THE STRICTURES, ON The Friendly Address EXAMINED, &c.

THE poisons which have lately been too lavishly scat­tered among you, call aloud for an antidote; and by their operations they appear to be of so deadly a kind, as to require the immediate counteration of some powerfully efficient recipe; till such an one is produced, a less forcible prescription may, by stopping their progress, be found salutary.

Of late two pamphlets have appeared, the authors of which, the contending parties of this country, seem to consider as the invulnerable champions of their different principles and in­terests; and each has therefore naturally attracted the atten­tion of its friends and opposers; but the zeal of the whigs, in dispersing abroad their boasted and favourite production, has far out-stripped that of the tories, who, perhaps, not consider­ing an appeal to the head, as so adapted to the purposes of party, as one to the heart, have not inserted the Friendly Ad­dress in a News-Paper;—have not considerably reduced its price; or sent it abroad gratis, as a stimilus to their friends^Daggar:

[Page 4] These being the honours which party has conferred on the strictures on that performance, it may not be unamusing or un­profitable to examine on what foundation this boasted bul­wark of faction is erected. This writer, like a true disciple of the noble author of the Characteristics, tries every thing by the touchstone of ridicule; but does he know that it can place all subjects, even the sacred precepts and mysteries of our ho­ly religion, in the same point of view; and like the jaundiced eye, seeing through a tainted medium, reduce all objects, however varied in colours, to its own loathsome hue? He commences with a notable discovery from unerring signs, of his antagonist's profession; but I much query if any one, from his subsequent observations, would be induced to consider him a soldier

The friends of British government in America are, I trust, not so contemptible as the picture of this stricturer would lu­dicrously display them; many have already declared their attachment to its cause, and fifty times their numbers, at pre­sent overwhelmed by popular fury, would in the day of trial avow it: I wish not to see royal standards erected, or swords flaming in the front, and in the rear, but alas! the melancholy face of affairs on this continent too strongly indicates it; and then, I am convinced, the regular troops would not, on ex­perience, be found so contemptible as he endeavours to repre­sent them; or that colony forces could be so easily raised and disciplined, as he asserts: A simplification of manoeuvres that can be learnt in three months, will not bring you, Americans, to that steadiness, that you shall, with regularity and compo­sure, like the English troops at Fontenoy, evolute in the face of a victorious and superior army: For my part, I will go further than even this rapid instructor, and engage to teach school-boys, with wooden guns on their shoulders, to form and reduce from a line of fire to a line of impression, in half an hour; but to train men for war, requires labour, experience, and time; and to reduce them to perfect submission to every superior, is with difficulty effected in legal establishments, never in popu­lar and tumultuous associations; deprived of that coersive pow­er, which, in the former produces obedience, their leaders in vain seek by attentions and courtesies that compliance with their commands, which the others derive from established un­disputed authority.

A yeomanrry, like the American, the most happy and com­fortable of any in the world, are but ill prepared to support [Page 5] the fatigues, dangers and wants of long campaigns; they would soon miss those solaces which domestic tranquility afford­ed them, and would revert to their pristine avocations and de­lights; their acquaintance with the use of implements of hus­bandry would stand them in but little stead, for to what pur­pose should they employ them? It has long been acknowledg­ed a principle in war, that irregulars are not calculated for defence, but attack; their vigour and intrepidity may bear down all obstacles to the latter, but too surely they will fail in that patience and perseverance which is indispensably requisite for the former, When the New-England provincials, under General Pepperrell, in the year forty five, attacked Louis­bourg, they laughed at the regular methods of approach pro­posed to them, and by a concurrence of fortunate circumstances, united to valour, carried that important fortress; this is a fact which many of them can vouch, and most, if not all the rest of them have heard repeatedly from their fathers, when recounting the atchievements of their youthful days; and they must then have also told them, that the petulance of their brave countrymen was more than once on the point of giving up that glorious enterprize.—Consider therefore, I adjure you, by those ties and relations which endear life, and strow flowers along the rugged path of its pilgrimage; consider, before you engage in an attempt of so serious, so hazardous a nature, as the opposing a royal and long constituted army, what may reasonably be expected from forces so liable to defections as the unrestrained and hastily levied troops of these colonies must ever be: Your numbers are also held forth to you as powerful and unconquerable, and I do not deny that on so extended a continent as this, many armies of forty-thousand each might, in the various operations of a war, to advantage be employed; but supposing it possible for this even to be the case, what must be its unavoidable consequences? All your peasantry being engaged in martial expeditions, the land would want its culture, and a dearth in a very few months must infallibly ensue, which would deprive your soldiers of even necessary sustenance^*, for they must forego at the commencement every idea and wish for their accustomed luxuries: Are you yet to be told that there are diseases which are endemic to a camp, and that when famine with "baneful smile" stalks through [Page 6] its avenues, she will add fresh poignancy and malignity to its inseparable disorders? From most of these evils your opponents will be free; from long practice their constitutions are habi­tuated to the fatigues of the most rigid discipline, they may feel distemper, but they are better enabled to repel it than you, unused to hardships, can possibly be; nor will they be haunted by the smallest dread of want; your ports blocked up by the navy of England, though denying you relief, will afford them plentiful supplies, and in case of defeat, a most sure retreat, till augmented by numerous and powerful reinforcements; for remember, that Great-Britain, during last war, did at one time carry conquest through every quarter of the globe, and that you assisted her only in this.

