Josiah Tucker

“ And what Remedy do you propose for curing the People of that Madness which has seized them for Emigrations?—I answer:—Even the Remedy which hath been so often, and all along proposed, A Total Separation from North-America. For most certain it is, that as soon as such a Separation shall take Place, a Residence in the Colonies will be no longer a desirable Situation. Nay, it is much more probable, that many of those who are already settled there, will wish to fly away, than that others should covet to go to them. ”

“ Prejudices and Prepossessions are stubborn Things in all Cases; but in none more peculiarly obstinate, than in relinquishing detached Parts of an unwieldy, extended Empire; there not being, I believe, a single Instance in all History, of any Nation surrendering a distant Province voluntarily, and of free Choice, notwithstanding it was greatly their Interest to have done it. ”

“ For Example, the two great Islands of Britain and Ireland, which are only separated by a narrow Sea, ought not to be separated at all by different Governments, Laws, or Parliaments. No good Reason upon Earth can be given for such a Separation: And it has long been the ardent Wish of every true Patriot in both Nations, to see them united. ”

“ Moreover, as they put on every Disguise; as they forge, lye, falsify; as they use the Word Liberty merely as a Blind to conceal the Batteries they are erecting against it; and as they pretend to support and uphold the Constitution, at the very Instant they are planning a Scheme to destroy it; their Designs are so much the more dangerous by appearing to fight under the same Banner with ourselves; and the Wounds they give, are the more difficult of Cure, because they stab and assassinate under the Mask of Friendship, and therefore take their Aim the better, and strike the deeper. ”

“ And indeed, if the Mother-Country will act the Part of Don Quixote to that Degree, as to expend her best Blood and Treasure in their Cause, why should they incur any Dangers in their own dear Persons? Why be at the Pains and Charges of defending themselves, when they can so easily get the British Nation to fight, and bleed, and do every Thing for them? ”

“ These Persons, who have been thus useful to their Country, and have contributed to its Trade and Riches, both by paying their own Rents and Taxes, and also by enabling others to pay theirs;—these Persons I say, have been inveigled away to leave this Country, and to settle in North-America.—Here therefore I ask this plain Question, What Recompence can they possibly make in America, for the Loss which hath been occasioned by their leaving England? And what Gains will accrue to the Mother-Country by this flourishing State of her Colonies? ”

“ Or lastly, we must suppose, that old England is in Fact grown so exceedingly weak and impotent, and America so very strong and powerful, that it is in vain to resist any Encroachments, which the Colonies may make on the Mother-Country:—For in such Circumstances, it is more prudent to submit to the present Evils, great as they are, than to provoke our Conquerors to inflict still greater. ”

“ The Reason is this:—They think, that by cherishing and protecting a republican Government in the Colonies, they are paving the Way for introducing a similar Establishment into Great-Britain. Therefore Republicism is the Bond of Union between these unnatural Englishmen and their Fellow-Labourers of America: Republicism, I say, [pardon the Use of a new Word, where the Language doth not afford a better] is made the common Cause for uniting Persons of the most discordant Interests and different Inclinations in other Respects. ”

“ The whole legislative Power of the Kingdom will certainly support their own Authority, and not commit Felo de se to please their Enemies. They will not, they never can admit the Parliaments of North-America to be independent of them, or co-ordinate with themselves in the same State or Empire. ”

“ For the Duty paid on the Importation of Fruit alone greatly surpasses it. And yet we have granted no Monopolies, no Premiums, and no Bounties either to China, or to France, to Spain, Portugal, Italy, &c. &c. nor are these Countries, to which we have so vast a Trade, and from which we draw so great a Revenue, English Colonies. ”

“ Ireland drains us of no Money, by Way of Bounty on the Importation of her Goods, or natural Produce into this Kingdom; whereas America hath drained us of at least 1,000,000l. Sterling for Bounties on Pitch and Tar, on Lumber, Indigo, &c. &c. within a few Years.
[Pg 84] 4. Ireland is continually burthened with large Pensions, some to Princes of the Blood, some to other Persons, and some to flaming Patriots: For even Patriots will accept of Pensions if they can get them, and then exclaim most bitterly—O Liberty, O my Country! ”

