Chapter XXVI: Introduction (5)

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace!—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Historical Note.= Patrick Henry (1736-1799) delivered this speech at
the Virginia Convention, March 28, 1775. For some years this fiery
young orator had been active in Virginia in stirring up resistance to
the tyrannical acts of the King. In 1774 the royal governor in that
colony reported that every county was arming a company of men for
the purpose of protecting their committees, which had been formed,
as in the other colonies, to work out a plan of coöperation against
the British government. In March, 1775, the second revolutionary
convention of Virginia met at Richmond. A resolution was offered to
put the colony into a state of defense. Some delegates objected to
such radical action, and it is to these men that Henry addressed the
opening sentences of his speech.

The resolution was adopted. The chief command of the Virginia forces
was offered to Colonel Washington, who accepted with the words, “It
is my full intention to devote my life and fortune to the cause in
which we are engaged.”

=Discussion.= 1. From reading the first paragraph, what idea do you
get of Patrick Henry as an opponent? 2. Do you think Patrick Henry
expresses a truth for all time when he says, “In proportion to the
magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate”? 3.
Find, in your history, the chief acts of the British Ministry for
the ten years prior to 1775. 4. What are the arguments which Patrick
Henry uses to convince the delegates of the need of immediate action?
5. What did the next gale sweeping from the north bring to their
ears? 6. Notice Patrick Henry’s use of figurative language throughout
this speech. 7. Pronounce the following: siren; illusion; arduous;
solace; insidious; inestimable; formidable.

=Phrases=

of awful moment, 386, 8
illusions of hope, 387, 10
arduous struggle, 387, 13
temporal salvation, 387, 16
anguish of spirit, 387, 17
insidious smile, 387, 24
implements of war, 387, 33
martial array, 387, 34
preserve inviolate, 388, 22
inestimable privileges, 388, 22
cope with so formidable, 388, 29
supinely on our backs, 388, 35
delusive phantom, 388, 35
extenuate the matter, 389, 14

GEORGE WASHINGTON TO HIS WIFE

Philadelphia, 18 June, 1775

My Dearest:

I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with inexpressible concern, and this concern is greatly aggravated and increased when I reflect upon the uneasiness I know it will give you. It has been determined in Congress that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the command of it.

You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home, than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven years. But as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose. You might, and I suppose did perceive, from the tenor of my letters, that I was apprehensive I could not avoid this appointment, as I did not pretend to intimate when I should return. That was the case. It was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment, without exposing my character to such censures as would have reflected dishonor upon myself and given pain to my friends. This, I am sure, could not, and ought not, to be pleasing to you, and must have lessened me considerably in my own esteem. I shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you in the fall. I shall feel no pain from the toil or the danger of the campaign; my unhappiness will flow from the uneasiness I know you will feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that you will summon your whole fortitude and pass your time as agreeably as possible. Nothing will give me so much sincere satisfaction as to hear this, and to hear it from your own pen. My earnest and ardent desire is that you would pursue any plan that is most likely to produce content and a tolerable degree of tranquillity; as it must add greatly to my uneasy feelings to hear that you are dissatisfied or complaining at what I really could not avoid.

As life is always uncertain and common prudence dictates to every man the necessity of settling his temporal concerns while it is in his power, and while the mind is calm and undisturbed, I have, since I came to this place (for I had not time to do it before I left home), got Colonel Pendleton to draft a will for me, by the directions I gave him, which will I now enclose. The provision made for you in case of my death will, I hope, be agreeable.

I shall add nothing more, as I have several letters to write, but to desire that you will remember me to your friends, and to assure you that I am with the most unfeigned regard, my dear Patsy, your affectionate, &c.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Historical Note.= George Washington (1732-1799) came from Virginia
to attend the second meeting of the Continental Congress held in
Philadelphia May 10, 1775. He was at that time commander of the
militia of Virginia and sat in Congress in his colonel’s uniform. In
the name of “The United Colonies” the Congress voted to authorize the
enlistment of troops, to build and garrison forts, and to issue notes
to the amount of three million dollars, the original “Liberty Loan”
in America. There was an army of about ten thousand men encamped
around Boston and these Congress adopted as “The Continental Army.”
John Adams rose in his place and proposed the name of the Virginian,
George Washington, to be commander-in-chief of this New England army.
“The gentleman,” he said, “is among us and is very well known to us
all; a gentleman whose skill and experience as an officer, whose
independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character
would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial
exertions of all the colonies better than any other person in the
Union.” The pay of the commander-in-chief was fixed at five hundred
dollars a month and on June 15 Washington received the unanimous
vote for this all-important office. His lofty stature, exceeding six
feet, his grave and handsome face, his noble bearing and courtly
grace of manner all proclaimed him worthy of the honor. In a brief
speech expressive of his high sense of the honor conferred upon him,
he said, “I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in this room,
that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, that I do not
think myself equal to the command I am honored with. As to pay, I
beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration
could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the
expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any
profit of it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I
doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I desire.”

