Address Delivered to the Inhabitants of a County in Virginia

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Address delivered to the Inhabitants of a County in VIRGINIA, assembled for the purpose of choosing Deputies to represent them in Colony Convention.

Friends and Countrymen:

It is impossible that any People impressed with the least sense of constitutional liberty, should ever patiently submit to the enormous grievances under which we have already, in some respects, fallen, and with which we are likely to be much more oppressed; and accordingly we find our brethren and fellow-subjects in all the Colonies are pursuing such measures as are thought to be most likely to recover and secure our lost rights and privileges. Shall the people of this Colony, heretofore active, particularly in the time of the detestable Stamp Act, to oppose all attempts to deprive them of their personal security and private property, be now inactive and silent? Forbid it liberty! Humanity forbid it!

The several acts of Parliament made for ten years last past, relating to the British Colonies in North America, and their operation upon the property, liberty, and lives of the people in this country, and America in general, are too well known to many of you to require any enumeration or explanation; but many of you also have not the knowledge of these things, and are therefore ignorant of the danger in which you stand. To inform you of your unhappy situation, and to open your minds to a just sense of the dangers which threaten you, is, principally, the design of this address.

From the first settlement of the Colonies till about the year 1763, we had but little reason to complain of the injustice of our fellow-subjects in Great Britain. There were two or three instances, indeed, in which the Colonies were oppressed, under the notion of right to regulate our trade, and make us serviceable in commerce to Great Britain. Amongst these was an act of Parliament declaring that we should not erect any slitting-mills for the purpose of making nails in these Colonies; and we were forbidden to manufacture hats, to be sold amongst ourselves, under severe penalties. At that time, my friends, we only complained of the hardship and injustice of such an act; and, wanting the protection of Britain, looking upon our fellow-subjects there as friends and allies, we did not erect any more sitting-mills for making nails; and hats were manufactured only by a few individuals, to a very small extent, and sold within the respective Colonies. Thus did they attempt to restrain our manufactures in the only instances wherein they thought us at that time likely to succeed to the injury of the British manufacturer, intending thereby to compel us, through necessity, to apply to them for even the necessaries of life, and to pay them, by our labour, the prices they might think proper to lay on them.

Another instance of oppression was that of establishing a Post-Office in these Colonies, and thereby seizing, in effect, the private property of individual here who had engaged in that business. By that act, all letters coming from Great Britain, or otherwise circulating through these Colonies, are liable to be seized by the Postmaster

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appointed to that office, and subjected to a tax to be paid before the delivery of them; and part of the money arising from this tax is applied towards the support of the office, and the balance sent to Britain to be disposed of by Government there.

Although the effects of that act are not universally felt amongst you, yet it is an instance of oppression which all are more or less subject to who are concerned in trade, or have any intercourse with men at a distance from them. And I mention this to show you, that if you are not oppressed by this law, it is because your circumstances in life are such that you have but little to do with letters, and the officers are not generally so strict in the performance of their duty as the law requires them to be. But surely, my friends, you cannot but be sensible, that if, as in this instance, the British Parliament have a right to make a law to seize your effects, and keep them from you until you pay a tax to redeem them, you must be in a wretched condition whenever Parliament shall think it proper to extend this authority to things which may more essentially and more immediately affect all ranks and degrees of people in these Colonies. That act has hitherto been suffered to be executed, because the people who are most affected by it are traders in some respects, and often receive an advantage in having speedy and regular intelligence from their various correspondents in different parts of the world; and they were unwilling to differ with their fellow-subjects in Britain concerning a thing which seemed to be intended for the benefit of both. The great inconvenience, therefore, of that act, is principally this, that it has taken out of the hands of people in these Colonies a business they were engaged in, and which might be carried on with the same advantages to commerce, whilst the money arising from that tax would be the property of people here, and not be applied to the purposes of Government in Britain; and farther, that it is declaratory in its consequences, of a right to take our property from us whenever the people of Britain shall be inclined to do so.

