The Crisis. Number III. Approx. 13 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI : 2011-05. N10991 N10991 Evans 13918 APX9372 13918 99026348

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 13918. (Evans-TCP ; no. N10991) Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 13918) Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 13918) The Crisis. Number III. George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820. p. 17-24 ; 19 cm. (8vo) Printed by Benjamin Towne, [Philadelphia : 1775] Addressed to King George III. Caption title. Imprint supplied by Evans.

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.

eng George -- III, -- King of Great Britain, 1738-1820. United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Foreign public opinion. Great Britain -- Colonies -- America. 2009-01 Assigned for keying and markup 2009-02 Keyed and coded from Readex/Newsbank page images 2010-01 Sampled and proofread 2010-01 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2010-04 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion
THE CRISIS. NUMBER III. Thy name, O Chatham, with ſome few more, is made, rare inſtance, immortal by defeat; and to thee NEW HONOURS riſe from the ruins of thy country. While you live, never fading laurels, the juſt reward of thy virtue, conduct, and fidelity, ſhall crown thy hoary head, and ſhade thy venerable brow.—And may thine and Britain's raviſhed eyes behold thy foes and hers, for their treachery and villainy, dragged to execution, dreſſed and diſhonoured in funeral ROSEMARY and the baneful YEW. To the KING. SIR,

TO follow you regularly through every ſtep of a fourteen years ſhameful and inglorious reign, would be a taſk as painful as diſagreeable, and far exceed the bounds of this paper; but we are called upon by the neceſſity of the times, the meaſures you are purſuing, by every principle of juſtice and ſelf preſervation, and by the duty we owe to God and our country, to declare our ſentiments (with a freedom becoming Engliſhmen) on ſome of thoſe dreadful tranſactions and oppreſſions which this kingdom has laboured under ſince the glory and luſtre of England's crown was doomed to fade upon your brow; and to point out to you, Sir, your own critical and dangerous ſituation.

Sir, it is not your rotten troop in the preſent Houſe of Commons; it is not your venal, beggarly, penſioned Lords; it is not your polluted, canting, proſtituted bench of Biſhops; it is not your whole ſet of abandoned Miniſters; nor all your army of Scotch cut-throats, that can protect you from the people's rage, when drove, by your oppreſſions, and till now unheard of cruelties, to a ſtate of deſperation.

The day, we fear, is not far diſtant, when you will have reaſon, too much reaſon, to wiſh you had acted like a father, and not like a tyrant; when you will be bound to curſe thoſe traitors, thoſe exalted villains, whom now in the face of day, without a bluſh, you can be baſe enough to call your friends; be aſſured, Sir, your danger is great amidſt all this fancied ſecurity, and it will be impoſſible for them to preſerve you from the juſt reſentment of an enraged, long abuſed, and much injured nation: Should that day ever come, but Heaven avert the ſtroke, where can you hide yourſelf from the tenfold vengeance of a brave and mighty people, with law, juſtice, heaven, and all its ſacred truths on their ſide.

Then, like the wounds that bleed afreſh, will be brought to their minds your barbarous and unprovoked maſſacre in St. George's Fields; when men and women were indiſcriminately and inhumanly ſlaughtered, to gratify what would have diſgraced even your footman; a pitiful revenge. Then, Sir, they will remember, with horror and indignation, the letter of thanks ſent from the Secretary of war, by your order, to the officer on duty the 10th of May, 1768 (the day of carnage) and likewiſe your penſioning, and ſcreening the murderers from the puniſhment of the law. Then, Sir, they will remember the horrid plan laid at Brentford, for deſtroying the right of election; or in the moſt ſavage manner to take away the lives of the freeholders of Middleſex, which was (to make uſe of a word from your merciful royal dictionary) effectually carried into execution, and ſeveral people killed; to this plan, Sir, formed by Proctor and your minions, you muſt have been privy, as the event afterwards ſufficiently proved.— Then, Sir, they will remember the mean, low, and criminal ſubterfuge, you had recourſe to, to diſpenſe with the laws, and ſet aſide the juſt erdict of an honeſt jury to pardon thoſe hired ruffians, Balf and M'Quirk, convicted upon the cleareſt evidence of premeditated murder. Then, Sir, they will remember the inſults they received, and the ignoble anſwers you gave, to the remonſtrances and petitions, delivered by them to the throne, praying a diſſolution of parliament. Nor will they forget, Sir, the infernal plan for ſmuggling the preſent Houſe of Commons, and deſtroying all the rights of this free country. In a word, Sir, theſe and every other deſpotic and bloody tranſaction of your reign, will riſe freſh in their minds, if they ſhould be drove by your encouragement of popery, your perſecutions, your oppreſſions, your violations of all juſtice, your treachery, and your weakneſs, into a fatal and unnatural civil war in America; I ſay, they will riſe freſh in their minds, and ſtimulate them to deeds of glory, nay, they may purſue with implacable revenge the author of all their miſeries.

The people, Sir, with a candour and indulgence peculiar to Engliſhmen, paſſed over the injuries and inſults in the firſt part of your reign, or kindly laid the blame at the door of your miniſters; but it is now evident to the whole world, that there was a plan formed by Lord Bute and yourſelf, either before, or immediately after you came to the crown, for ſubverting the Britiſh conſtitution in church and ſtate; which to our grief, with indefatigable pains and too much ſucceſs, Lord Bute's tools and your infernal minions have carried into execution; therefore it no longer remains to determine who is now the greateſt criminal in England.

