Speaker 1: Part four of Common Sense by Thomas pain This is
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Speaker 1: Read by Bobnefeld. Common Sense by Thomas Paine, Part four
Speaker 1: of the present Ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflections.
Speaker 1: I have never met with a man, either in England
Speaker 1: or America, who hath not confessed his opinion that a
Speaker 1: separation between the countries would take place at one time
Speaker 1: or another. And is there no instance in which we
Speaker 1: have shown less judgment than in endeavoring to describe what
Speaker 1: we call the ripeness or fitness of the continent for independence.
Speaker 1: As all men allow the measure and vary only in
Speaker 1: their opinion of the time, let us, in order to
Speaker 1: remove mistakes, take a general survey of things, and endeavor,
Speaker 1: if possible, to find out the very time. But we
Speaker 1: need not go far. The inquiry ceases at once, For
Speaker 1: the time hath found us the general concurrence, the glorious
Speaker 1: union of all things, proved the fact it is not
Speaker 1: in numbers, but in unity that our great strength lies.
Speaker 1: Yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force
Speaker 1: of all the world. The continent hath at this time
Speaker 1: the largest body of armed and disciplined men of any
Speaker 1: power under heaven, and is just arrived at that pitch
Speaker 1: of strength in which no single colony is able to
Speaker 1: support itself, and the whole, when united, can accomplish the matter.
Speaker 1: And either more or less than this might be fatal
Speaker 1: in its effects our land, for it is already sufficient.
Speaker 1: And as to naval affairs, we cannot be insensible that
Speaker 1: Britain would never suffer an American man of war to
Speaker 1: be built while the continent remained in her hands. Wherefore
Speaker 1: we should be no forwarder and hundred years hence in
Speaker 1: that branch than we are now. But the truth is
Speaker 1: we should be less so, because the timber of the
Speaker 1: country is every day diminishing, and that which will remain
Speaker 1: at last will be far off and difficult to procure.
Speaker 1: Where the continent, crowded with inhabitants, her sufferings under the
Speaker 1: present circumstances would be intolerable. The more seaport towns we had,
Speaker 1: the more should we have both to defend and to lose.
Speaker 1: Our present numbers are so happily proportioned to our wants
Speaker 1: that no man need be idle. The diminution of trade
Speaker 1: affords an army, and the necessities of an army create
Speaker 1: a new trade. Debts we have none, and whatever we
Speaker 1: may contract on this account will serve as a glorious
Speaker 1: memento of our virtue. Can we but leave posterity with
Speaker 1: a subtled form of government, an independent constitution of its
Speaker 1: own The purchase at any price will be cheap. But
Speaker 1: to expend millions for the sake of getting a few
Speaker 1: vile acts repealed and routing the present ministry only is
Speaker 1: unworthy the charge, and is using posterity with the utmost cruelty,
Speaker 1: because it is leaving them the great work to do,
Speaker 1: and a debt upon their backs from which they derive
Speaker 1: no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy of a man
Speaker 1: of honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow
Speaker 1: heart and a peddling politician. The debt we may contract
Speaker 1: doth not deserve our regard. If the work be but accomplished.
Speaker 1: No nation ought to be without a debt. A national
Speaker 1: debt is a national bond, and when it bears no interest,
Speaker 1: is in no case a grievance. Britain is oppressed with
Speaker 1: a debt of upwards of one hundred and forty millions sterling,
Speaker 1: for which she pays upwards of four millions interest, and
Speaker 1: as a compensation for her debt, she has a large navy.
