AN”

ORATION,

IDELIVERED ON THE FIFTH 05* JULY, 1813,

IN ‘THE NOR.'1“l-I CHUKCJHE

IN

SALEM,

am‘ COMMEMORATION
AMERICAN IN DEPENDEN CE...

By BENJAMIN R. NICHOLS...

n-nruuﬂfﬁnnw-an

SALEM:
Pnxmrnn RY Josutm. Cusxxxzsm...
18135

THE Comoziftoe of ﬂrraizgeizzonis przyozzz‘ to
BENj‘.dMIN R. NICHOLS,  2‘/Jo cordial
fbonks 0]’ »z‘/Bo Fodoml Ropublicorzx of Salom, for
1/95 -very patriotic and appropriate Omtiorz, deliver-
ed by /aim in coimzzomorarion of Amoricmz I22dopo72-
dome ; and rojjbeﬁﬁilly roqzzg/z‘ oz Copy for z‘£vo pref‘.

Per Order of tloo Coomzittoo gr‘ Alrrarzga-v7zonz‘.s',

JOHN PRINCE, JUN. Chairman.

 Salem, july 5, 1813.

Mo. NICHOLS would oxprofr to 2‘/Bo Corzzmitioo

of ./lrrangoﬂzonfs lzisf doopjivg/o of 1/96 laonozzr co7gfor- do

rod upon /aim by weir polifo noio ; zmd, in cozzzplionoe
with t/Ivoir roguw, fulmzits /21‘: pozformomco to publi-
cation.

To J0!-IN PRINCE, Jun. Efq.

Chairman of the Committcc of Arrangements.

Salem, _7uly 7, I 8 13.

_r.§:5g

AN

ORATION,  

Resrncrnn FELLOW Cxrxzensr.

WE are aﬂembled to celebrate the birth day

of our nation ; the dﬁy we diﬂblved the bond e

of connexion with our parent country, and
declared ourfelves free, fovereign and indepen-
dent. A Ever facred be that period to ourfelves
and our pofterity! Ever memorable be the
events of our revolutionary ﬁruggle! Ever
grateful may we be to Heaven, for the glorious
refult of our efforts! 1 May the privileges thus
purchafed by our fathers be faithfully prefervecl

by their children. i May the objeét of the may

tional cornpaét never be fruftrated, nor the
caufeof independence betrayed, bythe licen-
tioufnefs of the people, or the corruption of
our rnlers. May we never have caufe to fay,
It would have been good for this nation, had
it never been born. A

e

Being involved in a war with the fame

power, with which we were before engaged, it

will be perhaps neither a ufelefs undertaking,
nor inapplicable to the prefent occaﬁon, to
compare the two conteits, and to fee if there
exiﬁ: between them any lines of refemblance.

Is the prefent war as juit or» as neceﬂiwy, as
the war of our revolution? Is the objeﬁiiwe

f£t1‘C contending for as important, or our chance

of ifugcefs has great I’ L In the profectitidn of this
war, have We as”‘ ’poWerf1i1 a itiniulusi foriexcfa
tion, or are We tinder the like obligations‘ to
giveit our fuppott and encouragement? A

Thte‘cat‘1fet of our former {truggle was a claim
of the Britifh miniﬁry to tax us when they
pleafed, Without allowing us the privilege of
being reprefented in their Government. This
claim, we were fatisfied, was unjuft.’ The
zmzozzm‘ of the tax demanded was triﬂing; but

A -We conﬁdered the princzple it involved to be

equally dangerous, as if it had been  demand

of our all; and we ideterrnined to reﬁt’: it, at
the hazard of every thing dear tons.“ ii A


ATIM: oauofo  alleged by our Governmeno
for lE}1(?\_;[)?1*.6_’/“¢‘;’iiZz‘_WEL.1’, is, that the Britifh claian they
Jzight of irnpreﬂing thoiif feanwno from our
m.eo1*c11ant veiTe1=s. Does this claim orenclcr 2:,
W33: as   oneoeffary, 325 3113.11  
taégation? Has G1~eo2Lt—B1'it2dno no mrore 1-ight
to talsze A/W fcamen fro.m our voeffelg, than our
mooney from our pockets? Since the able diﬂ.
c;:u;ﬂion% of this fubjcé} in diﬁerent parts of the
country, p£t1*ticu1z1rly that which has taken
place in Congrefs, and the minute inwveﬂigaa
tion of 21 Committee of the Houfe of Repro-
fentatives of this Commonwealth, we mufc be
fatisﬁcdo, that the quePtio11.of i111pI’£3ﬂ=‘mCntS~ha;-5
been grofsly mifre~prefented..  do not deny,

