The New Hampshire Gazette And Historical Chronicle

As it has often been inserted in the Public Prints, Governments in North-America, are generally true and loyal Subjects to their King, and have for a long Time enjoyed the Privilege of British Subjects, we hope the Accounts we give from Time to Time, will not be taken as though we stint at high dependance. as some have in a most invidious Manner insinuated--No, so far from that, that no People under Heaven have undergone more. and risked their All oftener than the People of New-England have for the Sake of enjoying the Privileges of British Subjects --which for a long Time they have been happy in, till very lately-- And we should be unjust to our Brethren in Old-England. not to let them know that the whole Continent seems to be in a Ferment. on Account of the Burthens on our Trade. more especially on Account of the Stamp-Act in particular taking Place,--which is look'd upon as an Incroachment. unprecedented, and unconstitutional, pregnant of innumerable Woes and Calamities-- Were we a conquered Country as Canada is. it would not be so affecting : but when we consider our Forefathers left their Native Country and pleasant Habitations for the sake of enjoying Liberty of Conscience, &c. which they were deprived of in their own. no Wonder they are alarm'd at the approaching Impositions, and therefore Public Good and the Liberty of the Subject. are two excellent Words when they are honestly and peaceably intended--The ancient Romans had Liberty in so high an Esteem, that they made it one of their Goddesses, dedicated Temples in Honor of it, and all that endeavour'd to oppose it, they punish'd with Interdiction, temporary Banishment, and other severities--Liberty is the greatest Glory of the People, which all Sorts of Men are so tenacious of. that they will endeavour to secure it with the Hazard of their Lives and Fortunes--But then great Care is to be taken, that we are not abused with Words for Things: for if Liberty is not bounded by the Laws of Religion, Reason and Discretion, it occasions Contention. and tends directly to the Ruin of the Community, according to that known Rule, That the best Things corrupted becomes the worst-- Liberty perverted into Contention for Superiority, is but trapping and deluding Men into real Slavery ; catching them with Words,decoying them into Nets and Snares; and instead of putting Men upon considering every Thing in its proper Place, and one Thing with Relation to another, according to the Weight. Reason and Importance of the Action, before we proceed to complain : it indulges intemperate Heats and Hearays, transports Men into a seditious belluine Liberty of saying and doing what they please, and so by thinking to assert their Liberties, are taught by seditious Men to destroy them; for there is no such Thing in the World as absolute Freedom. Tis Freedom from Tyranny, Oppression, Invasions of common Rights, from arbitrary Impositions, illegal Taxations, without the Peoples Consent, and other ill Effects of a despotic Power, that should be contended for-- It was illegal Taxes, and other arbitrary Proceedings,begot the Rebellion against King Charles the First--The Particulars of those unhappy Times are too well known to require a Detail of them here--but this must be observed. that as no Nation has so high an Esteem for Liberty as the English have, so none has waded through more Blood to preserve it--What caused all the Misfortunes of King James the Second, but his invading the Rights,and infringing the Liberties of the People? --It seems almost as impossible for us to comply with this Stamp-Act, and raise the Money proposed thereby,as it was for the Subjects of Johannes Basilicus, that tyrannical Duke of Muscovy, who studied the Art of oppressing and ruining his Subjects, and that he might excell all others in laying strange Impositions upon them, he exacted from his People, a Tribute of Sweat, and a certain Number of Nightingales, to be paid him in the midst of Winter, when there was none to be found in the Country. However, some may stigmatize the present Commotions in the Colonies, and disparage the People with the approbious Names of Mob, Rabble, and Rebellious, the Charge is very unjust ; it is true. they do not sit supine and indolent while their precious Privileges are abridg'd. but on every such alarming Occasion rouze, and act like Men--Where are now the once flourishing Spirits and odd ancients Sense of Virtue and Liberty, and all that centers social Life the Honor and Happiness of Humanity? As soon as the Liberal Arts and Sciences were neglected or discouraged among them, did they not fall--fall to the lowest Depth even under impenetrable Ignorance, and its inseparable Companion, despotic Power ?--- What ingenious Mind that reflects on their ancient State, can think of their present without weeping for the human Species?--Instead of those brave exalted Spirits, that were once the Protectors of the Innocent, and the Conquerors of the proud World, are they not now become (as a great Poet expresses it,) A thin despairing Number all Subdu'd ; The Slave of-Slaves by Superstition fool'd, By Vice unman'd, and a licentious Rule : Void of all Feeling for the public Weal ; In Guile alone ingenious, and alone In Murder brave? I hope in God never to see the Time, when it shall be safer for one Man to be a Rogue, than for an honest Man to call him so. CATO.

Part of one of Cato's Letters Intitled, a Display of Tyranny, it's Destructive Nature, and Tendency to Depopulate the Earth, April 21, 1722.

