would stand firm to each other, and then they might have the affair settled as they liked; for, says he it is impossible for this Country to do without you, neither can they subdue you.

ON THE DISTURBANCES IN AMERICA.

London, June 12, 1775.

Whether this is the best of possible worlds, is a point with which the politician has nothing to do; he must take men as they are, and, till the period of the millenium arrives, wars and tumults will possess their full number of pages in the history of mankind. A too eager love of peace, the child of pusillanimity, will be generally found a prelude to the most destructive scenes of blood and slaughter. Whenever unavoidable danger presents itself, prudence directs us to face it boldly. Shall our humanity induce us to leave the contest, so big with danger, to our immediate descendants? Forbid it justice and paternal affection. The probability of success, which is now on our side, will be against then. Yet, shall we give up the sovereignty in America, their right of inheritance, and the price of so many cares and of so much blood and treasure, without some struggle? Though they, if the contest was deferred till their day, might probably fail and involve the British Empire in ruin, yet we, by a spirited conduct, now may shelter them from the danger, and procrastinate, the event.

The Bostonians have been guilty of numberless acts of rebellion, which have no other real foundation than their opinion that they can resist with success. On the slightest occasion, large bodies of men appear in arms, with the avowed intention of fighting the King’s Troops. Let them have their humour. In every essential point of view they are the enemies of Great Britain, and their insults must not be forgiven because they are dangerous—so dangerous, that suppose them defeated, suppose them suing for forgiveness with all the humility which may be expected from their present insolence, they must not be forgiven; they can never be again entitled to the protection and encouragement of the Mother Country. Their soil and climate, their growing manufactories of iron and wool, their ship–building, and even their industry, are our natural, our irreconcilable enemies. The Colonists, must not only be defeated, but, as far as it is in our power, the Colonies destroyed. This may be done without much of that carnage which is so dreaded by us. The steady and inflexible regulations of policy, by which every source of trade or manufactures must be cut off from the Northern Colonies, and every possible encouragement given to settlements in warmer latitudes, can alone effect it. Indigo, rice, rum, sugar, cotton, silk, and the various productions of the tropicks, are commodities we want, and the habits of life in southern climates will forever prevent their interfering with our laborious manufactories. Mutual wants are the true foundation of trade and political friendship, and Colonies established without this permanent view, have ever been the ruin of the Mother Country. We want nothing from the Colony most dangerous to us, but provisions and lumber for the islands; and these it will furnish, even were it in a much less cultivated and improved state than it now is.

The Americans are fond of repeating their arguments, though it seems agreed on all sides that it is time that action should commence. I shall not, therefore, enter into those reasons by which a Mother Country may be justified in ruining a Colony which has been found prejudicial to her; they deny the debt of gratitude, by asserting that we raised and supported them from motives of interest alone. Admit this to be true, we raised them at an immense expense, with permanent views of political advantage. They are now found to be not barely detrimental, but highly dangerous to us. The same policy will teach us to destroy that which we have been mistaken in defending and supporting. This cannot be done without much private injury and publick calamity, but in disputes of this magnitude they are unavoidable. In the management of natural concerns, the lesser evil must be resolutely chosen, and to listen to the complaints of unavoidable evil is a dangerous humanity, and will have the same effect as the most contemptible weakness. Shall we, to avoid the effusion of human blood, give up the sovereignty of America without a blow? What kind of philanthropy must that be which can resolve on this, and survey, with a steady eye, the dreadful prospects of calamity and ruin which will immediately overwhelm the British Empire, if, by our tameness, or by American resolution, the Colonies are torn from us. Expedients, in a dispute so rooted as this is, were always ridiculous, and are now by all parties given up. What trivial nonsense are affidavits, to prove who fired first The moment the Americans attempted to raise troops, with the avowed intention of resisting Government by force, the first bullet should have been fired; and that we have so long deferred it is an errour, for which we shall be severely punished. We ought, long ere now, to have been as unanimous as the Americans in perceiving that the voice of necessity, and the great vortex of human affairs, is too powerful to be confined by the forms of a constitution. The sword alone can decide this dispute, and he is a traitor to his Country who does not contribute every thing in his power to prevent the ruin of the British Empire, which will immediately take place if we are defeated.

SOUTH–CAROLINA PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

Charlestown, Monday, June 12, 1775.

Resolved, That any person having violated or refused obedience to the authority of the Provincial Congress, shall, by the Committee of the District or Parish in which such offender resides, be questioned relative thereto; and upon due conviction of either of the offences aforesaid, and continuing contumacious, such person shall, by such Committee, be declared and advertised an enemy to the liberties of America, and an object of the resentment of the publick; and that the said Committee shall be supported in so doing.

Resolved, That it be recommended to the inhabitants of the Parishes of St. Philip and St. Michael, when they attend Divine service in places of publick worship, to take with them their fire-arms and ammunition.

By order of the Congress:

PETER TIMOTHY, Secretary.

In Provincial Congress, Charlestown, June 12, 1775.

The Provincial Congress having received an intimation that certain persons have already bought up, and others are now buying up, Indian Corn, with design to take advantage of the times, have

Resolved, That such engrossing is intolerable, and ought not to be suffered in this time of scarcity.

Resolved, also, That such persons as may have bought up Indian Corn, ought not to sell it an advanced price, and that proper information ought immediately to be laid before the Congress or General Committee.

Ordered, That the foregoing Resolves be forthwith printed, and made publick.

By order of the Congress:

PETER TIMOTHY, Secretary.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, AND THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE AMERICAN COLONIES.

Philadelphia, June 12, 1775.

As all lawful Government is founded in compact, it behooves those who claim authority, to prove that they have it. English Government is territorial, that is, it is limited to certain districts of territory; and owning lands within these limits gives a right to participate in the Government; and those who own the lands have a right to fix the terms on which other may reside within the jurisdiction. This principle seems to be founded on the law of nature, and therefore those who are not freeholders are justly bound by the laws of the land, though they have no vote in electing members of Parliament, and not on the principle of virtual representation; yet they have this security, that the freeholders and other inhabitants are governed by the same laws.

A civil society or state is a number of proprietors of land within certain limits, united by compact or mutual agreement for making laws, and appointing persons to execute those laws for their common benefit.

The British Empire consists of such societies, subject to one King, each having a distinct legislature: such is the