If that there are coafos of ixnpreﬂincmrs, w11:ich ex».

cite our ccwlnmiforatixnn. But the fad tale of
1;I1r-.2 Ilmzg/Zzml two /Eundréfd a:72dﬁﬂ_yﬂwn Ame».
xicano femncn groaningin» bomlage, ‘F on home}.
the ﬂ¢,(3)r‘<3/£"i‘ngMP21ﬂ=dCm0oﬂisL1m%$"Of the oce2m,,” ‘ is:
 nr1u<:,h 13!-11 cmtrrage u“p0I1rt1‘ut~h, as AFa1ﬂaﬂE’s“
mkl.1;IAtip,]oyiI1g imam: an lzgoﬂia tzhoeatwo rogues in,
buck.ram.o .Ac;imittingo laoowewr that Britiﬂfm
oﬂicers have in form: ‘cafes Wantonly imp1'eITecl
our feamen, without regard to their protec-
tions ; yet fuch coonduoét has never been juﬂiﬁ-4.

N 6d by the Britiih G»ov:erm~ment. On the con»

E

trary, whenever application has been made to
them for our impreffed fearnen, attended with
evidence of their citizenfhip, they have been
difcharged. Farther, Great-Britain has been
always ready to negotiate upon this fubjerft;
and is doubtlefs {till ready to renew the ar-
rangetment ﬂier formerly made with our mi-
nifters, and which they conﬁdered both “ ho-
nourable and advantageous” to the United
States..”“ The Britiih never pretended to a
right of irnpreﬂing American feamen; But they
claim a right to their own; and this in the
View of our rulers is a juﬂ: caufe of war; r Our
Government would make our merchant ve-ﬁiels,
like our foil, “ an afylum for oppreﬂed huma»
nity._,”and inﬁﬂ: upon our ﬂag’s protecting every
thing under it. Thus, literally building cafcles
in the air, they would convert into a fortrefs a
piece of bunting at the rnait-head. Fellow citi«
zens, is there any juﬁice in a war waged on
our part, to protect Britifh renegadoes from
the authority of their fovereign? The fame
Britiih failors, who have deferted their coun--

* It ought not to be forgotten, that thofe miniﬂcrs
(Meﬂrs. Monroe and Pinkney) were appointed byPrefi~
dent Jefferfon, and that they now hold two of the higheft

_ ofiices in the general government._

[9

try, when their afﬁﬁance was molt required,
have {till all the privileges of Britiﬂ1 fubjeélzs,
and may claim the proteétion of Britiih laws.
In return for thefe advantages, they owe their
Government the beneﬁt of their fervices. And

any attempt of a neutral power to ﬂaield tlient

from their Government, except while they re-
main upon the foil of the neutral, or on board
its public veffels, is as much a departure from

\ neutrality, as an invaﬁon of the Britiih terri-

tory.

In our former war, the pr‘ofcjZ=d objeét for
which we contended was the real one. All we
then afked, and all we deﬁred, was, to be ac»
knowledged as an independent nation. As
foon as we obtained this objeét, we were fatit"-«
ﬁed. But the profelled objeét of the prefent
war, wehave reafon to believe, is 720;‘ the real
one. i If the Britifh fhould yield us a11we de-4
mandwith regard to impreffments, our Go-»

T vernrnent would probably introduce forne new

claim. At the commencement of hoftilities,
every one fuppofed, that the grand point in
controverfy was the Britiih Orders in Council,
and that as foon as they were revolced, we

ihould have peace. But the revocation of the
73. w

10

orders in c‘ouneilproduc"ed no abateinent of

the   anirnoﬁty of . our rulekrsl," and the war has

j been continued with the if3.I1'lf'3 bitternefs as be-l

fore. The Prelident even intimates, in his laft
mefiage, that the Britilh imuft not only aban-~

don the right of irnpreﬂinent, but alfoﬁoft

fearching neut1*”al veﬂele for property. Our
rulers thus appeztr to have adopted, in their full
extetnt, the principles of the “French Continental

SyPcern,n~nd their Amerieanlo céabinelt feems con» to
verted into another Court of St.‘ Cloud. I--low w

different the councils which nowprevail, from
thofe ‘ which condu€ted.us through the war of
one revolution to Ioeood of following thofe
maxirnsl of Wafhington-, “ that inveteratean-
tipathies againﬁ: pnrticularnations, and paﬂion-~
ate att'a.chmlex1tsl"’for others, lhonld be excluded,
and that juﬁ: and honourable feelings towards
all fhould be %cultivatedr;” our rulers appear
intoxicated with adiniration at every thing

