justice, which make us acquiesce in civil government, would oblige us equally to resist tyranny which cares neither for the happiness nor right of the subject; for, said he, "tyranny and magistracy are so opposed to each other that where one begins the other ends." After enlarging with great clearness and force on these propositions, he applied the subject to the controversy between the two countries. "Tyranny and arbitrary power," he says, "are utterly inconsistent with and subversive of the very design of civil government, and all political law, consequently the authority of a tyrant, is null and void." He declared that God never gave any man the right to trample on the liberty of his creatures, and "no number of men can confer a right they do not possess, viz., to take away liberty.” After proving conclusively, "that representation and taxation are inseparably connected," he adds, "and when great numbers emigrate to a foreign land, so that they can not properly be represented at home, they have a right to legislate for themselves." He thus goes on, step by step, and proceeds to show that the Colonies have acted not only in strict accordance with the Divine purpose, in organizing civil government, but with the principles of justice and common sense. Having thus cleared every thing from his path, as he advanced in his argument, he closed it by boldly declaring that "any people, when cruelly oppressed, had a right to throw off the yoke, and be free." He proved this from the history of the Israelites, quoting the commands of God to break the bonds of oppression, and showed that no people ever had a clearer right to

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rebel from this cause than ourselves. Acting on it, he said, "we have made our appeal to heaven, and we can not doubt that the judge of all the earth will do right." Having clearly proved that the duty of allegiance ends where tyranny begins, he passes from the discussion of the principle, to the enumeration of those acts of the British government which demonstrate its tyrannical character. After speaking of its violation of charter rights and enactment of oppressive laws, he says, "Need I, upon this occasion, descend to particulars ? Can any one be ignorant what the things are of which we complain? Does not every one know that the King and Parliament have assumed to tax us without our consent? And can any one be so lost to principles of humanity and common sense as not to view their conduct in the affair as a very grievous imposition? Reason and equity require that no one be obliged to pay the tax that he has never consented to. *

Can any one suppose it to be reasonable that a set of men, that are perfect strangers to us, should have the uncontrollable right to lay the most heavy and grievous burdens upon us, if they please, purely to gratify their unbounded avarice and luxury? Must we be obliged to perish with cold and hunger to maintain them in idleness, in all kinds of debauchery and dissipation? But, if they have the right to take our property from us without our consent, we must be wholly at their mercy for food and raiment, and we know, by sad experience, that their tender mercies are cruel. But, because we are not willing to submit to such an unrighteous and cruel decree, though we modestly

complained, and humbly petitioned for a redress of grievances, instead of hearing our complaints, and granting our requests, they have gone on to add iniquity to transgression, by making several cruel and unrighteous acts. Who can forget the cruel act to block up the harbor of Boston, whereby thousands of innocent persons must have been inevitably ruined had they not been supported by the continent? Who can forget the act for vacating the charter altogether, with many other cruel acts, which it is needless to mention? But, not being able to accomplish their wicked purpose by mere acts of Parliament, they have proceeded to commence hostilities against us, and have endeavored to destroy us by fire and sword-our towns they have burned, our brethren they have slain, our vessels they have taken, and our goods they have spoiled. And after all this wanton exertion of arbitrary power is there the man, that has any of the feelings of humanity left, who is not fired with a noble indignation against such merciless tyrants, who have not only brought upon us all the horrors of civil war, but have also added a piece of barbarity unknown to Turks and Mahommedan infidels; yea, such as would be abhorred and detested by the savages of the wilderness. I mean their cruelly forcing our brethren, whom they have taken prisoners, without any distinction of whig or tory, to serve on board their ships of war, thereby obliging them to fight against their brethren, their wives and children, and to assist in plundering their own estates. This, my brethren, is done by men, who call themselves Christians, against their Christian

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brethren-against men who till now gloried in the name of Englishmen, and who were ever ready to spend their lives and fortunes in the defence of British rights. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon, lest it cause our enemies to rejoice, and our adversaries to triumph. It is an indispensable duty, my brethren, which we owe to God and our country, to rouse up and bestir ourselves; and being animated with a noble zeal for the sacred cause of liberty, to defend our lives and fortunes to the shedding of the last drop of blood. The love of our country, the tender affection that we have for our wives and children, and the regard that we ought to have for unborn posterity-yea, every thing that is dear and sacred-do now loudly call on us to use our best endeavors to save our country. We must turn our plowshares into swords, and our pruning-hooks into spears, and learn the art of self-defence against our enemies. To be careless and remiss, or to neglect the cause of our country through the base motives of avarice or self-interest, will expose us, not only to the resentments of our fellow-creatures, but to the displeasure of God Almighty. For to such base wretches, in such a time as this, we may apply, with the utmost propriety, the passage in Jer. xlviii. 10: Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.' To save our country from the hands of our oppressors ought to be dearer to us than our lives, and next the eternal salvation of our souls, the thing of greatest importance-a duty so sacred that it can not be dis

pensed with for the sake of our secular concerns.Doubtless for this reason God has manifested his anger against those who have refused to assist their country against its cruel oppressors. Hence, in a case similar to our own, when the Israelites were struggling to deliver themselves from the tyranny of Jabin, the King of Canaan, we find a most bitter curse denounced against those who refused to grant their assistance in the common cause. Vide Judges, v. 23: Curse ye Meroz (said the angel of the Lord), curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.' Now, if such a bitter curse is denounced against those who refused to assist their country against oppressors, what a dreadful doom are those exposed to, who have not only refused to assist their country in this time of distress, but have, through motives of interest or ambition, shown themselves enemies to their country, by opposing us in the measures we have taken, and by openly favoring the British Parliament. He, that is so lost to humanity as to be willing to sacrifice his country for the sake of avarice or ambition, has arrived at the highest stage of wickedness that human nature is capable of, and deserves a much worse name than I at present care to give him; but I think I may with propriety say that such a person has forfeited his right to human society, and that he ought to take up his abode, not among the savage men, but among the savage beasts of the wilderness." The calm opening of this discourse, the careful, argumentative manner, in which he attempted to justify