they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all the
devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may never
more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him encouragement to
come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish that our next
year's arms may expel them from the continent, and the Congress
appropriate their possessions to the relief of those who have suffered
in well-doing. A single successful battle next year will settle the
whole. America could carry on a two years' war by the confiscation
of the property of disaffected persons, and be made happy by their
expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather the soft
resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view but
the good of all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly doubtful
event. Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness; eloquence
may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear
of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with
prejudice.

  Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend
to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the
matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state
or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your
shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little,
when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future
world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue
could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common
danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands
are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the
day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may
bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you
hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the
near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will
suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the
blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at
a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them
happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather
strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the
business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and
whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto
death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear
as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I
believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I
think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and
destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that
are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute
will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who
does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman;
whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we
reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither
can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case
and pardon in the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no
concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to
make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose
character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish
man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a
being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and
mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the
widow, and the slain of America.

  There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is
one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil
which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the
enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to
expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even
mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the
cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we
ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is, partly by
threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the people to
deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended
the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call making their
peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which
would be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet
thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things!
Were the back counties to give up their arms, they would fall an
easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed: this perhaps is what some
Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home counties to deliver up
their arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of the back
counties who would then have it in their power to chastise their
defection at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms,
that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of Britons and
Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the
principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state
that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to
barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that
will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I bring
reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up
truth to your eyes.

  I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know
our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army
was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to
him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean
opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great
credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly
retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our
field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers
to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were
near three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to
come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out
till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some
of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms