The New York packet, and the American advertiser — New York [N.Y.], 1776-02-15 00:00:00, page 1

1 ^^*.^Ss R Speaker, The importance
✓ fy^^^^,, of the present fubje& of de
§ ^ T § § § bate is confeiled onall hands,
, ( ^ IM§ ^^ and that importance mud
@ % ^^^ § ^ plead.my excuse for trefpaf
'tfeco,^^} ling upon the ]- ieuce of
s^^$ ^^ ^ ^^^ the House at so late an hour
of the night. Indeed, were I not emboldened
by the former indulgence ofthis alTembly, which
has so greatly exceeded my deferts,l should have
remained content with afilent vote. But how
ever much I think myielf called upon to
express the genuine dictates of my heart, for
such 1 would always be understood to deliver
in this places I will obey the firft .hint from this
heinfe, and yield as an inconsiderable individual
to the 'fenfe ofa body of men whom Ifo much
revere.
Sir, after premising that I do not confider this
address as merely complimentary, but as mark
ing out the general line of conduct that we mean
to follow in this great national question, I must
observe that the gentleman who spoke last (Col.
Barre) either did not underftandAhe force of
his own arguments, or, understanding their force,
did not, from the premises which he had laid
down, choose to draw any conclusion. ^ What
he couicTnot or would not uo for himfclt, I will
do for him. I will suppose his own date of the
case; I will fappofe Boston abandoned, Halifax
taken, Canada reduced, andju a word, America
for the prefect loft. What is the inference to
be drawn from these premises? Not surely the
pusillanimous alternative proposed by opposi
tion; neither the dastardly relinquiffimenr of
America, nor a fruitlefs planof accommodation.
T,e former would little suit rhe magnanimity
of a British sedate, animated by the sacred fire
caught from a high spirited people; the letter
would be as inneffeauafas inglorious, "and with
out example in the history of mankind. Re
linquish America! What is it but to desire a
giant to shrink spontaneously into a dwarf? Re
linquish America, and you also relinquish the
Wed-Indies, and confine yourselves to that nar
row insular situation which once made you
hardly difcernable on the face of the globe.
My heart swells with indignation at the idea.
Relinquish America! Forbid it, ye spirits of
Edward and Henry, whom Englishmen once
held in veneration, and burned to imitate! For
bid it, thou spirit of Wolfe, who, if thou haft
any consciousness of thy country's wrongs,
blufheft to fee a companion ofthy victories Io
tamely give up th, conquests!,
But in what does an offer of accommodation
differ from a total relinquishment? The con
sequences of such an offer amount to a relin
quishment. Are we not exultingly told of the
triumphs, of the riling glories of America?
Admit them. Can such a date be a time for
reasonable accommodation? No man can be
mare friendly to peace that I, but I would h#ye
an honourable and adequate peace; and in or
der to obtain it, I contend, in the terms of the
King's speech, for the mod vigorous exertions.
Edablifh tirft your fupqriofity, and then talk of
negotiation. Did Rome, when Hannibalmarch
ed up triumphantly to her walls, sue for peace ?
She had more wisdom and spirits. She knew
the mouieirf was not favourable, and would not
listen to any propositions till the tide of fortune
changed, and commanded such an ascendancy as
the city's courage and perseverance had a right
to expe&. Why fhduld we not follow so bright
an example? Our resources are greater, and I
hope our spirit and constancy are not less, I
am sure we do not struggle against such fearful
odds. I own that from fixed radical causes in
our constitution nnd form of government, the
present afped of affairs is rather inauspicious.
But when did fortune finite upon us at thecom
h^neement of a war? Ever since the consti
tution has been properly balanced, and the chief
weight thrown into the scale of the people, time
has be~n requisite to-rouse the people, to rouse
this affemblv, in which alone the voice of
the people can be clearly distinguished
from that of clamorous faction. Ou this occa-
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Published Nor. 2, 1773.
M. WEDDERBURNE's Speech ^ the
House of Commons, ox Thurflay, October 26,
VOL. I. , . "• NUT .
\T H E
A^^^ RRt^^W^^^^F^^^
AND THE ,-
A M E RI C \ {ADVERTISE R,
T H U R S D A Y, ^^^^^ FE B R U AR Y ^h, 1776.
