any way that would be less offensive and less obnoxious to op
position.

In answer to the instance I produced from the unsuccessful
application of the Boston Assembly, you tell me, that "the
Governor against whom the complaint was made, was called to
a public trial before the only court where the cause was cogniza
ble, the King in Council ; but the Boston Assembly could not
support their charge, and the Governor was acquitted." The
truth is, their charge was extremely well supported in the eye of
strict justice ; but it was destitute of the mere formalities of law,
and on this score it was rejected. They accused him of treachery
and falsehood, and produced his own letters against him. It
was not admitted as a legal charge, or crimen ; nor the party's
letters as an evidence, or testis ; and, by these evasions, the cri
minal escaped the punishment he deserved ; and, instead of it,
has been advanced to higher honors, while the complainants
were unrelieved and insulted. I remember when the particulars
of this transaction were first published, there was one circum
stance mentioned : that the petition in question was pronounced
at St. James's to be " a seditious, vexatious, and scandalous libel"

You tell me, u There is also this reason why we should, at
least, have tried the mode of petition and remonstrance, to ob
tain a removal of the grievances we complain of: The friends of
America in England have strongly recommended it as the most
decent and probable means of succeeding." I wish you had
been so kind as to have particularized those friends you speak of.
I am inclined to believe you would have found some difficulty in
this. There have been some publications in the newspapers,



100 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JET. IS.

said to be extracts of letters from England ; but who were the
authors of them ? How do you know they were not written in
America? or, if they came from England, that the writers of
them were really sincere friends ? I have heard one or two per
sons named as the authors of some of these letters ; but they
were those whose sincerity we have the greatest reason to distrust.
The general tenor of advice, from those with whose integrity we
are best acquainted, has been, to place no dependence on the jus
tice or clemency of Great Britain ; but to work out our deliver
ance by a spirited and self-denying opposition. Eestrictions on
our trade have been expressly pointed out and recommended as
the only probable source of redress.

You say, "If the information from England be true, we have
by our haughty demands detached most of our friends there from
our interest, and forced them to take part against us." Pray,
sir, where did you get this information ? Is there any inhabit
ant of the invisible world that brings intelligence to you in a
supernatural way ? There have been no arrivals from England
preceding the time you wrote your letter, that have brought any
account of the proceedings of the Congress being received there, or
of the consequences resulting from them. Your information must
have either come to you in a miraculous manner, or it must be a
fiction of your own imagination.

But there are other powerful reasons against trusting to peti
tions only, in our present circumstances. The town of Boston
is in a very critical situation. Men, under sufferings, are ex
tremely apt, either to plunge into desperation, or to grow dis
heartened and dejected. If the colonies, in general, appear re
miss, or unwilling to adopt vigorous measures, in order to pro
cure the most speedy relief, the people of Massachusetts might
perhaps have been hurried on to a rash and fatal conduct, or
they might have become languid and lifeless. Delays are ex
tremely dangerous in affairs of such vast consequence.

The dispute might have been spun out by ministerial artifice,
till the generality of the people became careless and negligent,
and, of course, fitter to be imposed upon, and less forward to
assert their rights with firmness and spirit. THE HAND OF BKI-






JEn. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 101

BEEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN STKETCHED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, and

the number of domestic vipers increased among us. The min
istry and their agents here, are active and subtile : nothing would
have been neglected, that might have a tendency to deceive the
ignorant and unwary, or to attract the dishonest and avaricious.
How great an influence, places, pensions, and honors, have upon
the minds of men, we may easily discover, by contrasting the
former with the present conduct of some among ourselves. Many
who, at the time of the Stamp Act, were loudest in the cause of
liberty, and the most ardent promoters of the spirited proceed
ings on that occasion, have now, from patriots of the first magni
tude, dwindled into moderate men, friends to order and good gov
ernment, dutiful and zealous servants to the ministry.

