service would entitle me to the right of selling | efforts in the cause of freedom; and for his able, spirited, and judicious defence of the right of the people to petition the throne." what I bought, I may be allowed to retain my rank in the army, that whenever the envy or ambition of foreign powers should require it, I may be enabled to serve his majesty and my country in that way, in which alone I can expect to serve them with any degree of effect. Your lordship will easily conceive the regret and mortification I feel at being necessitated to quit the military profession, which has been that of my ancestors for many generations, to which I have been bred almost from my infancy, to which I have devoted the study of my life; and to perfect myself in which, I have sought instruction and service in whatever part of the world they were to be found. I have delayed this to the last moment, lest any wrong construction should be given to a conduct which is influenced only by the purest motives. I complain of nothing; I love my profession, and should think it highly blameable to quit any course of life, in which I might be useful to the public, so long as my constitutional principles, and my notions and honor, permitted me to continue in it. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant, EFFINGHAM. Adelphi Buildings, April 12, 1775. Who prepared the following: "We, the masters, wardens, and brethren of the guild of merchants in the city of Dublin, in common hall assembled, with the most unfeigned respect, beg leave to offer to your lordship the just tribute of our thanks for your noble and spirited, though hitherto ineffectual exertions in the cause of liberty and of your country, fully evinced in your opposition to the oppressive and unconstitutional proceedings of a corrupt administration. "With equal grief and indignation, we have for years beheld repeated innovations on the THE GUILD OF MERCHANTS OF DUBLIN, free constitution of these realms, and daily IRELAND, TENDERING THEIR THANKS TO LORD EFFINGHAM, FOR HIS PATRIOTISM. JULY 17, 1775. At Guildhall, Dublin, 17th of July, 1775, being quarter-day of the guild of merchants of the said city, the following resolutions were agreed to: “Resolved, unanimously, That the sincere thanks of this Guild be presented to the right honorable the earl of EFFINGHAM, in testimony of our approbation of his public conduct, particularly exemplified in his refusing to draw that sword which had been employed to the honor of his country, against the lives and liberties of his fellow subjects in America: and honestly and spiritedly resigning a commission which he could no longer hold consistent with the principles of a true Englishman, or of a real friend to the interest of Britain." invasions of the dearest rights and immunities of the subject. We have seen with astonishment popery established by law in one, and encouraged in every part of the empire, in the reign of a Protestant prince; and despotism and arbitrary power promoted by every insidious machination and open violence, by the servants of the crown, in the reign of a monarch who, from the throne declared he gloried in being a Briton born; and whose family was called to the throne of these kingdoms to protect the Protestant religion, and preserve that constitution inviolate for which our ancestors so freely bled, and for the invading of which, a tyrant was expelled the throne. will not despair of seeing once more the valua- | commons of the city of Dublin, deserving of ble constitution of these countries restored to the latter. its primitive purity. "Permit us therefore to offer your lordship our warmest, our most grateful acknowledgments as Protestants, for your steady opposition to the establishment of popery and slavery in Canada; as freemen, for your manly and spirited opposition to the several restraining bills; and your noble efforts in the support of American liberty, and in the cause of our suffering and much oppressed brethren and fellow subjects there and we have the fullest reliance on your steady perseverance in the same principles which have so strongly endeared you, not only to us, but to every real friend of the British empire and its constituents." In testimony, whereof, we have caused the seal of our corporation to be hereunto affixed, this 17th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1775. (Seal). RESOLUTION OF THANKS TENDERED BY The sheriffs anD COMMONS TO LORD EFFINGHAM, JULY 21, 1775. Resolved, That the thanks of the sheriffs and commons be presented to lord Effingham, for having chosen gloriously to resign his commission, rather than imbrue his hands in the blood of his innocent and oppressed fellow subjects." Which being enclosed to his lordship by the proper officer, the following answer was received: LORD EFFINGHAM'S ANSWER, AUGUST 14, 1775. “Sir:—I have been favored with your letter of the 21st of July last enclosing the copy of a resolution of the sheriffs and commons of the city of Dublin. "Next to the testimony of a man's own conscience is, in my opinion, his greatest happiness to have the approbation of the wise and honest among his fellow subjects. "The former of these can, I think, be no other way enjoyed, than by a strict adherence to those principles, which, at the revolution, established our civil and religious liberties; and it is easy, sir, for you to conceive, but beyond my abilities to express what I