The Pennsylvania gazette — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-04-10 00:00:00, page 2

t ^ T fER tt,
To C . A T . Oi
LEORE I enter on the more immediate purpose of
this letter, I think it necessary, once for all, to en
deavour to fettle as clearly as I can the following point,
vih. How far personality is concerned in any political
debate. The general maxim is, that measures, and not
men, is the thing in question ; and the maxim is undenia
bly just, when rightly Uhderftood. Cato, as a refuge
for himfelf, hath quoted the author of Common Sense,
tfho, in his preface, fays, " That the object for atten
tion is the doctrine itfelf, not the man;" that is, not the
Yank or condition of the man; for whether he is with
those whose fortune is already made; or with those whose
fortune is yet to make, or among those who felddm think
or care whether they make any, is a matter wholly out
of the quefti >n, and entirely confined to himfelf. But
the political characters, political dependencies, and po
litical Connections of men, being of a public nature,
differ exceedingly from the circumffances of private life:
And they are in many instances so nearly related to the
measures they pfopofe, that; to prevent our being de
ceived by the last, we mufl be acquainted with the firft.
A total ignorance of men lays us under the danger of
diiftaking plausibility for principle. Could the wolf bleat
like the lamb, the flock would soon be inticed into ruin ;
wherefore, to prevent the mifehief, he ought to be seen,
^S Well as heard. There never was, nor ever will be,
flor ever ought to be, any important political debate
carried on,in which a total reparation in all cases between
men and measures could be admitted with fufficient
fafety. When hypderify shall be banished from the earth,
the knowledge of men will be unneceflary, because,
their measures cannot then be fraudulent; but until that
time come (which never will come) they ought, under
proper limitations, to go together. We have already
too much secrecy in some things, and too little in others; —
Were men more known, and measures more concealed,
we fliould have fewer hypocrites, and more security.
As the chief design of these letters is to detect and
expose the faHhoods and fallacious reasonings of Cato,
he must not expeCt (when detected) to be treated like one
who had debated fairly ; for I will be bold to fay, and to
prove, that a grosser violation of truth and reason scarcely
era came from the pen of a writer; And the explana
tions which he hath endeavoured to impose on the pas
sages which he hath quoted from Common Sense, are such
as never existed in the mind of the author, nor can they
be drawn from the words themselves. Neither must Cato
expert to be spared, where his carelessness of expression,
arid visible want of compassion and sentiment, shall give
oceafion to raise any rhoral or philosophical reflection
thereon. These things being premised, I now proceed
to review the latter part of Cato's second letter.
In this place, Cato begins his firft attack on Common
Sense ; but as he only discovers his ill-will, and neither
offers any arguments against it, nor makes any quotation
from it, I ffiould in this place pais him by, were it not
for the following strange assertion. " If little notice,
" fays Cato (little opposition he means) has yet been taken
'' of the publications concerning Independence, it is
" neither owing to the popularity of the doCtrine, the
" tinanfwerable nature of the arguments, nor the fear of
" opposing them, as the vanity of the author would
" fugged." As Cato hath given us the negative reasons,
he ought to have given us the real ones ; for as be ffltivel,
tells what it was not owing to, he undoubtedly knows
what it wcfs owing to, that be delayed his answers so long;
but instead of telling its that (which perhaps is not proper
to be told) he flies from the argument with the following
plump declaration —" nine tenths of the people of Penn
sylvania (fays he) yet abhor the do&rine." But stop, Cato !
rot quite so faft friend. If this be true, how came they,
so late as the ad of March last, to eled for a Burgess of
this City a Gentleman of known independent, principles,
and one of the very few to whom the author, of Com
mon Sense fheWed some part thereof while in manuferirt.
Cato is just as unfortunate in the following paragraph.
" Those, fays he, who made the appeal (thatfs, pwb
" lifhed the pamphlet) have but little cause 'to triutaph in
" its success. Of this they seem sensible, and, like true
" quacks, are constantly pestering us with additional
“ doses, till the stomachs oftheir patients begin wholly to
" revolt." It is Cato's hard fate to be always detected :
For perhaps there never was a pamphlet, since the use of
letters were known, about which so little pains were
taken, and of which so great a number went off in so
short a time ; I am certain that I am within compass when
I fay one hundred and twenty thousand. The book was
turned upon the world like an orphan, to fhift for itfelf;
no plan was formed to support it, neither hath the author
ever published a syllable on the fubjeCt from that time, till
after the appearance of Cato's fourth letter; wherefore,/
what Cato fays of additional doses administered by the
author is an absolute falfity. Besides which, it comes
with an ill-grace from one, who frequently publishes two
letters in a week, and often puts them both into one pa
'per. Cato here, Cato there, look where you will.
