the hand of British tyranny! and can we ever grasp that hand in affection again? are we not yet convinced "that he who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored Indian, is less a savage than the king of Britain!" have we not proofs, wrote in blood, that the corrupted nation, from whence we sprang, (though there may be some traces of their ancient virtue left) are stubbornly fixed on our destruction and shall we still court a dependence on such a state? still contend for a connexion with those who have forfeited not only every kindred claim, but even their title to humanity! forbid it the spirit of the brave Montgomery! forbid it the spirit of immortal Warren! forbid it the spirits of all our valiant countrymen who fought, bled, and died for far different purposes, and who would have thought the purchase dear indeed! to have paid their lives for the paltry boon of displacing one set of villains in power, to make way for another. No. They contended for the establishment of peace, liberty, and safety to their country; and we are unworthy to be called their countrymen, if we stop at any acquisition short of this. Now is the happy season, to seize again those rights, which, as men, we are by nature entitled to, and which, by contract, we never have and never could have surrendered :-but which have been repeatedly and violently attacked by the king, lords and commons of Britain. Ought we not then to disclaim for ever, the forfeited affinity; and by a timely amputation of that rotten limb of the empire, | prevent the mortification of the whole ? ought we not to listen to the voice of our slaughtered brethren, who are now proclaiming aloud to their country— Go tell the king, and tell him from our spirits, GENERAL WARREN. [It is well remembered that this ardent patriot twice mounted the rostrum to address his fellow citizens on the subject of the massacre of the 5th of March: but the occasion of his second appointment for that purpose is not generally known——Mr. Knapp, in his "biographical sketches," just published, has given the following interesting explanation of it, which is in concurrence with the daring spirit of the man, who was always foremost in danger.] " His next oration was delivered March 5th, 1775. It was at his own solicitation that he was appointed to the duty a second time. The fact is illustrative of his character, and worthy of remembrance.-Some British officers of the army then in Boston, had publicly declared that it should be at the price of the life of any man to speak of the event of March 5, 1770, on that anniversary. Warren's soul took fire at such a threat, so openly made, and he wished for the honor of braving it. This was readily granted, for at such a time a man would probably find but few rivals. Many who would spurn the thought of personal fear, might be apprehensive that they would be so far disconcerted as to forget their discourse. It is easier to fight bravely, than to think clearly or correctly in danger. Passion sometimes nerves the arm to fight, but disturbs the regular current of thought. The day came, and the weather was remarkably fine. The Old South meeting-house was crowded at an early hour. The British officers occupied the aisles, the flight of steps to the pulpit, and several of them were within it. It was not precisely known whether this was accident or design. The orator, with the assistance of his friends, made his entrance at the pulpit window by a ladder. The officers, seeing his coolness and intrepidity, made way for him to advance and address the audience. An awful stillness preceded his exordium. Each man felt the palpitation of his own heart, and saw the pale but determined face of his neighbor. The speaker began his oration in a firm tone of voice, and proceeded with great energy and pathos. Warren and his friends were prepared to chastise contumely, prevent disgrace, and avenge an attempt at assassination. The scene was sublime; a patriot in whom the flush of youth, and the grace and dignity of manhood were combined, stood armed in the sanctuary of God, to animate and encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl defiance at their oppressors. The orator commenced with the early history of the country, described the tenure by which we held our liberties and property-the affection we had constantly shewn the parent country, and boldly told them how, and by whom these blessings of life had been violated. There was in this appeal to Britain-in this description of suffering, agony and horror, a calm and high-souled defiance which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such another hour has seldom happened in the history of man, and is not surpassed in the records of nations. The thunders of Demosthenes rolled at a distance from Philip and his host-and Tully poured the fiercest torrent of his invective when Catiline was at a distance, and his dagger no longer to be feared; but Warren's speech was made to proud oppressors resting on their arms, whose errand it was to overawe, and whose business it was to fight. If the deed of Brutus deserved to be commemorated by history, poetry, painting and sculpture, should not this instance of patriotism and bravery be held in lasting remembrance? If he 'That struck the foremost man of all this world,' was hailed as the first of freemen, what honors are not due to him, who, undismayed, bearded the British lion, to show the world what his countrymen dared to do in the cause of liberty? If the statue of Brutus were placed among those of the gods, who were the preservers of Roman freedom, should not that of Warren fill a lofty niche in the temple reared to perpetuate the remembrance of our birth as a nation?" EULOGIUM ON WARREN. From Botta's History of the American war, -published, he says, "in the Philadelphia papers," but we know not when, or where, or by whom, it was delivered, which we should have been glad to have ascertained. 