Hitherto, Americans, I have only pointed out to you the instability of your own force; it behoves you as you have examined how far you can rely with safety on it, to change the scene, and see how it stands opposed to that of your anta­gonists, and here the prospect is different; taught to conquer by discipline, they firmly confide in what they know is irre­sistable; and not distracted by jarring principles and move­ments: with them every part of the machine acts in harmony and concord, and every spring, and every wheel conspires to produce its necessary efficient force.

It matters not of what persons armies are composed, since the profession has a natural tendency to create in them new principles and ideas of fortitude, submission and reliance on the wisdom and experience of their superiors: Your informant has told you the British troops are made up of "the most de­bauched weavers' prentices, the scum of the Irish Roman Catholics, who desert upon every occasion, and a few, very few, Scotch, who are not strong enough to carry packs." I have cultivated an acquaintance with the most sensible of the military gentlemen, and have found them men of candour and worth; from their information, and my own observation, I will now in these particulars lay before you a true and impartial state of the British army^*: If that part which England affords is only the [Page 7] most debauched weavers 'prentices, whence arises the great inte­rest which the friends of many of them have with the country gentlemen, and which is often powerfully employed in solicit­ing their discharges? And by what arts have so many appren­tices, without detection, deserted their masters, and broke their indentures? But all recruiting officers, and I suspect the Stricturer can affirm it, know that it is the country and not the towns which completes their battalions, that they beat up only on market-days when peasants, not mechanics resort to them; and you can all of you judge from the appearance of those recruits which have been brought hither, if they were the produce of villages or cities. The scum of the Irish Roman Catholics, he tells you, forms the proportion from that country, but unfortunately two strong circumstances militate against this assertion, for the legislature of Ireland, from fatal ex­perience, jealous of the Roman Catholics, has, under the severest penalties, prohibited them the use of arms, and dis­qualified them from forming a part of the defence of their country: Yet I am told that some few, notwithstanding, are smuggled into the service, but this can only be in those regi­ments lately on that establishment, and in them very incon­siderable; the other circumstance is a law, which, from the fear of depopulation, proscribes the enlisting any man for other than the establishment within that kingdom: His annexment that they desert upon every occasion, is not better grounded upon fact;—here the mention of desertion, makes me wish to advert to this great source of triumph in your popular leaders; they proclaim to the world how numerous have the instances of it been from the army quartered in Boston, and yet, I am well informed, it is no more than has always been from a similar body of troops, even to the natural enemies of their country; and I heartily wish they could as easily reconcile to their con­sciences the seducing men from their allegiance and duty to the worst of crimes, perjury, and the greatest of earthly evils, un­prepared, and almost certain, death if retaken: Our author makes up the small residue with a few, very few, Scoth, who are not strong enough to carry packs: I am told, had he been at [Page 8] the trouble to examine muster rolls he would have found them not so inconsiderable; that this is propable we may reasonably conclude from the number of emigrants who have quitted that country to come here, and what their condition is, those who have seen them, will judge: In fine, what is actually the present state of the whole British army, one who has not seen all of it cannot with precision determine, but if I might judge from those regiments, which, in their tour of duty, have been sent here, I should pronounce it more than versed in the tricks of the parade. I should pronounce it highly trained and qua­lified for service; but it is objected that few of them have seen action, and therefore they are much to be doubted: Who can have told this author so? For most surely he has been strangely misinformed; of the little army stationed in this capital there are two of the Quebec, and one of the Minden battalions, in which many of the officers and soldiers who conquered on those glorious days, still remain, and in most of the other regiments, which compose it, many of the veterans of last war to be found: and for my own part, when I view this small, but finely appointed army, and consider that it is under the com­mand of two Generals of approved knowledge and experience in war, I feel much confidence in the difficulties it would be able to surmount, and the victories over irregulars, which, in human probability, it would assuredly obtain.

