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[No. LIV.] THE TABLE T—No. LIV. << J„ all the labors offelf-prefervation, man is in tent on avoiding what is hurtful to him : hut in the enjoyment of what is pieafant his thoughts are relaxed and he is void of care : he can swallow a thousand de lights, one after another, without ajking quejlions ; hut the leajl evil makes him inquisitive whence it tame, in order to shun it." THIS propensity in our nature, to be more ltrongly affected with the evil than with the good that happens to us, is a source of great error in our opinions and reasonings. From this cause, the prevailing notions of religion have not generally been calculated to make men amiable and happy ; and the molt lively imprellions res petting government have been strongly marked with fear and discontent. The dark ages of ignorance and fiiperftition, that have covered so great a portion of the hu man race, have confined the influence of reason and philosophy within narrow bounds. Men have neceflarily adted under the force of some prevailingdelufion ; and so low and debased has been the state of society, in mod periods of the world, that the feelings of people have unavoi dably received a tinge, unfavorable both to the character and happiness of rational beings. As society advances from a state of barbarity, or is extricated from the lhackles of defpotifin, people aflume a greater elevation of spirit. Men ad less under the itnpulfe of their gloomy, unso cial paflions. Religionprefents few horrors toa mind over which reason has been accustomed to allume a sway. Government likewise is viewed in a more agreeable light as men progress in ci vilization. Every man has an image of the Deity existing within himfelf ; and though the scripture repre sents that God made man in his own image ; yet universal experience likewise proves the reverCe to be true, and we accordingly find that, Manmakes Cod after his own image. A savage is familiarized only to natural good and evil. The enjoyment of the former is so uni form and tranquil that it makes no strong im preifions. He participates in the bleflings of light and air; he is refrelhed with showers, and he gathers the fruits of the earth without sensati ons of gratitude, or a spirit of adoration to any inviiible cause. Such habitual gratifications ex cite no favorable sentiments refpei r ting the Deity, because in fad: they excite no reflections at all. Man feenis to claim all tliefe things as a natural right, When we view the opponre fide of the picture and find a savage afflic'ted with evil, his temper is roused and his mind becomes inquisi tive. Some invisible being is supposed to direct in the management of such dark scenes. Hence theGodof a lavage is generally pofiefled of stern, implacable attributes. LETTERS, Written in Holland, in the Tear M,DCC,L\XX f By His Excellency THE VICE-PRESIDENT of the United States. LETTER H. Amsterdam, Oct. j, 17S0. S I R, YOUR firft proposition is, " to prove, by Jfrik " l^at a " implacable hatred and averjion " reigns throughout America In answer to this, I beg leave to fay, that the Americans are animated by higher principles, and better and stronger motives, than hatred and aver sion. They universally aspire after a free trade with all the commercial world, instead of that mean monopoly, in which they were (hackled by Great Britain, to the disgrace and mortification of America, and to the injury of all the veil of Europe; to whom it seems as if God and na ture intended that so great a magazine of pro ductions, the raw materials of manufactures, so great a source of commerce, and forich anurfery of feainen, as America is, should be open. They dcfpife, Sir, they disdain the idea of being again nionopolifed by any one nation whatsoever : And this contempt is at leafl as powerful a motive of adtion as any hatred whatsoever. Moreover, Sir, they consider themselves con tending for the purest principles of liberty, civil and religious ; for those forms of government un der the faith of which their country was planted ; and for those great improvements of them which have been made by their constitutions. 