Section 4:
OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA, WITH SOME MISCELLANEOUS REFLEXIONS
I HAVE never met with a man, either in England or America, who hath not confessed his opinion, that a separation between the countries, would take place one time or other: And there is no instance, in which we have shewn less judgment, than in endeavouring to describe, what we call, the ripeness or fitness of the Continent for independance.
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 As all men allow the measure, and vary only in their opinion of the |
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| time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey of |
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| things, and endeavour, if possible, to find out the VERY time. But |
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| we need not go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for, the TIME HATH |
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| FOUND US. The general concurrence, the glorious union of all things |
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| prove the fact. |
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| It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies; |
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| yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the |
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| world. The Continent hath, at this time, the largest body of armed |
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| and disciplined men of any power under Heaven; and is just arrived at |
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| that pitch of strength, in which, no single colony is able to support |
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| itself, and the whole, when united, can accomplish the matter, and |
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| either more, or, less than this, might be fatal in its effects. Our |
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| land force is already sufficient, and as to naval affairs, we cannot |
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| be insensible, that Britain would never suffer an American man of war |
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| to be built, while the continent remained in her hands. Wherefore, we |
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| should be no forwarder an hundred years hence in that branch, than we |
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| are now; but the truth is, we should be less so, because the timber |
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| of the country is every day diminishing, and that, which will remain |
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| at last, will be far off and difficult to procure. |
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| Were the continent crowded with inhabitants, her sufferings under |
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| the present circumstances would be intolerable. The more sea port |
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| towns we had, the more should we have both to defend and to loose. |
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| Our present numbers are so happily proportioned to our wants, that no |
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| man need be idle. The diminution of trade affords an army, and the |
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| necessities of an army create a new trade. |
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| Debts we have none; and whatever we may contract on this account |
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| will serve as a glorious memento of our virtue. Can we but leave |
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| posterity with a settled form of government, an independant |
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| constitution of it's own, the purchase at any price will be cheap. |
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| But to expend millions for the sake of getting a few vile acts |
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| repealed, and routing the present ministry only, is unworthy the |
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| charge, and is using posterity with the utmost cruelty; because it is |
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| leaving them the great work to do, and a debt upon their backs, from |
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| which, they derive no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy a man of |
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| honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow heart and a pedling |
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| politician. |
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| The debt we may contract doth not deserve our regard if the work be |
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| but accomplished. No nation ought to be without a debt. A national |
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| debt is a national bond; and when it bears no interest, is in no case |
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| a grievance. Britain is oppressed with a debt of upwards of one |
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| hundred and forty millions sterling, for which she pays upwards of |
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| four millions interest. And as a compensation for her debt, she has a |
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| large navy; America is without a debt, and without a navy; yet for |
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| the twentieth part of the English national debt, could have a navy as |
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| large again. The navy of England is not worth, at this time, more |
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| than three millions and an half sterling. |
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| The first and second editions of this pamphlet were published |
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| without the following calculations, which are now given as a proof |
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| that the above estimation of the navy is a just one. SEE ENTIC'S |
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| NAVAL HISTORY, INTRO. page 56. |
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| The charge of building a ship of each rate, and furnishing her with |
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| masts, yards, sails and rigging, together with a proportion of eight |
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| months boatswain's and carpenter's sea-stores, as calculated by Mr. |
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| Burchett, Secretary to the navy. |
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For a ship of a 100 guns | | 35,553 L.
90 | | 29,886
80 | | 23,638
70 | | 17,785
60 | | 14,197
50 | | 10,606
40 | | 7,558
30 | | 5,846
20 | | 3,710
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| And from hence it is easy to sum up the value, or cost rather, of |
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| the whole British navy, which in the year 1757, when it was as its |
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| greatest glory consisted of the following ships and guns. |
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SHIPS. | GUNS. | COST OF ONE. | COST OF ALL.