In order to induce in you a belief of his military principles and knowledge, he produces an instance in proof from the constitution of the King of Prussia's army, but even was it, which I have the greatest reason to doubt, literally as he has stated, it cannot then, I apprehend, be brought as a precedent in this case, for there is no similarity between the connected and absolute power of that monarch over all his dominions, and the distinct and widely separated colonies of North-Ame­rica: Between supporting the authority of the lawful Sovereign, and rebelling against him.

He tells you also, that no inferences can be drawn from the conquest of Quebec, by the army under General Wolfe, but believe me, he is much mistaken, for last war will afford abund­ant proofs to the contrary: Was it the conquering attributes ^* [Page 9] of Wolfe, that, unsupported, carried on the six British bat­talions to glory and decisive victory at Minden? Or was it his genius that stormed the Moro? Or was it that hero who defended Arcot against all the force which France could muster in the East?^* His own instance, the corps which Gene­ral Monckton led to conquest, wars against the assertion; all these wrought by that spirit and strict discipline which has ever actuated and supported the British infantry. In mean not to tear from the laurelled bust of Wolfe those honours which deservedly deck it;—I know he was a soldier, a general, and what is more, a man; and though it is notorious, that he was particuarly an enemy to large standing armies in time of peace, it is notorious also, that in time of peace he formed the twentieth regiment, a model from which others learnt to conquer and extend the dominions of their country, and yet he was a most liberal, virtuous citizen, and seduloulsly preserved and improved the palladium committed to him by the constitution, "for the safety of the kingdom, the defence of the possessions of the crown of Great-Britain, and the preservation of the balance of power in Europe."^†

After having, with many arguments, and more humours taught you to despise the armies of Britain, he proceeds, and attempts with the same weapons to convince you of security from invasion by foreigners, and tells you of a convention of the empire in the year 1764; but, does he not know, that the resolves of that body have ever been held in derision by its members, from the time that the Landgrave of Hesse and Prince Maurice of Saxony, laughed at the decrees of the Aulic Council, and the Emperor Charles the Fifth, more powerful than any of his successors, till his Majesty of Prussia and the Elector of Hanover, stood unmoved, and sustained the thunders of the imperial ban? In fact, it is not more re­garded than a papal bull, when it opposes the inclinations of a Monarch. You all of you know what in England, France and Spain, was formerly the power of the Lord Paramount over his Feudatories, and such is precisely the present state of the [Page 10] Germanic body; and therefore I do not say, why the Land­grave of Hesse, if it suits his convenience, may not send over as many of his troops as required; and should they ever be solicited, I dare aver, that an idea of their not returning will never occur to him or his ministers, to prevent their being dispatched, nay that they would lack faith, even though our Stricturer, in the spirit of vaticination, has predicted it;^* but how the Elector of Hanover, backed by the power of Britain, to enforce his commands, should want credit to pro­cure a few thousands of his own subjects, is what I cannot comprehend:^† It is as mysterious to me, that Great-Britain, when divorced from her colonies, should be destitute of every requisite for supporting her navy, though she possesses the northern and southern extremities of this continent, and her trade to Russia and the Baltic, is open and free, and she can from thence supply herself with all the materials for ship­building, on at least as reasonable conditions as she does now from America.

This lively writer has amused you with many historical allu­sions, but, alas! they are seldom in point; that by which he marks out the facility of forming excellent officers, is a most strik­ing instance of this; for to what pitch must military knowledge have arrived in the times of the civil war, when two large ar­mies were for three days marching within ten miles of each other, and both remained ignorant of their enemies situa­tion?—In this case it was chance or numbers that must decide, for each was unacquainted with discipline; and if there were faction and agitators in the parliament army, the noble histo­rian of those troubles, and he would have wished to conceal it, tells us, that the royal forces were not less infested by dissention, party and private opinion; if therefore the inference, which in the Strictures is drawn from this uncommon and tempestu­ous period, is just, let every man of candour, reading and understanding, determine.