Had our petitions failed, we should have found our diffi
culties multiplied much more than we can imagine : and since
there was the highest probability of a failure, it would have
been madness to have hazarded so much upon so unpromising a
footing.

It betrays an ignorance of human nature, to suppose, that a
design formed and ripened for several years against the liberties
of any people, might be frustrated by the mere force of entreaty.
Men must cease to be as fond of power as they are, before this
can be the case.

I therefore infer, that if the Congress had not concerted
other, more efficacious measures, they would have trifled away
the liberties of their country, and merited censure instead of
approbation. Commercial regulations were the only peaceable
means, from which we could have the least hope of success.
These they have entered into ; and these, I maintain, must suc
ceed, if they are not treacherously or pusillanimously infringed.

You tell me, " I overrate the importance of these colonies
to the British empire;" and proceed to make such assertions, as
must convince every intelligent person, that you are either a
mortal foe to truth, or totally ignorant of the matter you under
take. The following extracts will show whether my representa
tions have been just or not.

" Our plantations spend mostly our English manufactures ;



102 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [^T. 18.

and those of all sorts almost imaginable, in prodigious quantities ;
and employ near two-thirds of all our English shipping ; so that
we have more people in England, by reason of our plantations in
America*

" We may safely advance, that our trade and navigation are
greatly increased by our colonies; and that they really are a
source of treasure and naval power to this kingdom, since they
work for us, and their treasure centres here. Before their settle
ment, our manufactures were few, and those but indifferent the
number of English merchants very small ; and the whole shipping
of the nation, much inferior to what now belongs to the northern
colonies only. These are certain facts. But since their establish
ment, our condition has altered for the better, almost to a degree
beyond credibility. Our manufactures are prodigiously increased ;
chiefly by the demand for them in the plantations, where they at
least take off one-half, and supply us with many valuable com
modities for exportation; which is as great emolument to the
mother kingdom as to the plantations themselves."t

The same author says, in another place, " Before the settle
ment of these colonies, our manufactures werefeiu, and those but
indifferent. In those days, we had, not only our naval stores, but
our ships, from our neighbors."

" I shall sum up my whole remarks," says another writer,
" on our American colonies, with this observation : that, as they
are a certain annual revenue of several millions sterling to their
mother country, they ought carefully to be protected, duly en
couraged, and every opportunity that presents, improved for
their increment and advantage ; as every one they can possibly
reap, must at last return to us with interest"^

These quotations clearly prove, that the colonies are of the
last importance to Great Britain. They not only take off vast
quantities of her manufactures, but furnish her with materials to
extend her trade with foreign nations. They also supply her
with naval stores, and, in a great measure, with a navy itself.
The present flourishing state of her commerce, is chiefly to be

* Postlethwait. f Ibid. J Lex mercatoria.



jEi. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 103

attributed to the colonies who work for her, and whose treasure
centres in her. How unjust, therefore, is it in her, not to be satis
fied with the advantages she has hitherto received from us, but
to aim at depriving us of our freedom and happiness ! And
what ruinous consequences must flow from a cessation of our
trade, on which her manufactures so much depend ! What pro
digious numbers must be thrown out of employ and reduced to
beggary and misery !

" But she is a great nation ; has vast resources ; may easily
supply the want of our trade, by making very small concessions
to Portugal, Eussia, Turkey, &c. Should our non-importation
distress her manufactures, every man may employ himself to la
bor on a farm ; and the price of grain would be much advanced
in France, Spain, and the Mediterranean. Notwithstanding the
present high cultivation of the lands in England, that kingdom
is capable of being improved, by agriculture and commerce, so
as to maintain double the number of people that it does at pre
sent. The improvements in Scotland within the last thirty years
are amazing. The enterprising spirit of the people has opened
an easy intercourse between all parts of the country, and they
have been enriched by commerce to a surprising degree."

I can hardly prevail upon myself to give a serious answer to
such ridiculous rant ; but it may be requisite, for the sake of the
uninformed, and of course it would be improper to decline it.