Fr”encl'1,and inﬂamed with hoftility at every A

thing Englifh. They feern to burn with the

lfairnlle ‘luﬂ: of power and the fatne thirﬁ foriicon-«
quieft asaftuatetheiltymnt of Europe. Iniiead

of ﬁrivingifor'peace byea iconciliatory condu~é‘t,
they feemconftantly deviﬁng new plans for ex-
citing lrthelrdentment of the people, and for

1: 1

keeping alive a perpetual irritation. But they
are not more diftinguiﬂied by their animoﬁty
than their . imbecility. They have plunged us
into a war with Great-Britain, without ‘either
the rneans of yannoyance or of defence.   Hav-
ing exhaufteci their rgﬂricﬁw energies, which
they difplayed fb fully in their embargoesa and
non-intercourfe acts, they are new exerting their
fzgfering energies, in bearing the buffetings of
fortune and the {triples of the enemy.

In the revolutionary war, we had reafon to
believe, at the commencement of the conteit,
that we ihould fucceed in our object. The peo—-
ple were convinced of the juftice of their caufe,
and were of courfe united. All hearts beat in
nnifon. An univerfal fentirnent  exyifted that
the claims of the Britifh miniﬁry mutt be re--
elled at every hazard. The ﬂame'of oppoﬁ--

t tion to the parent nation ran through the coun-

try, and burntwith at Ready and uniform ar-
dour, till the objeft to We contended for was fe-
cured to use. How different the feelings of the
people with refpeét to the prefent war I A large
majority of thecomrnercial States, for whole
beneﬁt it is pretended the War is carried on‘,
have condemned it from its commencement.

12

The moft {trenuous advocates of the war are
among the planters of the South ; men,i who,
like their fpaniels, are tied to their homes by
their ﬂaves, and are as impotent as they are
clamorous. » It is the ﬂave driver of Virginia,
whofe heart is moit rent with pity at the fuf-
ferings of our fearnen. It is the people of thofe
States which are hundreds of miles from our
feaboard, the A men who have no intereft in
commerce, andrwho wouldprobabiyrejoice if
we had not a {hip upon the ocean-—--—thefe are

» the men the moi’: zealous for war on account
of the violation of our maritime rights.

Let it not be faid, that becaufe the people of
New-England oppofe the prefent war, they are

deftitute of patriotifm, or inﬂuenced by Britifh V

partiality. In a war of neeefﬁty, we ﬂiould ruﬂly

forward to meet the enemy, with as much ar-A
dour, ateleait, as the nabobs of Virginia or the A

backwoodﬁnen of Kentucky. Did the people
of New-England difcover any want of patrio-
‘tifrn in the rwvolutiozmry War? a Did they not

bear their proportion of its burdens and expen-

fest and give as ﬁrong evidence of bravery as
the people ofythe Southern States? Look at

13

the battle of Bunker Hill, the capture of Ticonm ‘

deroga and Crown Point, the battle of Benninga
ton, the capture of Burgoyne, in fhort, the
whole courfe of the war from its commence-
ment to itsrterminzlition giand fay if any part of
the country performed itsduty rnore faithful-9
ly, or is entitled to more credit for the fuccefs
of our canfe, than New-England. Even in the
prefent war, fhould the enemy invade our ter.
ritory, he would encounter an oppoﬁtion not
lefs determined, than he met with in the revo-
lution. Look at Connefticut, the State, which
nerszt to Maiﬁcliufetts has been moft ftigmatiz-
ed by our national rulers, for attzichinent to the
enemy. With what alertnefs have the people
of that State taken up arms to proteﬁt the pub-
lic {hips Within their jurifdicfizion I Mafiachufetts
has clifcovered 21 like fpirit, by the zippropria.-
tions Inade by our Legiﬂature for arming our
militia and defending our fee coaﬁ. Maﬂ'aehu-
fetts will alwayr perform her duty, while ihe
has a STRONG for her commander in chief; a
man who knows no. fear but that of his Maker ;
who will be always as vigilant in the defence of
our foil, as he is refolute in maintaining our

A ‘rights 5‘ who feels as much for his conﬂitucnts,

14;

as a father for his children ; who is as pure, -as
ﬁmn, as patriotic, as Waﬂxington.