[Page 11] The last consideration, Americans, which he thinks it his duty to offer you, is, whether or no, you shall demolish his Majes­ty's forts and barracks: I consider not by whom they were erected, or for what purpose, but beyond doubt, the property of all such public buildings, and of all public military stores is, for the security of the realm, vested in the crown; and to attempt to seize, retain, or destroy them, it by the law de­clared to be high-treason: His proposition therefore is, whe­ther you shall at once plunge yourselves into open rebellion, and thereby incur its penalties, or not; To what a precipice would this author lead you? When I look down, my senses forsake me, and at the prospect my blood rushes tumultuously to, and retreats from its citadel, the heart. Yes, unhappy and infatuated citizens, with anguish I am forced to acknow­ledge, that such violences as he recommends, have in part been committed. O righteous God! Do thou avert the justice of the empire, and by inspiring its governing powers with thy milder attribute of mercy, snatch this deluded people from the imminent calamities, dangers, ruin, and destruction! Which await them!

STRICTURES, &c.

A PAMPHLET, entitled A Friendly Address to all rea­sonable Americans, advertised and sold by Mr. James Rivington, of New-York, is of so extraordinary a nature that it is difficult for any Man, who is interested in the welfare of the Community (whatever contempt he may have for the performance) to remain silent. I know not whe­ther the author is a Layman or Ecclesiastick, but he bears strongly the characters of the latter. He has the want of can­dour and truth, the apparent spirit of persecution, the unfor­givingness, the deadly hatred to Dissenters, and the zeal for arbitrary power, which has distinguished Churchmen in all ages, and more particularly the high part of the Church of England; I cannot help therefore considering him as one of this order.

The design of his Pamphlet is manifestly to dissolve the spi­rit of union, and check the noble ardor prevailing through the continent; but his zeal so far out-runs his abilities, that there is the greatest reason to think that his Reverence has laboured to little effect. His discretion seems to be still less than his genius. A man of common judgment would not so wantonly have attacked the general reigning principles and opinions of a People, whom he intends to seduce or intimi­date out of their rights and privileges: For instance, I be­lieve there are at least ninety-nine Americans in an hundred, who think that Charles the First was an execrable tyrant, that he met with no harder fate than he deserved, and that his two Sons ought in justice to have made the same exit. To descant therefore on the criminality of the resistance made to that ty­rant; to affect on every occasion giving the title of rebellion [Page 16] to the civil war which brought him to justice, is a degree of weakness which no man who is not blinded by the daemon of jacobitism could possibly be guilty of. But to preach up in this enlightend age (as he does in almost express terms) passive obedience, is a mark of lunacy, or at least it proves that the moment a head begins to itch for a mitre, it loses the faculty of reasoning, for if the principle of passive obedience is admit­ted, the gracious Prince, for whom his Reverence professes so great a devotion is a downright usurper, and the Parliament of which he speaks so respectfully, Lords and Commons, are rebels and traitors.