6 | 100 | 35,553 _l._ | 213,318 _l._
12 | 90 | 29,886 | 358,632
12 | 80 | 23,638 | 283,656
43 | 70 | 17,785 | 746,755
35 | 60 | 14,197 | 496,895
40 | 50 | 10,606 | 424,240
45 | 40 | 7,558 | 340,110
58 | 20 | 3,710 | 215,180
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| 85 | Sloops, bombs, and |
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| fireships, one |
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| with another, at |
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| | 2,000 | 170,000 |
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Cost 3,266,786
Remains for guns | 233,214
Total. 3,500,000
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| No country on the globe is so happily situated, so internally |
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| capable of raising a fleet as America. Tar, timber, iron, and cordage |
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| are her natural produce. We need go abroad for nothing. Whereas the |
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| Dutch, who make large profits by hiring out their ships of war to the |
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| Spaniards and Portuguese, are obliged to import most of the materials |
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| they use. We ought to view the building a fleet as an article of |
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| commerce, it being the natural manufactory of this country. It is the |
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| best money we can lay out. A navy when finished is worth more than it |
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| cost. And is that nice point in national policy, in which commerce |
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| and protection are united. Let us build; if we want them not, we can |
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| sell; and by that means replace our paper currency with ready gold |
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| and silver. |
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| In point of manning a fleet, people in general run into great |
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| errors; it is not necessary that one fourth part should be sailor. |
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| The Terrible privateer, Captain Death, stood the hottest engagement |
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| of any ship last war, yet had not twenty sailors on board, though her |
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| complement of men was upwards of two hundred. A few able and social |
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| sailors will soon instruct a sufficient number of active landmen in |
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| the common work of a ship. Wherefore, we never can be more capable to |
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| begin on maritime matters than now, while our timber is standing, our |
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| fisheries blocked up, and our sailors and shipwrights out of employ. |
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| Men of war, of seventy and eighty guns were built forty years ago in |
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| New England, and why not the same now? Ship-building is America's |
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| greatest pride, and in which, she will in time excel the whole world. |
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| The great empires of the east are mostly inland, and consequently |
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| excluded from the possibility of rivalling her. Africa is in a state |
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| of barbarism; and no power in Europe, hath either such an extent of |
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| coast, or such an internal supply of materials. Where nature hath |
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| given the one, she has withheld the other; to America only hath she |
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| been liberal of both. The vast empire of Russia is almost shut out |
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| from the sea; wherefore, her boundless forests, her tar, iron, and |
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| cordage are only articles of commerce. |
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| In point of safety, ought we to be without a fleet? We are not the |
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| little people now, which we were sixty years ago; at that time we |
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| might have trusted our property in the streets, or fields rather; and |
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| slept securely without locks or bolts to our doors or windows. The |
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| case now is altered, and our methods of defence, ought to improve |
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| with our increase of property. A common pirate, twelve months ago, |
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| might have come up the Delaware, and laid the city of Philadelphia |
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| under instant contribution, for what sum he pleased; and the same |
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| might have happened to other places. Nay, any daring fellow, in a |
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| brig of fourteen or sixteen guns, might have robbed the whole |
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| Continent, and carried off half a million of money. These are |
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| circumstances which demand our attention, and point out the necessity |
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| of naval protection. |
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| Some, perhaps, will say, that after we have made it up with |
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| Britain, she will protect us. Can we be so unwise as to mean, that |
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| she shall keep a navy in our harbours for that purpose? Common sense |
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| will tell us, that the power which hath endeavoured to subdue us, is |
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| of all others, the most improper to defend us. Conquest may be |
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| effected under the pretence of friendship; and ourselves, after a |
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| long and brave resistance, be at last cheated into slavery. And if |
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| her ships are not to be admitted into our harbours, I would ask, how |
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| is she to protect us? A navy three or four thousand miles off can be |
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| of little use, and on sudden emergencies, none at all. Wherefore, if |
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| we must hereafter protect ourselves, why not do it for ourselves? Why |
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| do it for another? |
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| The English list of ships of war, is long and formidable, but not a |
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| tenth part of them are at any time fit for service, numbers of them |
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| not in being; yet their names are pompously continued in the list, if |
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| only a plank be left of the ship: and not a fifth part, of such as |
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| are fit for service, can be spared on any one station at one time. |
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| The East, and West Indies, Mediterranean, Africa, and other parts |
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| over which Britain extends her claim, make large demands upon her |
