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“...to argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason
is like administering medicine to the dead...” Thomas Paine, author of the
American Crisis.
From The Crisis by Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
THESE are the times that try men's
souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered;
yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more
glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is
dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a
proper price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an
article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce
her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to
BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not
slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the
expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.
Whether the independence of the continent
was declared too soon or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an
argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it
would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter,
neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it
were one, was all our own [See author’s footnote at end of essay]; we have none
to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been
doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit
of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a
little resolution will soon recover.
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| Thomas Paine |
I have as little superstition in me as
any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been and still is, that God
Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them
unsupported to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to
avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent.
Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has
relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of
devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can
lookup to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a
house-breaker has as good a pretense as he.
'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a
panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been
subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French
fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the
whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like
men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken
forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might
inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow
sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their
uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the
mind soon grows through them and acquires a firmer habit than before. But
their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and
hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain
forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors,
which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out
the hidden thoughts of man and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised
Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses
the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.
As I was with the troops at Fort Lee and
marched with them to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances,
which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of. Our situation
there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land between
the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not
one-fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to
have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on our defense.
Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores had been
removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys,
in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every
thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are
only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy directs
his force against the particular object in which such forts are raised to defend.
Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of
November, when an officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats
had landed about seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who
commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express
to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the
ferry = six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the
Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles
from us, and three from them. General Washington arrived in about
three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the
bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they did
not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over
the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a
small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some
marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We
brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost.
The
simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on till they could
be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to
make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some
of the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being
informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to
theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship in
not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means
he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march
into Pennsylvania; but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must
likewise, believe that their agents are under some providential control.
I shall not now attempt to give all the
particulars of our retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say,
that both officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently
without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long
retreat bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centered in
one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive the
enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full
advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on
General Washington, for the character, fits him. There is a natural firmness in
some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked,
discovers a cabinet of fortitude, and I reckon it among that kind of public
blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him with
uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.
I shall conclude this paper with some
miscellaneous remarks on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking
the following question, Why is it that the enemy has left the New England
provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New
England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising
the cry against these men and used numberless arguments to show them their
danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their
baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our
sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good, God! What is he?
I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories,
were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile,
slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under
such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave.
But, before the line of irrecoverable
separation is drawn between us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct
is an invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart
enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is
injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his
standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him,
unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he
wants.
I once felt all that kind of anger, which
a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a
noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty
a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after
speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this
unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man
lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or
other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If
there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;"
and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to
duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is
remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade
with them. A man can distinguish himself between temper and principle, and I am
as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be
happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will
break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be
conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the
coal can never expire.
America did not, nor does not want force;
but she wanted a proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase
of a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From
an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army and trusted our
cause to the temporary defense of a well-meaning militia. A summer's experience
has now taught us better; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we
were able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God! they are
again assembling. I always considered militia as the best troops in the world
for a sudden exertion, but they will not do it for a long campaign. Howe, it is
probable, will make an attempt on this city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on
this side the Delaware, he is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined.
He stakes all on his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the
consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to
assist their suffering friends in the middle states; for he cannot go
everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the Tories
have; he is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not been for him
and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I
wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may
never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him encouragement to come,
or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish that our next year's arms may
expel them from the continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions
to the relief of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful
battle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war
by the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made happy
by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather the soft
resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view but the good of
all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly
to argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the
language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the
heart that is steeled with prejudice.
Quitting this class of men, I turn with
the warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet
determined to stand the matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on
this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your
shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so
great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the
depth of winter when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city
and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to
repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands;
throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by
your works," that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or
what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The
far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will
suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his
children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little
might have saved the whole and made them happy. I love the man that can smile
in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by
reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is
firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles
unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a
ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could
have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a
thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or
threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all
cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What signifies
it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or
not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain or an army of
them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither
can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon
in the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it;
but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by
swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid,
stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in
receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the
rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the
widow, and the slain of America.
There are cases which cannot be overdone
by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full
extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that
the enemy if he succeeds, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect
mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest
is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous
as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's
first object is, partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce
the people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended
the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call making their peace,
"a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which would
be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye
men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things! Were the back counties to
give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all
armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home
counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of
the back counties who would then have it in their power to chastise their
defection at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms, that state
must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it
from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of
mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is
mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues
or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I
bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth
to your eyes.
I thank God, that I fear not. I see no
real cause for fear. I know our situation well and can see the way out of it.
While our army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit
to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited for a meaningful opportunity to
ravage the defenseless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, that, with a
handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near a hundred miles,
brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, the greatest part of our
stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was
precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country
might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy and
remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp and had not
some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through
the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again
collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent is
recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign with sixty
thousand men, well-armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may
know it. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue;
by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils - a ravaged
country - a depopulated city - habitations without safety, and slavery without
hope - our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a
future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this
picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who
believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.
December 23, 1776
Footnotes:
The present winter is worth an age, if
rightly employed; but, if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake
of the evil; and there is no punishment that man does not deserve, be he who,
or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so
precious and useful.
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