Conſider, Sir, if through the late and preſent iniquitous meaſures, and an obſtinate reſolution in your Majeſty to 〈…〉 SWORD is forced to be drawn in America, it cannot remain long unſheathed in England; we hope there is ſome virtue here; and we entertain a better opinion of our countrymen, than to believe they are ſo far degenerated as to TAMELY ſee a mercenary army of ſoldiers, who are at all times a terror to the peaceable inhabitants of every free ſtate BUTCHER their BRETHREN and FELLOW SUBJECTS in America, becauſe they are determined to defend their own rights and the Britiſh conſtitution; I ſay they never will TAMELY ſee that, without putting out a helping hand, and ſharing with them the glory of a deciſive victory over tyranny, and all the agents of the infernal monarch of the dark regions of hell, who would enſlave the world.

Should you, Sir, ſtill purſue the ſame tyrannical meaſures, only to gratify a mean vindictive ſpirit, and be the author of ſuch dreadful miſchiefs; O, we ſhudder at the thought! The people will then perhaps treat you, Sir, with as little ceremony, as little reſpect, and as little mercy, as you and your minions have treated them; for, Sir, whenever the ſtate is convulſed by civil commotions, and the conſtitution totters to its centre, the throne of England muſt ſhake with it; a crown will then be no ſecurity, and at one ſtroke all the gaudy trappings of royalty may be laid in the duſt; at ſuch a time of dreadful confuſion and ſlaughter, when the ſon's weapon drinks the father's blood, and we ſee a ruffian's blade reeking from a brother's heart, when rage is burning in the breaſts of Engliſhmen, provoked by wrongs not to be borne by men, all diſtinctions muſt ceaſe; the common ſafety and the rights of mankind, will be the only objects in view, while the King and the peaſant muſt ſhare one and the ſame fate, and perhaps fall undiſtinguiſhed together.

Let theſe things, Sir, be well weighed; tremble for the event; drive thoſe traitors from your breaſt, who now ſurround you; let the juſt and honeſt have your confidence, and once more make your people happy, great and free; be not the inſtrument of their deſtruction; conſider the ſolemn and ſacred oath you made at your coronation, to protect your ſubjects in all their rights and liberties, and the Proteſtant religion as by law eſtabliſhed; conſider, Sir, what a perverſion of all right and juſtice that muſt be (beſides the heinous crime of perjury) when inſtead of being their PROTECTOR, you become their DESTROYER.

Your plan, Sir, for bringing the colonies by force of arms into a ſtate of ſubjection to your will, is cruel, bloody, and, I hope, impracticable. It is repugnant to every principle of humanity, juſtice, ſound policy, and the natural rights of mankind; it is the fouleſt diſgrace to you, and will reflect eternal infamy on your reign and memory, as the Sovereign and father of a free people; it is ſuch a plan of encroaching violence and lawleſs power, as the Americans never can, never ought, nor ever will ſubmit to; it is ſuch a ſcheme for enſlaving, or deſtroying the human race, as every man ought to execrate and condemn, and to oppoſe even till he periſh.

Men, Sir, at three thouſand miles diſtance muſt think it extremely hard to work, toil, and run hazards, only to ſupport the infamous luxury of high pampered Lords, a rotten court, and your tribe of venal ſenators, minions, pimps, and paraſites, the peſt of ſociety; and to be taxed and mulct by them at their pleaſure. All nature, Sir, revolts even at the idea of ſuch a ſtate of human miſery.

Force, Sir, can never be uſed effectually to anſwer the end, without deſtroying the colonies themſelves. Liberty and encouragement are neceſſary to keep them together, and violence will hinder both. Any body of troops conſiderable enough to awe them, keep them in ſubjection, and under the direction of a needy Scotch Governor, ſent only to be an inſtrument of ſlaughter, and to make his fortune, would ſoon put an end to planting, and leave the country to you, Sir, and your mercileſs plunderers only; and if it did not, they would ſtarve the inhabitants, and eat up all the profit of the colonies. On the contrary, a few prudent laws, Sir, (but you ſeem to be a ſtranger to prudence as well as to juſtice and humanity) and a little prudent conduct (that too has been long deſpaired of by the kingdom) would ſoon give us far the greateſt ſhare of the riches of all America; perhaps drive other nations out of it, or into our colonies for ſhelter.

If violent methods be not uſed, at this time, to prevent it, your Northern Colonies, Sir, muſt conſtantly increaſe in people, wealth, and power; their inhabitants are conſiderably more than doubled ſince the Revolution; and in leſs than a century muſt become powerful ſtates; and the more powerful, the more people will flock thither. And there are ſo many exigencies in all ſtates, ſo many foreign wars, and domeſtic diſturbances, that theſe Colonies can ſeldom want opportunities, if they watch for them, to do, what you, Sir, might be extremely ſorry for; throw off their dependence on the mother country. Therefore, Sir, it ſhould be your firſt and greateſt care, that it ſhall never be their intereſt to act againſt that of their native country; an evil that can no otherwiſe be averted, than by keeping them fully employed in ſuch trades as will increaſe their own, as well as our wealth; for, Sir, there is too much reaſon to fear, if you don't find employment for them, they may find ſome for you. Withdraw then, Sir, from America your armed ruffians, and make a full reſtoration of the people's rights; let them tax themſelves, and enjoy their property unviolated by the hand of tyranny; thus, Sir, the ſubſequent part of your reign may yet be happy and glorious. May the compact between you and the people be no more invaded; may you be ſpeedily reconciled to the juſt demands of the Colonies; may Lord Bute, Lord Mansfield, Lord North, and all your Majeſty's infamous minions, who would precipitate you and the kingdom into ruin, anſwer with their heads (and ſoon) for their horrid crimes; and may the ſucceſſion in your Majeſty's Royal Houſe, and the religion, laws, rights, and liberties of the ſubject go hand in hand down to all poſterity, until this globe ſhall be reduced to its original chaos, and time be ſwallowed up in eternity.

[To be continued.]