man. Hence it is, that the subjects of Great Britain are the freest of all the men who live under any civil government in the world. And hence it appears, that when you assert, there is no difference between having no share in legislation, and being an absolute slave, you display an amazing unacquaintedness of the civil governments of Europe; you betray an astonishing want of gratitude to God and the Sovereign, for the civil and religious liberty which we enjoy ;-and you verify the observation of an ingenious foreigner, who has lately written upon the British Constitution, and who intimates, The blessings of liberty are so familiar to the English, that they neither relish nor know them. They may, in this respect, be compared to the children of princes, who, being born and educated in a palace, are so accustomed to its elegance and grandeur, and so unacquainted with the sordidness of cottages, and the gloominess of dungeons, that they never heighten their happiness, and excite their gratitude, by comparing the blessings they enjoy with the hardships that others endure.

Just as this comparison may be, with respect to you, Sir, it can however hardly suit the case of many of the Colonists. Some of them, alas! know too well what tyranny and cruel servitude are. When poor, naked, bleeding slaves, ready to expire under the repeated strokes of a cutting whip, are obliged to keep their groans, and stifle their sighs, for fear of raising the cruelty of their tyrants to a higher pitch of fierceness:-When this is the ease, I say; of all the men upon earth, it least becomes the hard masters-the domestic sovereigns of these poor creatures, to complain of the mild government they are ander, and to scream tyranny! slavery! robbery! murder! And why? Truly because some of them are enjoined to pay taxes, about thirty times lighter than those which millions of their fellows subjects, who have no votes, cheerfully pay in England: because the Parliament will not suffer them to destroy, with impunity, the property of our merchants; and because the King will not have the collectors of the public revenue be in continual danger of being murdered among them. O Partiality, how high is thy glaring throne; and how many are thy warm votaries in America, and thy sanguine advocates in England!

I shall esteem myself happy, Sir, if this check to licentiousness recommend itself to your conscience as a protestant, and to your candour as a well-wisher to the cause of true liberty. Think not the plainness, with which I have addressed you, springs from malice or disrespect. Though I have bluntly attacked your errors, I sincerely love and honour you as an enemy to tyranny, and a (mistaken) asserter of British liberty. Therefore, whilst I blame your dangerous performance, I gladly do justice to your good meaning; and I cordially join you, where you express a loyal ardent wish, that a speedy reconciliation may take place betwixt us and our Colonies, upon an honourable, constitutional basis, and that our beloved Sovereign may long live to sway the sceptre over a free people; provided you do not mean by a "free people," a tumultuous, mobbing people, making liberty to cousist in refusing to pay taxes, and in giving to the scriptural yoke of civil government, the opprobrious name of " abject slavery."

.

Should you accuse me, Sir, as you do Mt. Wesley, of "inflaming the minds of the people her against our American brethren;" you will do me as much injustice as you do to my friend. Our only design is to promote a proper obedience to those parts of the gospel

of peace, which enjoins us a due subjection to our superiors; and to enforce the articles of religion, which the last reformers drew up, to keep overdoing protestants from the enthusiasm of wild republicans. Far from being prejudiced against the Colonists, I feel a deep concern for their spiritual and temporal welfare. Yea, such is my partiality to them, and my fear of a greater effusion of the blood of Britons, and sons of Britons, that I even wish the government would make the easy yoke, of which they causclessly complain, easier still; by granting them some privileges, denied not only to millions of Britons here, but also to the members of parliament, and to the king's own brothers who whilst they are out of England, are all taxed without being consulted. I humbly wish that our legislators would condescend to consult with the Colonists, about the taxes which suit their country and circumstances best. And as British senators know how to pity the prejudices of mankind, especially the prejudices of sons of Britons, with respect to the precious blessing of liberty; I wish that the king and parliament would extend their greatest mercy to subjects who have been hurried out of the way of loyalty, chiefly for their inattention to the blessings which they enjoy, and by the delusive hopes, with which, it is to be feared, some of our own countrymen have rashly flattered and artfully seduced them.-In a word, I ardently wish, that [upon the return of the Colonists to their duty] the government would bind them to their mother-country, both by the silken cords of pardoning love, and by the silver bands of some prerogatives, which may convince them, that Great Britain considers them, not only as subjects, but also as younger brothers.