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| navy. From a mixture of prejudice and inattention, we have contracted |
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| a false notion respecting the navy of England, and have talked as if |
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| we should have the whole of it to encounter at once, and for that |
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| reason, supposed, that we must have one as large; which not being |
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| instantly practicable, have been made use of by a set of disguised |
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| Tories to discourage our beginning thereon. Nothing can be farther |
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| from truth than this; for if America had only a twentieth part of the |
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| naval force of Britain, she would be by far an over match for her; |
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| because, as we neither have, nor claim any foreign dominion, our |
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| whole force would be employed on our own coast, where we should, in |
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| the long run, have two to one the advantage of those who had three or |
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| four thousand miles to sail over, before they could attack us, and |
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| the same distance to return in order to refit and recruit. And |
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| although Britain by her fleet, hath a check over our trade to Europe, |
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| we have as large a one over her trade to the West Indies, which, by |
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| laying in the neighbourhood of the Continent, is entirely at its |
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| mercy. |
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| Some method might be fallen on to keep up a naval force in time of |
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| peace, if we should not judge it necessary to support a constant |
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| navy. If premiums were to be given to merchants, to build and employ |
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| in their service, ships mounted with twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty |
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| guns, (the premiums to be in proportion to the loss of bulk to the |
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| merchants) fifty or sixty of those ships, with a few guard ships on |
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| constant duty, would keep up a sufficient navy, and that without |
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| burdening ourselves with the evil so loudly complained of in England, |
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| of suffering their fleet, in time of peace to lie rotting in the |
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| docks. To unite the sinews of commerce and defence is sound policy; |
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| for when our strength and our riches, play into each other's hand, we |
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| need fear no external enemy. |
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| In almost every article of defence we abound. Hemp flourishes even |
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| to rankness, so that we need not want cordage. Our iron is superior |
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| to that of other countries. Our small arms equal to any in the world. |
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| Cannons we can cast at pleasure. Saltpetre and gunpowder we are every |
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| day producing. Our knowledge is hourly improving. Resolution is our |
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| inherent character, and courage hath never yet forsaken us. |
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| Wherefore, what is it that we want? Why is it that we hesitate? From |
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| Britain we can expect nothing but ruin. If she is once admitted to |
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| the government of America again, this Continent will not be worth |
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| living in. Jealousies will be always arising; insurrections will be |
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| constantly happening; and who will go forth to quell them? Who will |
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| venture his life to reduce his own countrymen to a foreign obedience? |
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| The difference between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, respecting some |
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| unlocated lands, shews the insignificance of a British government, |
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| and fully proves, that nothing but Continental authority can regulate |
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| Continental matters. |
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| Another reason why the present time is preferable to all others, |
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| is, that the fewer our numbers are, the more land there is yet |
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| unoccupied, which instead of being lavished by the king on his |
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| worthless dependents, may be hereafter applied, not only to the |
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| discharge of the present debt, but to the constant support of |
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| government. No nation under heaven hath such an advantage as this. |
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| The infant state of the Colonies, as it is called, so far from |
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| being against, is an argument in favor of independance. We are |
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| sufficiently numerous, and were we more so, we might be less united. |
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| It is a matter worthy of observation, that the more a country is |
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| peopled, the smaller their armies are. In military numbers, the |
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| ancients far exceeded the moderns: and the reason is evident, for |
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| trade being the consequence of population, men become too much |
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| absorbed thereby to attend to any thing else. Commerce diminishes the |
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| spirit, both of patriotism and military defence. And history |
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| sufficiently informs us, that the bravest achievements were always |
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| accomplished in the non age of a nation. With the increase of |
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| commerce, England hath lost its spirit. The city of London, |
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| notwithstanding its numbers, submits to continued insults with the |
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| patience of a coward. The more men have to lose, the less willing are |
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| they to venture. The rich are in general slaves to fear, and submit |
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| to courtly power with the trembling duplicity of a Spaniel. |
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| Youth is the seed time of good habits, as well in nations as in |
