Samuel Adams, "American Independence," 1 August 1776
Occasion: Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia.
(reproduced from the net at: http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/adam_a29.htm)
American Independence
Countrymen and Brethren: -
I WOULD gladly have declined an honor to which I find myself
unequal. I have not the calmness and impartiality which the infinite
importance of this occasion demands. I will not deny the charge of my
enemies, that resentment for the accumulated injuries of our country, and
an ardor for her glory, rising to enthusiasm, may deprive me of that
accuracy of judgment and expression which men of cooler passions may
possess. Let me beseech you, then, to hear me with caution, to examine
your prejudice, and to correct the mistakes into which I may be hurried
by
my zeal.
1
Truth loves an appeal to the common sense of mankind. Your
unperverted understandings can best determine on subjects of a practical
nature. The positions and plans which are said to be above the
comprehension of the multitude may be always suspected to be visionary
and fruitless. He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to
human happiness obvious to all.
2
Our forefathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion; for you is
reserved the honor of leveling the popery of politics. They opened the
Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself
in religion. Are we sufficient for the comprehension of the sublimest
spiritual truths, and unequal to material and temporal ones?
3
Heaven hath trusted us with the management of things for eternity, and
man denies us ability to judge of the present, or to know from our feelings
the experience that will make us happy. "You can discern," they say,
"objects distant and remote, but cannot perceive those within your grasp.
Let us have the distribution of present goods, and cut out and manage as
you please the interests of futurity." This day, I trust, the reign of
political
protestantism will commence. We have explored the temple of royalty,
and found that the idol we have bowed down to has eyes which see not,
ears that hear not our prayers, and a heart like the nether millstone.
We
have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone men ought to be
obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and with a propitious eye beholds his
subjects assuming that freedom of thought and dignity of self-direction
which he bestowed on them. From the rising to the setting sun, may his
kingdom come!
4
Having been a slave to the influence of opinion early acquired, and
distinctions generally received, I am ever inclined not to despise but
pity
those who are yet in darkness. But to the eye of reason what can be more
clear than that all men have an equal right to happiness? Nature made no
other distinction than that of higher and lower degrees of power of mind
and body. But what mysterious distribution of character has the craft of
statesmen, more fatal than priestcraft, introduced?
5
According to their doctrine, the offspring of perhaps the lewd
embraces of a successful invader shall, from generation to generation,
arrogate the right of lavishing on their pleasures a proportion of the
fruits of
the earth, more than sufficient to supply the wants of thousands of their
fellow-creatures; claim authority to manage them like beasts of burthen,
and, without superior industry, capacity, or virtue, nay, though disgraceful
to humanity, by their ignorance, intemperance, and brutality, shall be
deemed best calculated to frame laws and to consult for the welfare of
society.
6
Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given
merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies
and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed
with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be
equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by
all?
Away, then, with those absurd systems which to gratify the pride of a few
debase the greater part of our species below the order of men. What an
affront to the King of the universe, to maintain that the happiness of
a
monster, sunk in debauchery and spreading desolation and murder among
men, of a Caligula, a Nero, or a Charles, is more precious in his sight
than
that of millions of his suppliant creatures, who do justice, love mercy,
and
walk humbly with their God! No, in the judgment of heaven there is no
other superiority among men than a superiority in wisdom and virtue. And
can we have a safer model in forming ours? The Deity, then, has not given
any order or family of men authority over others; and if any men have given
it, they only could give it for themselves. Our forefathers, 'tis said,
consented to be subject to the laws of Great Britain. I will not, at present,
dispute it, nor mark out the limits and conditions of their submission;
but
will it be denied that they contracted to pay obedience and to be under
the
control of Great Britain because it appeared to them most beneficial in
their
then present circumstances and situations? We, my countrymen, have the
same right to consult and provide for our happiness which they had to
promote theirs. If they had a view to posterity in their contracts, it
must
have been to advance the felicity of their descendants. If they erred in
their
expectations and prospects, we can never be condemned for a conduct
which they would have recommended had they foreseen our present
condition.