Such kindness, together with the scourge of a civil war, which they so severely feel already, would probably attach them to the parent state for ever. Should this be the case, how great will be the joy of those, who properly value the blessings of peace and order! And how full the disappointment of the demon of discord, who envies us the singular blessings which we enjoy! Great Britain and America will then become the fixed and unrivalled seats of truths, arts, science and commerce. They will collect the treasures of the Old and New world. They will play in each others hands the wealth of the universe. And joined together, they will be more than a match for all their combined enemies. So shall genuine protestantism, sober liberty, uninterrupted peace, and growing prosperity, conspire to crown the richest Island, and the finest continent in the world. Happy-for ever happy will they be, if their riches and grandeur do not corrupt and intoxicate them; and if civil and religious frenzy never hinder them more, from paying a humble regard to our Lord's important precept, Render to Cesar, the things which are Cesar's and to God, the things which are God's. That you, Sir, I, and all our fellow labourers in the gospel, may faithfully practise, and zealously preach this neglected part of the doctrine of Christ;-that our warmest zeal for liberty may always be tempered by a due sense of what we owe to our governors;-and that our warmest loyalty to the king, may always be attended with a proper consciousness of what we owe to God, to our fellow-citizens, and to posterity; are the Christian constitutional prayers, which I ardently offer to the King of kings, and in which I invite you to join,

REV. SIR,

Your affectionate brother,

and obedient Servant.

J. F.

AMERICAN PATRIOTISM

FARTHER CONFRONTED with

REASON, SCRIPTURE, AND THE CONSTITUTION:

BEING

OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

DANGEROUS POLITICS

TAUGHT BY THE

REV. MR. EVANS, M. A. and the REV. DR. PRICE.

WITH

A SCRIPTURAL PLEA

FOR THE

REVOLTED COLONIES.

"Skill in Politics contributeth not a little to the understanding of Divinity. I learned more from Mr. Lawson than from any Divine. Especially his instigating me to the study of Politics, in which he much lamented the ignorance of Divines, did prove a singular benefit to me."-The Rev. Mr. Baxter's Life, pp. 107, 106.

PREFACE.

What distinguishes this Pamphlet from those which have been written on the same subject.—Nothing but SCRIPTURE and REASON can make the Colonies PROPERLY submit to Great Britain.

THE AUTHOR of these letters considers the American controversy chiefly in a religious light, which gives him an opportunity of making some remarks, that have probably escaped the attention of other writers on this subject. The duty of paying taxes to the protective power, is so strongly connected with Christianity, that the Colonists must practically give up the Scriptures, or submit to the reasonable demands of the British Legislature. It is to be wished, that we had made use of the Bible, in this controversy. For, how much soever that venerable book is disregarded by some of our great men, the bulk of the Americans, and our religious patriots in England, dare not despise it. Mr. Evans, for one, speaking of the doctrine defended in these sheets, says, "Should you indeed prove it to be a SCRIPTURE-doctrine, &c. I am not afraid to promise you the most absolute submission to it as a Christian. The authority of SCRIPTURE I revere above every other :" The contested doctrine is here defended by Scripture against Mr. Evans; and if he stand to his "promise," we may hope soon to see him give the Colonists an example of due "submission."

When a great empire is divided against itself;-when a powerful Mother-country, and a number of strong Colonies, draw up all their forces to encounter each other in the field;-when the two contending powers are subdivided into a warm majority and a heated minority, ready to begin a second intestine war;-and when every individual is concerned as an actor, sufferer, or spectator, in the bloody tragedy which is acted; it is natural for all lovers of their country to ask, How can the dreadful controversy be ended? Is it by the dictates of Scripture and Reason, or by the force of arms?

If the author is not mistaken, Arms [though useful in their place] will never properly end the contest. Should we overpower the American Colonies, they will remain unconvinced. Far from being reconciled to their Mother-country, they will still look upon her as an imperious step-mother, who adds tyranny to oppression, and murder to robbery. Nor will they submit to her any longer than the force, which has subdued them, shall continue to press and keep them down. And what shall we gain by this method, but perplexity, danger, and continual alarm? The condition of the Colonists will be as wretched as that of indignant prisoners, who are under a military guard · And our state will be as uncomfortable as that of a Jailor, who watches over a numerous body of desperate captives, intent upon making their escape at the hazard of their lives. Under God, far more may then be expected, in the issue, from Scripture and Reason than from arms. Beasts and savages can be conquered by fire and sword: but it is the glory of men and christians to be subdued by argument VOL. II.

2 M