Speaker 1: America is without a debt and without a navy, Yet
Speaker 1: for the twentieth part of the English National Death could
Speaker 1: have a navy as large. Again, the navy of England
Speaker 1: is not worth at this time more than three millions
Speaker 1: and a half sterling. The first and second editions of
Speaker 1: this pamphlet were published without the following calculations, which are
Speaker 1: now given as a proof that the above estimation of
Speaker 1: the navy is just the charge of building a ship
Speaker 1: of each rate and furnishing her with masts, yards, sails
Speaker 1: and rigging, together with a proportion of eight months bosains
Speaker 1: and carpenter's sea stores, as calculated by mister Burchett, Secretary
Speaker 1: to the Navy, for a ship of one hundred guns
Speaker 1: thirty five thousand, five hundred fifty three pounds sterling ninety
Speaker 1: twenty nine thousand, eight hundred eighty six eighty twenty three thousand,
Speaker 1: six hundred thirty eight seventy seventeen thousand, seven ninety five
Speaker 1: sixty fourteen thousand, one ninety seven fifty ten thousand, six
Speaker 1: oh six, forty seven thousand, five fifty eight thirty five thousand,
Speaker 1: eight forty six, twenty three thousand, seven ten, And from
Speaker 1: hence it is easy to sum up the value or
Speaker 1: cost rather of the whole British Navy, which in the
Speaker 1: year seventeen fifty seven, when it was at its greatest glory,
Speaker 1: consisted of the following ships and guns. Ships six guns
Speaker 1: one hundred cost of one thirty five thousand, five hundred
Speaker 1: fifty three, cost of all two hundred thirteen thousand, three
Speaker 1: hundred eighteen twelve ships, ninety guns twenty nine thousand, eight
Speaker 1: hundred eighty six, cost of all all three hundred fifty eight,
Speaker 1: six hundred thirty two twelve ships, eighty guns twenty three thousand,
Speaker 1: six hundred thirty eight. Cost of all two hundred eighty
Speaker 1: three thousand, six hundred fifty six forty three ships, seventy
Speaker 1: guns seventeen thousand, seven hundred eighty five, cost of all
Speaker 1: seven hundred sixty four seven fifty five thirty five ships
Speaker 1: sixty guns fourteen thousand, one ninety seven, cost of all
Speaker 1: four ninety six eight ninety five forty ships with fifty
Speaker 1: guns ten thousand, six oh six. Cost of all four
Speaker 1: hundred twenty four thousand, two hundred forty forty five ships
Speaker 1: with forty guns seven thousand, five fifty eight. Cost of
Speaker 1: all three hundred forty thousand, one hundred ten fifty eight
Speaker 1: ships with twenty guns, cost of one thirty seven ten.
Speaker 1: Cost of all two hundred fifteen thousand, one hundred eighty
Speaker 1: eighty five sloops, bombs and fire ships one with another
Speaker 1: cost of one two thousand. Cost of all one hundred
Speaker 1: seventy thousand, cost three million, two hundred sixty six thousand,
Speaker 1: seven hundred eighty six remains for guns two hundred thirty
Speaker 1: three thousand, two hundred fourteen total three million, five hundred
Speaker 1: thousand pounds Sterling. No country on the globe is so
Speaker 1: happily situated, or so internally capable of raising a fleet
Speaker 1: as America. Tar, timber, iron and cordage are her natural produce.
Speaker 1: We need go abroad for nothing, Whereas the Dutch, who
Speaker 1: make large profits by hiring out their ships of war
Speaker 1: to the Spaniards and Portuguese, are obliged to import most
Speaker 1: of their materials they use. We ought to view the
Speaker 1: building a fleet as an article of commerce, it being
Speaker 1: a natural manufactory of this country. It is the best
Speaker 1: money we can lay out. A navy, when finished is
Speaker 1: worth more than at cost. And is that nice point
Speaker 1: in national policy in which commerce and protection are united.
Speaker 1: Let us build if we want them not, we can sell,
Speaker 1: and by that means replace our paper currency with ready
Speaker 1: gold and silver. In point of manning afleets, people in
Speaker 1: general run into great errors. It is not necessary that
Speaker 1: one fourth part should be sailors. The terrible privateer Captain
Speaker 1: Death stood the hottest engagement of any ship last war,
Speaker 1: yet had not twenty sailors on board, though her complement
Speaker 1: of men was upwards of two hundred. A few able
Speaker 1: and social sailors will soon instruct a sufficient number of
Speaker 1: active landmen in the common work of a ship. Wherefore
Speaker 1: we never can be more capable to begin on maritime
Speaker 1: matters than now, while our timber is standing, our fisheries
Speaker 1: blocked up, and our sailors and shipwrights out of employ
Speaker 1: men of war War of seventy and eighty guns were
Speaker 1: built forty years ago in New England, and why not
Speaker 1: the same now? Ship building is America's greatest pride, and
Speaker 1: in which she will in time excel the whole world.
