on the other,
what a conflift mult he have ! his fituatton, my Lords,
puts me in mind of a similar tranfaftion in the civil wars
of France, when the great Conde on one fide, and Mar
dial Burenne on the other, commtndc 1 different armies;
the latter confeious what terrible consequences a vie-
rs ^fr/T^+dt pcccrds wib all the pineries rs
jufti.ee and civil policy, wih neither armed force on
the one fide, nor /übmiffon on the other, can, upon any
occasion whatever, eradicate.
It was this dodrine that was the great guide and spi
rit to the framers of the bill of rights at the period of
the glorious revolution—men of the greatest accuracy,
wisdom, and honesty; and, without any disparage
ment to the present day, few such counfellors are now
to be seen. Recoiled, my Lords, for a moment, the
arguments used by these men —and fee how wife, libe
ral, and constitutional they were; turn then to their
opponents, and how flimfey, thin, and unprovided they
appear ! if then we applaud our ancestors for obtaining
such liberties for us, at a time when all the rights of
Englishmen weretrampled upon, and despotism had
trodden down the laws, farely we cannot, in reason,
deny that portion of liberty (f® hardly and honourably
obtained) to our own brethren—brethren by the fame
common parent, and who are unquestionable heirs of
the fame glorious inheritance.
The fads being, then, as I have stated them, what
has Government done ? They have sent an armed
force, confiding of above seventeen thousand men, to
dragoon the Bostonians into what is called their duty,
and for the chastisement of a small rabble, confiding of
the necessitous and charaXerlefs in doing an unlau ful
aX, have involved above thirty thousand inhabitants in
the greatest difficulty, oppression, and confternatii n.
Is this the way to win men to their duty, and recover
in them the principles of affeXii n and British allegi
ance? Do you think, that men who could be roused to
forego their profits, their pleasures, and the peaceable
enjoyment of their dearest conneXions---all for the
fake of liberty, will be whipped into vassalage like
slaves? Why, my Lords, this conduX in government
is so fantaftical and aerial in praXice, that it by far ex
ceeds the boldest wing of poetry ; for poetry has often
read pleating, as well as inftruXive lessons to mankind;
and though it femetimes amuses herfelf in fiXiop, that
fiXion, to please, should be founded on verisimilitude.
But in this wife system there is nothing like truth, no
thing like policy, nothing like justice, experience, or
common fenle.