Vi/e difplay our oppoﬁtion to the prefent war,

not fmm any want of patriotifm, but becaufz.

we believe it to be urlneceﬂiniy and unjuﬂiﬁabley
beceufe it is exllauﬁing the refources of the na-
tion, and ﬁlling it with nuiﬁsxry, to no purpofe ;
beeaufe in confequence of the poverty and idle-g
nefs and proﬂigacyi it ocecafions, our indepen-
denee is endangered, and we are fafc haftening
tn deﬁru<.‘tiont A

Such being the ftate of the public fentiment,
and fnch the-;~,-circumitances under which the
'WEI1"~VV2iS declared, what chance of fuccefs have
we in its ff11‘i"_h€lf‘ profecntion? \7:Ve had never
no chance of reaping proﬁt by it, even if We were
jnﬁciﬁed in ;fighting for time alone. Nor have
we any longer 3. profpeét of acquiring honour.
The few {hips of war we poffeﬂed, except the
final} fquadmn under Commodore Rodgers, are
either captured, bltoclmded, or out of repair.
But fhould thofe vvvhich remain appear again at
fee, and even fucceed in capturing an equal
nnmberof the enemy, wiaat beneﬁt woéuld ree-

15

fult ffomitiit tot-he Country at large ‘E’ “ Our na.
val chtagraftecre would ‘not Pcandc higher than it
has been already placed by the heroic ‘achieve-
ments of Hull, of Decatur, of Jones, of Benin»

bridge, and of iLawi'ence. Notwithﬂsandinig L

tthefe fucceﬂ'e”s, the Britiﬂl would ﬂill have a
force fuﬂicient to blockade our ports and to de-
ﬂroy our commerce. The right <:]_ai.med by the
Britiﬂl of impreﬂing their feamlen from neutral
merchant veﬂels is in their opinion too iII1p01"-
tent for them to yield, except‘ from neceﬂity;
and if we expeéi: to force them to fubmiﬂiont,
we muﬁ continue the War till their lafi ihip is
deﬂroyed.

We have “ﬂill. lefst ireefon for calculating upein

honour or proﬁt from our operatiiotm by land;

Every day brings us accounttts of freﬂm difafiers,
and the prefent c;aInpaigns wiilprobtably A termirm
nate like the laﬁ, with the elois of thoufendsof
men and~tmil»lions oftreafure to nopurpofe. A

But let us fuppefe, we tfhouldifucceeed in con»

quering Czinadai. A Would _the aeqwuiﬁtion A be 4

worth the coﬁ, orﬂrould we be any nearer a
fettlement of outr-diﬂieu1L«ies, than we are at~pre--
fent? We fhould:~be.i inpoifeﬂien of a territory

16

which We db not want, and Whichit would re“

quire a eonftant {landing army totprel'er've.e

The difpute about impreﬂinents would be ﬁill
unfettled. The Britifh would {till have a de-

cided afcendency upon the ocean, nor would

they fuﬁizr us to appear upon it, till we had to
ilored their poffefﬁons, and abandoned every
claim We have in controverfy. Indeed, fo ab/Ezra’
does the projeét appear of conquering Canada,
that we cannot fuppofe it is the fole object of

our Government, in imbodying your troops.>

So zzj/Eels;/fr, nay, fo mzfclaievozzs ta us does it appear,

that we will neither fupport nor enrcoursage it

by our language or our aétions. We A are not
difpofed to triumph in the difgrace of our Conn»

try, or to with our {oldiers any perfonal injury. 4%

But if the conqueft of Canada is contemplated
with a View to opprefs Ne W-En gland, may our

armies never enter Q1ebec, except under the

ﬁandard of the enemy.

The diﬂzrelles of the people in the revolution-
ary war were not greater than they are at pre-

Wfent. If the prefent war is continued much Ion»
lger, our feaports Inuft be abandoned. Poverty

is coming upon us like an, armed man. The

rich are daily becoming poor, and the poet

17

miferable. Our ﬂreets are thronged with beg-
gars, and many who were once able and willing
to radrninifter relief, have become objeiélistl of
charity. ‘When we reflect upon our degraded
ﬁtuation, and compare it withiwhat it would
have been under a Wife adminiﬁration, the con-
traﬁ is almoﬁ; infupportable. ‘What a ﬂourilhing
commerce we ihould now enjoy, were we per--
mitted to be at peace ! The whole north of
Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, Spain and
Portugal, a conﬁderable part of the 1VIediterra»-
nean, the coaﬁ of Africa, the Eait Indies, the
Well Indies, and South America, would be open
to our trade. But by means of our prefent ru-—
lers, our {hips are driven from the ocean, or
thrown into the hands of the enemy. We are
deprived of the J?/berm, which are as neceﬁary
to a large portion of our citizens, as the corn-
ﬂeld to the farmer. Our coafting trade is in»,
terrupted, our harbours are blockaded, and our
feaports lie at the I mercy of the enemy. or A
deathlike eﬁlence reignsiin A places, which lately
exhibited thecontinuedlihurry of buﬁnefs. In.
every direction we fee people anxious for em»-
ployment, but compelled to be idle. I

4 r .3   .