LON D O N.
I Printed by SAMUEL LOUDON, in Water-Street, between the Coffee-House and the Old Slip.
Thursday, 17 Min. after g
Friday, 14 Min. after 6
Saturday, 13 Min. after 7
Sunday, 11 Min. after 8
fion indeed the people feeing a party in the state
willing, for reasons too obvious to need expla
nation, to give up their dearest rights, have
fpontaneoufy Food forth in fapport oftheir just
claims, and convinced the most obstinate stickler
for American independence, that the mlniller
has the nation with him. Opposition has con- 1
feffed this truth ; else why do they call upon
the minifterto check the madness of the peo
ple? Many refpcctible,members have, in en-•
forcing coerfion, declared that they speak the™
language of a great majority, and several, or
every one or their constituents.. Has opposition
been able to fay as much?'Not a fyllhble of /
this nature have they uttered. : Why then do
we heiitater Because an rincopfiderable party,/
inconfiffent„in their own politics, and always
h^ftile to all government but their own, en
deavour to 6bdrua our meafares, and clo^ the.
wheels of government? Let us rather second
the indignant voice of the nation, which prelles
from all quarters upon the Sovereign, calling
loudly for vigorous mOafures, and for the fup
predion of fadion. Shall we be deaf to its call ?
Sir, we have been too long deaf, we have too
long Ihewn our forbearance and long fuffering;
faction must now be curbed, mud be subdued
and cruthed; our thunders must go forth, A
merica must be conquered. Had my advice 1
been taken, and gentlemen insinuate that it is
taken too much, the house must do me the jus
tice to own that a much more powerful fores
than General Gage had, would have been sent
to America. But it is not yet, I apprehend,too
late; tor I am not one of those ill-boding pro
phets, who from every disaster augur dedruaive
confeqabnees, and whose prophecies, like those
of antiquity, contribute more than any other
circundunces to their own completion. I hold
it da&rdly in the couhfellor of a great and
mighty empire to encourage despondence, and
to be the croaking raven of future mifehiefs and
calamities. % ne. cede ,nal ; .s, fed contra hxdextior
ito fortiaque adverfs effiraito peaore rebns : exert
'your courage in proportion to % the difficulties to
be surmounted; and, like your own oaks in the
ocean, rife superior to the storm. Such is the
language of the genuine friend of England ;
such, I am persuaded is the language expected
from us by a gallant nation, whole fpiriq instead
of being deprefled, is only roused by adverse ac
cidents. , Shall we stand as a mound in the way
of this torrent, which has hitherto borne down
all oppolition? Sir, Ido not approve of that
policy that would repress plebeian haughtiness,
as it is called, and check that.pride of eiripi^
with the idea of which the fouls of our common
people swell, feeling their own importance.,Our
lowed mechanics, it has been ifged, now talk
familiarly of ozzr fabjecds. And why should they
not? Feelingtheir own confer uence, why should
they not, like treemen, give free course to their
thoughts? However llightly this spirit may be
now prized, it is what has railed England to the
great and glorious date which the now occupies.
Da you imagine that the allurement of iixpence
a day fills ourarmies, mounts a breach, or takes
a battery of cannon? No, Sir, we owe all this
to the ferment of youthful blood, to the high
spirit of the people, to a love of glory, and to a
fehfe of national honour. Let us cherifli so
noble a principle, and we shall soon feel the
good effe^s of its operation. This principle it
was th at frequently humbled the pride of France,
that formerly ruined the Spanilh armada, and
lately bafiled the Bourbon confederacy; the
principle, in ffiort, that lately crushed every •
power that ever had the temerity to encounter
your collected rage. View the date of England
in Elizabeth's reign, and learn fortitude from
her example. Was not Ireland difaffected and
rebellious? Did not plots and conspiracies exist
within the realm ; and was de not pressed from
without by the med powerful monarch ' then in
Europe ? Yet the did not listen to pusillanimous
counsels ; not a word was heard of accommo
dation. What was the event? Her firmhefs
. and magnanimity excited that ofher fubj^€ts,and
they laid her enemies prostrate at her feet. In
fimilaf circumstances, what was the conduct of
' William the Third, whom the abettors of A
merica affect to prize so highly, and who indeed'
Was a great and magnanimous prince : Though
engaged in a confirming war on the continent,
HIGH WATER
Monday, 7 Min. after 9
Tuesday, 41 Min. after 9
Wednesday, ;; Min. atf& 1,
New Moon 19th.