7
Ye darkeners of counsel, who would make the property, lives, and
religion of millions depend on the evasive interpretations of musty
parchments; who would send us to antiquated charters of uncertain and
contradictory meaning, prove that the present generation are not bound
to
be victims to cruel and unforgiving despotism, tell us whether our pious
and
generous ancestors bequeathed to us the miserable privilege of having the
rewards of our honesty, industry, the fruits of those fields which they
purchased and bled for, wrested from us at the will of men over whom we
have no check. Did they contract for us that, with folded arms, we should
expect that justice and mercy from brutal and inflamed invaders which have
been denied to our supplications at the foot of the throne? Were we to
hear our character as a people ridiculed with indifference? Did they
promise for us that our meekness and patience should be insulted; our
coasts harassed, our towns demolished and plundered, and our wives and
offspring exposed to nakedness, hunger, and death, without our feeling
the
resentment of men, and exerting those powers of self-preservation which
God has given us? No man had once a greater veneration for Englishmen
than I entertained. They were dear to me as branches of the same parental
trunk, and partakers of the same religion and laws; I still view with respect
the remains of the constitution as I would a lifeless body, which had once
been animated by a great and heroic soul. But when I am aroused by the
din of arms; when I behold legions of foreign assassins, paid by Englishmen
to imbrue their hands in our blood; when I tread over the uncoffined bodies
of my countrymen, neighbors, and friends; when I see the locks of a
venerable father torn by savage hands, and a feeble mother, clasping her
infants to her bosom, and on her knees imploring their lives from her own
slaves, whom Englishmen have allured to treachery and murder; when I
behold my country, once the seat of industry, peace, and plenty, changed
by Englishmen to a theatre of blood and misery, Heaven forgive me, if I
cannot root out those passions which it as implanted in my bosom, and
detest submission to a people ho have either ceased to be human, or have
not virtue enough to feel their own wretchedness and servitude!
8
Men who content themselves with the semblance of truth, and a
display of words, talk much of our obligations to Great Britain for
protection. Had she a single eye to our advantage? A nation of
shopkeepers are very seldom so disinterested. Let us not be so amused
with words; the extension of her commerce was her object. When she
defended our coasts, she fought for her customers, and convoyed our
ships loaded with wealth, which we had acquired for her by our industry.
She has treated us as beasts of burthen, whom the lordly masters cherish
that they may carry a greater load. Let us inquire also against whom she
has protected us? Against her own enemies with whom we had no quarrel,
or only on her account, and against whom we always readily exerted our
wealth and strength when they were required. Were these colonies
backward in giving assistance to Great Britain, when they were called upon
in 1739 to aid the expedition against Carthagena? They at that time sent
three thousand men to join the British army, although the war commenced
without their consent. But the last war, 'tis said, was purely American.
This
is a vulgar error, which, like many others, has gained credit by being
confidently repeated. The dispute between the courts of Great Britain and
France related to the limits of Canada and Nova Scotia. The controverted
territory was not claimed by any in the colonies, but by the crown of Great
Britain. It was therefore their own quarrel. The infringement of a right
which England had, by the treaty of Utrecht, of trading in the Indian
country of Ohio, was another cause of the war. The French seized large
quantities of British manufacture and took possession of a fort which a
company of British merchants and factors had erected for the security of
their commerce. The war was therefore waged in defense of lands claimed
by the crown, and for the protection of British property. The French at
that
time had no quarrel with America, and, as appears by letters sent from
their commander-in-chief, to some of the colonies, wished to remain in
peace with us. The part, therefore, which we then took, and the miseries
to
which we exposed ourselves, ought to be charged to our affection to
Britain. These colonies granted more than their proportion to the support
of the war. They raised, clothed, and maintained nearly twenty-five
thousand men, and so sensible were the people of England of our great
exertions, that a message was annually sent to the House of Commons
purporting, "that his Majesty, being highly satisfied with the zeal and
vigor
with which his faithful subjects in North America had exerted themselves
in
defense of his Majesty's just rights and possessions, recommend it to the
House to take the same into consideration, and enable him to give them
a
proper compensation."