At the distance of a few lines from the above quota
tions, Cato presents us with a retrofpeCtive view of our
former state, in which, fays he, “ we considered our
" connexion with Great-Britain as our chief happiness.
" We fiouriflted, grew rich and populous, to a degree
" not to be paralleled in history." This assertion is truly
of the legerdemain kind, appearing at once both right
and wrong. All writers on Cato's fide have used the fame
argument, and conceived themselves invincible; never
th? ds, a (ingle expression, properly placed, dissolves the
charm, for the cheat lies in putting the confluence for the
cause; for had we not flourished the connexion had never
exited, or never been regarded, and this is fully proved
by the neglect (hewn to the firft settlers, who had every
difficulty to struggle with, unnoticed and unassisted by
the British Court,
Cato proceeds very industriously to sum up the former
declarations of Congress and other public bodies, some of
which were made upwards of a year ago, to prove that
the doctrine of Independence hath no fandion from them.
To this I shall give Cato one general answer, which is,
that had he produced a thousand more such authorities
they Would no~v amount to nothing. They are out of
date. Times and things are altered. The true character
of the King was but little known among the body of the
people a year ago,—willing to believe him good, they
fondly called him so, but have since found, that Cato's
Royal Sovereign is a Royal Savage.
Cato hath introduced the above-mentioned long quo
tation of authorities against independency with the follow
ing curious preface. " Nor have many weeks, fays he,
" yet elkpfrd, since the firft open proposition for inde
" pendence Was published to the world. By what men
" o' consequence this scheme is supported, or whether
" by any, may possibly be the fubjeCt of future enquiry.
" Certainly it hath no countenance from the Congress,
" to whose fentimeuts we look up with reverence. On
" the tdhtrary, it is difaty repugnant to, every dedarA
'" tion of th,at refpeCtablC body." Now tato thou haft
nailed thy felf with a witness ! direCtly repugnant to every
declaration of that refpeCtable body ! mind that Cato,
and mark what follows. It appears by an extraCt from
the Resolves of the Congress, printed in the front of the
Oration delivered by Dr. Smith, in honour of that brave
man General Montgomery, that he (the DoCtor) was ap
pointed by that honourable body to compose and deliver
the fame, in the execution of which, the orator exclaimed
loudly against the doCtrine of independence, but when a
motion was afterwards made in Congress (according to
former usage) to return the Orator thanks, and request a
copy for the press, the motion was rejected frenri every
part of the house, and thrown out without a division.
I now proceed to Cato's third letter, in the opening of
which he deserts the fubjeCt of independence, and renews
his attack on the Committee. Cato's manner of writing
has as much order in it as the motion of a squirrel; he
frequently writes as if he knew not what to write next,
just as the other and jumps about only because he cannot
stand still; though I am sometimes angry with him for his
unprincipled method of writing and reasoning, I cannot
help laughing at him at other times for his want of inge
nuity: an instance of which he gives us, in kindly warn
ing us against “ the foul pages of interefled writers and
flrangers intermeddling in our affairs." Were I to reply
seriously, my answer would be this, thou feemeft then ig
norant, Cato, of that ancient and numerous order which
are related to each other in all and every part of the
globe, with whom the kindred is not formed by place or
accident, but in principle and sentiment. A freeman,
Cato, is a stranger no where, a slave, every where. But
were I disposed to answer merrily, I should tell him, that
as his notions of friendship were so very narrow and lo
cal, he obliges me to understand, that when he addresses
the people with the tender title of “ my dear countrymen"
which frequently occurs in his letters, that he particular
ly means the long lift of Mac's published in Donald Mac-
Donald's commission.
In this letter Cato recommends the pamphlet called
Plain Truth, a performance, Which hath withered away
like a sickly unnoticed Weed, and which, even its advo
cates are displeased at, and the author ashamed to own.
About the middle of this third letter Cato gives notice of
his being ready to take the field. “ I now proceed fays
he to give my reasons" How Cato hath managed the
attack we are mow to examine; and the firft remark I
shall offer on his conduct, is, that he hath most unluck
ily entered the lift on the wrong fide, and difeharged his
firft fire among the Tories.
In order to prove this I shall give the paragraph entire.
—“ Agriculture and Commerce, fays Cato, have
" hitherto been the happy employments by which these
" middle colonies have risen into wealth and importance.
" By them the face of the country have been changed
" from a barren wilderness into the hospitable abodes of
" peace and plenty. Without them, we had either never
" existed as Americans, or existed only as savages
" oaks would still have possessed their native foots of
" earth, and never have appeared in the form offoips and
" houses. What are now well cultivated fields, or fiou
“ rifhing cities, would have remained only the solitary
" haunts of wild beasts, or of men equally wild." The
reader cannot help perceiving that through this whole pa
ragraph, our connection with Britain is left entirely out of
the question, and our present greatness attributed to in
ternal causes agriculture and commerce. This is a strange
way, Cato, of overturning Common Sense, which fays,
" I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to
" shew a single advantage which this continent can reap
" by being connected with Great-Britain ; I repeat, fays
" he, the challenge, not a single advantage is derived.