Speaker 1: The great empires of the East are mostly inland and
Speaker 1: consequently excluded from the possibility of rivaling her. Africa is
Speaker 1: in a state of barbarism and no power. In Europe,
Speaker 1: hath either such an extent of coast or such an
Speaker 1: internal supply of materials. Where nature hath given the one,
Speaker 1: she has withheld the other to America only hath she
Speaker 1: been liberal of both. The vast empire of Russia is
Speaker 1: almost shut out from the sea, wherefore her boundless forests,
Speaker 1: her tar, iron, and cordage, are only articles of commerce.
Speaker 1: In point of safety, ought we to be without a fleet?
Speaker 1: We are not the little people now which we were
Speaker 1: seeing sixty years ago. At that time we might have
Speaker 1: trusted our property in the streets or fields rather and
Speaker 1: slept securely without locks or boats to our doors or windows.
Speaker 1: The case now is altered, and our methods of defense
Speaker 1: ought to improve with our increase of property. A common
Speaker 1: pirate twelve months ago might have come up the Delaware
Speaker 1: and laid the city of Philadelphia under instant contribution for
Speaker 1: what sum he pleased, And the same might have happened
Speaker 1: to other places, Nay, any daring fellow in a brig
Speaker 1: of fourteen or sixteen guns might have robbed the whole
Speaker 1: continent and carried off half a million of money. These
Speaker 1: are circumstances which demand our attention and point out the
Speaker 1: necessity of naval protection. Some perhaps will say that after
Speaker 1: we have made it up with Britain, she will protect us.
Speaker 1: Can we be so unwise as to mean that she
Speaker 1: shall keep any navy in our harbors for that purpose?
Speaker 1: Common sense will tell us that the power which hath
Speaker 1: endeavored to subdue us is, of all others the most
Speaker 1: improper to defend us. Conquest may be effected under the
Speaker 1: pretense of friendship, and ourselves, after a long and brave resistance,
Speaker 1: be at last cheated into slavery. And if her ships
Speaker 1: are not to be admitted into our harbors, I would
Speaker 1: ask how is she to protect us? A navy three
Speaker 1: or four thousand miles off can be of little use,
Speaker 1: and on sudden emergencies none at all. Wherefore, if we
Speaker 1: must hereafter protect ourselves, why not do it for ourselves?
Speaker 1: The English list of ships of war is long and formidable,
Speaker 1: but not a tenth part of them are at any
Speaker 1: one time fit for service, numbers of them not in
Speaker 1: being yet their names are pompously continued in the list.
Speaker 1: If only a plank be left of the ship, and
Speaker 1: not a fifth part of such as are fit for service,
Speaker 1: can be spared on any one station at one time.
Speaker 1: The East and West Indies, Mediterranean, Africa, and other parts
Speaker 1: over which Britain extends her claim make large demands upon
Speaker 1: her navy. From a mixture of prejudice and inattention, we
Speaker 1: have contracted a false notion respecting the navy of England,
Speaker 1: and have talked as if we should have the whole
Speaker 1: of it to encounter at once, And for that reason
Speaker 1: suppose that we must have one as large, which, not
Speaker 1: being instantly practicable, have been made use of by a
Speaker 1: set of disguised tories to discourage our beginning thereon. Nothing
Speaker 1: can be farther from truth than this, For if America
Speaker 1: had only a twentieth part of the naval force of Britain,
Speaker 1: she would be by far and over match for her,
Speaker 1: because as we neither have nor claim any foreign dominion,
Speaker 1: our whole force would be employed on our own coast,
Speaker 1: where we should, in the long run have two to
Speaker 1: one the advantage of those who had three or four
Speaker 1: thousand miles to sail over before they could attack us,
Speaker 1: and the same distance to return in order to refit
Speaker 1: and recruit. And although Britain, by her fleet hath a
Speaker 1: check over our trade to Europe, we have as large
Speaker 1: a one over her trade to the West Indies, which,
Speaker 1: by laying in the neighborhood of the continent, is entirely
Speaker 1: at its mercy. Some method might be fallen on to
Speaker 1: keep up a naval force in time of peace, if
Speaker 1: we should not judge it necessary to support a constant navy.