“ Burke (if not he himself) are so very forward in exclaiming against the Restraints and Hardships, under which they pretend, that America has so long groaned;—I ask, why are they so totally silent concerning the many Restraints and Discouragements, which England also hath long and patiently suffered in order to enrich America? And where is the Candor, or Impartiality of such a Conduct? Again,—if we have granted the Americans this Monopoly, in order to encrease their Trade, and so cause their Provinces to flourish ”

“ They cannot bear to think, that one Man, or one Family should be so much exalted above themselves, in Contradiction to their darling Maxim of a natural Equality. And this Scheme for laying the Foundation of a new and equal Republic is what the Republicans really intend by using the Phrase Revolution Principles at this Day. In short, we have now the most authentic Proofs, that their Predecessors of old tried all Means in their Power, and even applied to the Court of France first to prevent, and then to defeat the Revolution, and to set up a Republican Form in its stead ”

“ They beg the Question, when they take for granted, that if America were separated from Great-Britain, all commercial Intercourse would cease between the two Countries. For this is the very Point, which they ought to have proved, instead of taking it for granted. And prove it they never can, ’till they shall have first demonstrated, that the Americans will no longer adhere to their own Interest, when they [Pg 48] shall be disunited from us. A difficult Task this! In regard to which, they will find all the World to be Unbelievers. ”

“ Or if this likewise should prove to be a Pill too large, and too nauseous for Englishmen to swallow;—then, thirdly, we are to suppose, in order to end all Controversy, that the Trade with these North-Americans is so essential to our Interests, as a commercial Nation, that we must keep them in good Humour at any Rate, and at any Expence;—least they should deprive us of their Custom, to the utter Ruin of our Manufactures, Shipping, Navigation, &c. ”

“ But nevertheless, as they are subject to many unhappy Biasses, which may draw their Judgments aside without sinister Intentions, they ought to be excepted against in the present Dispute. In fact, while the great Continent of North America shall continue to be united to this Island under any mode whatever, Persons in Administration will necessarily have a Multitude of Places and Sine-cures to dispose of, many lucrative Contracts to bestow; and, to speak in coarse tho’ very expressive English, many Jobs of various Kinds, wherewith to gratify their Friends, and Dependents. ”

“ Government, which was the only Center of Union, and the only Bond of Peace, shall be removed, Faction will rise up against Faction, Congress against Congress, and Colony against Colony; and then the Southern Provinces will find to their Cost, that they have been egregiously duped and bubbled by the Northern; then they will perceive, that they have no other Alternative, but either to submit to the tyrannical Usurpations of those canting, hypocritical Republicans, whom they used both to hate and despise ”

“ I expressly except against all Persons of Republican Principles for very obvious Reasons; for tho’ they dignify themselves by the Name of Whigs, yet as they are not the genuine, constitutional Whigs of this Kingdom, but an unnatural Superfœtation, and the avowed Enemies of the British Constitution, they ought not to be allowed to sit in Judgment in a British Cause. ”

“ The honourable Society of the Outs will go as great Lengths to throw Things into Confusion as any Set of Men whatever; for as these Persons have no other End in View than to get into Power, and to share the Emoluments of the State among themselves and their Dependents, they will stick at no Measure, however unjust and unconstitutional, to compass this End: Nay, they will unsay the Things which they themselves had said in Administration ”

“ But as Providence very often brings the greatest Good out of the worst of Evils, let us not despair, but that these very Attempts, wicked and unnatural as they are, may be the Means of uniting all honest, and well-intentioned Men the firmer together, in order to support, and even to strengthen the present Constitution. ”