The national debt is now about one hundred and forty mil
lions sterling a debt unparalleled in the annals of any country
besides. The surplus of the annual revenues, after paying the
interest of this debt, and the usual expenses of the nation, is,
upon an average, about one million and a quarter sterling :* so
that, with all their present resources, they would not be able to
discharge the public debt in less than one hundred and twelve
years, should the peace continue all that time. It is well known
that most of the necessaries of life are, at present, heavily taxed
in Great Britain and Ireland. The common people are extremely

* See a calculation made by Blackstone. He says, the year '65, two millions
were paid, and three millions in the succeeding years ; i. e., five millions in four
years.



104 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [&T. 18.

impoverished, and find it very difficult to procure a subsistence.
They are totally unable to bear any new impositions ; and of
course there can be no new internal sources opened. These are
stubborn facts, and notorious to every person that has the least
acquaintance with the situation of the two kingdoms. Had
there been the vast resources you speak of, why have they not
been improved to exonerate the people, and discharge the enor
mous debt of the nation ? The guardians of the State have been
a supine, negligent, and stupid pack indeed, to have overlooked,
in the manner they have done, those numerous expedients they
might have fallen upon for the relief of the public. It cannot be
expected, but that a war will take place in the course of a few
years, if not immediately ; and then, through the negligence of
her rulers, Great Britain, already tottering under her burthens,
will be obliged to increase them till they become altogether in
supportable, and she must sink under the weight of them. These
considerations render it very evident, that the mighty resources
you set forth, in such pompous terms, have nothing but an ima
ginary existence, or they would not have been left so uncultiva
ted in such necessitous and pressing circumstances.

You think you have nothing to do, but to mention the names
of a few countries, Portugal, Eussia, Turkey, &c., and you have
found out an easy remedy for the inconveniences flowing from
the loss of our trade. Yet, in truth, Great Britain carries on as
extensive a commerce with those countries, and all others, as
their circumstances will permit. Her trade is upon the decline
with many of them. France has, in a great measure, supplanted
her in Spain, Portugal, and Turkey ; and is continually gaining
ground. Eussia is increasing her own manufactures fast ; and
the demand for those of Great Britain must decrease in pro
portion.

"Most of the nations of Europe have interfered with her,
more or less, in divers of her staple manufactures, within half a
century ; not only in her woollen, but in her lead and tin manu
factures, as well as her fisheries."*

* Postlethwait.



JET. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 105

A certain writer in England, who has written on the present
situation of affairs with great temper, deliberation, and apparent
integrity, has these observations: "The condition of the great
staple manufactures of our country is well known ; those of the
linen and the silk are in the greatest distress ; and the woollen
and the linen are now publicly bandied, and contending against
one another. One part of our people is starving at home on the
alms of their parishes ; and another running abroad to this very
country that we are contending with. The produce of North
America, that used to be sent yearly to Great Britain, is reck
oned at about four millions sterling ; the manufactures of Great
Britain, and other commodities returned from hence, at nearly
the same sum ; the debts due from America to the British mer
chants here, at about six millions, or a year and a half of that
commerce. Supposing, therefore, the Americans to act in this
case as they did in the time of the Stamp Act ; we shall then
have yearly, until the final settlement of this affair, manufactures
to the value of four millions sterling, left and heaped on the
hands of our merchants and master manufacturers ; or we shall
have workmen and poor people put out of employ and turned
adrift in that proportion. There will likewise be drawn from our
home consumption, and out of our general trade and traffic,
North American commodities to the same value ; and debts, to
the immense sum above-mentioned, will be withheld from private
people here. What effects these things will produce, considering
the present state of our trade, manufactures, and manufacturers,
the condition of our poor at home, and the numbers of people
running abroad, it don't want many words to explain and set
forth. They were before severely felt for the time that they lasted ;
and it is apprehended, that the present situation of the public is
yet more liable to the impression. These are some of the diffi
culties and distresses which we are, for a trial of skill, going to
bring on ourselves ; and which will be perpetually magnifying
and increasing as long as the unnatural contest shall continue."