.18

. But~the loffes and privations We have already
fu_fl'e%red% are  to be lincreafed. A 10nd of in-
ternal taxes aretrconiing 11pQI1;1lS- The ﬁire or
ﬁx millions reported to Congrefs this feﬂion are

l but the beginning of gt long and increaﬁng fe-

rries. The fyftem of taxation being once com»
rncnced, it is impoffible to determine to what

extent it will be mrried. Theexpenfes of this
war for every‘ month are rated at ﬁr: millions

of .dollars. iThe profpeét of better times is at

leaﬂ as remote, asfat the commencement of holi-

ttilities.  As long‘ as the tGo.irernlment. can ﬁnd.
the means of qtrrying on thevwar, fo long it
will be tcontinued, with all its burdens and
diiltreﬂtes.

It would probably, in the View of our rulers,
be a compenfation for all our fufferings, was the
war equally injurious in its leffeéts upon the
enemy. But it has Pioved to the enemy ra.
ether a beneﬁt, than an injury. Great Britain
was perhas never in ft) ﬂourifhing st condition,
as at the prefent moment. The lofs; of her
trade with this Country is more than balanced,
by the advantage fhe poileiles of excluding us.

A from the ocean, and of“ thus enjoying, as it

»
\

Were, av Inonopolyfd of tecnmmde1*cte. A Her‘ power idé

d Ptill more increafed by" the late brilliant fucizei”-~

fees of thetheRuﬂians ; fuc:”cT:e1Tes?whi‘ch, though Sits»
tendedwithv fuch advbnttagefst to out tenemy,
muff afford the higheﬁ: fatisfaétionvto every
friend of liberty. Alexander has ﬂayed the

hand of the tyrant, who was threatening the
ccmqueﬁe of the worid. .Ne‘ver was there im—»

bodied angearrny more numerous, and at the
{annex timed more powerful, than the French; at-
my, which entered Ruﬂia the 131’: year. Aﬂd

never was there witneffede at more complete
Ovetrthrow. By thefe fucceffes of the Ruﬂians”
thearm of Napoleon has become weakened, and A

Great Britain is lefttt attliberty to dtitreét her for?-e
oesn againft tthetrUnitt?edtSta1ieds.? A

How little does the fealte ﬁtua”tidn*1 of this

Country and arm Britain accordewidth the
reprefenttations ofvouzxh 1+u1erf's;tt !i*  Prelﬁdent’ 
 his tl1=a§f’c meffage Wtﬁiﬂd hzwe t!l1he petople 1:36-at

lixeve, tIia1rt~tB7fiit4iﬂIet Lid-n< A in t:he~  of
orouehinug tettheeenmerieanﬁegle ;; tthati thena:-A
vies bf Great/etBritaine were e1moﬂ?7 fwcptf from

t11eoc;ea;n5= her armiestt*ethavlrno*1’ce a‘ri«nihil‘ated, and
we W in b the  tideeeﬁ ftmcefsful experiment.’f 

20

Our rulers feern to be labouring under a politi...

‘cal infatuation, and, like the hero of La Man-

cha, to miftake the mifchiefs they are fcatter»
ling among their friends, for viﬁtories won from
tile enemy.

1 Our Government doubtlefs think, that we
have fo far fubdued one enemy, we A may now

, fafely enter theglifts agai.nit others. We are at

0p€I1’War,,Witl1Algiere, and upon the eve of a

  ‘War with the king méspain- Calculating, pro,

bably, ,upon~;the attention of the‘ people being
principaljly engroiled tby the war; with Great

t Britain, and therefore that the feizure of the

Floridas would excite but little obfervation at
the prefent 1notner11;,t11¢ Government have taken
poﬂeﬂit“>n by force of the port of Mobile, and

” have thus given to Spain juft caufe of war.