44 'What spectacle more noble," than this, of a hero who has given his life for the safety of country! Approach, cruel ministers, and contemplate the fruits of your sanguinary edicts. What reparation can you offer to his children for the loss of such a father, to the king for that of so good a subject, to the country for that of so devoted a citizen? Send hither your satellites; come feast your vindictive rage: the most implacable enemy to tyrants is no more. We conjure you respect these his honored remains. Have compassion on the fate of a mother overwhelmed with despair and with age. Of him, nothing is left I you can still fear. His eloquence is mute; his arms are fallen from his hand then lay down yours: what more have you to perpetrate, barbarians that you are? But while the name of American liberty shall live, that of Waren will fire our breasts, and animate our arms, against the pest of standing armies. 'Approach, senators of America! Come, and deliberate here, upon the interests of the united colonies. Listen to the voice of this illustrious citizen: he intreats, he exhorts, he implores you not to disturb his present felicity with the doubt, that he, perhaps, has sacrificed his life for a people of slaves. "Come hither, ye soldiers, ye champions of American liberty, and contemplate a spectacle which should inflame your generous hearts with even a new motive to glory. Remember, his shade still hovers, unexpiated, among us. Ten thousand ministerial soldiers would not suffice to compensate his death. Let ancient ties be no restraint: foes of liberty are no longer the brethren of freemen. Give edge to your arms, and lay them not down, till tyranny be expelled from the British empire, or America, at least, become the real seat of liberty and happiness. 'Approach ye also, American fathers and American mothers; come hither, and contemplate the first fruits of tyranny: behold your friend, the defender of your liberty, the honor, the hope of your country: see this illustrious hero, pierced with wounds and bathed in his own blood. But let not your grief, let not your tears be steril. Go, hasten to your homes, and there teach your children to detest the deeds of tyranny; lay before them the horrid scene you have beheld let their hair stand on end; let their eyes sparkle with fire: let resentment kindle every feature; let their lips vent threats and indignation: then-then-put arms into their hands, send them to battle, and let your last injunction be, to return victorious, or to die, like Warren, in the arms of liberty and of glory! And ye generations of the future, you will often look back to this memorable epoch. You will transfer the names of traitors and of rebels from the faithful people of America, to those who have merited them. Your eyes will penetrate all the iniquity of this scheme of despotism, recently plotted by the British government. You will see good kings misled by perfidious ministers, and virtuous ministers by perfidious kings. You will perceive that if at first the sovereigns of Great Britain shed tears in commanding their subjects to accept atrocious laws, they soon gave themselves up to joy in the midst of murder, expecting to see a whole continent drenched in the blood of freemen. O, save the human race from the last outrages, and render a noble justice to the American colonies. Recall to life the ancient Roman and British eloquence; and be not niggardly of merited praises towards those who have bequeathed you liberty. It costs us floods of gold and of blood; it costs us, alas! the life of Warren." ORATION, DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 5, 1773. BY DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. Impius hæc culta novalia miles habebit? O! SOCII a From consciousness of inability, my friends and fellow countrymen, I have repeatedly declined the duties of this anniversary. Nothing but a firm attachment to the tottering liberties of America* added to the irresistible importunity of some valued friends, could have induced me (especially with a very short notice) so far as to mistake my abilities, as to render the utmost extent of your candor truly indispensable. When man was unconnected by social obligations; abhorrent to every idea of dependence; actuated by a savage ferocity of mind, displayed in the brutality of his manners, the necessary exigencies of each individual, naturally impelled him to acts of treachery, violence and murder. The miseries of mankind thus proclaiming eternal war with their species, led them, probably, to consult certain measures to arrest the current of such outrageous enormities. A sense of their wants and weakness, in a state of nature, doubtless inclined them to such reciprocal aids and support, as eventually established society. Men then began to incorporate; subordination succeeded to independence; order to anarchy; and passions were disarmed by civilization; society lent its aid to secure the weak from oppression, who wisely took shelter within the sanctuary of law. Encreasing, society afterwards exacted, that the tacit contract made with her by each individual, at the time of his being incorporated, should receive a more solemn form to become authentic and irrefragable; the main object being to add force to the laws, proportionate to the power and extent of the body corporate, whose energy they were to direct. * Periculosæ plenum opus aleæ Then society availed herself of the sacrifice of that liberty and that natural equality of which we are all conscious: superiors and magistrates were appointed, and mankind submitted to a civil and political subordination. This is truly a glorious inspiration of reason, by whose influence, notwithstanding the inclination we have for independence, we accept control, for the establishment of order. Although unrestrained power in one person may have been the first and most natural recourse of mankind, from rapine and disorder; yet all restrictions of power, made by laws, or participation of sovereignty, are apparent improvements upon what began in unlimited power. It would shock humanity, should I attempt to describe those barbarous and tragic scenes, which crimson the historic page of this wretched and detestable constitution, where absolute dominion is lodged in one person: where one makes the whole and the whole is nothing. What motives, what