And let us, my fellow-subjects, consider the consequences which followed our submission to those acts, even, in the manner above-mentioned. Not satisfied with the advantages they received from their trade with the American Colonies — a trade so circumscribed, that it was morally impossible for us to procure more than the mere necessaries of life by the produce of our labour exported to Britain — they no sooner found us in a condition to export a large proportion of grain and other commodities, not requisite for the British markets, to foreign countries, (which, if permitted, might be of advantage to Britain, by enabling us to pay for, and consequently to consume more of their manufactures,) than they indulged us with the liberty of carrying our grain, and some other articles, to particular markets, but with this restriction, that we should not import such goods as were to be had from Britain, and that we should carry whatever articles they did permit us to receive, into Britain first, and pay a duty there. However, as this regulation amounted almost to a prohibition of such articles, and they were likely not to receive such advantages as they at first expected, we were at length allowed to bring them immediately into these Colonies, on paying to the officers of the Customs here a very high duty, to be disposed of by Government in Britain; hence proceed the duties we pay at this day on wines, coffee, molasses, &c., &c.; all which duties are not applied to the support of Government in these Colonies, but increase the revenue of Great Britain, and enable them to maintain standing armies in America, to secure the execution of their laws, under the denomination of guards and garrisons to protect us and our property.

Another instance of oppression is the extending the jurisdiction of the Courts of Admiralty, with pains and penalties heretofore unknown. In this Court we are deprived of our trial by jury, and must submit to the decision of a dependant party judge, whose emoluments of office arise from his condemnations; and although we may be released from the prosecution, we must still suffer the injury and oppression brought upon us by the iniquitous prosecutor, who is exempted from the damages we sustain by means of an unjust prosecution.

The suspending the legislative power of New-York, until their House of Burgesses rescinded or blotted out a vote

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they had passed declaring their right to the same freedom which the people of Great Britain enjoy, and complied with an arbitrary requisition to provide for troops, is another capital instance of the tyrannical disposition of the British Parliament towards America.

All these things and many more have we known, to convince us that the British Parliament have not viewed us with the eye of brotherly love and affection, but with a determination to make us subservient to our fellow-subjects in Britain, in all cases whatever, and our condition as wretched as that of slaves.

The detestable Stamp Act furnishes us with another memorable proof of the injustice and tyranny they had prepared for us; and I thank the God of heaven and earth, who permits the wicked sometimes to provide torments for themselves, that of his gracious mercy to us he suffered that act to be passed, which opened our eyes, and made us behold the slavery intended for three millions of people. Let us return thanks to Him, my countrymen, for his great mercy; and let us look up to Him for protection in the day of our distress.

The consequences that would have attended a submission to that act, you are better acquainted with than with those which have arisen from all the other acts I have mentioned. The reason is plain. You were told by Parliament that you must pay a tax on every instrument of writing used in these Colonies; that you must pay a tax on painters' colours, oil, glass, and paper, which you were obliged to import from Great Britain. This was a doctrine none of us could misunderstand. By this all were affected, and so sensibly too, that it was like drawing the vital blood from our veins. By that act our money was demanded, and we were reduced to the necessity of paying or resisting. We resisted. The happy effects of our opposition you cannot have forgotten, and our method of resistance must still be fresh in your memories. We shut up our Courts; we associated; we refused to buy their goods: they took off the taxes. Were the Parliament actuated in this respect by principles of justice and regard to us? No, my countrymen, they were not. They saw the impropriety of their conduct, not in having taxed us, but in the mode of taxing us. They perceived their inability at that time to enforce submission to a law against which they had not expected any opposition. They had attacked all ranks and degrees of men in these Colonies, and had met with a sudden, unexpected, and violent opposition. The clamours of their merchants, tradesmen, and manufacturers, contributed also to the repeal of those duties, as they were immediately affected by the opposition. But let us examine this repeal a little farther. Did they take off all the duties upon British merchandise imported into these Colonies? Did they relinquish the right of taxing us? No. We find that they reserved a duty on the article of tea, trifling indeed as to the sum, but fatal in its consequences to our liberty and property. We find at this time, also, they passed another act declaring their right to tax us; to regulate our trade; to prevent our manufacturing, or, in their own words, "to bind us in all cases whatsoever." What! shall we then receive our laws from people at three thousand miles distance from us, ignorant of our situation and circumstances in life, and not bound by the same laws? Shall we, like poor, abject slaves, tamely give up our liberty, which our forefathers handed down to us, and suffer our property to be taken from us at the will and direction of a British Parliament? Shall we subject ourselves and our posterity to be driven by our roasters to such employments as they shall allot for us? To have our looms, our spinning-wheels destroyed, whenever they shall think we manufacture too much cloth? I wait your answer. But methinks I see the blood of true Britons swelling your veins, and hear you cry, with one voice, we will be free.