1 hey consider themselves not only as contending for these great blessings, but against the greatest evils thatany country ever fuffered ; for they know, if they were to be deceived by England, to break their union among themselves, and their faith with their allies, they would-ever after be in the (p gztttf. cff^(yku^uus. SATURDAY, October 17, 17^9. power of England, who would bring them into the most abject submission to the government ot a Parliament, the most corrupted in the world, m which they would have no voice nor influence, at threethoufand miles distance from them. But if hatred must come into consideration, I know not how to prove their hatred better than by fnewing the provocations they have had to hatred. If tearing up from the foundation those forms of government under which they were born and educated, and thrived and prospered, to the in finite emolument of England—if imposing taxes upon them, or endeavouring to doit, for twenty years, without their consent—is commencing hos tilities upon them— burning their towns—butch ering their people—deliberately starving prifon ers—ravifliing their women—exciting hosts of In dians to butcher and fcalpthem—and purchasing Germans to destroy them, and hiring negro ser vants to murder their masters ; —lf all these, and many other things as bad, are not provocations enough to hatred, J would request Mr. Calkoen to tell uie what is or can be. All iliefe horrors the English have pracftifed in every part of Ame rica, from Boftoai to Savanna. 3. Your second proportion is " to flxe-ui that th 'n " '' general—at Icpjl so general, that the Tories art " infjfmall a number, (itid of such little force, thai " they are counted as nothing." If Mr. Cai.koen would believe me, I could teftify as a witness ; 1 could describe all the sources, all the grounds, springs, principles, and motives tc Toryism through the continent. This would lead me into great lengths ; and the refultofsll would be, my fine ere opinion that the Tories throughout the whole continent do not amount to a twentieth part of the people. I will not, however obtrude my testimony, nor my opinion : 1 will appeal to wit nelles who cannot be fufpecled, General Bur go yne and General llosve. Burgoyne has pub lished a narrative of his Proceedings, in which he speaks of tlie Tories. I left the pamphlet at Paris, but it may eaiily be had from London. General Howe has also published a narrative re lative to his conduct in America. Page 49, Gene ral Howe fays, " The only attempt bv bodies of men tp form themselves in arms, and to aflift in fupprelfing the rebellion, happened iu -'mi h-Ca rolina, in the spring of 1776, when it was absolute ly impossible for nie to give alii (lance to the insur rection. The plan was concerted bei wren 1 fettle - ment of Highland emigrants, and a body of Ame ricans in that Province, distinguished by the name of Loyalifls. (He should have said Regulators.) They engaged to obey the orders of Governor Martin, who proposed they fhonld operate in favor of the troops from Europe, under Earl Cor n wallis. The Loyalists promised jooo, the High landers 700 men. The former infilled upon their aflembling immediately ; the latter uged the ex pediency of waiting the arrival of the British troops, but yielded to the importunity of the loy alifls, and repaired in arms to the place of ren dezvous, stronger than the flipulated compliment. The loyalifls, instead of 5000, did not afiemble a twentith part of that number ; and,two compa niesof these deserted, vpon the near approach of the rebels. The Highlanders flood their ground, and fought bravely, but being overpowered, were defeated with considerable loss, and forced to disperse. " My letter of the twentieth of December, 1 776, was written before the affair of Trenton, and I could have 110 reason to fufpeift the fidelity of those who caiue in to us from Moninouth ; but I was soon undeceived. Many, very many, of these loy alifls were a short time afterwai'ds taken in arms against us, and others were killed with my protec tions in their pockets. In the pockets of the killed and prifonevs, were also found certificates of those very men having fubferibed a declaration of alle giance, in conference of the proclamation of the King's Coinmiflioners for a general indemnity. These are notorious fa<fts. << Various offers of raising men were made to me, nor did I decline any of those offers that brought with them the least profped: of success : but I must add, that very few of them were ful filled in the extent proposed. " Mr. Olivf.r Delancey, who was reputed to be the most likely man in New-York to induce the loyalifls of that province to join the King's troops, was appointed a Brigadier-General, and authorised to raile three battalions, to confifl of 1500 privates, placing at the head of each the moftrefpetftablecliara<sers, recommended asfucli by himfelfandbv Governor Try on. Every possi ble effort was used by those gentlemen, not only in the diftritflsipoffelledbythe King's troops, but by em ploying persons to go through the conn try, and invite the well-affected to come in. Several ol the officers (as I have since been informed) anxi \_PubliJhed on IVeancfday and Saturday oils to compleat their corps, fought for recruits even among the prisoners, who were then