Oration, delivered
at Boston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1772, by Dr. Joseph Warren.
Quis talia fando,
Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulyssei,
Temperet a lacrymis.
VIRGIL.
WHEN we turn over the
historic page, and trace the rise and fall of states and empires, the mighty
revolutions which have so often varied the face of the world strike our minds
with solemn surprise, and we are naturally led to endeavour to search out the
causes of such astonishing changes.
That man is formed
for social life, is an observation which, upon our first inquiry, presents
itself immediately to our view, and our reason approves that wise and generous
principle which actuated the first founders of civil government; an institution
which hath its origin in the weakness of individuals, and hath for its end, the
strength and security of all; and so long as the means of effecting this
important end are thoroughly known, and religiously attended to, government is
one of the richest blessings to mankind, and ought to be held in the highest
veneration.
In young and new
formed communities, the grand design of this institution is most generally
understood, and most strictly regarded; the motives which urged to the social
compact, cannot be at once forgotten, and that equality which is remembered to
have subsisted so lately among them, prevents those who are clothed with
authority from attempting to invade the freedom of their brethren; or if such
an attempt is made, it prevents the community from suffering the offender to go
unpunished; every member feels it to be his interest, and knows it to be his
duty, to preserve inviolate the constitution on which the public safety depends,1
and is equally ready to assist the magistrate in the execution of the laws, and
the subject in defence of his right; and so long as this noble attachment to a
constitution, founded on free and benevolent principles, exists in full vigour,
in any state, that state must be flourishing and happy.
It was this noble
attachment to a free constitution, which raised ancient Rome from the smallest
beginnings, to that bright summit of happiness and glory to which she arrived;
and it was the loss of this which plunged her from that summit, into the black
gulf of infamy and slavery. It was this attachment which inspired her senators
with wisdom; it was this which glowed in the breasts of her heroes; it was this
which guarded her liberties, and extended her dominions, gave peace at home,
and commanded respect abroad; and when this decayed, her magistrates 'lost
their reverence for justice and the laws, and degenerated into tyrants and
oppressors; her senators, forgetful of their dignity, and seduced by base
corruption, betrayed their country; her soldiers, regardless of their relation
to the community, and urged only by the hopes of plunder and rapine,
unfeelingly committed the most flagrant enormities; and hired to the trade of
death, with relentless fury they perpetrated the most cruel murders, whereby the
streets of imperial Rome were drenched with her noblest blood. Thus this
empress of the world lost her dominions abroad, and her inhabitants, dissolute
in their manners, at length became contented slaves; and she stands to this
day, the scorn and derision of nations, and a monument of this eternal truth,
that PUBLIC HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON A VIRTUOUS AND UNSHAKEN ATTACHMENT TO A FREE
CONSTITUTION.
It was this
attachment to a constitution, founded on free and benevolent principles, which
inspired the first settlers of this country: they saw with grief the daring
outrages committed on the free constitution of their native land; they knew
that nothing but a civil war could at that time restore its pristine purity. So
hard was it to resolve to embrue their hands in the blood of their brethren,
that they chose rather to quit their fair possessions, and seek another
habitation in a distant clime. When they came to this new world, which they
fairly purchased of the Indian natives, the only rightful proprietors, they
cultivated the then barren soil, by their incessant labour, and defended their
dear bought possessions with the fortitude of the christian, and the bravery of the hero.
After various
struggles, which, during the tyrannic reigns of the house of Stuart,
were constantly kept up between right and wrong, between liberty and slavery,
the connection between Great Britain and this colony, was
settled in the reign of King William and Queen Mary,
by a compact, the conditions of which were expressed in a charter; by which all
the liberties and immunities of British subjects, were confined to this
province, as fully and as absolutely as they possibly could be by any human
instrument which can be devised. And it is undeniably true, that the greatest
and most important right of a British subject is, that he shall be
governed by no laws but those to which he either in person or by his
representative hath given his consent: and this I will venture to
assert, is the grand basis of British freedom; it is interwoven with the
constitution; and whenever this is lost, the constitution must be destroyed.
The British
constitution (of which ours is a copy) is a happy compound of the three forms
(under some of which all governments may be ranged) viz. monarchy, aristocracy,
and democracy: of these three the British Legislature is composed, and without
the consent of each branch, nothing can carry with it the force of a law; but
when a law is to be passed for raising a tax, that law can originate only in
the democratic branch, which is the House of Commons in Britain, and the House
of Representatives here. The reason is obvious : they and their constituents
are to pay much the largest part of it; but as the aristocratic branch, which
in Britain, is the house of lords, and in this province, the
council, are also to pay some part, THEIR consent is necessary; and as the
monarchic branch, which in Britain is the king, and with us, either the king in
person, or the governor whom he shall be pleased to appoint to act in his
stead, is supposed to have a just sense of his own interest, which is that of
all the subjects in general, HIS consent is also necessary; and when the
consent of these three branches is obtained, the taxation is most certainly
legal.