felt, at my conduct's being judged, by so independent and respectable an assembly as the sherifs and "I am, with truth and respect, sir, your most obedient humble servant, EFFINGHAM. The Holmes, Aug. 14, 1775. LETTER FROM A GENTLEMAN IN AMERICA TO A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 34, 1774. The following letter from a gentleman in America, to a member of the British parliament may be depended upon as authentic : The proclamation forbidding the exportation of gunpowder and fire arms to America, seems intended to take away from the colonies the power of defending themselves by force. I think it my duty to inform you, that the said proclamation will be rendered ineffectual by a manufactory of gunpowder, which has lately been set on foot in this province, the materials of which may be procured in great perfection among ourselves, and at an easier rate than they can be imported from Great Britain. There are moreover gun-smiths enough in this province, to make one hundred thousand stand of arms in one year, at 285. sterling a-piece, if they should be wanted. It may not be amiss to make this intelligence as public as possible, that our rulers may see the impossibility of enforcing the late acts of parliament by arms. Such is the wonderful martial spirit which is enkindled among us, that we begin to think the whole force of Britain could not subdue us. We trust no less to the natural advantages of our country than to our numbers, and military preparations, in the confidence and security of which we boast. The four New England colonies, together with Virginia and Maryland, are completely armed and disciplined. The province of Pennsylvania will follow their example in a few weeks. Our militia will amount to not less than 60,000 men. Nothing but a total repeal of the acts of parliament of which we complain, can prevent a civil war in America. Our opposition has now risen to desperation. It would be as easy to allay a storm in the ocean, by a single word, as to subdue the free spirit of Americans, without a total redress of their grievances. May a spirit of wisdom descend at last upon our ministry, and rescue the British empire from destruction! We tremble at the thoughts of a separation from Great Britain. All our glory and happiness have been derived from you. | objects of civil society and constitutional proBut we are in danger of being shipwrecked tection, to wit, liberties and life. upon your rocks. To avoid these, we are willing to be tossed, without a compass or guide, for a while, upon an ocean of blood. Wishing you success in your disinterested labors to promote the happiness of this country, I am, sir, with much esteem for your firmness, your most obedient humble servant." -Almon's Remembrancer. PETITION OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS RESIDING IN LONDON TO HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY, IN 1774. FROM THE BOSTON PATRIOT. Messrs. Editors:-Having recently been employed in searching for old records, I met with a manuscript copy of the following petition of a number of native Americans, who were then in London, to his Britannic majesty, in the year 1774. If you think it sufficiently interesting to publish, you are at liberty to do it. Among the number of signers is the late Arthur Lee, of Virginia, a gentleman whose life and character seem to be but little known at the present day, although he was one of the firmest patriots of the revolution, and his services, though not conspicuous, yet were eminently beneficial to the cause he had espoused. It will be remembered, that the bills there alluded to are the last of the series of those acts of the British parliament which produced a crisis, and were the immediate cause of the war of the revolution. To the king's most excellent majesty, The petition of several natives of America, most humbly sheweth : Your petitioners most humbly represent to your majesty, that, to destroy or assume their chartered rights, without a full and fair hearing, with legal proof of forfeiture, and the abrogating of their most valuable laws, which had duly received the solemn confirmation of your majesty's royal predecessors, and were thence deemed unchangeable, without the consent of the people, is such a proceeding as renders the enjoyment of every privilege they possess totally uncertain and precarious. That an exemption of the soldiery from being tried in the Massachusetts Bay, for murder or other felony, committed upon your majesty's subjects there, is such an encouragement to licentiousness and incentive to outrage, as must subject your majesty's liege people to continued danger. Your petitioners and their countrymen have been ever most zealously attached to your majesty's person and family. It is therefore with inexpressible affliction that they see an attempt, in these proceedings against them, to change the principle of obedience to government, from the love of the subjects towards their sovereign, founded on the opinion of his wisdom, justice and benevolence, into the dread of absolute power and laws of extreme rigor, unsupportable to a free people. Should the bills above mentioned receive your royal sanction, your majesty's faithful subjects will be overwhelmed with grief and despair. It is therefore our most earnest prayer that your majesty will be graciously pleased to suspend your royal assent to the said bills. And your petitioners, etc., Stephen