The doctrines he aims to inculcate are as follow—That the Parliament has a right to tax you without your consent; that the duty upon tea is no tax; that this duty is your only grievance; that the cause of Boston is their own concern; that it is not your cause; that the punishment of Boston is a just punishment; that it is lenient; that it is not equal to their crimes; that the Bostoni­ans are rebels, traitors, and pampered fanatics; that the Con­gress are little better; that no misconduct of administration can justify or excuse open disrespect; that submission is to be paid to the higher powers, whatever character they be; that an Apostle enjoined submission to the tyrant Nero; that of all people under heaven, the King's American subjects have the least cause for complaint; that the present confusion of the Colonies has been occasioned by false alarms; that none of your legal rights have been invaded; no in­jury has been done you, and consequently that you can never be jus­tified in resenting that of which you have no reason to complain; that you are no judges of the rights of Parliament; that the Par­liament ought to act according to their own judgment, not accord­ing to yours, even in things which concern you principally or soley: that they assert they have the right in question; that you have ne­ver proved they have not; that you have always believed or al­lowed they have it until the present occasion; that the Quebec Bill is a just and constitutional Bill; that the Canadians are likely to prove the best and most loyal subjects in his Majesty's American do­minions; that there is too much reason to believe that the minds of the Americans are unprincipled, and their hearts disposed for re­bellion; that since the reduction of Canada they have been bloated with a vain opinion of their own power and importance; that the Island of Great-Britain is able to govern (that is to dragoon) ten Americas; that the moment it is known that America is no longer under the protection of Great-Britain, all the maritime pow­ers of Europe would join to ravage your sea ports, plander and seize [Page 17] your ships merely for the pleasure of ravaging; ^* that all the ma­ritime powers of the world would not dispossess Great-Britain of the empire of the sea even when America is separated from her.—Now I challenge the world to produce so many wicked senti­ments, stupid principles, audaciously false assertions, and mon­strous absurdities crowded together into so small a compass. All his positions are indeed so self evidently absurd and false, that it would be an insult to American understandings, seriously to attempt refuting them. I shall only beg leave to take no­tice of the curious argument he uses to prove the duty on tea to be no tax, it is that, unless we consent to the tax we are not to pay the duty. We may refuse purchasing it if we please. The same logic would demonstrate that a duty on beer, candles, or soap, would be no tax, as we are not absolutely obliged to drink beer; we may drink water, we may go to bed before it is dark, and we are not forced to wash our shirts. His asser­tion that Great-Britain, when divorced from her Colonies, will still hold the empire of the seas in spite of all the powers of the world, is still more ingenious. It amounts to this, that without the possible means of procuring timber, iron, plank, masts, pitch, tar, or hemp, to furnish out a single frigate, they may build more ships then all the world put together; that when her nursery for seamen is destroyed, and all the commerce on which the existence of seamen depends, is annihilated, they will then be able to man more fleets than the whole universe put together. But I am ashamed of trespassing on the public patience, in making stric­tures on such ridiculous articles, I shall therefore pass to some questions which have not been so much agitated, and on which, if I mistake not, his reverence lays the greatest stress; for as [Page 18] he modestly declares, that he has no opinion of your courage, it was natural for him to consider intimidation and terror, as the most powerful figures of rhetoric. Regular armies from Great-Britain, Hessians, Hanoverians, royal, standards erected, skilful Generals, legions of Canadians, and unnumbered tribes of savages swords flaming in the front and rear, pestilence, desolation and famine, are all marshalled in a most dreadful order by this church militant author. But let us somewhat minutely exa­mine the picture, and see whether, stript of its false colouring, it has any thing really terrifying. His reverence begins with assuring us, that there is no room to doubt, but that such an army as was employed in the reduction of Canada (that is an army of seven thousand men) would be more than sufficient for the conquest of all the disaffected American Colonies, (which are in fact all the Colonies.) Should such a resolution become necessary in order to reduce them to obedience. For my own part I think there is very great reason to doubt, that seven thousand, even of the best troops, are able to conquer two hundred thousand of the most disorderly peasantry upon earth, if they are animated in defence of every thing they hold most dear and sacred; and there is still greater reason to doubt, that seven thousand very indifferent troops, composed of the refuse of an exhausted nation, few of whom have seen action of any kind, should be able to conquer two hundred thousand active, vigorous yeomanry, fired with the noble ardor, we see prevalent through the continent all armed, all expert in the use of arms almost from their cradles. The success of Que­bec it is true, does infinite honour to the English arms, the army was, I believe, only seven thousand, the enemy were perhaps more than double, but sixteen thousand men are not two hundred thousand. The fate of Canada, depended upon one decisive action, but it is impossible to calculate how many victories must be gained before these Colonies could be sub­dued, whereas a single victory gained by the Colonies must decide the contest in their favour. In the affair of Quebec there is another circumstance to be considered, it was Wolfe, who commanded: a man of the most wonderful talents, formed to level all difficulties; to render the most despicable soldiery, almost instaneously, an army of Heroes. In short, the genius of the man was so extraordinary, the event was so extraordinary, that no inferences can be drawn from it; but this without pre­sumption may be asserted, that no General now existing in the British service, would with double or treble his number have suc­ceeded in the same circumstances. One thing more I must add [Page 19] in honour of that illustrious personage, that the same greatness of soul which qualified him to conquer the natural hereditary ene­mies of his country, would have made him reject with horror the Hangman's office, which others who are not endowed with conquering attributes, will with readiness accept.