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| individuals. It might be difficult, if not impossible, to form the |
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| Continent into one government half a century hence. The vast variety |
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| of interests, occasioned by an increase of trade and population, |
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| would create confusion. Colony would be against colony. Each being |
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| able might scorn each other's assistance; and while the proud and |
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| foolish gloried in their little distinctions, the wise would lament, |
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| that the union had not been formed before. Wherefore, the PRESENT |
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| TIME is the TRUE TIME for establishing it. The intimacy which is |
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| contracted in infancy, and the friendship which is formed in |
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| misfortune, are, of all others, the most lasting and unalterable. Our |
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| present union is marked with both these characters: we are young, and |
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| we have been distressed; but our concord hath withstood our troubles, |
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| and fixes a memorable area for posterity to glory in. |
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| The present time, likewise, is that peculiar time, which never |
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| happens to a nation but once, VIZ. the time of forming itself into |
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| a government. Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and by that |
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| means have been compelled to receive laws from their conquerors, |
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| instead of making laws for themselves. First, they had a king, and |
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| then a form of government; whereas, the articles or charter of |
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| government, should be formed first, and men delegated to execute them |
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| afterwards: but from the errors of other nations, let us learn |
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| wisdom, and lay hold of the present opportunity—TO BEGIN GOVERNMENT |
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| AT THE RIGHT END. |
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| When William the Conqueror subdued England, he gave them law at the |
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| point of the sword; and until we consent, that the seat of |
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| government, in America, be legally and authoritatively occupied, we |
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| shall be in danger of having it filled by some fortunate ruffian, who |
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| may treat us in the same manner, and then, where will be our freedom? |
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| Where our property? |
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| As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensible duty of all |
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| government, to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I |
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| know of no other business which government hath to do therewith. Let |
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| a man throw aside that narrowness of soul, that selfishness of |
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| principle, which the niggards of all professions are so unwilling to |
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| part with, and he will be at once delivered of his fears on that |
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| head. Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all |
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| good society. For myself, I fully and conscientiously believe, that |
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| it is the will of the Almighty, that there should be diversity of |
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| religious opinions among us: It affords a larger field for our |
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| Christian kindness. Were we all of one way of thinking, our religious |
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| dispositions would want matter for probation; and on this liberal |
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| principle, I look on the various denominations among us, to be like |
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| children of the same family, differing only, in what is called, their |
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| Christian names. |
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| In page [III par 47], I threw out a few thoughts on |
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| the propriety of a Continental Charter, (for I only presume to offer |
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| hints, not plans) and in this place, I take the liberty of |
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| rementioning the subject, by observing, that a charter is to be |
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| understood as a bond of solemn obligation, which the whole enters |
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| into, to support the right of every separate part, whether or |
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| religion, personal freedom, or property. A firm bargain and a right |
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| reckoning make long friends. |
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| In a former page I likewise mentioned the necessity of a large and |
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| equal representation; and there is no political matter which more |
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| deserves our attention. A small number of electors, or a small number |
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| of representatives, are equally dangerous. But if the number of the |
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| representatives be not only small, but unequal, the danger is |
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| increased. As an instance of this, I mention the following; when the |
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| Associators petition was before the House of Assembly of |
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| Pennsylvania; twenty-eight members only were present, all the Bucks |
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| county members, being eight, voted against it, and had seven of the |
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| Chester members done the same, this whole province had been governed |
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| by two counties only, and this danger it is always exposed to. The |
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| unwarrantable stretch likewise, which that house made in their last |
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| sitting, to gain an undue authority over the Delegates of that |
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| province, ought to warn the people at large, how they trust power out |
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| of their own hands. A set of instructions for the Delegates were put |
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| together, which in point of sense and business would have dishonored |
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| a schoolboy, and after being approved by a FEW, a VERY FEW |