Let us now allow
ourselves a few moments to examine the late acts of the British parliament for
taxing America. Let us with candour judge whether they are constitutionally
binding upon us: if they are, IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE let us submit to them,
without one murmuring word.
First, I would ask
whether the members of the British House of Commons are the democracy of this
province? If they are, they are either the people of this province, or are
elected by the people of this province, to represent them, and have therefore a
constitutional right to originate a bill for taxing them: it is most certain
they are neither; and therefore nothing done by them can be said to be done by
the democratic branch of our constitution. I would next ask, whether the Lords,
who compose the aristocratic branch of the legislature, are peers of America? I
never heard it was (even in these extraordinary times) so much as pretended;
and if they are not, certainly no act of theirs can be said to be the act of the
aristocratic branch of our constitution. The power of the monarchic branch we
with pleasure acknowledge, resides in the king, who may act either in person or
by his representative; and I freely confess that I can see no reason why a
PROCLAMATION for raising money in America, issued by the king's sole authority,
would not be equally consistent with our own constitution, and therefore
equally binding upon us with the late acts of the British
parliament for taxing us; for it is plain, that if there is any validity in
those acts, it must arise altogether from the monarchical branch of the legislature:
and I further think that it would be at least as equitable; for I do not
conceive it to be of the least importance to us by whom our property is taken
away, so long as it is taken without our consent; and I am very much at a loss
to know by what figure of rhetoric, the inhabitants of this province can be
called FREE SUBJECTS, when they are obliged to obey implicitly, such laws as
are made for them by men three thousand miles off, whom they know not, and whom
they never have empowered to act for them; or how they can be said to have PROP
ERTY, when a body of men, over whom they have not the least control, and who
are not in any way accountable to them, shall oblige them to deliver up any
part, or the whole of their substance, without even asking their consent: and
yet, whoever pretends that the late acts of the British parliament for taxing
America ought to be deemed binding upon us, must admit at once that we are
absolute SLAVES, and have no property of our own; or else that we may be
FREEMEN, and at the same time under a necessity of obeying the arbitrary
commands of those over whom we have no control or influence; and that we may
HAVE PROPERTY OF OUR OWN, which is entirely at the disposal of another. Such
gross absurdities, I believe, will not be relished in this enlightened age :
and it can be no matter of wonder that the people quickly perceived, and
seriously complained of the inroads which these acts must unavoidably make upon
their liberty, and of the hazard to which their whole property is by them
exposed; for, if they may be taxed without their consent, even in the smallest
trifle, they may also, without their consent, be deprived of every thing they
possess, although never so valuable, never so dear. Certainly it never entered
the hearts of our ancestors, that after so many dangers in this then desolate
wilderness, their hard earned property should be at the disposal of the British
parliament; and as it was soon found that this taxation could not be supported
by reason and argument, it seemed necessary that one act of oppression should
be enforced by another, and therefore, contrary to our just rights as
possessing, or at least having a just title to possess, all the liberties and
IMMUNITIES of British subjects, a standing army was established among us in a
time of peace; and evidently for the purpose of effecting that, which it was
one principal design of the founders of the constitution to prevent (when they
declared a standing army in a time of peace to be AGAINST LAW) namely, for the
enforcement of obedience to acts which, upon fair examination, appeared to be
unjust and unconstitutional.
The ruinous
consequences of standing armies to free communities, may be seen in the
histories of Syracuse, Rome, and many other once flourishing states; some of
which have now scarce a name! their baneful influence is most suddenly felt,
when they are placed in populous cities; for, by a corruption of morals, the
public happiness is immediately affected? and that this is one of the effects
of quartering troops in a populous city, is a truth, to which many a mourning
parent, many a lost, despairing child in this metropolis, must bear a very
melancholy testimony. Soldiers are also taught to consider arms as the only
arbiters by which every dispute is to be decided between contending states;
they are instructed implicitly to obey their commanders, without inquiring into
the justice of the cause they are engaged to support: hence it is, that they
are ever to be dreaded as the ready engines of tyranny and oppression. And it
is too observable that they are prone to introduce the same mode of decision in
the disputes of individuals, and from thence have often arisen great
animosities between them and the inhabitants, who, whilst in a naked
defenceless state, are frequently insulted and abused by an armed soldiery. And
this will be more especially the case, when the troops are informed that the
intention of their being stationed in any city, is to OVERAWE THE INHABITANTS.