Speaker 1: If premiums were to be given to merchants to build
Speaker 1: and employ in their service ships mounted with twenty thirty,
Speaker 1: forty or fifty guns, the premiums to be in proportion
Speaker 1: to the loss of bulk to the merchants, fifty or
Speaker 1: sixty of those ships, with a few guardships on constant duty,
Speaker 1: would keep up a sufficient navy, And that without burdening
Speaker 1: ourselves with the evil sort loudly complained of in England,
Speaker 1: of suffering their fleets in time of peace to lie
Speaker 1: rotting in the docks. To unite the sinews of commerce
Speaker 1: and defense is sound policy for when our strength and
Speaker 1: our riches play into each other's hand. We need fear
Speaker 1: no external enemy. In almost every article of defense we
Speaker 1: abound hemp flourishes even to rankness, so that we need
Speaker 1: not want cordage. Our iron is superior to that of
Speaker 1: other countries. Our small arms equal to any in the world.
Speaker 1: Cannon we can cast at pleasure, saltpeter, and gunpowder we
Speaker 1: are every day producing. Our knowledge is hourly improving. Resolution
Speaker 1: is our inherent character, and courage hath never yet forsaken us. Wherefore,
Speaker 1: what is it that we want? Why is it that
Speaker 1: we hesitate from Britain? We can expect nothing but ruin.
Speaker 1: If she is once admitted to the government of America again,
Speaker 1: this continent will not be worth living in. Jealousies will
Speaker 1: be always arising, Insurrections will be constantly happening, And who
Speaker 1: will go forth to quell them? Who will venture his
Speaker 1: life to reduce his own countrymen to a foreign obedience?
Speaker 1: The difference between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, respecting some unlocated lands,
Speaker 1: shows the insignificance of a British government and fully proves
Speaker 1: that nothing but continental authority can regulate continental matter. Another
Speaker 1: reason why the present time is preferable to all others.
Speaker 1: Is that the fewer our numbers are, the more land
Speaker 1: there is yet unoccupied, which, instead of being lavished by
Speaker 1: the king on his worthless dependence, may be hereafter applied
Speaker 1: not only to the discharge of the present debt, but
Speaker 1: to the constant support of government. No nation under Heaven
Speaker 1: hath such an advantage as this. The infant state of
Speaker 1: the colonies, as it is called, so far from being against,
Speaker 1: is an argument in favor of independence. We are sufficiently numerous,
Speaker 1: and were we more so, we might be less united.
Speaker 1: It is a matter worthy of observation that the boer
Speaker 1: country is peopled, the smaller their armies are. In military numbers,
Speaker 1: the ancients far exceeded the moderns, and the reason is evident,
Speaker 1: for trade being the consequence of population. Men become too
Speaker 1: much absorbed thereby to attend to anything else. Commerce diminishes
Speaker 1: the spirit both of patriotism and military defense, and history
Speaker 1: sufficiently informs us that the bravest achievements were always accomplished
Speaker 1: in the non age of a nation. With the increase
Speaker 1: of commerce, England hath lost its spirit. The city of London,
Speaker 1: notwithstanding its numbers, submits to continued insults with the patience
Speaker 1: of a coward. The more men have to lose, the
Speaker 1: less willing they are to venture. The rich are in
Speaker 1: general slaves to fear, and submit to courtly power with
Speaker 1: the trembling duplicity of a spaniel. Youth is the seed
Speaker 1: time of good habits, as well in nations as it individuals.
Speaker 1: It might be difficult, if not impossible, to form the
Speaker 1: continent into one government half a century. Hence, the vast
Speaker 1: variety of interests occasioned by an increase of trade and
Speaker 1: population would create confusion. Colony would be against colony, each
Speaker 1: being able, might scorn each other's assistance. And while the
Speaker 1: proud and foolish gloried in their little distinctions, the wise
Speaker 1: would lament that the union had not been formed before.
Speaker 1: Wherefore the present time is the true time for establishing it.