9
But what purpose can arguments of this kind answer? Did the
protection we received annul our rights as men, and lay us under an
obligation of being miserable? Who among you, my countrymen, that is a
father, would claim authority to make your child a slave because you had
nourished him in infancy?
10
'Tis a strange species of generosity which requires a return infinitely
more valuable than anything it could have bestowed; that demands as a
reward for a defense of our property a surrender of those inestimable
privileges, to the arbitrary will of vindictive tyrants, which alone give
value
to that very property.
11
Political right and public happiness are different words for the same
idea. They who wander into metaphysical labyrinths, or have recourse to
original contracts, to determine the rights of men, either impose on
themselves or mean to delude others. Public utility is the only certain
criterion. It is a test which brings disputes to a speedy decision, and
makes
its appeal to the feelings of mankind. The force of truth has obliged men
to
use arguments drawn from this principle who were combating it, in.
practice and speculation. The advocates for a despotic government and
nonresistance to the magistrate employ reasons in favor of their systems
drawn from a consideration of their tendency to promote public happiness.
12
The Author of Nature directs all his operations to the production of
the greatest good, and has made human virtue to consist in a disposition
and conduct which tends to the common felicity of his creatures. An
abridgement of the natural freedom of men, by the institutions of political
societies, is vindicable only on this foot. How absurd, then, is it to
draw
arguments from the nature of civil society for the annihilation of those
very
ends which society was intended to procure! Men associate for their
Mutual advantage. Hence, the good and happiness of the members, that
is, the majority of the members, of any State, is the great standard by
which everything relating to that State must finally be determined; and
though it may be supposed that a body of people may be bound by a
voluntary resignation (which they have been so infatuated as to make) of
all their interests to a single person, or to a few, it can never be conceived
that the resignation is obligatory to their posterity; because it is manifestly
contrary to the good of the whole that it should be so.
13
These are the sentiments of the wisest and most virtuous champions of
freedom. Attend to a portion on this subject from a book in our own
defense, written, I had almost said, by the pen of inspiration. "I lay
no
stress," says he, "on charters; they derive their rights from a higher
source.
It is inconsistent with common sense to imagine that any people would
ever think of settling in a distant country on any such condition, or that
the
people from whom they withdrew should forever be masters of their
property, and have power to subject them to any modes of government
they pleased. And had there been expressed stipulations to this purpose
in
all the charters of the colonies, they would, in my opinion, be no more
bound by them, than if it had been stipulated with them that they should
go
naked, or expose themselves to the incursions of wolves and tigers."
14
Such are the opinions of every virtuous and enlightened patriot in Great
Britain. Their petition to heaven is, "That there may be one free country
left
upon earth, to which they may fly, when venality, luxury, and vice shall
have completed the ruin of liberty there."
15
Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we
ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an
asylum
on earth for civil and religious liberty. Dismissing, therefore, the justice
of
our cause, as incontestable, the only question is, What is best for us
to
pursue in our present circumstances?
16
The doctrine of dependence on Great Britain is, I believe, generally
exploded; but as I would attend to the honest weakness of the simplest
of
men, you will pardon me if I offer a few words on that subject.
17
We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three
millions of souls united in one cause. We have large armies, well disciplined
and appointed, with commanders inferior to none in military skill, and
superior in activity and zeal. We are furnished with arsenals and stores
beyond our most sanguine expectations, and foreign nations are waiting
to
crown our success by their alliances. There are instances of, I would say,
an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our success has staggered
our enemies, and almost given faith to infidels; so we may truly say it
is not
our own arm which has saved us.
