THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder
the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too
cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every
thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its
goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as
FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to
enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to
TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER,” and if being bound
in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as
slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so
unlimited a power can belong only to God.
Whether the independence of the continent was declared too
soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an
argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months
earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper
use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent
state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own
[1] ; we
have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet.
All that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a
ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year
ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little
resolution will soon recover.
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my
secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will
not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them
unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly
sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which
wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me,
as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world,
and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot
see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for
help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a
house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.
‘Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run
through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them.
Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet
of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century
the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was
driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit
was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a
woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey
maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow
sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases,
have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration
is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a
firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that
they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring
things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever
undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret
traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private
murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them
up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown
his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on
which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.
As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them
to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many
circumstances, which those who live at a distance know but little
or nothing of. Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the
place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and the
Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so
great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to
have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on
our defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of
our stores, had been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would
endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be
of no use to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether
in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are only for
temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy
directs his force against the particular object which such forts
are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort
Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived
with information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about
seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded
the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express
to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way
of the ferry = six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge
over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and
us, about six miles from us, and three from them. General
Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched
at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I
expected we should have a brush for; however, they did not choose
to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went
over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed
at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and
made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of
Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much
baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple
object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on till they
could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as
to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark,
collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey militia, and
marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that they
were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs.
Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship
in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through
Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at
Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but if we
believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe
that their agents are under some providential control.
I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our
retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that
both officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued,
frequently without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable
consequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial
spirit. All their wishes centred in one, which was, that the
country would turn out and help them to drive the enemy back.
Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full
advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be
made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a
natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles,
but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I
reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not
immediately see, that God hath blessed him with uninterrupted
health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon
care.
I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks
on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the
following question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New
England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The
answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we
are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and
used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will
not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their
baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we
must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a
Tory? Good God! what is he? I should not be afraid to go with a
hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to
get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish,
self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under
such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be
brave.
But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn
between us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an
invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart
enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American
cause is injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and
flock to his standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your
opinions are of no use to him, unless you support him personally,
for ‘tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he wants.
I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to
feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a
noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door,
with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old,
as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought
was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, “Well! give
me peace in my day.” Not a man lives on the continent but fully
believes that a separation must some time or other finally take
place, and a generous parent should have said, “If there must be
trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;” and
this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every
man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America.
Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has
nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish himself
between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that
God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she
gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break
out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be
conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to
shine, the coal can never expire.
America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a
proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a
day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting
off. From an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an
army, and trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a
well-meaning militia. A summer’s experience has now taught us
better; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we were
able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God!
they are again assembling. I always considered militia as the best
troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not do for
a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on this
city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he
is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all
on his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the
consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent
will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states;
for he cannot go everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as
the greatest enemy the Tories have; he is bringing a war into their
country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themselves,
they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all
the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may
never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him
encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely
wish that our next year’s arms may expel them from the continent,
and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of
those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle
next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two
years’ war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected
persons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is
revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people,
who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked
their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to
argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear,
and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but
nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with
prejudice.
Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a
friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to
stand the matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on
this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay
your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too
little, when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the
future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope
and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at
one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not
that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not
the burden of the day upon Providence, but “show your faith by your
works,” that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or
what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you
all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich
and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels
not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his
cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have
saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile
in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave
by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he
whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct,
will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is
to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. Not all the
treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me
to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief
breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or
threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to “bind me in
all cases whatsoever” to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What
signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common
man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an
individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of
things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be
assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the
other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from
it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a
whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is
that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I
conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being,
who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains
to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow,
and the slain of America.
There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and
this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of
the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes
that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness
of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do
justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a
trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the
violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both.
Howe’s first object is, partly by threats and partly by promises,
to terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their arms and
receive mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage, and
this is what the tories call making their peace, “a peace which
passeth all understanding” indeed! A peace which would be the
immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought
of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things! Were the
back counties to give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey
to the Indians, who are all armed: this perhaps is what some Tories
would not be sorry for. Were the home counties to deliver up their
arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of the back counties
who would then have it in their power to chastise their defection
at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms, that state
must be garrisoned by all Howe’s army of Britons and Hessians to
preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the
principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that
state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to
barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that
will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I
bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C,
hold up truth to your eyes.
I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I
know our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our
army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no
credit to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a
mean opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great
credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly
retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all
our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four
rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for
we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might
have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and
remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp,
and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread
false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been
ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new
army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall
be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well
armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it.
By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious
issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of
evils — a ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations
without safety, and slavery without hope — our homes turned into
barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to
provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture
and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch
who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.
Common Sense.
December 23, 1776.