Speaker 1: The intimacy which is contracted in infancy, and the friendship
Speaker 1: which is formed in misfortune, are, of all others, the
Speaker 1: most lasting and unalterable. Our present union is marked with
Speaker 1: both these characters. We are young, and we have been distressed.
Speaker 1: But our concord hath withstood our troubles and fixes a
Speaker 1: memorable area for posterity to glory. In the present time.
Speaker 1: Likewise is that peculiar time which never happens to a nation,
Speaker 1: but once that is the time of forming itself into
Speaker 1: a government. Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and
Speaker 1: by that means have been compelled to receive laws from
Speaker 1: their conquerors instead of making laws for themselves. First they
Speaker 1: had a king, and then the form of government, whereas
Speaker 1: the articles or charter of government should be formed first,
Speaker 1: and men delegated to execute them afterward. But from the
Speaker 1: errors of other nations, let us learn wisdom and lay
Speaker 1: hold of the present opportunity to begin government at the
Speaker 1: right end. When William the conqueror subdued England, he gave
Speaker 1: them law at the point of the sword. And until
Speaker 1: we consent that the seat of government in America be
Speaker 1: legally and authoritatively occupied, we shall be in danger of
Speaker 1: having it filled by some fortunate ruffian who may treat
Speaker 1: us in the same manner. And then where will be
Speaker 1: our freedom, where our property? As to religion, I hold
Speaker 1: it to be the indispensable duty of all government to
Speaker 1: protect all conscientious professors thereof, And I know of no
Speaker 1: other business which government hath to do. Therewith let a
Speaker 1: man throw aside that narrowness of soul, that selfishness of principle,
Speaker 1: which the niggards of all profit eshions are so unwilling
Speaker 1: to part with, and he will be delivered of his fears.
Speaker 1: On that head. Suspicion is the companion of mean souls
Speaker 1: and the bane of all good society. For myself, I
Speaker 1: fully and conscientiously believe that it is the will of
Speaker 1: the Almighty that there should be diversity of religious opinions
Speaker 1: among us. It affords a larger field for our Christian kindness.
Speaker 1: Were we all have one way of thinking, our religious
Speaker 1: dispositions would want matter for probation. And on this liberal principle,
Speaker 1: I look on the various denominations among us to be
Speaker 1: like children of the same family, differing only in what
Speaker 1: is called their Christian names. In page forty I threw
Speaker 1: out a few thoughts on the propriety of a continental charter,
Speaker 1: for I only presume to offer hints, not plans, And
Speaker 1: in this place I take the liberty of rementioning the
Speaker 1: subject by observing that a charter is to be understood
Speaker 1: as a bond of solemn obligation, which the whole enters
Speaker 1: into to support the right of every separate part, whether
Speaker 1: of religion, personal freedom, or property. A firm bargain and
Speaker 1: a right reckoning make long friends. In a former page,
Speaker 1: I likewise mentioned the necessity of a large and equal representation,
Speaker 1: And there is no political matter which more deserves our attention.
Speaker 1: A small number of electors or a small number of
Speaker 1: representatives are equally dangerous. But if the number of the
Speaker 1: representatives be not only small but unequal, the danger is increased.
Speaker 1: As an instance of this, I mentioned the following When
Speaker 1: the associator's petition was before the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania,
Speaker 1: twenty eight members only were present. All the Bucks County
Speaker 1: members being eight, voted against it, and had seven of
Speaker 1: the Chester members done the same. This whole province had
Speaker 1: been governed by two counties only, and this danger it
Speaker 1: is always exposed to the unwarrantable stretch, likewise, which that
Speaker 1: House made in their last sitting to get an undue
Speaker 1: authority over the delegates of that province. Ought to warn
Speaker 1: the people at large how they trust power out of
Speaker 1: their own hands. A set of instructions for the delegates
Speaker 1: were put together, which, in point of sense and business,
Speaker 1: would have dishonored a schoolboy, and after being approved by
Speaker 1: a few, a very few without doors, were carried into
Speaker 1: the House, and there passed in behalf of the whole colony.
