Mercy Otis Warren

“ The footsteps of the most remorseless nations have seldom been marked with more rancorous and ferocious rage than may be traced in the transactions of this day, a day never to be forgotten by Americans. A scene like this had never before been exhibited on her peaceful plains and the manner in which it was executed will leave an indelible stain on a nation long famed for their courage, humanity and honor. ”

“ There is a certain point of military honor that often urges against the feelings of humanity, to dip the sword in blood. Thus, from the early maxims of implicit obedience, the first principle of military education, many men of real merit hazarded fortune, life, and reputation in the inglorious work of devastation and ruin, through the e fields and villages of America. Yet such was the reluctance shown by some to engage with spirit in the disagreeable enterprise of this day that their officers were obliged to sue the utmost severity towards them, to stimulate others to persevere. ”

“ For, such is the restless and hostile disposition of man that it will not suffer him to remain long in a state of repose, whether on the summit of human glory, or reclined on his own native turf, when probable contingencies promise him the acquisition of either wealth or fame. From the wants, the weakness, and the ferocity of human nature, mankind cannot subsist long in society, without some stable system of coercive power. ”

“ This in the eye of justice must enhance the atrocity and forever stigmatize the ingratitude which so soon after wrapped the town in flames and sent out the naked inhabitants, the prey of poverty and despair.
There are few things which place the pride of man in a more conspicuous point of view than the advantages claimed in all military rencontres that are not decisive. Thus, though at the expense of many lives, and the loss of some of their bravest officers, the British army exulted much in becoming masters of an unfinished entrenchment and driving the Americans from their advanced post. ”

“ But the seeds of separation were sown, and the ball of empire rolled westward with such astonishing rapidity that the pious mind is naturally excited to acknowledge a superintending Providence, that led to the period of independence, even before America was conscious of her maturity. Precipitated into a war dreadful even in contemplation, humanity recoiled at the idea of civil feuds and their concomitant evils. ”

“ People in this province, both friends an enemies to government, are in great expectations from the late affair at Rhode Island of burning the King's schooner, and they consider the manner in which the news of it will be received in England, and the measures to be taken, as decisive. If it is passed over without a full inquiry and due resentment, our liberty people will think they may with impunity commit any acts of violence, be they ever so atrocious, and the friends to government will despond, and give up all hopes of being able to withstand the faction. ”

“ When the news arrived in the colonies that the British army in Boston was to be reinforced, that the coercive system was at all hazards to be prosecuted, though astonished at the persevering severity of a nation still beloved and revered by Americans, deeply affected with the calamities that threatened the whole empire, and shocked at the prospect of the convulsion and cruelties even attendant on civil war, yet few balanced on the part they were to act. ”

“ Yet the impression of justice is so strongly stamped on the bosom of man that when conscious the sword is lifted against the rights of equity it often disarms the firmest heart, and unnerve the most valiant arm, when impelled to little subterfuges and private cruelties to execute their guilty designs. ”

“ The sudden rotations in human affairs are wisely permitted by Providence to remind mankind of their natural equality, to check the pride of wealth, to restrain the insolence of rank and family distinctions which too frequently oppress the various classes in society.
The late proclamation of General Gage was considered as a prelude to immediate action, and from all intelligence that could be obtained from the town, there appeared the strongest reason to expect a second sally from the troops lying in Boston. ”

“ But there is no age which bears a testimony so honorable to human nature; as shows mankind at so sublime a pitch of virtue that there are not always enough to be found ready to aid the arm of the oppressor, provided they may share in the spoils of the oppressed. ”

“ Thus, after living for more than 12 months without any legal government, without law, and without any regular administration of justice, but what arose from the internal sense of moral obligation which is seldom a sufficient restraint on the people at large, the Massachusetts returned peaceably to the regular and necessary subordination of civil society reduced nearly to a state of nature with regard to all civil or authoritative ties, it is almost incredible that the principles of rectitude and common justice should have been so generally influential. ”

“ In the mean time, the consternation of General Gage was equaled by nothing but the rage of his troops and the dismay of the refugees under his protection. He had known little of the country, and less of the disposition and bravery of its inhabitants. He had formed his opinions entirely on the misrepresentations of men who judging from their own feelings more than from the general conduct of mankind had themselves no idea that the valor of their countrymen could be roused to hazard life and property for the sake of the common weal. ”