That this was the avowed design of stationing an armed force in this town, is
sufficient ly known; and we, my fellow-citizens, have
seen, We have felt the tragical effects! THE FATAL FIFTH OF MARCH, 1770, CAN
NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. The horrors of THAT DREADFUL NIGHT are but too deeply
impressed on our hearts. Language is too feeble to paint the emotions of our
souls, when our streets were stained with the BLOOD OF OUR BRETHREN; when our
ears were wounded by the groans
of the dying, and our eyes were tormented with the sight of the mangled
bodies of the dead.
When our alarmed imagination presented to our view our houses wrapt in flames,
our children subjected to
the barbarous caprice of the raging soldiery; our beauteous virgins exposed to
all the insolence of unbridled passion; our virtuous wives, endeared to us by
every tender tie, falling a sacrifice to worse than brutal violence, and
perhaps, like the famed Lucretia, distracted with anguish and
despair, ending their wretched lives by their own fair hands. When we beheld
the authors of our distress parading in our streets, or drawn up in a regular
battalia, as though in a hostile city, our hearts beat to arms; we snatched our
weapons, almost resolved, by one decisive stroke, to avenge the death of our
SLAUGHTERED BRETHREN, and to secure from future danger, all that we held most
dear: but propitious Heaven forbad the bloody carnage, and saved the threatened
victims of our too keen resentment, not by their discipline, not by their
regular array; no, it was royal George's livery that proved
their shield, it was that which turned the pointed engines of destruction from
their breasts.2 The thoughts of vengeance were soon
buried in our inbred affection to Great Britain, and calm reason
dictated a method of removing the troops more mild than an immediate recourse
to the sword. With united efforts you urged the immediate departure of the
troops from the town; you urged it, with a resolution which ensured success;
you obtained your wishes, and the removal of the troops was effected, without
one drop of their blood being shed by the inhabitants.
The immediate actors
in the tragedy of THAT NIGHT were surrendered to justice. It is not mine to say
how far they were guilty! they have been tried by the country and ACQUITTED of
murder! and they are not to be again arraigned at an earthly bar: but surely
the men who have promiscuously scattered death amidst the innocent inhabitants
of a populous city, ought to see well to it that they be prepared to stand at
the bar of an omniscient Judge! and all who contrived or encouraged the stationing
troops in this place, have reasons of eternal importance, to reflect with deep
contrition, on their base designs, and humbly to repent of their impious
machinations.
The infatuation
which hath seemed, for a number of years, to prevail in the British councils,
with regard to us, is truly astonishing! what can be proposed by the repeated
attacks made upon our freedom, I really cannot surmise; even leaving justice
and humanity out of the question, I do not know one single advantage which can
arise to the British nation, from our being enslaved; I know not of any gains,
which can be wrung from us by oppression, which they may not obtain from us by
our own consent, in the smooth channel of commerce; we wish the wealth and
prosperity of Britain; we contribute largely to both. Doth what we contribute
lose all its value, because it is done voluntarily? the amazing increase of
riches to Britain, the great rise of the value of her lands, the flourishing
state of her navy are striking proofs of the advantages derived to her from her
commerce with the colonies; and it is our earnest desire that she may still
continue to enjoy the same emoluments, until her streets are paved with
AMERICAN GOLD; only, let us have the pleasure of calling it our own, whilst it
is in our hands; but this it seems is too great a favour: we are to be governed
by the absolute commands of others; our property is to be
taken away without our consent; if we complain, our complaints are treated with
contempt; if we assert our rights, that assertion is deemed insolence; if we
humbly offer to submit the matter to the impartial decision of reason, the
sword is judged the most proper argument to silence our murmurs! but this
cannot long be the. case: surely the British nation will not suffer the reputation
of their justice and their honour, to be thus sported away by a capricious
ministry; no, they will in a short time open their eyes to their true interest:
they nourish in their own breasts, a noble love of liberty; they hold her dear,
and they know that all who have once possessed her charms, had rather die than
suffer her to be torn from their embraces; they are also sensible that Britain
is so deeply interested in the prosperity of the colonies, that she must
eventually feel every wound given to their freedom; they cannot be ignorant
that more dependence may be placed on the affections of a brother, than on the
forced service of a slave; they
must approve your
efforts for the preservation of your rights; from a sympathy of soul they must
pray for your success; and I doubt not but they will, ere long, exert
themselves effectually, to redress your grievances. Even in the dissolute reign
of King Charles II.
when the House of Commons impeached the earl of Clarendon of
high treason, the first article on which they founded their accusation was,
that " he had designed a standing army to be raised, and to govern the
kingdom thereby." And the eighth article was, that "he had introduced
an arbitrary government into his majesty's plantation." A terrifying
example to those who are now forging chains for this country.