From these facts and authorities it appears unquestionable,
that the trade of Great Britain, instead of being capable of im
provement among foreign countries, is rather declining: and






106 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JEr. 18.

instead of her being able to bear the loss of our commerce, she
stands in need of more colonies to consume her manufactures.

It is idle to talk of employing those who might be thrown
out of business upon farms. All the lands in England, of any
value, have been long ago disposed of, and are already cultivated
as high as possible. The laborious farmers find it an exceeding
difficult task to pay their yearly taxes, and supply their families
with the bare necessaries of life : and it would be impracticable
to give employment in agriculture to any more than are already
engaged. We can have no doubt of this, if we consider the
small extent of territory of Great Britain, the antiquity of its
settlement, and the vast number of people it contains. It is
rather overstocked with inhabitants : and were it not for its ex
tensive commerce, it could not maintain near the number it does
at present. This is acknowledged on all hands. None but
yourself would hazard the absurdity of a denial. The emigra
tions from Great Britain, particularly from the north part of it,
as well as the most authentic accounts, prove the contrary of
your representations. Men are generally too much attached to
their native country to leave it, and dissolve all their connec
tions, unless they are driven to it by necessity. The swarms
that every year come over to America, will never suffer any
reasonable man to believe, upon the strength of your word, that
the people in Scotland, or Ireland, are even in tolerable circum
stances.

I cannot forbear wondering, when you talk of the price of
grain being advanced in France, Spain, and the Mediterranean,
and insinuate that Great Britain may be able to supply them.
It will be well if she can raise grain enough for herself, so as
not to feel the want of those considerable quantities she fre
quently gets from us. I am apt to think she will experience
some inconveniences on this account.

With respect to Ireland, you think yourself under no obliga
tion to point out where she may find purchasers for her linens
so numerous and wealthy as we are : but unless you could do
this, you must leave that country in very deplorable circum
stances. It is not true, that she may do just as well with her






^Ex. 18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 107

linens upon her hands, as we can with our flax seed upon ours.
Linen is a staple manufacture of hers, and the sole means of sub
sistence to a large part of her inhabitants. Flax seed, as an
article of commerce, is comparatively of little importance to us :
but we shall stand in need of all the flax we can raise, to manu
facture linens for ourselves ; and therefore shall not lose our
seed by ceasing to export it. I shall say more of this here
after.

Nor is it by any means a just inference, that because Ire
land formerly subsisted without a linen manufactory, she would
not, therefore, severely feel any present obstruction to the sale
of the article in question. Her burthens are now much more
grievous than they formerly were ; and of course her resources
ought to be proportionably greater, or she must sink under the
pressure of them. The linen manufactory is, at this time, one
of her most valuable resources, and could not be materially in
jured, or impeded, without producing the most melancholy
effects. The distressed condition of Ireland will not admit of
any diminution of her means, but pressingly demands an en
largement of them.

It is of little moment to contest the possibility that that
country might procure a sufficiency of flax elsewhere than from
us, till it can be shown where she may find a mart for her linens
equal to the American : and this you are not willing even to
attempt. Yet I have credible information that she could not
obtain from Holland much more than usual (for the reasons I
before assigned) ; and that she has always had as much from
the Baltic as she could conveniently get. With regard to
Canada, any considerable supply from thence would be" a work
of time, and no relief to her immediate exigencies.

I observed, in my former pamphlet, that "the Dutch may
withhold their usual supplies : They may choose to improve the
occasion for the advancement of their own trade: They may
take advantage of the scarcity of materials in Ireland, to increase
and put off their own manufactures." You answer it by saying,
" You never yet knew a Hollander who would withhold any
thing that would fetch him a good price." The force of my ob-



108 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [-ffii. 18.

servation turns upon its being his interest to do it. You should
have shown, that it would be more profitable to him to sell it to
the Irish than to retain it for the purposes mentioned ; other
wise, that very avarice you ascribe to him, will operate as I
supposed.

