CHAPTER XV. Ar the crisis which led to the separation of England and America, politicians and sceptical philosophers advanced to the front, and the counsels of earnest and thoughtful Christian men were seldom heard in the growing tumult of passion. It is not an easy task from the conflicting records to give a fair representation of the internecine conflict justly designated by Franklin as " abominable." One of the clearest and most dispassionate statements of the serious grievance of the Americans, we find in an address of Dr. Zubly to Lord Dartmouth, prefixed to a sermon on American affairs, entitled the Law of Liberty, preached at the opening of the Provincial Congress of Georgia, September 3, 1775. In his sermon Zubly says: Address of Dr. Zubly. "Such always hath been and such is the attachment of America to the illustrious House of Hanover, that I need not put you in mind of our duty to the King as supreme. By our law the King can do no wrong; but of his present Majesty, who is universally known to be adorned with many social virtues, may we not justly conclude that he would not do any wrong even if he could? "Never let us lose out of sight that our interest lies in a perpetual connection with our mother country, notwithstanding the present unwise and harsh measures, there are thousands in Great Britain that think with us, and wish well to the American cause and make it their own. Let us convince our enemies that the struggles of America have not their rise in a desire of independency, but from a warm regard of our common constitution, that we esteem the name of Britons, as being the same with free men; let every step we take afford proof how greatly we esteem our mother country, and that, to the wish of a perpetual connection, we prefer the only consideration, that we may be virtuous and free. "Let me entreat you, gentlemen, think coolly and act deliberately. Rash counsels are seldom good ones; ministerial rashness and American rashness can only be productive of untoward compounds. Inconsiderate measures, framed on the other side of the Atlantic are the cause of all our mischiefs; and it is not in the least probable that inconsiderate measures in America can be productive of any good. Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory; let no private resentment nor party zeal disgrace your honest warmth for your country's welfare; measures determined on by integrity and prudence are most likely to be carried into execution by steadiness and moderation. Let neither the frowns of tyranny nor the pleasure of popularity sway you from what you clearly apprehend just and right, and to be your duty. Consider how much lies at stake; how greatly your religion, your liberty, your property, your posterity is interested. Endeavour to act like freemen, like loyal subjects, like real Christians, and you will so speak and so act as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Act conscientiously, and with a view to God, then commit your ways to Him; leave the event with God, and you will have great reason to hope that the event will be just, honourable, and happy." Zubly made a direct appeal to Lord Dartmouth. Lord "MY LORD,-Your Lordship's appointment to be Secretary of State for the American department by numbers that respected your Lordship's religious character, was looked upon Appeal to as a very providential and happy event Your Dartmouth. patronizing religious undertakings, confirmed the general opinion; and we were happy in the expectations of your Lordship's conscientious regard to justice and equity, as well as to the civil and religious liberties of this great continent; we expected the cause of liberty and religion would meet with the strongest support under your administration, and in your Lordship would ever find a constant and successful advocate with your Royal Master. Unhappily during your administration, measures have been pursued very contrary to American hopes, and we easily conceive your Lordship may think it not less strange that many friends of religion in America should be so uneasy under laws which had your Lordship's concurrence and approbation. "It is to the man and to the Christian I wish to be permitted to address myself; your Lordship ranks among the highest subjects, and has a large share in all public measures; but anxiety for what may distress, and zeal for the welfare of the empire, can be no crime even in the meanest; and when a house is once in flames, every man is inexcusable, or must at least be so in his own breast, that does not contribute whatever he may think in his power to their being extinguished. The effects of the present measures are visible, and it requires no sagacity to foresee what may be the consequence should they be continued. Your Lordship may do much towards restoring and perpetuating the tranquillity of a great empire; persons of my station have nothing to offer but hints and wishes; should these be beneath your notice, or stand in need of forgiveness, my sincere wish to contribute anything towards a just, happy, and perpetual connection between a parent state and an infant country, growing apace to the most astonishing importance, must be my only apology. Pulchrum est bene facere republicæ, sed et bene dicere non est absurdum. "The question, my Lord, which now agitates Great Britain and America, and