IT is impossible for me to express the reverential gratitude, with which I receive the very great honour, you have been pleased to confer upon me by your late letter.

THE rank of the town of Boston, the wisdom of her counsels, and the spirit of her conduct, render, in my opinion, the approbation of her inhabitants, inestimable; and therefore I shall ever place this testimony of it, among the chief blessings of my life.

LOVE of my country engaged me in that attempt, to vindicate her rights, and assert her interests, which your generosity has thought proper so highly to applaud; and if my humble labours prove useful to the good people of these colonies-A glory! beyond which my ambition never wished to rise— I am persuaded that this happy effect must flow from the influence and lustre bestowed upon them by your favourable notice.

NEVER, till my heart becomes insensible of all worldly things, will it become insensible of the unspeakable obligations, which as an American I owe to the inhabitants of the province of Massa

chusetts-Bay, for the vigilance with which they have watched over, and the magnanimity with which they have maintained the liberties of the British colonies on this continent.

MAY the same sacred zeal for the common welfare, the same principles of loyalty to our excellent sovereign, of affection to his illustrious house, and of duty to our beloved parent kingdom, which have uniformly actuated and guided your colony, animate and direct every other, so that at length that union of sentiments and measures may be firmly formed, which as you, gentlemen, most justly observe, "is so indispensably necessary for the secu rity of the whole."

AMONGST my warmest wishes these will ever be

-that the province of Massachusetts-Bay may rejoice in a perpetual prosperity; that the town of Boston may always flourish with a dignity becoming the capital of so very respectable a state; that the purity of her intentions, the prudence of her designs, and the vigour of her actions, may constantly confound the machinations of her enemies; and that the virtues of her present inhabitants may be transmitted down from age to age, that so the latest posterity in these colonies, may never want faithful guardians of American freedom.

Pennsylvania, April 11, 1768.

A FARMER.

LETTERS

FROM A

FARMER.

LETTER I.

MY DEAR COUNTRYMEN,

I AM a farmer, settled, after a variety of fortunes, near the banks of the river Delaware, in the province of Pennsylvania. I received a liberal education, and have been engaged in the busy scenes of life; but am now convinced, that a man may be as happy without bustle, as with it. My farm is small; my servants are few, and good; I have a little money at interest; I wish for no more; my employment in my own affairs is easy; and with a contented grateful mind, undisturbed by worldly hopes or fears, relating to myself, I am completing the number of days allotted to me by Divine goodness.

BEING generally master of my time, I spend a good deal of it in a library, which I think the most Vvaluable part of my small estate; and being acquainted with two or three gentlemen of abilities and learning, who honour me with their friendship, I have acquired, I believe, a greater knowledge in history, and the laws and constitution of my country, than is generally attained by men of my class, many of them not being so fortunate as I have been in the opportunities of getting information.

FROM my infancy I was taught by my honoured ✓ parents to love humanity and liberty. Inquiry and experience have since confirmed my reverence for the lessons then given me, by convincing me more fully of their truth and excellence. Benevolence towards mankind, excites wishes for their welfare, and such wishes endear the means of fulfiling them. These can be found in liberty only, and therefore her sacred cause ought to be espoused by every man, on every occasion, to the utmost of his power. As a charitable, but poor person does not withhold his mite, because he cannot relieve all the distresses of the miserable, so should not any honest man sup. press his sentiments concerning freedom, however small their influence is likely to be. Perhaps he

may touch some wheel," that will have an effect greater than he could reasonably expect.

Pope.

THESE being my sentiments, I am encouraged to offer to you, my countrymen, my thoughts on some late transactions, that appear to me to be of the utmost importance to you. Conscious of my own defects, I have waited some time, in expectation of seeing the subject treated by persons much better qualified for the task; but being therein disappointed, and apprehensive that longer delays will be injurious, I venture at length to request the attention of the public, praying, that these lines may be read with the same zeal for the happiness of British America, with which they were written,

WITH a good deal of surprize I have observed, that little notice has been taken of an act of parliament, as injurious in its principle to the liberties of these colonies, as the stamp act was: I mean the act for suspending the legislation of New-York.

THE assembly of that government complied with a former act of parliament, requiring certain provisions to be made for the troops in America, in every particular, I think, except the articles of salt, pepper, and vinegar. In my opinion they acted imprudently, considering all circumstances, in not complying so far as would have given satisfaction, as several colonies did: But my dislike of their con