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| without doors, were carried into the House, and there passed IN |
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| BEHALF OF THE WHOLE COLONY; whereas, did the whole colony know, with |
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| what ill-will that House hath entered on some necessary public |
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| measures, they would not hesitate a moment to think them unworthy of |
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| such a trust. |
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| Immediate necessity makes many things convenient, which if |
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| continued would grow into oppressions. Expedience and right are |
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| different things. When the calamities of America required a |
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| consultation, there was no method so ready, or at that time so |
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| proper, as to appoint persons from the several Houses of Assembly for |
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| that purpose; and the wisdom with which they have proceeded hath |
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| preserved this continent from ruin. But as it is more than probable |
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| that we shall never be without a CONGRESS, every well wisher to good |
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| order, must own, that the mode for choosing members of that body, |
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| deserves consideration. And I put it as a question to those, who make |
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| a study of mankind, whether REPRESENTATION AND ELECTION is not too |
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| great a power for one and the same body of men to possess? When we |
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| are planning for posterity, we ought to remember, that virtue is not |
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| hereditary. |
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| It is from our enemies that we often gain excellent maxims, and are |
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| frequently surprised into reason by their mistakes. Mr. Cornwall (one |
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| of the Lords of the Treasury) treated the petition of the New York |
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| Assembly with contempt, because THAT House, he said, consisted but |
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| of twenty-six members, which trifling number, he argued, could not |
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| with decency be put for the whole. We thank him for his involuntary |
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| honesty. [*Note 1] |
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| TO CONCLUDE, however strange it may appear to some, or however |
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| unwilling they may be to think so, matters not, but many strong and |
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| striking reasons may be given, to shew, that nothing can settle our |
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| affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration for |
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| independance. Some of which are, |
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| FIRST—It is the custom of nations, when any two are at war, for |
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| some other powers, not engaged in the quarrel, to step in as |
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| mediators, and bring about the preliminaries of a peace: but while |
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| America calls herself the Subject of Great Britain, no power, however |
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| well disposed she may be, can offer her mediation. Wherefore, in our |
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| present state we may quarrel on for ever. |
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| SECONDLY—It is unreasonable to suppose, that France or Spain |
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| will give us any kind of assistance, if we mean only, to make use of |
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| that assistance for the purpose of repairing the breach, and |
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| strengthening the connection between Britain and America; because, |
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| those powers would be sufferers by the consequences. |
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| THIRDLY—While we profess ourselves the subjects of Britain, we |
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| must, in the eye of foreign nations, be considered as rebels. The |
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| precedent is somewhat dangerous to THEIR PEACE, for men to be in |
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| arms under the name of subjects; we, on the spot, can solve the |
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| paradox: but to unite resistance and subjection, requires an idea |
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| much too refined for the common understanding. |
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| FOURTHLY—Were a manifesto to be published, and despatched to |
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| foreign courts, setting forth the miseries we have endured, and the |
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| peaceable methods we have ineffectually used for redress; declaring, |
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| at the same time, that not being able, any longer, to live happily or |
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| safely under the cruel disposition of the British court, we had been |
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| driven to the necessity of breaking off all connections with her; at |
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| the same time, assuring all such courts of our peacable disposition |
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| towards them, and of our desire of entering into trade with them: |
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| Such a memorial would produce more good effects to this Continent, |
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| than if a ship were freighted with petitions to Britain. |
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| Under our present denomination of British subjects, we can neither |
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| be received nor heard abroad: The custom of all courts is against us, |
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| and will be so, until, by an independance, we take rank with other |
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| nations. |
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| These proceedings may at first appear strange and difficult; but, |
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| like all other steps which we have already passed over, will in a |
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| little time become familiar and agreeable; and, until an independance |
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| is declared, the Continent will feel itself like a man who continues |
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| putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it |
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| must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is |
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| continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity. |
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Note 1 Those who would fully understand of what great consequence a large and equal representation is to a state, should read Burgh's political Disquisitions.
