The Pennsylvania evening post — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-04-18 00:00:00, page 3

Mr. Towne,
Your reprinting the following piece in the Evening Post will
oblige feyeral of your subscribers.
I OBSERVE, in the Packet of the firft in Rant, a paper di
, reeled to Cato, under the signature of The Forefer, the in
tention of which appears to be either to draw the attention of
Cato from the fubjeft of which he treats, to a mere personal.
altercation, or, if that should fail, to intimidate him and
others from a candid examination of the pieces which have,
without any opposition whatever, been handed to the public
in favor of independance. The abusive language with which
this writer begins, and the threat with which he concludes,
it is hoped will fail of the purpose, notwithstanding the higli
dress in which they are clad; for although the- writer affefts^
to take it for granted that the point is fettled in, favour of. in
dependance, and that Cato and bisjadtion are not of fuffi
cient consequence “ now to turn the scale," —yet he will'
find that the Good Senje of the inhabitants of this province,
nay of this continent, is not to be led captive by the affirmed
title and pompous stile of Common Safe, or its inferior advo
cates; or, to use the words of a celebrated writer, ,'' that there
" is a fund of Good Senje in this country which cannot long
" be deceived by the arts of falfe reasoning or falfe patriot
" tifm"—but that they will, before they determine cn this
moftinterefting question, read and hear every thing that can
be written and said on both sides, and after a full delibera
tion, form an opinion of which they willhave.no oecafion to
repent.
In order to know with certainty our. true Situation, it is
neceflary to contider by what road we arrived at this preci
pice, down which our authors would have us throw ourfeives.
If we look back we Ihall find that in the year 1763, we
were the happiest people the fun ever ihone on iince the crea
tion, enjoying peace, liberty andy^tyin their greatest extent,
•we mere biffed both in bafat and tn fore; enter, man fat under
bu own vine and under hs. wunfg^tree, and there nvas none to
makebim afraid. At that fatal period a plan was formed by
the Parliament, the. Ministry, or the King, or by all three, .
to encroach upon our happiness by an unconßitutionahinva'-
Ron of our property.. Upon the firft difeovery of this plan,
all ranks of people united in a decent and manly opposition to
it, and obtained a repealof the obnoxious Stamp rid, which
for a time reduced us to our former tranquillity.—.The plan
was however renewed, in another shape, the Declaratory Bill
was passed, and was- soon followed, hy the Revenue Law,
which was calculated to. carry it into -execution... The Good
Sense of this country .was again roused and brought into ac
tion. An opposition of, the like nature was entered into,
and though it was not attended with the former success for
want of being adhered to^ Sufficient time, yet a repeal was
procured of three parts, in four of the duties imposed, and'
for some time gave us the appearance of quiet ; but this fame
Good Senje which never fieeps when Liberty is in danger,
could not be fatisfied ^hile the Tea duty remained a prece
dent of taxation by a British Parliament. In the year 1773,
an extraordinary attempt was made by the Miniilr,, in con
junction with the Jndia Company, to enforce the payment of
the Tea duty, and.they had their emissaries on this tide of.
the water to assist in their.plan. .Their feeble efforts were in- &
itantly frustrated by the, virtuous rindignati m which the Gaid^
Senje of the people roused in them, and the dutied Tea was -
either drowned in the ocean or sent back to its disappointed.
owners. 'I he few ministerial tools who advocated their caufe
iruthe several provinces, ..-were branded with the name of To- -
ries ; a name, by that application, rendered to odious in Ame
i:£a, that, to turn up all -the .abusive; epithets that. the. in-.
195
ventive naiads of Billinigate have ever used, in one opprobrious
term, would fall far fliort of ; a name so very obnoxious, that
a merited wearer of it cannot find rest for the foie of his foot
on the free continent of America.
Since that time the contest has been managed by a Congress
of the wisdom of the United Colonies, delegated for thy pu/pofe,
who have, I trust, before this time, convinced the Parliament, the
Miniftr.y and the King, that as their plan was in its nature
unjust, so their prosecution of it will, be vain and of 11? ef
fe&; butjuft as we have carried our arguments and arms to
such a pitch as entitle us to be heard, and to be heard to ad
vantage in the difeuflion of our claim to liberty, peace and
fafety, when the whole continent: is united almoit to a man
with determined purpose to maintain their liberty againrt the
invader, when the true Whig,fpirit,has diffiafed iifelf through
the mafoof. the people, and Toryifm is f~arce to be found
among the lons of Americas a few, Lhopea .very few, indi
viduals have flatted dp and told usthat we cannot secure our
freedom without abjuring the land that gave .births to our an
cestors, and to the love of liberty^with which -ourselves ar^
mfpired; nor without throwing ourselves into the arms 'of a
Mate unfriendly to our liberty and our religion, and not - yer
whole of the wounds she received from our own fivords.
In order to propagate this doarint, a pamphlet has^ been ^
written, and honored with the title of Common Sehfe, con
taining perhaps the mod artful mifreprefcrit^tions of facts that
has appeared since the commencement of eur difputes^—This
pamphlet is printed and scattered through the Continent, it>
is buffered.to remain uncontradided in the hands of the peo
ple for many weeks, aided by a troop of auxiliaries, in order
to be tried by that test the Good Senje of the reader.—After
giving it every chance of gaining proselytes and .admirers, a
iingle writer, a Cato, rises up to combat thexio&rinesir con
tains, to shew the arguments which-may. .be used on the other
fide, to furnilh the Good Sehfe of the readers with, materials to
work on.—But, alas, Cato cannot proceed s he. is attacked -
on every fide; he is qyeftioned as by anrinquifuion;.his per
fun is attempted to be pointed out to the resentment of the
people ; he is contradicted when he relates faT^as notorious
.as the fun; and, to crown all, he is branded with the odious,
the obnoxious name of Tory, and theatened, in more than one
publication, with being “ dragged a culprit before the bar
of the public." —Thus the mark of odium which arose from
the times, and was applied to those. enemies of our liberty,
who endeavoured to ihackle us with parliamentary chain's,
is artfully fhifted on those who hold the very principles on
which our present contest was commenced, andon which it is
Rill pursued ; and Cato is to be branded with it, to deter
him from prosecuting a work which bids fair todemoliflrtheir
visionary schemes. Let the cry of Tory be once effectuTiv
railed against him, and they, know his business will be done."
But, thanks to Divine Providence !. the Good Seafe of America.
.is not to be so blindfolded, and led into captivity, and though
our authors may have golden profpe&s in their scheme of in
dependance, the people are not yet fatisfied-that it will- be
their interest to follow them tin every ex travagant flight they
may take. These writers affe&.to' think^that a H'big an 1 xu^
J^dependant arc convertible terms, but I trud^hey are miflaken, :
for there atethoufandsin this country whow^./dd foil! the lull'
drop of their blood in this conteit rather , than the arbitiaryde
bgus of the. Parliament should take eifeC/b^t would throw down
t.>eir arms in an instant, if they were fatiditd that an offer of
Parliament cf an accommodation, placing us in our tnmer
eaviedJitnation, and ensuring a future enjoyment J our if
berties, would be rejected.—Of this uumiNri take Ca^ to he,
and if his t^krticns, or uic tutor es his ica,.^.. dre^d be oiea