You have, my friends
and countrymen, frustrated the designs of your enemies, by your unanimity and
fortitude: it was your union and determined spirit which expelled those troops,
who polluted your streets with innocent blood. You have appointed this
anniversary as a standing memorial of the bloody consequences of placing an
armed force in a populous city, and of your deliverance from the dangers which
then seemed to hang over your heads: and I am confident that you never will
betray the least want of spirit when called upon to guard your free- : dom.
None but they who set a just value upon the blessings of liberty are worthy to
enjoy her; your illustrious fathers were her zealous votaries; when the
blasting frowns of tyranny drove her from public view, they clasped her in
their arms, they cherished her in their generous bosoms, they brought.. her
safe over the rough ocean, and fixed her seat in this then dreary wilderness;
they nursed her infant age with the most tender care; for her sake, they
patiently bore the severest hardships; for her support, they underwent the most
rugged toils: in her defence, they boldly encountered the most alarming dangers;
neither the ravenous beasts that ranged the woods for prey, nor the more
furious savages of the wilderness, could damp their ardour! Whilst with one
hand they broke the stubborn glebe, with the other they grasped their weapons,
ever ready to protect her from danger. No sacrifice, not even their own blood,
was esteemed too rich a libation for her altar! God prospered their valour;
they preserved her brilliancy unsullied; they enjoyed her whilst they lived,
and dying, bequeathed the dear inheritance to your care. And as they left you
this glorious legacy, they have undoubtedly transmitted to you some portion of
their noble spirit, to inspire you with virtue to merit her, and courage to
preserve her: you surely cannot, with such examples before your eyes, as every
page of the history of this country affords,3 suffer your liberties
to be ravished from you by lawless force, or cajoled away by flattery and
fraud.
The voice of your
fathers' blood cries to you from the ground; MY SONS SCORN TO BE SLAVES! in
vain we met the frowns of tyrants; in vain, we crossed the boisterous ocean,
found a new world, and prepared it for the happy residence of LIBERTY; in vain,
we toiled; in vain, we fought; we bled in vain, if you, our offspring, want
valour to repel the assaults of her invaders! Stain not the glory of your worthy
ancestors; but like them resolve, never to part with your birthright; be wise
in your deliberations, and determined in your exertions for the preservation of
your liberties. Follow not the dictates of passion, but enlist yourselves under
the sacred banner of reason; use every method in your power to secure your
rights; at least pre vent the curses
of posterity from being heaped upon your memories.
If you, with united
zeal and fortitude, oppose the torrent of oppression; if you feel the true fire
of patriotism burning in your breasts; if you, from your souls, despise the
most gaudy dress that slavery can wear; if you really prefer the lonely cottage
(whilst blest with liberty) to gilded palaces, surrounded with the ensigns of
slavery, you may have the fullest assurance that tyranny, with her whole
accursed train, will hide their hideous heads in confusion, shame and despair;
if you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence, that THE SAME
ALMIGHTY BEING who protected your pious and venerable forefathers, who enabled
them to turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful field, who so often made bare
his arm for their salvation, will still be mindful of you their offspring.
MAY THIS ALMIGHTY
BEING graciously preside in all our councils. - May he direct us to such
measures as he himself shall approve, and be pleased to bless. May we ever be a
people favoured of GOD. May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue,
the asylum of the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last
shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished
ruin!
_______________
1 Omnes ordines ad conservandam rempublicam,
mente, voluntate, studio, virtute, voce, consentiunt.
CICERO.
2 I have the strongest reason to believe that
I have mentioned the only circumstance which saved the troops from destruction.
It was then, and now is, the opinion of those who were best acquainted with the
state of affairs at that time, that had thrice that number of troops, belonging
to any power at open war with us, been in this town, in the same exposed
condition, scarce a man would have lived to have seen the morning light.
3 At simul heroum laudes, et facta
parentis
Jam legere, et quæ
sit poteris cognoscere virtus. VIRG
SOURCE: William T.
Clap, Publisher, Orations Delivered at the Request of the Inhabitants
of the Town of Boston to Commemorate the Evening of the Fifth of March, 1770;
When a Number of Citizens were Killed by a Party of British Troops, Quartered
Among Them, In a Time of Peace, Second Edition, pp. 13-25
