The New-Hampshire gazette and general advertiser. [volume], May 24, 1783, Image 1

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NEW-HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE,
GENERAL ADVERTISER.
¥ol. XXVIL )
Tue rLast CRISIS. No, XIII.
;:;}i:-::.:(}{HE ‘times that -tried men’s
s 50K fouls,”* ate over, and the grea
§ J«T § | teftand completest -revolution
b W emin 3 the iworld ever knew, s glo-
S e ¢ rioufly and happily accom
plished. £ : g L X ! e Y
But to pass from the extremes of danger
to fafety, from the tumult of war to the
tranquility of peaee, though sweet in con
templation, requires a gradual composure of
the senses to reeeive it. Even calmness it
felf has the power of flunning when it opens
too inftantly.upon us. . The long.and raging
hurricane that should cease im a moment,
‘would leave us in. a state rather. of wonder
than enjoyment ; and some moments of re
colleéion must pass before we could be ca
pable of tafling the full felicity of repose.
‘There are but. few instances, in which the
mind is fitted for sudden: transitions : it takes
in its pleasures by. refle¢tion and comparilon,
and those must have time. to.act, before the
relith for new {cenes is complete, , .. .
- In the present case—the mighty magni
tude of the objet—the various uncertainties
of fate it has undergone; the numerous and
complicated dangers we have fuffered or es
caped, the eminence we now stand on, and
the vast profpeét before us, muit all conspire
to impress us with contemplation. . . & .
To fee itin our power to make a world hap
py—te& teach mankind the art of being fo—
to exhibit on the theatre of the univerfea
chara&er hitherto unknown, and . to have,
as it were, a new creation entrusted to our
hands, are honors that command reficction,
and can neither be too bighly estimated, nor
top gratefully received. . . = i o o 1
In this pause, then, of recolleétion, while
the florm is ceasing, and the long agitated
mind vibrating to a rest, let us look back on
the scenes we have pafled, and learn from
experience what is yet to bedone. ..,
Never, I fay, had a country fomany open
ings to happiness as this, Her setting out
into life, like the rising of a fair morning,
was unclouded and promising. Her cause was
good. Her principles just 2nd liberal. Her
tempet serene and firm. Her conduét regue
lated by the nicest fleps of order, and every
thing about her wore the mark of honor.
It is not every country (perhaps there is
not another in the world) that can boast so
fair an origin. Even the firft settlement of
America correfpends with the charaéter of
the revolution. Rome, once the proud mif
grefs of the universe, was originally a 2 band
of tuffians. Plunder and rapine made her
rich, and her oppreflion of millions made
her great. But America needs never be
ashamed to tell her birth, nor relate the fla
ges by which she rose toempire.. . . .
The remembrance, then, of what is past,
§f it operates rightly, must inspire her with
the most laudable of all ambition, that of
adding to the fair fame she began with. The
\avorld‘g has seen her greatin adversity ; firug
gling, without a thought of yielding, be
neath accumulated difficulties. Bravely, nay,
proudly ericountering distress, and rising in
resolution as the florm increased. All this
is justly due to her, for her fortitude has me
%<« These are the limes that try men’s fouls.”
Crisis No, 1, published Dec. 19th, 1776,
SATURDAY Mavy 24 5784,
rited"the charadter—Let, then, the world
fee that she can bare prosperity ; and that
her honest virtue in time of peace, is equal
to the bravest-virtue in time of war, ~
. She is now descending to the scenes of gui
‘et and domeflic lite: - Not beneath the cy
‘prus shade of disappointment, but to enjoy
.in her own land, and under her-own vine,
‘the sweets of her labours and the reward of
her toils.—ln this .situation, may she never
forget that 2 fair national reputation is of as
“much importance as independence, That
it pefleffes 2 charm : which-wins- upon the
‘world and makes evenenemies civil,. That
it gives-a dignity which is often superior to
power, 2ad commands a reverence where
pomp and splendor fail... c. .ot o
It would be a circumstance -ever to be la
mented and never to be forgotfen, were a
single blot, from any cause whatever, fufer
ed 1o fall-on 2 revolution, which tothe ¢ d
of fime, mufi be an honor to:the age that ac
complished it ; -and which -has contributed
more to enlighten the ‘worldy and diffufe 2
spirit of freedom and liberality among man
kind; than any human event (if this may be
called one) thatever preceded it.. .. .. -
. It is not among the least of thecalamites
of along continued war, that it unhinges the
mind from those nice sensations: which at
other times appear foamiable. . The-conti
nued {pectacle of wa blunts the finer feelings,
and: the necessity of bearing with the {ight,
renders it familiar.. In like mannerate-ma
ny of the moral obligations of {ociety wea
kened, till the custom of. aéting by neceility,
becomes ‘an 2pology, where it is-truly a
crime.—Yet let but a nation conceive right
ly ot its-charadler, and it will be chafily just
in pioteing -it.. None ever began. with a
fairer than America, and none can be under
a greater obligation to preserve if. £
The debt which America has contrated,
compared with the cause the has gained and
the advantages to flow from it, ought scarce
ly to be mentioned. She has it inher choice
to do, and to live as happily as the pleases.