very numerous, and ventured to hold out to them the temptations of pay, liberty, and pardon. Not withltandingall tliefe efforts and encouragements, Brigadier General Delancey, at the opening of the campaign in i 777, initead of i£oo, hadraifed only 597 " Mr. Courtland Skinner, who was ac knowledged to pofiefs considerable influence in the Jerfies, where he had served the office of Attorney-General with great integrity and repu tation, was also appointed a Brigadier-General, and authorised to raise five batallions, to confilt of 2500 privates, under the command of gentle men of the country, nominated by himfelf. The fame efforts were made as for the raising of De lancey's corps ; but at the opening of the cam paign of 1 777, Brigadier-General Skinner's num bers amounted only to 517, towards his expected battallions of 2 500. " 111 November 1777, Brigadier-General Dc lancey's corps encreafed to 69}, and Brigadier-Ge neral Skinner's, to §>59. In May 1 778, their pro gress was so flow, that the firft: had only advanced to 707, the latter to 1101. " Several other corps were offered toberaifed, and were accepted, in the Winter of 1776, mak ing in the whole thirteen, to confill of 6,500 men, including the Brigades of Delancey and Skinner, Butin May, 1 778, the whole number in all these thirteen corps, amounted to only 3,609, little more than half the proposed compliment, and of these Only a final 1 proportion were Americans. " Upon our taking pofleflion of Philadelphia, the fame, and indeed greater encouragements, were held out to the people of Pennsylvania. Mr. William Allen, a gentleman who was fuppoi'ed to have great family influence in that province; Mr. Chalmers, much refpecT;ed in the three low er counties on Delaware, and in Marylad ; and Mr. Clifton, the chief of the Roman Catholic perluafion, of whom there were faitl to be many in Philadelphia, as well as in the rebel army, ser ving againlt their inclinations ; these gentlemen were appointed commandants of corps, toreccive and form for service all the well-affected that could be obtained. And what was the success of these efforts ? In May, 1 778, when I left Ame rica, Col. Allen hadraifed only 152 rank and file ; Col. Chalmers 336 ; and Col. Clifton 180 ; which, together with three troops oflight dragoons, con fitting of 132 troopers, 174 real volunteers from Jersey, under Colonel Vandyke, amounting in the whole to 974 men, conflituted all the force that could be colleifted in Pennsylvania, after the molt indefatigable exertions during eight months. "To make the conclusion as easy as poflible, L shall state a very strong fa<fl, tolhew how far the inhabitants were anxious to promote the king's service, even without carrying arms. " As soon as we were in poii'eflioh of Philadel phia, my intention was to fortify it in such a man ner, as that it might be tenable by afmall number of men, whilst the main army should keep the field and act again!! Gen. Washington. To effec tuate this purpose, I sent orders from German -1 own to the chief engineer,to conftrucfl redoubts, and to form theneceflary lines of communication. That the work might be expedited, and the labor of the soldiers spared, I atthe fame time directed him to employ the inhabitants, and pay them eight pence a day, besides a ration of fait provi sions each, without which, I was convinced, they could not have been persuaded to have worked at all. Mr. Galloway, whom I had previously talked with upon the fubje<ft, had allured me there would be no difficulty in finding 500 men for this business ; and, I presume, he exerted himfelf to fulfil the expectations he had given me. But with all the afliduity of that gentleman, and all the means made use of by the chief engineer, the whole number that could be prevailed on to handle the pickaxe and spade, for the construction of the redoubts and abbatis, amounted, each day, upon an average, to 110 more than between seventy and eighty men." I have qiioted to you General Howe's words ; and one would think this was fufficient to fliew how much or liow little zeal there is for the Bri tifli cause in North America. When we consider, that in the period here mentioned, rlie Englifli army had been in pofleflion of Boston, Newport, New-York and Philadelphia, and that they had inarched through the Jerlies, part of Maryland, and Pennsylvania ; and with all their arts, bribes, threats and flatteries, which Gen. Howe calls their efforts and exertions, they were able to ob tain so few recruits, and very few of these Ameri cans ; I think that any impartial man mufl. be con vinced that the aversion and antipathy to the Bri tiflicaufe is very general, so general,that the to ries are to be accounted but a very little thing.