How different, our conduft to Spain in /Ber
ﬂruggle for independence, from that of Spain
to us under the like circumftances! In our
revolutionary war, {he was the ﬁrft to acknowe
ledge us as an independent nation. But we

A havedeclined acknowledging bar asfuch, to. ,

thisday; andhave thus tacitlyjuﬁiﬁed Bona-
parte in his atttetnpts,tooverpowér her. ‘Fora
tunately, we truft, lhe will obtain the objeél:

21

[he contends for, without our aﬂiftance. V But

i we are adding bafenefs to ingratitude, by feiz-

ing upon this moment to difpoﬂefs her of her
territory. What can be the objeétof our Go-
vernment in feeking afquarrel with Spain, at the
prefent criﬁs, unlefs to put aitop to the fupplies,
which we have heretofore furniﬂied her, and
which has given umbrage to the Emperor
Napoleon i’ a

Our Government appear determined to drive
the people of New-England, and particularly
of Maﬂachufetts, to a Pcate of defperation. Not
fatisfied with involving us in a war with a
power the moft able to injure us, without ne-
ceﬂity, and when we were entirely unprepared,
and continuing the war againit our vviihes, af-
ter the chief pretence for it has been removed;
they now withhold from us the arms to which
we are by Iavvientitled ;_ and thus deny us the
means of protecting ourfelves from the enemy.
They havea1ifo,intheir anfwer to the applica-
tion of our venerable chief magiftrate, added
infult to injury; by inﬁnuating, that we are

tdeititute of courage and of patriotifm, and

the-refere not deyér-uing of proteétion.

[22

; ,'I‘he,1"e‘are: maztly eircumitaxices which indie-
eate, that the“ ‘reel, objeftt of our rulerst is to
defiroiy the profperit?ya%n~d» annihilate the inﬂuw
ence of the Commercial States. A One would
naturally think, that the /[me balding ﬁiatesi
would be fatisﬁed with their advantages over‘
use, ‘conceded to them by the conlfiituttilon. A But
to far from this‘, they llwc in oialatialn of the
conﬁitution, through their reprefentatives in
Cong1*efs, admitted new States into the Union,
of their own ’’political interelis, formed from
territories out of tlie“ o'riginal limits ofttlhei
United States, and have thus felt up a principle,
whttich, iftfubmittted to, will make‘ us‘ mlore de.-.
pendent, than we were as colonies of Great
Britain. If a; majority of Congrefsl have 21.
right of making new ftates where they pleafe,

we lhall probably foon hear of States formed t

for us in Eali and ‘Well Florida, and ﬂtould it
come within 2‘/Jet/tape gfit/be policy of our rulers,
of others‘ on‘ the Pacific Ocean. If all this be
right, the tconfequence is, that the people of
New-England, in cafe“ of any diﬁurbances in
thefenevvly ereéted States, may under ptetenc:e‘
oftlfupeptelﬁngj infuirreéliiotis be forced to march,
in obedience to the eonftitution, to’ the’ ‘remote


gait regions of the globe. Theabfurdity of fueh

a pretenﬁon it too ilriliing to needrargnment.
By the admiﬂion of new States into the Union
out of our original territoriallimits, the Con?-
Pcitution has been pzilpabaly vpiolatedo, and, toufe
the language of our Reprefenteatives,‘“ it may
hereafter be queftioncgd, Whether the adlrereuee

to the Union; of thofe States which d,iﬂ‘ented"

from the meafure, isythe refult, of obligation or

expediency.”

Notwithﬁanding all the injuries inﬂifted
upon us by our national rulers, we will {till
yield them the deference to which they are en-
titled by the Conftitution. We will yet labour
to preferve the Union," and endeavour to be-
lieve, that we are ltill to be proteéted as mem—

-bers of the Confederacy. But if the period

Ihould ever arrive, when the concluﬁon isforced
upon us, that it is the fettled purpofe of our
rulers to diftrefsrand ernpoverilh us, to trample
upon our rights, and tobe ourtyrants inftead
of our proteétors, we ihall not only be at liber-

A ty, but it will be our duty to praise? ourfelves,

and to withdraw all Connexion from men, who,
while they are pretending to be legiilating for

24

our good, are rivetting upon us the chains of

ﬂavery. Let us preferve over our rulers 3. 4

conﬁant and watchful jealoufy ; for this is our
birthright, and our only fecurity againﬁ op»
preﬁion. Our fathers fought for independence,
and obtained it. Let it never be faid, that
they fought only for tliemfelvesg tlmt they
reared up {one unworthy of their ﬁres, and
tranfmitted their privileges to men who were
willing to be ﬂzwes. A