The world is in her hands.. She hae now no
foreign power to'menopolize her commerce,
perplex ber legislation, or controul her prof:
perity., The firuggle is over, which must
one day have happened, and, perhaps, ne
ver could have happened 2t 2 better time-.
" That the vevolution began at the exall peri
od of time best. fitted to the purpose, is fufficient-
Iy proved by the event. . But the great hinge, on
which the whole. mackine turned, is the union
of the slates: and this union was naturably pro
duced by the inability of any ome fate to support
itfelf against aforeign enemy without the affyf
fange of BRE ML ;- v i i i b plEldn ik
- Had the slates [everally been less able than
they were when the war - began, their united
firength would not have been equal to the under
taking, and they muft,in all human probability,
have failed ;—~-and, on the other kand, had they
severally been more able,they might mot have Jeen;
or, what is more, might mot_have felt, the me
ceflity of uniting ; and cither by attempting so
fiand alone, or in [mall confederacies,would have
been [eperately conquered. .. . oo
" Now as we cannot lee a time (and many years
must pass away before it can arrive) when the
firength of any ome fiate, or of several united,
can be equal to the whole of the present United
States, and as we have seen the extreme difficul-
And inflead of a domineering mafler, she
has gained.an 2lly, whose exemplary great
ness, and universal liberality, .bave extorted
a confeflion even from her enemics, ..
With the bleflings of peace, independence,
and an universal commerce, ithe slates, in
dividually and colle&ively, will have leisure
and opportunity .to regulate and. eflablifh
their domiftic concerns, and put it beyond
the power.of calumny to throw. the leafl re
fle&tion on their honor... Charaéler is muche
eafler kept than recovered, and that man, if
any such there be, who, from any sinister
views, ‘or littleness of foul, lends,. unfeeny
his hand to injure it, contrives a 2 wound it
will never be in:bis power to heazl. . |
. As we haveeftablithed an.inheritance for
posterity, let that inheritance descend with
every .mark of an- henorable conveyance.
The littleiit will .cost, compared with the
‘worth of the fiates, the greatnels of the ob
je€t, and the value of national chzralter,will
be a profitable exchange. . e
. But that. which.muft more forcibly firike
:a thoughttul, penetrating mind, and which
includes and. renders. eaiy .all interior con
cerns, isthe wnion of the slates... Onithis our
great national charater depends,. lis this
which muft:give us importance abroad, dnd
security :at home. It is threugh this only
that we z2re or can be nationally known in
the world,: It isthe flagofithe United States
which renders our ships and commerce fafe
on the seas, or in a foreign port. Our Medi
terranean pafles must be obtaired under the
fame fiile. .. All our treaties, whether of al
liance, peace or commerce, are formed un
der the sovereignty of the United States,
and Europe knows us by no other name
or title,:; ~ ~ [Seelof} page.] . ... . The
iy of colleCtively profecuiting the war to a fucce[sa
ful issue, and preserving our natiinal impor
tance in the world 3 therefore, from Lhe experi=
ence we have had, and the knowledge we have
gained, we must, unless we make a wafle of wis
dom, be firongly imprefled with the advantage,
as well as the nec fity, of [lrengthening that
happy unien which has been our [alvation, and
without whichwe fbould havebeen aruin d reopl o
.. While I was writing this note, 1 cali my eye
on the pamphiet Common Sense, from which 1
shall make an extralt, as it opplies exaclly to
thecafe. ..: Ihivasfollews s - o-ov 0= 0
i ¢ I have ncver met with a man, either in
England or America, who has not confeffed his.
opinion- that a [cparation between the countries
would take place one time or other : and thereis
no instance in which e have (bewn less judg=
ment, than in endeavering to describe what we
call the ripeness or fitme[s of the continent for in-,
dependence. 1 Mot o
. ¢As all men allow the m:afure, and: differ
only in their opinion of the time, let us, in ordi r
to remove miflakes, take a general survey, of
things, and endeavour,.if possible, 1o find Out the
very time, But we need not go far+——the .en
guiry ceases at ence, for the time hath found ue,
The general concurrence, the glorious union of afl
things prove the fall, -
- ¢ iis mot in numbers, but imunion. that ony
great. firength lies. The contiment is jufl arri
ved at that pitch of firength, in which mo singly
coleny is able to support itfelf, and the Iwhole
wher united, can accomplifb the matter ; (m‘;}'
either more or lejs than this, might be fatal }o
its effedls.” - "Pamphlet Common Sense,
[ Vo, 1386.