'' Our corn willfetch its price in any market in Europe, and
" our imported goods must be bald for, buy them where we
'' will." Cato introduces his next paragraph with fay
jng, “ that much of our former felicity was owing to the
" protection of England is not to be denied ,•" yes Cato, I
deny it wholly, and for the following clear and simple
t reasons, viz. that our being connected with, and fubmit
ing to be protested by her, made and will still make all
“ her enemies our enemies, or as Common Sense fays, sets
" us at variance with nations who would otherwise seek
“ our friendship,' and against whom we have neither
" anger nor complaint."''
The following passage is so glaringly, absurd, that I shall
make but a short comment upon it. ' l And if hereafter,
" fays Cato, in the fulnefs of time, it shall be necessary
" to separate from the land that gave birth to (some of)
" our ancestors, it will be in a state of perfed manhood,
" when we can fully wield our own arms, and protect
'' our commerce and coasts by our own fleets." But how
are we to come by fleets Cato, while Britain hath the
government of the continent? unless, we are to fap
pofe, as you have hinted in the former paragraph, that
our oaks are to grow into ships, and be launched felf
built from their “ native spots of earth." It is Cato's
misfortune, as a writer, not to distinguish justly between
magic and imagination ; while on the other hand there
are many passages in his letters so seriously and deliberate
ly falfe, that nothing but the most hardened effrontery,
and a cast of mind bordering upon impiety would have
uttered. He frequently forces me out of the common
trad of civil language, in order, to do him justice; mo
deration and temper being really unequal to the talk of
exposing him.
Cato, unless he meant to destroy the ground he stood
upon, ought not to have let the following paragraph been
seen, “ If our present differences, fays he, can be ac
“ commodated, there is scarce a probability that Britain
“ will ever renew her late fatal system of policy, or at
" tempt again to employ force against us." How came
Cato to admit the probability of our being brought again
into the fame bloody and expensive fitnation? but it is
worth remarking, that those who write without principle,
cannot help sometimes blundering upon truth. Then
there is no real security, Cato, in this reconciliation of
yours on conflitational principles ? It still amounts to no
thing, and after all this expence of life and wealth, we
are to rest at last upon hope, hazard and uncertainty.
Why then, by all that is sacred, " it is time to part."
But Cato, after admitting the probability of our being
brought again into the fame situation, proceeds to tell
us, how we are to conduct ourselves in the second quar
rel ; and that is, by the very fame method we have done
the present one, viz. to expend millions of treasure, and
thousands of lives, in order to patch up a second re-union
that the way may be open for a third quarrel; and in this
endless and chequered round of blood and treacherous
peace hath Cato disposed of the continent of America.
---That I may not be thought to do Cato injustice, I
have quoted the whole passage ; “ But should Britain be
" to infatuated, fays he, at any future period, as to think
“ of subjugating us, either by the arts of corruption, or
" oppressive exertions of power, can we entertain a
“ doubt but we foil again, with a virtue equal to thd
" present, and with the weapons of defence in our hands
“ (when necessary) convince her that we are willing, by
" a conflitutional connexion with her, to afford and receive
“ reciprocal benefits; but although fubjeds of the fame
" King we will not consent to be her Haves." —Come hi
ther ye little ones, whom the pbifonous hand of Cato is
rearing for deftrudion, and remember the page that
warns ye of your ruin !
Cato, in many of his expreffion^, difeovers all that
calm command over the pailions and feelings, which al
ways distinguishes the man who hath expelled them from
his heart. Of this careless kind is the before mentioned
phrase “ our present differences," and the fame unpar
donable negligence is conveyed in the following one —
" Although 1 cenfider her, fays he, as having in her late
“ conduct towards us, a&ed the part of a cruel step
“ dame." Wonderful sensibility indeed ! All the havoc
and desolation of unnatural war; the deftrudion of
thousands; the burning and depopulating of towns and
cities; the ruin and separation of friends and families,
are just fufficient to extort from Cato, this one callous
confeffion. But the cold and creeping foul of Cato is a
stranger to the manly powers of sympathetic sorrow. He
moves not, nor can he move in so pure an element. Ac
customed to lick the hand that hath made him visible,
and to breathe the gross atmosphere of ferviie and sordid
dependance, his foul would now starve on virtue, and
fuffocate in the clear region of disinterested friendihip.