events, could have been able to subdue men, endowed with reason, to render themselves the mute instruments, and passive objects of the caprice of an individual. Mankind, apprised of their privileges, in being rational and free, in prescribing civil laws to themselves, had surely no intention of being enchained by any of their equals; and although they submitted voluntary adherents to certain laws, for the sake of mutual security and happiness, they, no doubt, intended by the original compact, a permanent exemption of the subject body from any claims, which were not expressly surrendered, for the purpose of obtaining the security and defence of the whole. Can it possibly be conceived, that they would voluntarily be enslaved by a power of their own creation. The constitution of a magistrate does not, therefore, take away that lawful defence against force and injury, allowed by the law of nature; we are not to obey a prince, ruling above the limits of the power entrusted to him; for the commonwealth, by constituting a head, does not deprive itself of the power of its own preservation.* Government and magistracy, whether supreme or subordinate, is a mere human ordinance, and the laws of every nation are the measure of magistratical power: and kings, the servants of the state, when they degenerate into tyrants, forfeit their right to government. Breach of trust in a governor, or attempting to enlarge a limited power, effectually abThe celebrated Mrs. Macaulay. + Mrs. Macaulay. Dume Right. solves subjects from every bond of covenant "If the king (says Grotius) hath one part of The question, in short, turns upon this single point, respecting the power of the civil magistrate, is it the end of that office, that one particular person may do what he will without restraint? or rather that society should be made happy and secure? the answer is very obvious-And it is my firm opinion that the equal justice of God, and the natural freedom of mankind, must stand or fall together. Without this, the distinctions among mankind are but different degrees of misery; for as the true estimate of a man's life consists in conducting it according to his own just sentiment and innocent inclinations, his being is degraded below that of a free agent, which heaven has made him, when his affections and passions are no longer governed by the dictates of his own mind, and the interests of human society, but by the arbitrary, unrestrained will of another. I thank God we live in an age of rational inquisition, when the unfettered mind dares to expatiate freely on every object worthy its attention, when the privileges of mankind are thoroughly comprehended, and the rights of distinct societies are objects of liberal enquiry. The rod of the tyrant no longer excites our apprehensions, and to the frown of the despot which made the darker ages tremble,* we dare oppose demands of right, and appeal to that constitution, which holds even kings in fetters. It is easy to project the subversion of a peo When rulers become tyrants, they cease to be kings: they can no longer be respected as God's vicegerents, who violate the laws they were sworn to protect. The preacher may tell us of passive obedience, that tyrants are scour-ple when men behold them, the ignorant or ges in the hands of a righteous GOD to chastise a sinful nation, and are to be submitted to like plagues, famine and such like judgments: such doctrine may serve to mislead ill-judging princes into a false security: but men are not to be harangued out of their senses; human nature and self-preservation will eternally arm the brave and vigilant, against slavery and oppression. As a despotic government † is evidently productive of the most shocking calamities, whatever tends to restrain such inordinate power, though in itself a severe evil, is extremely beneficial to society; for where a degrading servitude is the detestable alternative, who can shudder at the reluctant poignard of a Brutus, the crimsoned axe of a Cromwell, or the reeking dagger of a Ravillac. To enjoy life as becomes rational creatures, to possess our souls with pleasure and satisfaction, we must be careful to maintain that inestimable blessing, liberty. By liberty I would be understood, the happiness of living under laws of our own making, by our personal consent, or that of our representatives. ‡ Salus populi suprema lex est. + The ingratitude and corruption of Rome is, perhaps, in no instance, more strongly marked than in her treatment of her colonies; by their labors, toils, and arms, she had reached to that summit of glorious exaltation, as to be like Britain, the wonder and dread of the world; but by fatal experience those ruined colonies inculcate this serious lesson, the ambition of a despot is boundless; his rapine is insatiable; the accomplishment of his conquests over his enemies, is but the introduction of slavery, with her concomitant plagues, to his friends. The very idea of representative, deputy or trustee, indolent victims of power; but it is difficult to effect their ruin when they are apprised of their just claims, and are sensibly and seasonably affected with thoughts for their preservation. God be thanked the alarm is gone forth,t the people are universally informed of their charter rights; they esteem them to be the ark of God to New-England, and like that of old, may it deal destruction to the profane hand that shall dare to touch it. In every state or society of men, personal liberty and security must depend upon the collective power of the whole, acting for the includes that of a constituent whose interest they are ordained and appointed to promote and secure; my unap pointed, self-constituted agent in the British parliament, has fraudulently and arbitrarily surrendered my best interest, without my privity, or consent; I do therefore hereby protest against all such powers as he shall claim in my behalf, and most solemnly discard him my service forever.