You are unmercifully witty upon what I said concerning the
West Indies : but the misfortune of it is, you have done nothing
else than " blunder round about my meaning." I will endeavor
to explain myself in a manner more level to your capacity.

The lands in the West Indies are extremely valuable, be
cause they produce the sugar cane, which is a very lucrative
plant ; but they are small in quantity, and therefore their pro
prietors appropriate only small portions to the purpose of raising
food. They are very populous, and therefore the food raised
among themselves goes but little way. They could not afford
sufficient sustenance to their inhabitants, unless they were chiefly
or entirely applied to the production of necessaries ; because
they are so small in quantity, and so thickly inhabited.

These are truths which every person acquainted with the
West Indies must acquiesce in : and should they be deprived of
external succors, they must either starve, or suspend the culti
vation of the sugar cane. The last is the best side of the
dilemma ; but that would cut off an annual income of several
millions sterling to Great Britain ; for it cannot admit of a doubt,
that the chief part of the profits of the English West Indies,
ultimately centres there.

But, in order to disappoint my malice, you tell me that Can
ada raises four hundred thousand bushels of wheat a year ; and
this, you imagine, will pretty well supply the wants of the West
Indians: but give me leave to inform you, that it would not
satisfy a tenth part of them. The single Island of Jamaica
would require much more. At a moderate computation, I be
lieve there are four hundred thousand people in the British
West Indies only. Let us allow a pound of wheat a day upon
an average, to each,* and make a calculation accordingly.

* This allowance cannot be thought too much, if we consider that the negroes






18.] THE FARMER REFUTED. 109



At a pound a day, every person must be supposed to con
sume three hundred and sixty -five pounds a year ; that is, about
twelve bushels. Now, as there are as many people as there are
bushels of wheat raised in Canada ; and as each person would
consume twelve bushels, it follows, that the quantity you men
tion, would not be above a twelfth part sufficient.

But can we imagine, that all the wheat of Canada would be
devoted to the use of the British West Indies ? If our ports
were to be blocked up, would not the French and Spanish
islands be in great distress for provisions ? And have not the
Canadians any near connections among thern ? Would they not
naturally sympathize with them, and do all in their power to
afford relief? And could they find no means to accomplish
their inclinations ? The answer to these questions is easy. The
islands belonging to the French and Spaniards will be greatly
distressed : The Canadians will be very ready and desirous to
assist them : And they will contrive some expedients to commu
nicate a large share of what their country yields.

What you say concerning the lumber exported from Canada
is totally false. That country labors under many inconveni
ences which have hitherto prevented the exportation of that
article, but ,in very small quantities, and of a particular kind.
The places where the lumber grows, arq so far distant from the
seaports, that the expense of transportation is too great to make
it worth while to ship any other than butt staves, and these must
be brought quite from Lake Champlain. This disadvantage,
together with the number of hands it would require, and the
time necessary to enter extensively into any branch of trade,
and to remove all the impediments naturally in the way, would
render the situation of the West Indians truly pitiable, were they
once necessitated to depend upon Canada only, for supplies of
lumber.

The attention of Mississippi is entirely engrossed in raising
corn and indigo. The advantage arising from these articles, is

live chiefly upon grain; and must continue to do so; because the quantity of flesh
and fish would be proportionably diminished when our supplies failed.



110 HAMILTON'S WORKS. [JET. 18.

much greater than would result from lumber ; and of course the
people of that country will never attend to the latter in prefer
ence to the former.

Thus have I proved, in a full, clear, and conclusive manner,
that a cessation of our trade with Great Britain, Ireland, and the
West Indies, would be productive of the most fatal consequences
to them all ; and that, therefore, the peace, happiness, and safety,
of the British empire, are connected with the redress of our