18
The hand of heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble
instruments and means in the great Providential dispensation which is
completing. We have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back,
lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and derision to the
world. For can we ever expect more unanimity and a better preparation
for defense; more infatuation of counsel among our enemies, and more
valor and zeal among ourselves? The same force and resistance which are
sufficient to procure us our liberties will secure us a glorious independence
and support us in the dignity of free, imperial States. We cannot suppose
that our opposition has made a corrupt and dissipated nation more friendly
to America, or created in them a greater respect for the rights of mankind.
We can therefore expect a restoration and establishment of our privileges,
and a compensation for the injuries we have received from their want of
power, from their fears, and not from their virtues. The unanimity and
valor
which will effect an honorable peace can render a future contest for our
liberties unnecessary. He who has strength to chain down the wolf is a
madman if he let him loose without drawing his teeth and paring his nails.
19
From the day on which an accommodation takes place between
England and America, on any other terms than as independent States, I
shall date the ruin of this country. A politic minister will study to lull
us into
security, by granting us the full extent of our petitions. The warm sunshine
of influence would melt down the virtue, which the violence of the storm
rendered more firm and unyielding. In a state of tranquillity, wealth,
and
luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war and the noble activity
and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption
would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our
resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty which now animates our
hearts and gives success to our arms is extinct, our numbers will accelerate
our ruin and render us easier victims to tyranny. Ye abandoned minions
of
an infatuated ministry, if peradventure any should yet remain among us,
remember that a Warren and Montgomery are numbered among the dead.
Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, What
should be the reward of such sacrifices? Bid us and our posterity bow the
knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut
the
avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in
our
blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better
than
liberty, the tranquillity of servitude more than the animating contest
of freedom,
— go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down
and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!
20
To unite the supremacy of Great Britain and the liberty of America is
utterly impossible. So vast a continent, and of such a distance from the
seat
of empire, will every day grow more unmanageable. The motion of so
unwieldy a body cannot be directed with any dispatch and uniformity
without committing to the Parliament of Great Britain powers inconsistent
with our freedom. The authority and force which would be absolutely
necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order of this
continent would put all our valuable rights within the reach of that nation.
21
As the administration of government requires firmer and more
numerous supports in proportion to its extent, the burdens imposed on us
would be excessive, and we should have the melancholy prospect of their
increasing on our posterity. The scale of officers, from the rapacious
and
needy commissioner to the haughty governor, and from the governor, with
his hungry train, to perhaps a licentious and prodigal viceroy, must be
upheld by you and your children. The fleets and armies which will be
employed to silence your murmurs and complaints must be supported by
the fruits of your industry.
22
And yet with all this enlargement of the expense and powers of
government, the administration of it at such a distance, and over so
extensive a territory, must necessarily fail of putting the laws into vigorous
execution, removing private oppressions, and forming plans for the
advancement of agriculture and commerce, and preserving the vast empire
in any tolerable peace and security. If our posterity retain any spark
of
patriotism, they can never tamely submit to such burthens. This country
will
be made the field of bloody contention till it gain that independence for
which nature formed it. It is, therefore, injustice and cruelty to our
offspring, and would stamp us with the character of baseness and
cowardice, to leave the salvation of this country to be worked out by them
with accumulated difficulty and danger.
23
Prejudice, I confess, may warp our judgments. Let us hear the decision
of Englishmen on this subject, who cannot be suspected of partiality. "The
Americans," they say, "are but little short of half our number. To this
number they have grown from a small body of original settlers by a very
rapid increase. The probability is that they will go on to increase, and
that
in fifty or sixty years they will be double our number, and form a mighty
empire, consisting of a variety of States, all equal or superior to ourselves
in all the arts and accomplishments which give dignity and happiness to
human life. In that period will they be still bound to acknowledge that
supremacy over them which we now claim? Can there be any person who
will assert this, or whose mind does not revolt at the idea of a vast
continent holding all that is valuable to it at the discretion of a handful
of
people on the other side of the Atlantic? But if at that period this would
be
unreasonable, what makes it otherwise now? Draw the line if you can. But
there is still a greater difficulty."
