Page images
PDF
EPUB

er, that the British government will forget past offences and comply with the conditions of peace; can we believe that after so long a contest, after so many wounds, so many deaths, and so much bloodshed, our reconciliation could be durable, and that every day in the midst of so much hatred and rancour, would not afford some fresh subject of animosity? The two nations are already separated in interest and affections; the one is conscious of its former strength, the other has become acquainted with its recently exerted force; the one intends to rule in an arbitrary manner, the other will not obey even if allowed its privileges. In such a state of things, what peace, what harmony can be expected? The Americans may become faithful friends of the English, but subjects, never. And let us suppose even that union could be restored without rancour, it could not without danger. The wealth and power of Great Britain should inspire prudent men with fears for the future. Having reached such a height of grandeur that she has little or nothing to dread from foreign powers, in the security of peace the hearts of her people will become enervated, manners will be corrupted, her youth will become vicious, and the nation degenerating in body and in mind, England will become the prey of foreign enemies or ambitious citizens. Should we remain united with her, we should partake of her corruptions and misfortunes, so much more to be dreaded as they would be irreparable; separated from her, and remaining as we now are, we should have to fear neither the security of peace nor the dangers of war. And by a declaration of our freedom, the perils would not be increased, but the minds of men would be better prepared, and victory more sure. Let us then take a firm step, and escape from this labyrinth: we have assumed the sovereign power, and dare not own it: we disobey a king, and acknowledge ourselves his subjects;

wage war against a nation, upon whom we always profess to be willing to be dependent. In this uncertain state of things the inclinations of men are wavering; ardent resolves are impeded; new difficulties are continually arising; our generals neither respected, nor obeyed; our soldiers neither confident, nor zealous; weak at home, and despised abroad, foreign princes can neither esteem nor succour so timid and wavering a people. But independence once proclaimed, and our object avowed, more manly and decided measures will be adopted; the greatness of the end in view will inspire the minds of the people with an energy proportionably great; the civil magistrates will be filled with nev zeal, generals with new ardor, the soldiers with new courage, and all our citizens with more constancy and alertness, intent on this sublime and generous undertaking. But in consequence of it, will England contend against us with more energy and rage than she has already? Certainly not; she terms resistance to oppression, rebellion, as well as independence. And where are those formidable troops, that are to subdue the Americans? The English could not, and shall the Germans do it? Are they more brave, or better disciplined than the English? No! Besides, if the enemy's numbers have increased, ours have not diminished; and we have acquired in the severe battles of the present year, the practice of arms, and the experience of war. Who doubts then that a declaration of independence will procure us allies? All nations are desirous of procuring, by commerce, the production of our exuberant soil; they will visit our ports hitherto closed by the monopoly of insatiable England. They are no less eager to contemplate the reduction of her hated power; they all loathe her barbarous dominion; their succours will evince to our brave countrymen the gratitude they bear them for having been the first to shake the foundation of

this Colossus.

Forcign princes wait only for the extinction of all hazard of reconciliation to throw off their present reserve. If this measure is use

ful. it is no less becoming our dignity. America has arrived at a degree of power which assigns her a place among independent nations; we are not less. entitled to it than the English themselves. If they have wealth, so have we; if they are brave, so are we; if they are more numerous, our population, through the incredible fruitfulness of our chaste wives, will soon equal theirs; if they have men of renown as well in peace as in war, we likewise have such; political revolutions usually produce great, brave, and generous spirits. From what we have already achieved in these painful beginnings, it is easy to presume what we shall hereafter accomplish, for experience is the source of sage counsels, and liberty is the mother of great men. Have you not seen the enemy driven from Lexington, by thirty thousand citizens armed and assembled in one day? Already their most celebrated generals have yielded in Boston to the skill of ours; already their seamen, repulsed from our coasts, wander over the ocean, where they are the sport of the tempest, and the prey of famine. Let us hail the favourable omen, and fight, not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are to be the slaves of England, but to secure to ourselves a free existence, to found a just and independent government. Animated by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the innumerable army of Persians; sustained by the love of independence, the Swiss and the Dutch humbled the power of Austria by memorable defeats, and conquered at rank among nations. But the sun of America also shines upon the heads of the brave; the point of our weapons is no less formidable than theirs; here also the same union prevails. the same contempt of dangers and of death in asserting the cause of our country.

"Why then do we longer delay; why still deliberate? Let this most happy day give birth to the American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re-establish the reign of peace and of the laws. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us! she demands of us a living example of freedom, that may contrast, by the felicity of the citizens, with the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted, repose. She intreats us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant, which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade all the unfortunate of the human race. This is the end presaged by so many omens, by our first victories, by the present ardour and union, by the flight of Howe, and the pestilence which broke out amongst Dunmore's people, by the very winds which baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terrible tempest which ingulfed seven hundred vessels upon the coast of Newfoundland. If we are not this day wanting in our duty to the country, the names of the American legislators will be exalted, in the eyes of posterity, to a level with those of Theseus, Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three Williams of Nassau. and of all those whose memory has been, and will be, forever dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

After the adoption of the articles of the confederation, Mr. Lee was under the necessity of withdrawing from congress, as no representative was allowed to continue in congress more than three years in any term of six years; but he was re-elected in 1784, and continued till 1787. In November, 1784, ke was chosen president of congress. When the constitution of the United States was submitted to the

consideration of the public, he contended for the necessity of amendments previously to its adoption. After the government was organized, he was chosen one of the first senators from Virginia in 1789. This station he held till his resignation in 1792.

Mr. Lee died at his seat at Chantilly, in Westmoreland county, Virginia, June 22, 1794, in the sixty-third year of his age. He supported through life the character of a philosopher, a patriot, and a sage; and he died, as he had lived, blessing his country.

LIVINGSTON, PHILIP, whose signature is attached to our Declaration of Independence, was born at Albany, in the year 1715, and educated at Yale college, in Connecticut, where he graduated in 1737. He was a grandson of,obert Livingston, the original proprietor of the manor of Livingston, on the river Hudson, in the state of NewYork, who was born at Ancram in Scotland, in the year 1654. His father, the Reverend John Livingston, a very distinguished minister of the kirk of Scotland, having some years after found it necessary to quit his native country, on account of his "opposition to Episcopacy," took charge of an English Prebyterian church in Rotterdam, while he himself selected America as his future residence.

The grant, or patent of the manor of Livingston, bears date 1686, and the colonial history of NewYork, from the year 1698, to the revolution, furnishes abundant evidence of the elevated standing in public life, which was maintained during that period, as well by the first proprietor of the manor, as by his immediate descendants.

At the present day, when the advantages of a liberal education are so justly appreciated, and so readily obtained; when a diploma is considered as necessary a preliminary for the counting-house as for either the pulpit or the bar, its possession con

« PreviousContinue »