at NEW-YORK.
has not only affected our hearts and made us
cowards, but also weakened our understandings
and reckoning faculties. Sir, our lawyers pace
tua dixerim, nam tua res agitur, our lawyers are
the word statesmen in the world ; our lawyers,
if you believe these sagacious gentlemen, are to
tally incapable of all political difeernment. And
why are they incapable ? Autos^epba, these pro
ph&s, as they, would be thought, these oracles
have said it ; and what farther proof can you
though embarrassed with a dangerous rebellion
in Ireland, though menaced witl ian invasion
by France, pressed with real conspiracies at
home, aad opposed by a powerful party in par
liament ready to tear him from his throne,-at
lead infinitely more hostile to him than, I hope,
opposition is to his present Majesty, he flood un
shaken in the dorm, and the invincible conflan
cy of the people saved him from fllipwreck.
What happened within our own memory?
At the commencement of the last war, did not
every packet bring us the news of defeats in A
fnerica ? Were we not accustomed there to as
many defeats as battles? Even the mighty Ge
neral Washington himfelf, with his redoubted
ridemen, was vanquished by the Indians on the
Banks of the Ohio. Difaflers attended our
, arms in every quarter of the globe, the Edi-
Indies were ahnoft loft, and the Company
bankrupts; Hanover was reduced; the Hano
verians were obliged to stand neutral ; our on
ly ally flood trembling on the brink of destruc
tion. Minorca was taken ; we were beat at sea,
our own element, and an univerfahdread of an
invasion had seized the people. ,Did this As
sembly then yield to the suggestions of fear?
Tho' opposed by the greatest powers in Europe,
it flood firm and resolute, and communicated its
fortitude to the whole empire. Every body
knows the event. Who then, with such a pic
ture before his eyes, can be so dastardly, or so
weak and wicked, as to advise an infamous re
lirquifhment of America, or an equally infa
mous accommodation? Whoever imagines that
the thunders of our navy may be set at defiance
by a tingle coehorn and a drifting battery of a
Engle gun, may, but I will not, till I hear more
cogent arguments; till it is proved to me that
the experiment has been made, and has been
fuccefsful. Ncr will I readily believe, that our
fleets may be fee on fire in the great rivers of
America by floating rafts of combtflihles, till I
am convinced that the Americans are more dar
ing and intrepid t;h'an English bailors, arid that
they will pur.fue this plan with more art and
more courage, than the Canadians did last war
in the river St. Lawrence. The Americans are
said to. be formidable from the enthusiasm with
which they are enflamecL It may be so; but I
trull that there is a spirit in British troops' that
will be a full match for all their enthusiasm. At
lead nothing has hitherto happened in Ameri
ca, that gives the least ground for a contrary
suspicion. Much indeed has been said of our
corruption and degeneracy, and still more of
the heroism and ruing glories of America. What
then is become of those heroes, who, ten years
ago, made England the arbitrefs of Europe ? I
hope th y are not all extind?, and that their fire
is not quenched. 1 hope they did not exhaust
all their vigour in the last war, but left a little
to their potterity to keep us in countenance
during the present contest. Was it ever heard
before, that a. nation confeffedly distinguished
for every virtue, civil and military, fhocld have
loft them all in so fliort a space of time, and be
come totally corrupt and degenerate? The sup
position is at least improbable. Let me look a
round. Rethinks I recognize faces that assisted
in the deliberations, aye, and in the campaigns
of the last war. Let us then assume a little
courage, and not give up ourselves as loft, be
cause a few gentlemen choose to be jocular, for
they cannot seriously think what 'they fpenk.