-See Locke, Civil Government. Risum teneatis amici. * Calum non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt. The citizens of Rome, Sparta, or Lacedemon, at those blessed periods when they were most eminent for their attachment to liberty and virtue, could never exhibit brighter examples of patriotic zeal, than are to be found at this day in America; I will not presume to say that the original British spirit has improved by transplanting; but this I dare affirm, that should Britons stoop to oppression, the struggles of their American brethren, will be their eternal reproach. + The instituting a committee of grievances and correspondence by the town of Boston, has served this valuable purpose: The general infraction of the rights of all the colonies, must finally reduce the discordant provinces, to a necessary combination for their mutual interest and defence: Some future congress will be the glorious source of the salvation of America: The Amphictiones of Greece, who formed the diet or great council of the states, exhibit an excellent model for the rising Americans general interest.* If this collective power is | island, alone constituting the right of election; not of the whole, the freedom and interest of the whole is not secured: If this confluent power acts by a partial delegation, or for a partial interest, its operation is surely determinable, where its delegation ends. and surely he is not my delegate in whose nomination or appointment I have no choice; but however the futile and absurd claim of a virtual representation, may comport with the idea of a political visionary, he must (if possi ridicule of a freeborn American, who by such a fallacious pretext would despoil him of his property. The constitution of England, I revere to able) heighten the indignation, or excite the degree of idolatry; but my attachment is to the common weal: The magistrate will ever command my respect, by the integrity and wisdom of his administrations. An American freeholder, according to the Junius well observes, "when the constitution just and judicious conduct of the present minis openly invaded, when the first original rightistry, has no possible right to be consulted, in of the people, from which all laws derive their the disposal of his property: when a lordly, authority, is directly attacked, inferior grievan- though unlettered British elector, possessed of ces naturally lose their force, and are suffered a turnip garden, with great propriety may apto pass by without punishment or observation." point a legislature, to assess the ample doNumberless have been the attacks made mains of the most sensible, opulent American upon our free constitution; numberless the planter. grievances we now resent: but the Hydra mischief, is the violation of my right, as a British American freeholder, in not being consulted in framing those statutes I am required to obey. The authority of the British monarch over this colony was established, and his power derived from the province charter; by that we are entitled to a distinct legislation. As in every government there must exist a power superior to the laws, viz. the power that makes those laws, and from which they derive their authority therefore the liberty of the people is exactly proportioned to the share the body of the people have in the legislature; and the check placed in the constitution, on the executive power. The state only is free, where the people are governed by laws which they have a share in making; and that country is totally enslaved, where one single law can be made or repealed, without the interposition or consent of the people. That the members of the British parliament are the representatives of the whole British empire, expressly militates with their avowed principles: property and residence within the * Lord Chief Justice Coke observes "when any new device is moved in the king's behalf, for aid or the like, commons may answer, they dare not agree without conference with their counties." The novel device of fleec ing the colonies, was introduced in a way the constitution knows not of, and crammed down their throats, by measures equally iniquitous. I will not alarm the sticklers for the present measures, by confronting them with more stale authorities, if they will permit me the following short but express declaration of Sidney, which they may chew at leisure. NO MAN CAN GIVE THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER'S. + Nothing, continued the corporal, can be so sweet, An' please your honor, as liberty‹ Nothing, Trim, said my uncle Toby, musingWhilst a man is free-cried the corporal, giving a flourish with his stick thus: -Tristram Shandy, But remember, my brethren, when a people have once sold their liberties, it is no act of extraordinary generosity, to throw their lives and properties into the bargain, for they are poor indeed when enjoyed at the mercy of a master. The late conduct of Great Britain, so inconsistent with the practice of former times, so subversive of the first principles of government, is sufficient to excite the discontent of the subject: the Americans justly and decently urged an exclusive right of taxing themselves; was it indulgent, conciliating, or parental conduct in that state, to exaggerate such a claim, as a concerted plan of rebellion in the wanton Americans? and by a rigorous and cruel exercise of power to enforce submission, excite such animosities, as at some future period, may produce a bitter repentance? Can such be called a legal tax or free gift? it is rather levying contributions on grudging enslaved Americans, by virtue of an act framed and enforced, not only without, but against their consent; thereby rendering the provincial assemblies an useless part of the constitution. Where laws are framed and assessments laid without a legal representation, and obedience to such acts urged by force, the despairing people robbed of every constitutional means of redress, and that people, brave and virtuous, must become the admiration of ages, should they not appeal to those powers, which the immutable laws of nature have lent to all mankind. Fear is a slender tie of subjection; we detest those whom we fear, and wish destruction to those we detest, but humanity, uprightness, and good faith, with an apparent watchfulness for the welfare of the people, constitute |