Sayre, William Lee, Arthur Lee, Edmund Jennings, Joshua Johnson, Daniel Bowley, Benjamin Franklin, That your petitioners, being your majesty's most faithful subjects, are obliged to implore your gracious interposition, to protect them in | Thomas Buston, the enjoyment of those privileges which are the | Edward Bandcroft, right of all your people. Thomas Brondfield, Your majesty's petitioners, have already seen, with unspeakable grief, their earnest prayers rejected, and heavy penalties inflicted, John Williams, even on the innocent among their countrymen, | John Alleyne, to the subversion of every principle of justice, | Ralph Irard, without their being heard. By this alarming procedure all property was rendered insecure ; and they now see in two bills (for altering the government of the Massachusetts Bay, and the impartial administration of justice there) the intended subversion of the two other grand Willliam H. Gibbs, Edward Fenwicke, John Peroneauf, William Middleton, William Middleton, jr. Ralph Irard, jr., William Heyward. LETTER From a late London paper, copied from the Maryland Gazette of date 1776, ridiculing the idea that manufactures could be carried on in America. object that the upper lakes are fresh, and that cod and whale are salt water fish: But let them know, sir, that cod, like other fish, when attacked by their enemies, fly into any water they think they can be safest in; that whales, when they have a mind to eat cod, pursue them wherever they fly; and that the grand leap of the whale in that chase up the falls of Niagara the finest spectacles in nature!-Really, sir, the world is grown too incredulous: Pendulumlike, it is ever swinging from one extreme to another. Formerly, every thing printed was believed, because it was in print: Now things seem to be disbelieved, for just the very same reason. Wise men wonder at the present growth of infidelity! They should have considered, when they taught people to doubt the authority of newspapers, and the truth of predictions in almanacs, that the next step might be a disbelief in the well-vouched accounts of ghosts and witches, and doubts even of the truth of the A-n creed. All the articles of news lately published, that seem improbable, are not mere inventions.is esteemed by all who have seen it, as one of Some of them, I can assure you, on the faith of a traveller, are serious truths. And here give me leave to instance the various numberless accounts the news writers have given us (with so much honest zeal for the welfare of poor old England !) of the establishing manufactures in the colonies to the prejudice of those of this kingdom. It is objected by superficial readers, who yet pretend to some knowledge of those countries, that such establishments are not only improbable but impossible; for that their sheep have but little wool, not in the whole sufficient for a pair of stockings a year to each inhabitant; and that, from the universal dearness of labor among them, the working of iron and other materials, except in some few coarse instances, is impracticable to any advantage. Dear sir, do not let us suffer ourselves to be amused with such groundless objections. The very TAILS of the American sheep are so laden with wool, that each has a cart or wagon, Your humble servant, A TRAVELLER. AN ADDRESS, PARLIAMENT, 1782. FROM THE LONDON CHRONICLE, March 9, 1782. The humble and dutiful declaration and address of his majesty's American loyalists, to the king's most excellent majesty, to both houses of parliament and the people of Great Britain. We, his majesty's most dutiful and faithful on four little wheels, to support and keep it OF AMERICAN LOYALISTS TO THE KING and from trailing on the ground. Would they caulk their ships? Would they fill their beds? Would they even litter their horses with wool, if it was not both plenty and cheap? And what signifies dearness of labor, where an English shilling passes for five and twenty? Their engaging three hundred silk throwsters here in one week for New York was treated as a fable, because, forsooth, they have no silk there to throw. Those who made this objec-subjects, the loyal inhabitants of America, who tion, perhaps, did not know, that, at the same time the agents from the king of Spain were at Quebec contracting for 1000 pieces of cannon, to be made there for the fortifications of Mexico, with 25,000 axes for their industrious logwood cutters, and at New York engaging an annual supply of warm floor carpets for their West India houses-other agents from the emperor of China were at Boston, in New England, treating about the exchange of raw silk for wool, to be carried on in Chinese junks thro' the straits of Magellan. And yet all this is as certainly true as the account, said to be from Quebec, in the papers of last week, that the inhabitants of Canada are making preparations, for à cod and whale fishery this summer in the upper lakes. Ignorant people may have happily got within the protection of the British forces, as well as those who, though too wise not to have foreseen the fatal tendency of the present wanton and causeless rebellion, yet, from numberless obstacles, and unexampled severities, have hitherto been compelled to remain under the tyranny of the rebels, and submit to the measures of congressional usurpation; animated with the purest principles of duty and allegiance to his majesty and the British parliament, beg leave, with the