“ In the mean Time, because his Majesty is graciously disposed to join with Great-Britain against America in this Contest for Empire, (for in Fact that is the real Dispute, whatever may be the Pretence) not only many among the Americans, which is natural enough, but (Shame to tell!) even among Englishmen themselves, vent the bitterest Reproaches against him for being the best Friend and Protector of the Mother-Country. ”

“ And besides all this, the very same Reasons, which induce the non-represented Subjects in England to submit quietly and peaceably to the Payment of those Taxes, to which they have not given their Consent by actual Representation, ought to induce the Americans to acquiesce also; because, if the American Trade is so valuable, as reported, a British Parliament cannot injure this Trade by any Mode of Taxation, without injuring the Merchants, the Manufacturers, and the Traders in general of Great-Britain ”

“ To our non-represented Colonies: For it seems they will condescend to receive Bounties from us, tho’ not represented, notwithstanding they make this very Circumstance a Plea or Pretence against bearing [Pg 56] any Share in our Burdens. However, all this is not sufficient to create that Monopoly in their Favour, which they, and their Adherents have long had in Contemplation. For the Imports of Raw-Materials from Russia, which are every Day encreasing, exceed those from North-America in Goodness, in Quantity, in Value, and in every Respect, to a very great Degree. ”

“ And the Absurdity of our present Conduct in not abandoning the rebellious Provinces of North-America, becomes still more glaring, when we consider farther, (what we now find by Experience to be true) that we can live and flourish, even in our commercial Capacity, without the Assistance of these refractory Colonies. For tho’ it doth by no [Pg 71] Means follow, that we should be destitute of their Trade, if each American Province was erected into a separate and independent State ”

“ The Proprietors and Stock-Holders in the public Funds will undoubtedly range on the Side of Government; because they can get nothing, but must necessarily lose by the Convulsions of the State, and by the Overthrow of that Constitution, the Preservation of which is their greatest Security. ”

“ The Advocates for making North-America independent of the British Parliament must, if consistent with themselves, be for turning the British Constitution into something very different from what it is at present, or ever was; for the very Plea these Men use in regard to North-America is, that Representation and Legislation (a very small Part of which is the Power of raising Taxes) must always go together ”

“ For if you will still remain inactive at such a Crisis, what has happened before will happen again; and the *****’s and the *****’s who have but little to lose, but may have much to get in Times of general Confusion, will certainly become the great Men of this Nation. ”

“ They can gain nothing either by War, or Peace, by a Submission to, or a Separation from, the Revolters in North America, but what must tend to the general, as well as to their own particular [Pg 20] Advantage. Whereas almost every other Rank of Men may find their Account, in countenancing and supporting such Measures, as may greatly enrich themselves, tho’ at the Expence of depopulating and impoverishing their native Country. ”

“ The History of all Nations, and of all Ages,—our own Experience respecting France,—the melancholly Situation at this Day of the once populous and flourishing Kingdom of Spain,—the present Demands of our Manufactures for [Pg 75] Exportation,—the State of Parties among us, and the Growth of republican Principles, all, all conspire to prove, that we ought to get rid of such an onerous, dangerous, and expensive Connection as soon as possible. In one Word, the longer the present System is persevered in, the worse Things will necessarily grow, and the riper for Destruction ”

“ Orator is endowed with a greater Portion of political Discernment than other Men, or with more disinterested Sincerity, and real Love of his Country, in making a just and honest Application of that Discernment;—merely because he has more Words at Command, and can muster up a greater Army of bright Similes, and florid Expressions. ”

“ The whole Body of the learned Profession in the Law (Men who have acquired their Knowledge of the Constitution from Authors of a Cast very different from bawling, disappointed Patriots, or hungry Pamphleteers;—these Men, I say) in general agree, that each Member of the House of Commons, tho’ elected by one particular County, City, or Borough, doth not represent that particular County, City, or Borough, in any exclusive Sense; for he represents the whole Commons of the Realm, one Part, and one Individual as well as another. ”