As there was no time for a visit to his home, Mt. Vernon, on the
Potomac River, Washington was obliged to give his wife this important
information by letter. (In 1759 Washington had married Mrs. Martha
Custis, the widow of one of the wealthiest planters in the Virginia
Colony. She had two beautiful children at the time of her marriage,
but when Washington went north to Philadelphia Mrs. Washington was
quite alone, for her son was away from home and her daughter had died
a few years before.) Later in the year Mrs. Washington went north
and spent the winter with her husband at Craigie house, the army
headquarters in Cambridge.

=Discussion.= 1. Name the fine qualities of Washington shown in this
letter. 2. Read the sentence that tells briefly what has happened. 3.
What do you imagine was Mrs. Washington’s reply to this letter?

=Phrases=

inexpressible concern, 390, 2
consciousness of a trust, 390, 13
too great for my capacity, 390, 13
distant prospect, 390, 15
perceive, from the tenor, 391, 4
exposing my character to censures, 391, 8
summon your fortitude, 391, 17
ardent desire, 391, 20
tolerable degree of tranquillity, 391, 22
prudence dictates, 391, 25
temporal concerns, 391, 26
unfeigned regard, 391, 34

GEORGE WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON

Valley Forge, 16 February, 1778

Dear Sir:

It is with great reluctance I trouble you on a subject which does not properly fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress than I have felt since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs; I mean the present dreadful situation of the army, for want of provision, and the miserable prospects before us, with respect to futurity. It is more alarming than you will probably conceive; for, to form a just idea of it, it were necessary to be on the spot. For some days past, there has been little less than a famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been, ere this, excited by their suffering to a general mutiny and dispersion. Strong symptoms, however, of discontent have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most active efforts, everywhere, can long avert so shocking a catastrophe.

Our present sufferings are not all. There is no foundation laid for any adequate relief hereafter. All the magazines provided in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and all the immediate additional supplies they seem capable of affording, will not be sufficient to support the army more than a month longer, if so long. Very little has been done at the eastward, and as little to the southward; and whatever we have a right to expect from those quarters must necessarily be very remote, and is, indeed, more precarious than could be wished. When the before-mentioned supplies are exhausted, what a terrible crisis must ensue, unless all the energy of the Continent shall be exerted to provide a timely remedy!

I am etc.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Historical Note.= This letter was addressed to George Clinton,
governor of New York from 1777-1795. Washington appealed to Clinton
because of the abilities and resources of New York and also because
the governor’s zeal as a patriot was well known. At the same time
Washington addressed a similar letter to the inhabitants of New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, urging the
farmers to provide cattle for the use of the army. He assures them of
a bountiful price as well as the knowledge that they have rendered
most essential service to the illustrious cause of their country.

=Discussion.= 1. Read in your history text what is said about the
winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. 2. How do the methods of
conserving food for the army in Washington’s time compare with those
of our own time? 3. How does Washington hope to avert a terrible
crisis? 4. Pronounce the following: incomparable; catastrophe;
adequate; precarious.

=Phrases=

fall within your province, 393, 2
zealous exertions, 393, 5
with respect to futurity, 393, 8
incomparable patience, 393, 14
excited to mutiny and dispersion, 393, 15
symptoms of discontent, 393, 16
avert so shocking a catastrophe, 393, 18
adequate relief hereafter, 393, 21
the magazines provided, 393, 21
crisis must ensue, 394, 7

SONG OF MARION’S MEN

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

Our band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold;
The British soldier trembles
When Marion’s name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress-tree;
We know the forest round us,
As seamen know the sea.
We know its walls of thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass,
Its safe and silent islands
Within the dark morass.

Woe to the English soldiery
That little dread us near!
On them shall light at midnight
A strange and sudden fear;
When waking to their tents on fire
They grasp their arms in vain,
And they who stand to face us
Are beat to earth again;
And they who fly in terror deem
A mighty host behind,
And hear the tramp of thousands
Upon the hollow wind.