24
Britain is now, I will suppose, the seat of liberty and virtue, and its
legislature consists of a body of able and independent men, who govern
with wisdom and justice. The time may come when all will be reversed;
when its excellent constitution of government will be subverted; when,
pressed by debts and taxes, it will be greedy to draw to itself an increase
of revenue from every distant province, in order to ease its own burdens;
when the influence of the crown, strengthened by luxury and a universal
profligacy of manners, will have tainted every heart, broken down every
fence of liberty, and rendered us a nation of tame and contented vassals;
when a general election will be nothing but a general auction of boroughs,
and when the Parliament, grand council of the nation, and once the faithful
guardian State, and a terror to evil ministers, will be degenerated body
of
sycophants, dependent and venal, always ready to confirm any measures,
and little more than a public court for registering royal edicts. Such,
it is
possible, may, some time or other, be the state of Great Britain. What
will,
at that period, be the duty of the colonies? Will they be still bound to
unconditional submission? Must they always continue an appendage to our
government and follow it implicitly through every change that can happen
to it? Wretched condition, indeed, of millions of freemen as good as
ourselves! Will you say that we now govern equitably, and that there is
no
danger of such revolution? Would to God that this were true! But you will
not always say the same. Who shall judge whether we govern equitably or
not? Can you give the colonies any security that such a period will never
come? NO. THE PERIOD, COUNTRYMEN, IS ALREADY COME!
The calamities were at our door. The rod of oppression was raised over
us. We were roused from our slumbers, and may we never sink into
repose until we can convey a clear and undisputed inheritance to our
posterity! This day we are called upon to give a glorious example of what
the wisest and best of men were rejoiced to view, only in speculation.
This
day presents the world with the most august spectacle that its annals ever
unfolded, — millions of freemen deliberately and voluntarily forming
themselves into a society for their common defense and common
happiness. Immortal spirits of Hampden, Locke, and Sidney, will it not
add
to your benevolent joys to behold your posterity rising to the dignity
of
men, and evincing to the world the reality and expediency of your systems,
and in the actual enjoyment of that equal liberty, which you were happy,
when on earth, in delineating and recommending to mankind?
25
Other nations have received their laws from conquerors; some are
indebted for a constitution to the suffering of their ancestors through
revolving centuries. The people of this country, alone, have formally and
deliberately chosen a government for themselves, and with open and
uninfluenced consent bound themselves into a social compact. Here no
man proclaims his birth or wealth as a title to honorable distinction,
or to
sanctify ignorance and vice with the name of hereditary authority. He who
has most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant
of
the public. This is the only line of distinction drawn by nature. Leave
the
bird of night to the obscurity for which nature intended him, and expect
only from the eagle to brush the clouds with his wings and look boldly
in
the face of the sun.
26
Some who would persuade us that they have tender feelings for future
generations, while they are insensible to the happiness of the present,
are
perpetually foreboding a train of dissensions under our popular system.
Such men's reasoning amounts to this: Give up all that is valuable to Great
Britain and then you will have no inducements to quarrel among yourselves;
or, suffer yourselves to be chained down by your enemies that you may not
be able to fight with your friends.
27
This is an insult on your virtue as well as your common sense. Your
unanimity this day and through the course of the war is a decisive refutation
of such invidious predictions. Our enemies have already had evidence that
our present constitution contains in it the justice and ardor of freedom
and
the wisdom and vigor of the most absolute system. When the law is the will
of the people, it will be uniform and coherent; but fluctuation, contradiction,
and inconsistency of councils must be expected under those governments
where every revolution in the ministry of a court produces one in the State
— such being the folly and pride of all ministers, that they ever pursue
measures directly opposite to those of their predecessors.