Let us consider, then, my countrymen, what it is we are to do. You are told that the present dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies, is concerning the duty on tea. It is so. Perhaps some of you may now tell me it is a dispute with which you have nothing to do, as you do not make use of that commodity, and the duty cannot affect you. But you will go farther, perhaps, and tell me that the high-minded gentlemen are the occasion of the present confusion, and are bringing you into difficulties to support their extravagance and ambition. Let me entreat

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you, my fellow-subjects, to reflect a moment on your situation. Is it possible you can be so blind to your real interests as not to perceive the oppression daily coming upon you from Britain? Can you suppose the gentlemen of all America would be so mad as to risk their lives and fortunes merely to save the trifling duty of three pence per pound on tea? Are not the gentlemen made of the same materials as the lowest and poorest amongst you? And do you suppose they cannot, they would not refrain from the use of that article, if that would procure the safety of these Colonies? Have you found, in the course of your observations, that the gentlemen (as they are styled) are so very frugal and saving of their money, as to bring themselves into the smallest difficulty for so small an advantage? No, my countrymen, you have not. Deceive not yourselves, then, nor let others deceive you. Listen to no doctrines which may tend to divide us, but let us go hand in hand as brothers, as fellow-sufferers in the same cause, firmly united to defend our rights and liberty, and to preserve freedom to our posterity. Fortunes we may not leave them, but we shall be despicable indeed, if we tamely suffer them to become slaves.

But let us reflect again on the nature of this dispute. The British Parliament, when they repealed the Stamp Act, did not give up the right of taxing us; they reserved the duty on tea, and declared by an act that they had a right to bind us "in all cases whatsoever." The plain meaning of this declaration is, that we must either submit to such impositions as they may hereafter think proper to burden us with, or they will not suffer us to make use of our property. In this situation we have been unmindful of the necessary means of defence, whilst they have been preparing to execute their laws upon us.

Having reserved the duty on tea, the consumption of that article has been lessened near two-thirds, to the great injury of the East-India Company of Merchants in Great Britain. As Parliament had been the cause of this injury, the Minister was determined not only to redress them, but at the same time to carry the favourite plan of taxing America into execution. An advantage is then offered to the East-India Company, which by law they had not been entitled to, of sending their tea immediately to America. This measure being adopted by them, the Minister vainly hoped to find us submitting openly to this tax; as, notwithstanding the duty, we should receive the tea on cheaper terms. If this measure should not succeed, he was then prepared to carry the declaration of Parliament into force, and procure such other oppressive laws to be made, as might lay us in the deepest distress, and compel us to submit.

In this manner, my countrymen, were the distresses of the people of Boston brought upon them. The East-India Company sent ships loaded with tea to different parts of America. They sent tea to Boston. In all other parts they suffered it to be landed and stored, or it was agreed to carry it back to Britain. At Boston they refused to carry it back, and the people would not suffer it to be landed, well knowing that if it was, the duty would be paid by the Company' s agents, and the tea sold, if not in New-England, to the other Colonies in America. They remonstrated against the landing of the tea; they waited many days patiently for a satisfactory determination; the officers of the Customs refused to suffer the ship to return; the men-of-war determined it should not pass; and by these circumstances were they reduced to the necessity of throwing the tea into the water, as they attempted to land it.