Surely when Cato fat down to write, he either did not
exped to be called to an account, or was totally regard
less of reputation; otherwise, he would not have endea
voured to persuade the public, that the doctrine of inde
pendence was broached in a kind of seditious manner, at
a time “ when lays he, some gleams of reconciliation began
" firft to break in upon us." Come forth Cato, and prove
the assertion? where do these gleams of reconciliation
spring from ? Arc they to be found in the King's fpeech—
in the address of either House Of Parliament ; —or in the
ad which lets leofe a whole kennel of pirates upon our
property, and commissions another sett to insult with par
dons, the very men, whom their own measures had
fought to ruin? Either prove the assertion, Cato, or take
the reward of it, for it is the part of an incendiary to
endeavour with specious falfhoods, to mislead the credu
lity of unwary readers.—Cato likewise fays, that while
we continue united, and renounce all thoughts of inde
pendence, '' that we have the utmofl a/furance of obtain
'' i n g a full redress of our grievances, and an ample security
" against any future violation of our jtf rights." If Cato
means to insinuate that we have received such an assurance,
let him read the conclusion of the preceding paragraph
again, the fame answer will serve for both.
Perhaps, when we recohedt the long and unabated
cruelty of the British Court toward us, and remember
the many prayers which we have put up both to them and
for them, that the following piece of declamation of
Cato can hardly be equalled, cither for absurdity or in
sanity: “ If we now effed independence, fays he, we
“ must be considered as a faitblefs people in the fight of all
" mankind, and could scarcely expect the confidence of any
" nation upon earth, or look up to heaven for its approving
" sentence." Art thou mad, Cato, or art thou foplifh—
or art thou both —or art thou worse than both? In this
f a jfeg e thou haft fairly gone beyond me. I have not lan
guage to bring thee back. Thou art fafely entrenched
indeed ! —Reft therefore in thy strong-hold till HE who
fortified thee in it shall come and fetch thee out.
Cato seems to be possessed of that jefuitical cunning,
which always endeavours to disgrace what it cannot dif
proye; and this he sometimes effects, by unfairly intro
ducing our terms into his arguments, and thereby begets
a monitor which he fends round the country for a show,
and tells the good people that the name of it is independ
ance. Of this character are several passages in his fourth
and fifth letters, particularly where he quotes the term
" foreign affiance," which he ungenerously explains into
a surrender of the continent to France and Spain. Such
an unfair and fophiftieal reasoner doth not deserve the
civility of good manners. He creates, likewise, the fame
confufion, by frequently using the word peace for union,
and thereby charges us falfly by representing us as being
determined to " rejea all propositions of peace :" Where
as our with is peace, but not re-union ; and though we
would gladly listen to the former, we are determined to
resist every proposal for the latter, come from where it
will; being fully persuaded, that in the present state of
affairs separation of governments is the only and best thing
that can be done for both countries.
The following case is unjustly put. “ There never
" was a war, fays Cato, so implacable, even among states
" naturally rivals and enemies, or among savages them
" selves, as not to have peace for its object as well as
f n d'" . But was there ever a war, Cato, which had
union for its objed? No. What Cato means by states na
turally rivals and enemies, I shall not enquire into, but
this I know (for myfelf at least) that it was not in the
power of France or Spain, or all the other powers in
Europe, to have given such a wound or raised up such a
mortal hatred Britain hath done. We feel the fame kind
of undefcribed anger at her condud, as we would at the
fight of an animal devouring its young: And this parti
cular species of anger is not generated in the transitory
temper of the man, but in the chaste undefiled womb of
nature.
Cato, towards the conclusion of his third letter (at
which place I shall leave him for the present) compares
the state of Britain and America to the quarrels of lovers,
and from thence infers a probability that our affections
will be renewed thereby. This I cannot helplooking on as
one of the most unnatural and distorted fimilies that can
be drawn. Come hither ye that are lovers, or ye that
have been lovers and decide the controversy between us!
What comparison is there between the foft murmurs of
an heart mourning in secret, and the loud horrors of
war—between the silent fears of pensive forrow,and rivers
of waked blood —between the sweet ftrife of affection,
and the bitter ftrife of death—between the curable cala
mities of pettish lovers, and the fad fight of a thousand
slain. “ Get thee behind me," Cato, for thou haft not
the feelings of a man. The FORESTER.
WATERTOWN, April r.
The man of war building at Portsmouth for the Conti
nental service, will, it is Hid, be ready to launch in about
a raonth.
PROVIDENCE, March 30.
By several gentlemen lately arrived from Checone&o,
in the province of Nova-Scotia, we have undoubted in
telligence, that that government had endeavoured to enlist
part of the inhabitants to aC t against their American bre
thren, which they nobly refufed ; in consequence whereof
the Governor had ordered the militia called together, apd
a number to be drafted, when their officers were told by
the men, that ifthey attempted to draff, they would fire