deepest humility and reverence, on the present calamitous occasion of public and national misfortune in the surrender of lord Cornwallis, and the army under his lordship's command, at YorkTown, humbly to entreat that your majesty, and the parliament, would be graciously The penalty under which any American subject enlists into his majesty's service, is no less than the immediate forfeiture of all his goods and chattels, lands and tenements; and if apprehended, and convicted by the rebels, of having enlisted, or prevailed on any other person to enlist into his majesty's service, it is considered as treason, and punished with death: Whereas, no forfeiture is incurred, or penalty annexed, to his entering into the service of congress; but, on the contrary, his property is secured, and himself rewarded. In the former case, he withdraws himself from his family and relations, without any possibility of receiving any assistance from or affording any relief to either. In the latter, he is subject to no such peculiar self-denials, and real distresses.-The embodying provincial corps in New-York, and sending them on services to Savannah-or in Philadelphia, and ordering them to Pensacola, when they might be more usefully employed in the province where they were raised; the drafting troops from the corps, and from under the command of officers with whom they enlisted, to form new corps, and to give a command to other officers, are all measures which have had their discouraging effects on the recruiting service. pleased to permit us to offer this renewed testi- | must recur, resting our appeal upon such proofs mony of loyalty and attachment to our most to the unerring and unbiased decision of truth gracious sovereign, and the British nation and and candor. government; and thus publicly to repeat our most heart-felt acknowledgments for the infinite obligations we feel ourselves under for the heavy expenses that have been incurred, and the great national exertions that have been made, to save and rescue us, and your American colonies, from impending ruin, and the accumulated distresses aud calamities of civil war. For such distinguished proofs of national ease and regard, we confess ourselves unable to make that adequate return which our hearts, replete with the most dutiful and grateful sensations, most willingly offer, but which we have not words sufficient to express. Our sufferings as men, and our duty as loyal subjects, point out to us at once, the propriety, in our present situation, of thus publicly repeating our assurances, that we revere, with a kind of holy enthusiasm, the ancient constitution of the American colonies; and that we cannot but lament every event, and be anxiously solicitous to remove every cause of suspicion, that might have the most distant tendency to separate the two countries, or in any remote degree to lessen the claim we have to the present aid and continued exertions of Great Britain; especially if it should arise from any misrepresentation or distrust, either of our fidelity or numbers, to entitle us to the future countenance and protection of that sovereign and nation, whose government and laws, we call God to witness, that, in the integrity of our souls, we prefer to all others. The local prejudices of birth and education, and the weight of past and happy experience, conspire together to render, in our breasts, most sacred and inestimable, our relation to British subjects and British laws. We deem it more valuable than life itself, and under the most trying circumstances, have invariably resolved, in defiance of every hazard, to assert our rights; and, as far as in our power, in opposition to every other state and kingdom in the world, to adhere to the nation and country from which we sprung; and to which with honest pride and gratitude, we acknowledge that we owe both our natural and political existence. Unhappy, indeed, for ourselves, and we cannot but think unfortunately too for Great Britain, the number of well affected inhabitants in America to the parent country, cannot, for obvious reasons, be exactly ascertained. But there are facts from which the most undoubted and undeniable conclusions may be inferred, and to which, for want of other evidence, we The desultory manner also in which the war has been carried on, by first taking possession of Boston, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Portsmouth, Norfolk, in Virginia, Wilmington, in North Carolina, etc., etc., and then evacuating them, whereby many thousand inhabitants have been involved in the greatest wretchedness is another substantial reason why more loyalists have not enlisted into his majesty's service, or openly espoused and attached themselves to the royal cause; yet, notwithstanding all these discouraging circumstances, there are many more men in his majesty's provincial regiments than there are in the continental service. Hence it cannot be doubted but that there are more loyalists in America than there are rebels; and also, that their zeal must be greater, or so many would not have enlisted into the provincial service, under such very unequal circumstances. Other reasons might be enumerated, why many more have not enlisted into his majesty's provincial service, if we were not prevented from it by motives of delicacy and tenderness to the character of the person to whose management the business of that department was principally committed. |