I long introduced Tyranny to Government into Europe ; and have succeeded so well, that I would rather live under the Turks than under many of them. They practise the Cruelties and Oppressions of the Turks. and want the tolerating Spirit of the Turks : and if some unforeseen Check be not thrown in their Way, the whole Polity of Savage Turkey will be established by them in all its Parts and Barbarity : as if the Depopulation which is already so quick. and taking such dreadful Strides, were still too slow. It is not enough for Tyrants to have consumed Mankind so fast. that out of Twenty Parts, they have within these Two Thousand Years destroyed perhaps Nineteen, (for so much at least I take to be the Disproportion) but fresh Machines of Cruelty are still sought after, besides never laying aside any of the Old. till the Destruction be fully completed. They seem to think, that they shall have Enemies as long as any Men remains ; which indeed is a reasonable Apprehension: But it is astonishing at first View, that Mankind should have so long borne these unrelenting Slaughterers of Mankind---But alas ! who knows not the Force of Corruption. Delusion and standing Armies! O Liberty ! O Servitude !how amiable, how detestable are the different Sounds ! Liberty is Salvation in Politicks. as Slavery in Reprobation ; neither is there any other Distinction, but that of Saint and Devil, between the Champions of the one and the other. And here I conclude this noble Subject of Liberty ; having made some weak Attempts to show its glorious Advantages, and to set off the opposite Mischiefs of raging, relentless, and consuming Tyranny :~A Task to which no human Mind is equal. For neither the Sublimest Wits of Antiquity, nor the brightest Genius's of late or modern Time, assisted with all the Powers of Rhetorick, and all the Stimulations of poetic Fire, with the warmest and boldest Figures in Language, ever did, or ever could, or ever can, describe and heighten sufficiently the Beauty of the one,orthe Deformity of the other : Language fails in it, and Words are too weak. Those who do not groan under the Yoke of heavy and pointed Vassalage, cannot possibly have Ideas equal to a Calamity which they do not feel : and those who feel it are Stupefied by it. and their Minds depressed nor can they have conceptions large, bright and comprehensive enough to be fully sensible.O. their own wretched Condition ; and much less can they paint it in proper Colours to others. We who enjoy the precious, lovely, and invaluable Blessing of Liberty, know that nothing can be paid too dear to purchase and preserve it. Without it the World is a Wilderness. and Life precarious and a Burthen : : Death is a Tribute which all owe to Nature, and must pay; and it is infinitely preferable,in any Shape, to an ignominious Life : Nor can we restore ourBeings back again into theHands of our greatCreator, with more Glory to him, more Honor to ourselves, or more advantage to Mankind. than in Defence of all that is valuable, religious, and praiseworthy upon Earth, or includes whatever is so. How execrable then and infamous are the Wretches, who, for a few precarious, momentary, and perhaps imaginary Advantages, would rob their Country, their happy Country, for ever, of every thing that can render human Life desirable ; and for a little Tinsel Pageantry, and false and servileHomage, unworthy of honestMen, and hated by wise Men, would involve Millions of their Fellow Creatures in lasting Misery. Bondage and Woe. and charge themselves with their just Hatred and bitter Curses ! Such unnatural Parricides, unworthy of the human Shape and Name, Would fill up the Measure of their Barbarity, by entailing Poverty, Chains, and Sorrow. upon their own Posterity. And often it has happened, that such Men have, unpitied, suffered in their own Persons. the sad Effects of those Cruel Counsels and Schemes' which they intended for the Ruin of all but themselves : and have justly fallen into that Pit, which they had traitorously digged for others. ---Nec lex est justior ulla. Quam necis artifices arte perire sua. Bondage is Ignorance, and he that sees, Needs no director Cure for that Disease ; Knowledge and Liberty, go Hand in Hand, Fools only will obey when Knaves command. The sordid Yoke no longer can be borne, When once he sees, he must the Grievance scorn N. B. These Lines may be found in a Poem call'd; CALEDONIA. T is well observed by an ingenious political writer, " That the first article of safety, in Princes and States, lies in avoiding all councils, or designs of innovation in ancient and established forms and laws, especially those concerning liberty,property and religion ; which are the possessions men will ever have most at heart, and be most tenacious of retaining : By avoiding which designs of innovation, they will leave the channel of known and common Justice clear and undisturbed. The next thing wherein that safety consists, is. pursuing the true and common interest of the nation or people they govern without espousing those of any party or faction ; or if these are formed in a state, that they must incline to one or other,-then to chuse or favor, that which is popular, or wherein the greatest or strongest part of people appear to be engaged. For as the end of government appears to be salus populi, so the strength ofthe government is the consent of the people : From whence arose the maxim of Vox Populi, Vox Dei: that is, theGovernors who are but few, will ever be forced to follow the strength of the governed, who are many, let them be either people or armies, by which they govern. --The people are the bulk of mankind, for whose sake, it is not amiss to believe, that government was originally erected." These
These very just and pertinent observations,

must naturally lead us into some reflections on the
present unhappy situation of affairs in the northern
colonies. The people inhabiting the several go-
vernments in North America, are generally true and
loyal subjects to the King, and have for a long
time enjoyed the privileges of British subjects, and
tasted the sweets of English liberty. It is no won-
der then, that the most distant approaches of ar-
bitrary power should spread a general consternation
among them. The notices of the STAMP-ACT
in particular, have raised the Alarm, and transmit-
ted it thro' the whole continent, and it is gene-
rally considered as an encroachment, unprecedented
and unconstitutional, pregnant of innumerable
woes & calamities, to the oppressed people. An
Act, which when it takes place. the evils of it
will perhaps be more sensibly felt, than at present
can easily be imagined. The best that can now be
said of it is, that it must be considered as an enter-
ing wedge, or introduction to the future oppressions.

It is generally thought (and that not without
good reason) that this Trojan Horse, this Engine,
big with exorbitant Mischiefs was projected and
framed in one of the principal northern govern-
ments. And if any of the sons of New-England,
descended from worthy ancestors. were concerned in
its formation, with a view to lucrative posts and
employments, how can they hold up their heads.
amidst the reproaches and execrations of a justly
enraged people? Can they think to escape the
scourge of tongues? or that they will not be burlesqued,
and pasquinaded in every NewsPaper, and lampooned
by every pamphleteer? But not to dwell upon this
disagreeable subject any longer, we shall only re-
commend to such gentlemen a serious perusal of
those most apposite lines in Addison's Cato.

O Porcius, is there not some chosen curse.
Some hidden Thunder in the Stores of Heaven,
Red with uncommon Wrath. to blast the Man
Who owes his Greatness to his Country's Ruin?

N. B. This Piece was wrote Several Days before
the late Stirs in Boston.

Boston, August 19. 1765.