Speaker 1: Whereas did the whole colony know with what ill will
Speaker 1: that house hath entered on some necessary public measures, they
Speaker 1: would not hesitate a moment to think them unworthy of
Speaker 1: such a trust. Immediate necessity makes many things convenient, which,
Speaker 1: if continued, would grow into oppressions. Expedients and rights are
Speaker 1: different things. When the calamities of America required a consultation,
Speaker 1: there is no method so ready, or at that time
Speaker 1: so proper as to appoint persons from the several houses
Speaker 1: of Assembly for that purpose. And the wisdom with which
Speaker 1: they have proceeded hath preserved this continent from ruin. But
Speaker 1: as it is more than probable that we shall never
Speaker 1: be without a Congress, every well wished to good order
Speaker 1: must own that the mode for choosing members of that
Speaker 1: body deserves consideration. And I put it as a question
Speaker 1: to those who make a study of mankind whether representation
Speaker 1: and election is not too great a power for one
Speaker 1: and the same body of men to possess. When we
Speaker 1: are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue
Speaker 1: is not hereditary. It is from our enemies that we
Speaker 1: often gain excellent maxims, and are frequently surprised into reason
Speaker 1: by their mistakes. Mister Cornwall, one of the Lords of
Speaker 1: the Treasury, treated the petition of the New York Assembly,
Speaker 1: with contempt because that house, he said, consisted but of
Speaker 1: twenty six members, which trifling number, he argued, could not
Speaker 1: with decency be put for the whole. We thank him
Speaker 1: for his involuntary honesty to conclude. However strange it may
Speaker 1: appear to some, or however unwilling they may be, to
Speaker 1: think so, matters not. But many strong and striking reasons
Speaker 1: may be given to show that nothing can settle our
Speaker 1: affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration for independence,
Speaker 1: some of which are first. It is the custom of nations,
Speaker 1: when any two are at war, for some other powers,
Speaker 1: not engaged in the quarrel, to step in as mediators
Speaker 1: and bring about the preliminaries of a peace. But while
Speaker 1: America calls herself the subject of Great Britain, no power,
Speaker 1: however well disposed she may be, can offer her mediation. Wherefore,
Speaker 1: in our present state we may quarrel on forever. Secondly,
Speaker 1: it is unreasonable to suppose that France or Spain will
Speaker 1: give us any kind of assistance if we mean only
Speaker 1: to make use of that assistance for the purpose of
Speaker 1: repairing the breach and strengthening the connection between Britain and America,
Speaker 1: because those powers would be sufferers by the consequences. Thirdly,
Speaker 1: while we profess ourselves the subjects of Britain, we must,
Speaker 1: in the eye of foreign nations, be considered as rebels.
Speaker 1: The present is somewhat dangerous to their peace. For men
Speaker 1: to be in arms under the name of subjects. We
Speaker 1: on the spots can solve the paradox, but to unite
Speaker 1: resistance and subjection requires an idea much to refined for
Speaker 1: common understanding and Warthly, were a manifesto to be published
Speaker 1: and dispatched to foreign courts, setting forth the miseries we
Speaker 1: have endured and the peaceable methods we have ineffectually used
Speaker 1: for redress, declaring at the same time that, not being
Speaker 1: able any longer to live happily or safely under the
Speaker 1: cruel disposition of the British Court, we had been driven
Speaker 1: to the necessity of breaking off all connections with her
Speaker 1: at the same time assuring all such courts of our
Speaker 1: peaceable disposition towards them, and of our desire of entering
Speaker 1: into trade with them. Such a memorial would produce more
Speaker 1: good effects to this continent than if a ship were
Speaker 1: fraighted with petitions to Britain. Under our present denomination of
Speaker 1: British subjects, we can neither be received nor heard abroad.
Speaker 1: The custom of all court is against us, and will
Speaker 1: be so until, by an independence we take rank with
Speaker 1: other nations. These proceedings may at first appear strange and difficult,
Speaker 1: but like all other steps which we have already passed over,
Speaker 1: will in a little time become familiar and agreeable. And
Speaker 1: until an independence is declared, the continent will feel itself
Speaker 1: like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business
Speaker 1: from day to day, yet knows it must be done,
Speaker 1: hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is
Speaker 1: continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity and of
Speaker 1: Part four.