It is notorious that Mr. Wolfe was not only the first of sol­diers, but that he was a most liberal virtuous citizen, that he was passionately attached to the liberties of his country, and of mankind; and that he was particularly an enemy to large standing armies in time of peace. It is on the other hand remarkable, that all the advocates for standing armies; all those who are the fondest of the faddling and parade of war are the most active in avoiding real service.

This tremendous soothsayer, on the supposition that so great a miracle should happen in our favour, as that the trifling bo­dy of five hundred thousand men though firmly united (for every man in America, firmly united, would not amount to less,) should be able to withstand his seven thousand goes on to rattle in our ears, armies of Hessians and Hanoverians. I wish to Heaven he had for once deviated into probability and truth. I wish ten thousand of them could possibly be trans­ported to-morrow. The purpose they would answer, is a pur­pose devoutly to be wished for; they would be an addition to this continent of just so many useful and excellent citizens, for I will venture to affirm, (affirming is infectious) that in less than four months not two of these ten thousand would re­main with their Colours. But does not this Reverend Gen­tleman know that in the year 1764 a convention was formed by most of the Princes of the empire, at the head of which convention were the Emperor himself and the King of Prussia, to prevent the alarming emigrations which threatned depo­pulation to Germany? Does he not know that no troops can march out of the empire without the consent of the empire? Does he not know that the Elector of Hanover and the Em­peror are upon exceedingly ill terms? Does he not know that the Elector of Hanover and the King of Prussia are still upon worse? Is he sure that the Landgrave of Hess would sell his troops (for as not one man would return back to their coun­try, he must consider them as for ever sold?) Is he sure that as the finances of Great-Britain stand, the vast sum necessary for this purchase would be conveniently found? Is he sure that the State of Hanover would consent to such a draining of their country? I know not how it is; but his most excellent Ma­jesty GEORGE the Third, who in England is justly esteem­ed [Page 20] the most gracious of Sovereigns, the wifest, greatest, and best of Kings, is not very popular in the Electorate of Han­over. These people seem to think it hard that Two Hun­dred and Twenty Thousand Pounds should annually be drawn from them, for the purposes (as they conceive it) of corrupt­ing the Members of St. Stephen's Chapel, in order to support the power and authority of a sett of men, who from the be­ginning have been enemies to the succession of the Hanover line, and who shewed a particular animosity to their last and favourite Prince, George the Second; but these difficulties (great and unfurmountable as to a common mortal they ap­pear) our divine Exorcist has in an instant conjured down, and by a single motion of his enchanted wand, has transported whole armies, in spite of their respective Princes, and with­out the consent of their respective States, from the inte­rior parts of Germany across the Atlantic into the plains of New-England and Pennsylvania. But he does not confine himself to the introduction of his Germans. He proceeds next to erect the Royal Standard, to which he tells us that all who have the courage to declare themselves now friends to government, will undoubtedly resort, and these he says in a good cause, will be of themselves formidable to their opposers: Dreadfully formidable they must be indeed: There would re­sort to it, let me see, (for the respectable town of Rye have declared themselves a kind of neutrals rather than friends to government) there would resort to it, Mr. Justice Sewell, the honourable Mr. Paxton, Brigadier Ruggles, and about eight or ten more mandamus Councilmen, with perhaps twice their number of Expectants, and not less than twenty of the unre­canted Hutchinsonian Addressers. These the four Provinces of New-England alone would send forth. New-York would furnish six, seven or probably eight volunteers from a certain knot, who are in possession or expectation of contracts, and the fourth part of a dozen of high flying Church of England Romanised Priests. I represent to myself the formidable coun­tenance they will make, when arranged under the Royal or ministerial Standard; but what will add to the terror of the appearance, will be their Reverend Pontifex himself, whom I conceive marching in the front, an inquisitorial frown upon his brow, his bands and canonicals floating to the air, bearing a cross in his hands, with the tremendous motto, In hoc signo vinces, flaming upon it in capital letters of blood, leading them on, and exciting them to victory. It is impossible that men, who are not under an infatuation by the judgment of heaven should flatter themselves, that forty thousand Ameri­can [Page 21] Yeomanry (for we are assured by the same great authority that more than forty thousand cannot be brought to action) should stand the shock of this dreadful Phalanx.