“ On the other side, though the Americans were obliged to quit the field with very considerable loss, yet they gloried in the honor they had this day acquired by arms. They retired only one mile from the scene of action, where they took possession of an advantageous height, and threw up new works on Prospect Hill, with the enthusiasm of men determined to be free. They soon environed the town of Boston on all sides with military parade, and though they wept the fall of many brave men, they bade a daily challenge to their enemies. ”

“ New York was alarmed soon after the commencement of hostilities near Boston by a rumor that a part of the armament expected from Great Britain was to be stationed there to awe the country and for the protection of numerous loyalists in the city. In some instances, the province of New York had not yet fully acceded to the doings of the General Congress; but they now applied to them for advice and showed themselves equally ready to renounce their allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and to unite in the common cause in all respects, as any of the other colonies. ”

“ Others, checked by the frowns of public virtue, crimes of an atrocious nature had seldom been perpetrated: all classes seemed to be awed by the magnitude of the objects before them; private disputes were amicably adjusted or postponed, until time and events should give the opportunity of legal decision or render the claims of individuals of little consequence, by their being ingulfed in the torrent of despotism, generally poured out by the conqueror, who fights for the establishment of uncontrolled power. ”

“ The alternative held up was a bold and vigorous resistance, or an abject submission to the ignoble terms demanded by administration Armed with resolution and magnanimity, united by affection, and a remarkable conformity to opinion, the whole people through the wide extended continent seemed determined to resist in blood, rather than become the slaves of arbitrary power.
Happily for America, the inhabitants, in general, possessed not only the virtues of native courage and a spirit of enterprise, but minds generally devoted to the best affections. ”

“ It may be observed that public commotions in human affairs, like the shocks of nature, convulse the whole system and level the lofty mountains which have arisen for ages above the clouds, beneath the valleys ”

“ All revolutions evince the truth of the observation of a writer that "Many men great in title have the spirit of slaves, many low in fortune have great spirits, many a Cicero has kept sheep, many a Caesar followed the plough, many a Virgil folded cattle." ”

“ The boundaries of the King of England's continental domains were almost immeasurable, and the inhabitants were governed by a strong predilection in favor of the nation from whom they derived their origin: hence it is difficult to account on any principles of human policy for the infatuation that instigated to the absurd project of conquering a country already theirs on the most advantageous terms. ”

“ We have seen several years pass off in doubtful anxiety, in repression and repulsion, while many yet indulged the pleasing hope that some able genius might arise that would devise measures to heal the breach, to revive the languishing commerce of both countries, and restore the blessings of peace, by removing the causes of complaint. But these hopes vanished, and all expectation of that kind were soon cut off by the determined system of coercion in Britain, and the actual commencement of war in America. ”

“ Intimidated by the appearance of such a formidable body of troops within their town and touched with humanity on seeing the famished condition of the King's officers and soldiers, several of whom, from their wounds and their sufferings, expired before the next morning. The people everywhere opened their doors, received the distressed Britons, dressed their wounds, and contributed every relief: nothing was neglected that could assist, refresh, or comfort the defeated. ”

“ There appeared that kind of enthusiasm which sets danger at defiance and impels the manly arm to resist, until the warm current that plays round the heart, is poured out as a libation at the shrine of freedom. ”

“ The persons who were immediate actors are men of estate and property in the colony. A prosecution is impossible. If ever the government of that colony is to be reformed, this seems to be the time, and it would have a happy effect on the colonies which adjoin to it. Several persons have been advised by letters from their friends that as the ministry are united, and the opposition at an end, there will certainly be an inquiry into the state of America, the next session of Parliament. ”

“ In the effervescence of popular commotions, it is not uncommon to see the favorites of fortune elevated to the pinnacle of rank by trivial circumstances that appear the result of accident. Those who mark the changes and the progress of events through all revolutions will frequently see distinctions bestowed where there are no commanding talents and honors retained more from the strong influence of popular enthusiasm than from the guidance of reason, which operates too little on the generality of mankind. ”

“ Pennsylvania, though immediately under the eye of Congress, has some peculiar difficulties to struggle with, from a proprietary government, from the partisans of the Crown, and the great body of the Quakers, most of them opposed to the American cause. But the people in general were guarded and vigilant and far from neglecting the most necessary steps for general defense. ”