case, would be a safer convoy than a man-of-war. Every thing that
is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of the slain,
the weeping voice of Nature, cries, '_'Tis time to part!_' Even
the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and
America, is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the
one over the other was never the design of Heaven. The time,
likewise, at which the continent was discovered, adds weight to
the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled increases the
force of it. The reformation was preceded by the discovery of
America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary
to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither
friendship nor safety.

"The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of
government which, sooner or later, must have an end; and a serious
mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the
painful and positive conviction that what he calls 'the present
constitution,' is merely temporary. As parents, we can have no
joy, knowing that _this government_ is not sufficiently lasting to
insure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity; and by a
plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation
into debt, we ought to do the work of it--otherwise we use them
meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty
rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our
station a few years further into life. That eminence will present
a prospect, which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from
our sight.

"Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, yet I
am inclined to believe that all those who espouse the doctrine of
reconciliation may be included within the following descriptions:

"Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who _can
not_ see; prejudiced men, who _will not_ see; and a certain set of
moderate men, who think better of the European world than it
deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will
be the cause of more calamities to this continent than all the
other three.

"It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of
sorrow. The evil is not sufficiently brought to _their_ doors to
make _them_ feel the precariousness with which all American
property is possessed. But let our imaginations transport us a few
moment