Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/425

No. 139] Doctor SPRY, here ; but it is a severity we have brought upon ourselves. When every mild expedient, to stop the atrocious and infamous practice of smuggling, has been try'd in vain, the government is justifiable in making laws against it, even like those of Draco, which were written in blood. . . . Believe me, my Friend, it gives me great pain to see so much ingratitude in the colonies to the mother country, whose arms and money so lately rescued them from a French government. I have been told, that some have gone so far as to say, that they would, as things are, prefer such a government to an English one. — Heaven knows I have but little malice in my heart, yet, for a moment, I ardently wish that these spurious, unworthy sons of Britain could feel the iron rod of a Spanish inquisitor, or a French farmer of the revenue ; it would indeed be a punishment suited to their ingratitude. ..

. . . I am very sure the loyalty of the colonies has ever been irreproachable ; but from the pride of some, and the ignorance of others, the cry against mother country has spread from colony to colony ; and it is to be feared, that prejudices and resentments are kindled among them which it will be difficult ever, thoroughly, to sooth or extinguish. It may become necessary for the supreme legislature of the nation to frame some code, and therein adjust the rights of the colonies, with precision and certainty, otherwise Great-Britain will always be teazed with new claims about liberty and privileges.



UG. 27, 1765. — There cannot, perhaps, be found in the records of time a more flagrant instance to what a pitch of infatuation an incensed populace may arise than the last night afforded. The destructions, demolitions, and ruins caused by the rage of the Colonies in