28
We shall neither be exposed to the necessary convulsions of elective
monarchies, nor to the want of wisdom, fortitude, and virtue, to which
hereditary succession is liable. In your hands it will be to perpetuate
a
prudent, active, and just legislature, and which will never expire until
you
yourselves loose the virtues which give it existence.
29
And, brethren and fellow-countrymen, if it was ever granted to mortals
to trace the designs of Providence, and interpret its manifestations in
favor
of their cause, we may, with humility of soul, cry out, "Not unto us, not
unto us, but to thy Name be the praise!" The confusion of the devices
among our enemies, and the rage of the elements against them, have done
almost as much towards our success as either our councils or our arms.
30
The time at which this attempt on our liberty was made, when we were
ripened into maturity, had acquired a knowledge of war, and were free
from the incursions of enemies in this country; the gradual advances of
our
oppressors enabling us to prepare for our defense; the unusual fertility
of
our lands and clemency of the seasons; the success which at first attended
our feeble arms, producing unanimity among our friends and reducing our
internal foes to acquiescence — these are all strong and palpable marks
and assurances that Providence is yet gracious unto Zion, that it will
turn
away the captivity of Jacob.
31
Our glorious reformers when they broke through the fetters of
superstition effected more than could be expected from an age so
darkened. But they left much to be done by their posterity. They lopped
off, indeed, some of the branches of Popery, but they left the root and
stock when they left us under the domination of human systems and
decisions, usurping the infallibility which can be attributed to Revelation
alone. They dethroned one usurper only to raise up another; they refused
allegiance to the Pope only to place the civil magistrate in the throne
of
Christ, vested with authority to enact laws and inflict penalties in his
kingdom. And if we now cast our eyes over the nations of the earth, we
shall find that, instead of possessing the pure religion of the Gospel,
they
may be divided either into infidels, who deny the truth; or politicians
who
make religion a stalking horse for their ambition; or professors, who walk
in the trammels of orthodoxy, and are more attentive to traditions and
ordinances of men than to the oracles of truth.
32
The civil magistrate has everywhere contaminated religion by making it
an engine of policy; and freedom of thought and the right of private
judgment, in matters of conscience, driven from every other corner of the
earth, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.
Let us
cherish the noble guests, and shelter them under the wings of a universal
toleration! Be this the seat of unbounded religious freedom. She will bring
with her in her train, industry, wisdom, and commerce. She thrives most
when left to shoot forth in her natural luxuriance, and asks from human
policy only not to be checked in her growth by artificial encouragements.
33
Thus, by the beneficence of Providence, we shall behold our empire
arising, founded on justice and the voluntary consent of the people, and
giving full scope to the exercise of those faculties and rights which most
ennoble our species. Besides the advantages of liberty and the most equal
constitution, Heaven has given us a country with every variety of climate
and soil, pouring forth in abundance whatever is necessary for the support,
comfort, and strength of a nation. Within our own borders we possess all
the means of sustenance, defense, and commerce; at the same time, these
advantages are so distributed among the different States of this continent,
as if nature had in view to proclaim to us: Be united among yourselves
and
you will want nothing from the rest of the world.
34
The more northern States most amply supply us with every necessary,
and many of the luxuries of life; with iron, timber and masts for ships
of
commerce or of war; with flax for the manufacture of linen, and seed either
for oil or exportation.
35
So abundant are our harvests, that almost every part raises more than
double the quantity of grain requisite for the support of the inhabitants.
From Georgia and the Carolinas we have, as well for our own wants as for
the purpose of supplying the wants of other powers, indigo, rice, hemp,
naval stores, and lumber.
36
Virginia and Maryland teem with wheat, Indian corn, tobacco. Every
nation whose harvest is precarious, or whose lands yield not those
commodities which we cultivate, will gladly exchange their superfluities
and
manufactures for ours.