Although the law of nature and self-defence in all such cases, does justify their conduct, yet the dispute is not now about the price of the tea, but the duly on that tea. It is not the sum of ten thousand Pounds, which was the value of the tea, that the people of Boston and all North America are contending with Britain for, but it is our right to freedom to dispose of our property when we have acquired it. If paying for the tea was the condition on which our rights should be restored, and on which our property might remain secure, all America would not engage in this dispute. But this is not the case. Parliament will not be satisfied with that, but have determined that we shall submit to their laws and to their taxes.

And let us now inquire what methods they have taken to oblige us to submit. Punishments should always be

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proportioned to crimes, and where the laws direct the punishment, no power can go beyond it. This is the security we boast of under our free constitution of Government; and it is our invaluable privilege to make these laws. The power that deprives us of this privilege makes us slaves. What, then, is the conduct of Parliament towards us? They will not be satisfied with payment for the tea, but farther insist that we shall submit to whatever laws they make. To compel us to do this they dissolve our Assemblies; suspend our Legislatures; block up the Town of Boston; deprive upwards of thirty thousand inhabitants of the means of subsistence; seize their wharves, &c., to the amount of two hundred thousand Pounds, which, by the act, are never to be restored to them, although they should submit to all that is required by that law. They have altered the Charter of Massachusetts-Bay, which is an agreement between the people of that Province and the King, in writing, under his seal; and have passed an act empowering the Governour to seize the persons of such as do not conform to all things required by their laws, and to send them where he shall think proper, (even to Britain,) to be tried for their supposed offences, where, destitute of friends and money, they will fall unhappy victims to the avarice of corrupted judges, and the rapaciousness of merciless tyrants. Many more things of like tendency are they now preparing for all North America.

To you, then, my countrymen, to all of us, does it belong to take such measures as shall prevent their wicked designs, and secure our lives, our liberty, and property. On the virtue and courage of the people of these Colonies does it depend whether we shall be happy or miserable in this world, and enjoy in peace and quietness the fruits of our labour. Your Representatives in General Congress have planned the measures of resistance; on your courage and virtue do they rely for support in the execution of them. Let us, then, my countrymen, go hand in hand; let us have one voice; let us convince mankind that we are, as one man, actuated by one soul; and that if we are not, we still deserve to be free.

The mode of opposition recommended to us is an union and association of the Colonies, to break off all commercial intercourse with Great Britain, unless our grievances shall be redressed. And why is this plan recommended to us? Surely because it is, of all others, the most safe, speedy, and effectual we can embrace, to restore that harmony to Britainand the Colonies we profess to desire. Rashness and violence can never avail us in the execution of this plan, and therefore we should avoid every conduct tending to so destructive an end; for how can this Association be observed, unless we establish arts and manufactures? How is it possible these should succeed, without peace, order, and the security of our property? And how can these be preserved, unless we discourage every kind of violence, by promoting a due respect for the laws of our country, as far as our unhappy circumstances will admit of it. The principles of the ever-glorious Revolution will always justify a suspension of the laws under like circumstances, but we should never enforce these principles, unless compelled thereto by extreme necessity. Prudence and moderation will give weight to our measures, whilst a contrary conduct will only serve to disunite us, and consequently to involve us in confusion. This is a doctrine which every friend to liberty and his country will inculcate, and on this will the success of our present undertaking chiefly depend. But whilst I recommend to you a temperate conduct, I would not have you to neglect that provision for your safety which the urgency of the case requires. On the contrary, I would advise you to look forward to every contingency, and be prepared for mournful events."

Address delivered to the Inhabitants of a County in Virginia, assembled for the purpose of choosing Deputies to represent them in Colony Convention. [1775-07-01] Anonymous. [S4-V2-p1520] [Document Details][Complete Volume]