in which your Lordship has taken such an active part, is, whether the Parliament of Great Britain has a right to lay taxes on the Americans, who are not and cannot there be represented; and whether the Parliament has a right to bind the Americans in all cases whatsoever? Whatever may be said, or whatever the good people in Great Britain may believe, this is the whole subject of the dispute. All the severities hitherto exercised upon the Americans, professedly have no other view than to enforce such a dependence, and nothing less than a claim destructive of all natural and national liberty, could possibly have united all America in a general opposition, or have aroused them to join all like one man in their common defence. Let a declaratory bill be passed that any law and usage to the contrary notwithstanding, America is entitled to all the common rights of mankind, and all the blessings of the British constitution, that the sword shall never be drawn to abridge, but to confirm the birth-right,' and the storm instantly becomes a calm, and every American thinks himself happy to contribute to the necessities, defence, and glory of Great Britain to the utmost of his strength and power. To bind them in all cases whatsoever, my Lord, the Americans look upon this as the language of despotism in its utmost perfection. What can, say they, an emperor of Morocco pretend more of his slaves than to bind them in all cases whatsoever? Were it meant to make the Americans hewers of wood and drawers of water, were it meant to oblige them to make bricks without straw, were it meant to deprive them of the enjoyment of their religion, and to establish a hierarchy over them similar to that of the Church of Rome in Canada, it would, say they, be no more than a natural consequence of the right of binding them (unseen, unheard, unrepresented) in all cases what soever. "My Lord, the Americans are no idiots, and they appear determined not to be slaves. Oppression will make wise men mad, but oppressors in the end frequently find that they were not wise men; there may be resources even in despair sufficient to render any set of men strong enough not to be bound in all cases whatsoever. "Grievous is the thought, my Lord, that a nobleman of your Lordship's character should be so zealous to make war, and to imbrue his hands in the blood of millions of your fellow-subjects and fellow-Christians. Pray, my Lord, is it possible that those, who at three thousand miles' distance can be bound in all cases, may be said to have any liberty at all? Is it nothing in your Lordship's eyes to deprive so considerable a part of the globe of breathing a free air, or to subjugate numbers and generations to slavery and despotism? Can your Lordship think on these things without horror, or hope they must be productive of anything but detestation and disappointment? Your Lordship believes a Supreme Ruler of the earth, and that the small and great must stand before Him at last; would your Lordship be willing at the general meeting of mankind, to take a place among those who destroyed or enslaved empires; or risk your future state on the merit of having, at the expense of British blood and treasure, taken away the property, the life, and liberty of the largest part of the British empire? Can your Lordship think those that fear the Lord will not cry to Him against their oppressors? And will not the Father of mankind hear the cry of the oppressed? or would you be willing that their cries and tears should rise against you as a forward instrument of their oppression ? Destroying the Americans will not cure them, nor will any acts that condemn to starve or be miserable, have any tendency to persuade them that these acts were made by their friends. Review, my Lord, the effects of the present measures (at Lexington, Boston, Charlestown, Bunker's Hill, and the New England fishery); the past and present will inform your Lordship of what may be to come. "Proposals publicly made by ministerial writers relative to American domestics (to emancipate the slaves) laid the southern provinces under a necessity of arming themselves; a proposal to put it in the power of domestics to cut the throats of their masters, can only serve to cover the proposers and abettors with everlasting infamy. In times of public confusion men of all parties are sometimes carried further than they intended at first setting out. History and the knowledge of human nature should inform your Lordship, how much it is against all sound policy to secure or strive for punctilios at an infinite risk. "To restore peace and harmony, nothing is more necessary than to secure to America the known blessings of the constitution. This may be done in a moment, and without any disgrace or risk. Let the Americans enjoy, as hitherto, the privilege to give and grant by their own representatives, and they will give and grant liberally; but their liberty, they will never part with, but with their lives; the day that restores them liberty, restores everything to their former channel; to enforce the contrary claim, ages may be insufficient, and every day increases the danger of a mother's being dashed to pieces on her own children." The only response, we fear, given to this clear and impressive statement, was that conveyed in the official documents, justifying, under all the circum |