37
We have already received many and large cargoes of clothing, military
stores, etc., from our commerce with foreign powers, and, in spite of the
efforts of the boasted navy of England, we shall continue to profit by
this
connection.
38
The want of our naval stores has already increased the price of these
articles to a great height, especially in Britain. Without our lumber,
it will be
impossible for those haughty islanders to convey the products of the West
Indies to their own ports; for a while they may with difficulty effect
it, but,
without our assistance, their resources soon must fail. Indeed, the West
India Islands appear as the necessary appendages to this our empire. They
must owe their support to it, and ere long, I doubt not, some of them will,
from necessity, wish to enjoy the benefit of our protection.
39
These natural advantages will enable us to remain independent of the
world, or make it the interest of European powers to court our alliance,
and aid in protecting us against the invasion of others. What argument,
therefore, do we want to show the equity of our conduct; or motive of
interest to recommend it to our prudence? Nature points out the path, and
our enemies have obliged us to pursue it.
40
If there is any man so base or so weak as to prefer a dependence on
Great Britain to the dignity and happiness of living a member of a free
and
independent nation, let me tell him that necessity now demands what the
generous principle of patriotism should have dictated.
41
We have no other alternative than independence, or the most
ignominious and galling servitude. The legions of our enemies and death
mark their bloody career; whilst the mangled corpses of our countrymen
seem to cry out to us as a voice from heaven: —
42
"Will you permit our posterity to groan under the galling
chains of our murderers? Has our blood been expended in
vain? Is the only benefit which our constancy till death has
obtained for our country, that it should be sunk into a deeper
and more ignominious vassalage? Recollect who are the men
that demand your submission, to whose decrees you are
invited to pay obedience. Men who, unmindful of their
relation to you as brethren; of your long implicit submission to
their laws; of the sacrifice which you and your forefathers
made of your natural advantages for commerce to their
avarice; formed a deliberate plan to wrest from you the small
pittance of property which they had permitted you to acquire.
Remember that the men who wish to rule over you are they
who, in pursuit of this plan of despotism, annulled the sacred
contracts which they had made with your ancestors;
conveyed into your cities a mercenary soldiery to compel you
to submission by insult and murder; who called your patience
cowardice, your piety hypocrisy."
43
Countrymen, the men who now invite you to surrender your rights into
their hands are the men who have let loose the merciless savages to riot
in
the blood of their brethren; who have dared to establish Popery triumphant
in our land; who have taught treachery to your slaves, and courted them
to
assassinate your wives and children.
44
These are the men to whom we are exhorted to sacrifice the blessings
which Providence holds out to us; the happiness, the dignity, of
uncontrolled freedom and independence.
45
Let not your generous indignation be directed against any among us
who may advise so absurd and maddening a measure. Their number is but
few, and daily decreases; and the spirit which can render them patient
of
slavery will render them contemptible enemies.
46
Our Union is now complete; our constitution composed, established,
and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. We may
justly address you, as the decemviri did the Romans, and say, "Nothing
that we propose can pass into a law without your consent. Be yourselves,
O Americans, the authors of those laws on which your happiness
depends."
47
You have now in the field armies sufficient to repel the whole force of
your enemies and their base and mercenary auxiliaries. The hearts of your
soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom; they are animated with the
justice of their cause, and while they grasp their swords can look up to
Heaven for assistance. Your adversaries are composed of wretches who
laugh at the rights of humanity, who turn religion into derision, and would,
for higher wages, direct their swords against their leaders or their country.
Go on, then, in your generous enterprise with gratitude to Heaven for past
success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own part, I ask no
greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and common
glory. If I have a wish dearer to my soul than that my ashes may be
mingled with those of a Warren and Montgomery, it is that these American
States may never cease to be free and independent.
48
Where the text can be found: David J. Brewer's The World's Best Orations
(St. Louis: Ferd. P. Kaiser, 1899,) pp. 93-109. William J. Bryan's The
World's
Famous Orations (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1906), vol. 8,
110-122