But I should beg pardon for attempting to be ludicrous upon a subject which demands our utmost indignation. I shall now therefore on the presumption that the People of England should be so lost to sense, virtue and spirit as to suffer their profligate Misrulers to persevere in their present measures, en­deavour to state to you what is their force, and what is yours. I shall endeavour to remove the false terrors which this writer would hold out, in order to intimidate you from the defence of your liberties and those of your posterity, that he and his similars may wallow in sinecures and benefices heaped up from the fruits of your labour and industry.

Great-Britain has, I believe, of infantry at home (compre­hending Ireland, and exclusive of the guards) fifteen thousand men. They find the greatest difficulty in keeping the regi­ments up to any thing near their establishment—what they are able to procure are of the worst sort. They are composed of the most debauched Weavers prentices, the scum of the Irish Roman Catholics, who desert upon every occasion, and a few, very few, Scotch, who are not strong enough to carry packs—This is no exaggeration; those who have been lately at Boston, represent the soldiers there (one or two regiments excepted) as very defective in size, and apparently in strength: But we shall be told they are still regulars, and regulars have an irresistable advantage.—There is, perhaps, more imposition in the term regular troops, than in any of the jargon which issues from the mouth of a Quack Doctor. I do not mean to insinuate, that a dis­orderly mob are equal to a trained disciplined body of men; but I mean, that all the essentials necessary to form infantry for real service may be acquired in a few months.^* I mean, that it is very possible for men to be cloathed in red, to be ex­pert in all the tricks of the parade, to call themselves regular [Page 22] troops, and yet, by attaching themselves principally or solely to the tinsel and shew of war, be totally unfit for real service. This, I am told, is a good deal the case of the present British Infantry; If they can acquit themselves tolerably in the puer­ile reviews, exhibited for the amusement of royal Masters and Misses in Hyde Park or Wimbledon Common, it is sufficient.

In the beginning of the late war, some of the most esteemed regular regiments were sent over to this country; they were well dressed; they were well powdered; they were perfect masters of their manual exercise; they fired together in pla­toons; but fatal experience taught us they knew not how to sight. While your Militia were frequently crowned with suc­cess, these regulars were defeated or baffled for three years successively in every part of the continent. At length, indeed, (after repeated losses and disgraces) they became excellent troops, but not until they had absolutely forgotten every thing which, we are assured, must render regulars quite irresistable. The corps sent from this country under General Monkton was, I believe, for its number, one of the best armies that ever was led to conquest, and yet, if I have been rightly informed, there was not a single regiment of them that could go through the manual exercise, or at best, they performed it most wretch­edly. It is likewise said, that when, after their glorious and rapid conquest of Martinico, they were joined by the spruce regiments from Europe; such was their uncough appearance, that they were scarce honoured with the title of Soldiers by those Gentlemen. Upon the whole, it is most certain, that men may be smartly dressed, keep their arms bright, be called regulars, be expert in all the anticks of a review, and yet be very unfit for real action. It is equally certain, that a Mili­tia, by confining themselves to essentials, by a simplification of the necessary manoeuvres, may become, in a very few months, a most formidable infantry. The Yeomanry of Ame­rica have, besides infinite advantages, over the peasantry of other countries; they are accustomed from their infancy to fire arms; they are expert in the use of them: Whereas the lower and middle people of England are, by the tyranny of certain laws almost as ignorant in the use of a musket, as they are of the ancient Catepulta. The Americans are likewise, to a man, skilful in the management of the instru­ments necessary for all military works; such as spades, pick­axes, hatchets, &c. Taking, therefore, all circumstances into consideration, there will be no rashness in affirming, that this continent may have formed for action, in three or four months, [Page 23] an hundred thousand infantry: For as to the assertion of one friendly adviser, that no more than forty thousand could act to advantage, I confess I do not understand it, nor does he, I believe, understand himself. If he means that sixty thousad men cannot be ranged in a field capable of containing only forty thousand, we shall all agree with him; but how in the operations of a war upon a vast continent double this number should be a disadvantage, I can have no conception.