Then sweet the hour that brings release
From danger and from toil;
We talk the battle over,
And share the battle’s spoil.
The woodland rings with laugh and shout,
As if a hunt were up,
And woodland flowers are gathered
To crown the soldier’s cup.
With merry songs we mock the wind
That in the pine-top grieves,
And slumber long and sweetly,
On beds of oaken leaves.

Well knows the fair and friendly moon
The band that Marion leads—
The glitter of their rifles,
The scampering of their steeds.
’Tis life our fiery barbs to guide
Across the moonlight plains;
’Tis life to feel the night-wind
That lifts their tossing manes.
A moment in the British camp—
A moment—and away
Back to the pathless forest,
Before the peep of day.

Grave men there are by broad Santee,
Grave men with hoary hairs,
Their hearts are all with Marion,
For Marion are their prayers.
And lovely ladies greet our band,
With kindliest welcoming,
With smiles like those of summer,
And tears like those of spring.
For them we wear these trusty arms,
And lay them down no more
Till we have driven the Briton,
Forever, from our shore.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 41.

=Historical Note.= General Francis Marion was a general of the
Revolutionary period. He was a leader of a band of men who worried
the victorious British troops in the Carolinas in 1780 and 1781
and assisted in driving Cornwallis north, where he surrendered at
Yorktown in 1781. Marion and his men in their greenwood fortress
remind us of Robin Hood and his merry men.

=Discussion.= 1. Who is speaking in this poem? 2. What does the word
“band” tell you about these men? 3. How do seamen know their way
when on the ocean? 4. How do woodsmen know their way in the forest?
5. Read the lines that picture a southern forest. 6. What does the
second stanza tell you of Marion’s method of attack? 7. Notice in the
third stanza how the men spend their leisure time. 8. When did these
hours of release occur? 9. Why is the moon called friendly? 10. Which
lines show their quickness of movement? 11. For whom are these men
fighting?

=Phrases=

true and tried, 395, 1
our tent the cypress-tree, 395, 6
walls of thorny vines, 395, 9
glades of reedy grass, 395, 10
dark morass, 395, 12
hollow wind, 395, 24
hour that brings release, 395, 25
battle’s spoil, 395, 28
as if a hunt were up, 396, 2
fiery barbs, 396, 13
broad Santee, 396, 21
smiles like those of summer, 396, 27

TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS

THOMAS PAINE

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; ’tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right, not only to tax, but to “bind us in all cases whatsoever,” and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent.

I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, “Well! give me peace in my day.” Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace”; and his single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish in himself between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.

The heart that feels not now, is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ’Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to “bind me in all cases whatsoever” to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Historical Note.= Thomas Paine (1737-1809), an interesting figure
of the Revolutionary period, did much by his writings to help win
the war. Franklin on one occasion said, “Where liberty is, there is
my home.” Whereupon Paine answered, “Where liberty is not, there
is my home.” He came to America from England in 1774 and fought
for America’s freedom as a volunteer under Washington. After the
Revolution he went to France, where again he fought for liberty in
the French Revolution.

This selection is from a pamphlet called “The Crisis,” published in
1776 by Paine. Washington had lost the battle of Long Island and
had been compelled to retreat from New York toward Philadelphia. In
Philadelphia there were many royalists who hoped that England would
win the war. Washington’s soldiers, who had enlisted for short terms,
were encouraged to desert or to resign at the end of their terms. The
situation was serious.

Washington ordered that “The Crisis” be read before every company of
soldiers in his army.

=Discussion.= 1. Select from these paragraphs sentences that would
make good mottoes. 2. What political and military situation did Paine
have in mind in the opening sentences? 3. What do you think of the
argument of the tavern-keeper at Amboy as compared with Paine’s? 4.
What do we think today of our “remoteness from the wrangling world”?
5. What, in the last one hundred years, has brought Europe and
America closer together than they were in Paine’s day? 6. Under what
conditions does Paine think war is justified?

=Phrases=

summer soldier, 397, 1
sunshine patriot, 397, 2
celestial an article, 397, 9
expression is impious, 398, 5
unsupportedly to perish, 398, 9
calamities of war, 398, 11
single reflection, 398, 23
foreign dominion, 398, 30
pursue his principles, 399, 3
offensive war, 399, 6