They cannot ferioully think that I,leaven has
wrought a miracle in favour of the rising glo
ries of America, and suddenly converted a nati
on of heroes into cowards. They will at lealh
except themselves, that they may be thought
the only persons capable of laving this finking
land. This indeed they with great mod fry af
firm, and I cannot fee what other reason they
had for making England undergo such a won
derous metamorphosis, a metufnorphofis, which
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detire ? To be serious, if a law, er is a sorry po
litician, it is the fault of the man and not orthe
profeffion. To be a complete lawyer, 1 it is no
cellar, for a man to have the mod liberal and ex
tentive education, to be a mailer not only of < or
own history and conftitutfon, bur of the history
and constitution of all European dates, as well
as of ancient kingdoms arid republics. Th ac
quire any degree of eminence, he muff be tho
/r^ghlv versed in our own municipal laws, and
in every thing that affects public or private pro
perty. With all this acquired knowledge, he
mud be poffefled of an intuitive quickness of
discernment, to separate 'truth from bI.Y ^3
and by practice muff have improved this e^ehv
into a habit approaching, to nature;, an r is C'i
cero held, that none but a good mar an be %
complete orator, do I hold, none” be a good
Fifin' can be a complete lawyer. See tlwa bow
many qualities of a politician he der.w.r.-m his
profeflion, or rather, of ho&.le'F, it of any / no
is deftitme. Do not imagine tbir I£m b<ocvr
rogindy describing rn;bc/;' Par. e c .•
quainted with myown dernß^ohe 10 . .mp
tuous ; I only pteH the caul ; o' .<p.lchor z
which lam an unworthy mrm&'., ^a^ 0 nKh,
without including its prelent h.mrmr e^,
produced as many gr;& nrn, I had ahnoft rid,
as all the other protyfons taken ci wtWy,
certainly m ;efyn any one of them finely : of
a profeffion,.which from Vs nature ' seems pecu
liarly calculated for expanding ^ humm mind,
for giving it scope for its utmost cxertiayp ..rd
for tvaip^g legislators and ftatefirgn. If not
fronratnong the lawyers, whence will you take
your polinWms? From the order of country
gentlenjen.? Their profeEon is to attend to the
culture oftheir lands, to take care of the game,
and of their hounds and horles. Froth the or
der of the nobility ? They hand in the fame
predicament as the country g-ndemen. From
the order of me chants or phyncipri ? The lat
ter have ttudied the preferyation and .reparation
of the human body, ^nd the former the preser
vation and reparation qftheir own fortune. Each.
I own, may have treasured up politic:;! know
ledge as an ornament or an arnuftment, but can
not claim it as a necUrary requisite to his con
dition of jife. The lawyer alone afErts as his
pccxl^rn, as a property infepipabie trout his Ra
tion, this most perfect branch of ethics, the fei
ence of legiiUtioq, and of regulating the com
monwealth. He may.never be called to this
arduous talk, but, it called, and a complete law
yer, he is qualified, and is not the less fit for his
own employment,, when he descends from a
public to a private Ration. In fhorq politics
are in no shape incompatible with his profeffi
on ; the fmilcs or frowns of a minuter may
fometiraes encreafeor diminish, but cannot de
stroy his practice. Not so with the folcher;
when he forfakes the war of fwofds for the war
of Longues, and commences a candidate for civil
instead of military fame, he f equently becomes,
if unfuccefsful, a pernicious member of society.
I with the fame observation were not applicable
to the other orders that I have mentioned; and
that soured by disappointment and urged by
want, they did not proceed to unjuftifiable
lengths; but preserve that moderation and deco
rum for which lawyers, not pad theChancellbr
fhip, have from rhe permanence of their busi
ness been hitherto distinguished. Of public
characters I know none more dangerous than a
disappointed politician by profeffion. He is e
ver reliefs, ever plotting; confantly thwarting
government in ' laudable, no less than in blame
able plans. Would to God the present age were
less fertile of this breed, and that the people ad
dressing the Sovereign had less reason to brand
them as the -primary authors of our present ca
lamities. Pudet beet opprobria nabis et did ^otu
iffe & ^OHpotuffe refefo
Housk OF COMMONS.q
Nov. I. This day the Speaker took the cha'r
a little before three o'clock, when Henry Bate
man was admitted, and took the oaths in order
for his naturalization.
Mr. Comptroller reported, that pursuant to
their address of Tuclday, his Majesty would
give directions to the proper officers, that the
several estimates, lifts, and accounts therein
nr nioned, fnould be laid before them.
Cord Barrington having accordingly delivered
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llndianI Indian Corn, per Buffi, js. od.