Let one simple general plan be adopted for the formation and subdivision of your battalions; let them be instructed only in so much of the manual exercise as to prevent confusion, and accident in loading and firing; let them be taught to form, to retreat, to advance, to change their front, to rally by their colours; let them be taught to reduce themselves from a line of fire to a line of impression, that is, from two deep, to four, six, or eight. This is all so easy and simple, that it may be acquired in three months. Let some plan of this sort be adopted. I say, and there is no doubt but that, in the time I have prescribed, you may have an army on foot of seventy, eighty, or an hundred thousand men, equal to all the services of war.

Should this be admitted, it will be still objected, that you have no able officers to conduct you. I do not know that you have; but is it certain that those sent to dragoon you have better? I have taken some pains to inform myself what methods these Gentlemen, said to be bred to arms, take to qualify themselves in a superior degree for the profession. What is their rotine of instruction? Do they read much? I am assured that they do not; from books alone the theory of war can be acquired, and the English service in times of peace affords them no practical lessons; for mounting guard once or twice a week, or the preparation for the review of a single regiment can never be esteemed as such.^*

[Page 24] Another circumstance, Americans, may be added for your comfort. It has been allowed by some of the most candid of the regulars themselves, that during the last war upon this continent, your countrymen the provincial Field-Officers were in general, more understanding and capable than their own of the same rank. But the history of the civil war in the year 1641, furnishes us with the strongest instances that excellent officers may be soon formed from country gentlemen, citizens, lawyers, and Farmers. The Parliament's army (as our priestly writer would call them, the rebellious Republicans) were chiefly composed of this class of men. In the beginning of this war, they were treated with the same affected contempt, and almost in the same opprobious terms as you, the people of America, are by your friendly and decent adviser.

Whoever would infer from the tenure of these papers, that the writer is desirous of precipitating, or could look with in­difference upon the calamities of a civil war, does him great injustice. He considers them with all the horror natural to a feeling man and honest citizen. He execrates the memory of those men to whom they may justly be attributed, but he is persuaded that they never originated, (at least in states of any considerable extent) in the turbulent dispositions of the people, nor in the arts of demagogues, but in the oppression of their rulers, in the wantonness, folly, pride, or avarice of Kings, Ministers, or Governors. The Grislers of Switzerland the Granvels of Holland, the Lauds and Straffords of England, were the undoubted authors of the tragedies acted in their re­spective countries: And if this continent should be stained with the blood of a single citizen, it can never be charged to the unreasonable pretensions of the people, but to the Bernards, Hutchinsons, and some other traitors of a similar stamp.

He is convinced, that being prepared for a civil war is the surest means of preventing it; that to keep the swords of your enemies in their scabbards, you must whet your own. He is convinced, that remonstrances, petitions, prayers and supplca­tions [Page 25] will make no impression on our callous Court and aban­doned Parliament; England, Ireland, America, even Guern­sey, Jersey and Minorca are witnesses of their inessicacy. He in convinced, that fear alone can operate; there are symptoms that it already begins to operate; the monster, Tyranny, already begins to pant, press her now with ardor, and she is down; al­ready the Ministry have expressed in their letters an inclina­tion to make some concessions; to meet you half way. Which, I suppose, may be construed thus, that as they find they have it not in their power to establish, by force, the despotism which they aimed at, they shall be very well satisfied, if you will just cede so much of your rights and privileges, as will enable them, by extending their pecuniary influence and sap­ping your virtue, to take away the rest at their leisure.

There now remains, people of America, one consideration which (however it may be taken) I think it my duty to offer. History tells us that the free states of Greece, Thebes, Sparta, Athens, and Syracuse were all in their turns subjugated by the force or art of tyrants. They almost all in their turns re­covered their liberty and destroyed their tyrants. The first act upon the recovery of their liberty was to demolish those badges of slavery, citadels, strong holds, and military tenements; the Switzers did the same; the people of England (lost in corrup­tion and lethargy as they are) could never be prevailed upon to suffer barracks amongst them; even the courtly Blackstone is startled at the idea. No seperate camps, no barracks no inland fortresses, says he, should be allowed; in fact, wherever barracks are freedom cannot be said to exist, or she exists so lamely as scarcely to deserve the name.

It is worth your consideration, Americans, whether these badges should remain or no. I shall now conclude, brave ci­tizens, with invoking the Almighty God from whom all vir­tues flow, to continue you in that spirit of unanimity and vigour which must insure your success, and immortalize you through all ages, as the champions and patrons of the human race.