H E
Number 445.
NOR
-CAROLINA GAZETTE.
September ii, 177S.
TH
With the lateft ADVICES, Foreign and Domestic.
-1
SEMPER PRO LIBERTATE, ET BONO PUBLICO.
To tbe EARL CARLISLE.
IV1Y LORD,
AS you, in cot j undion with your brother com mi don
ers, have thought proper to make one more fruitlefs
negotiator) eflay, permit me, through your lord
hip, once m. re to addrefs the brotherhocd. It is
certainly to be lamented that gentlemen, To accom
plished, fhoold be fo unfortunate. Particularly, my lord, it is
to be regretted that you fhould be raifed up as the topltone to a
pyramid of blunders.
On behalf of America, I have to entreat that you will pardon
their Congrefs for any want of politenefs in not anfwering yoor
letter. You may remember, that in their lad letter they dated
certain terms as preliminaries to a negotiation ; and 1 am fure
yoor lord (hip's candour will do them the juitice to acknowledge
hat they are not apt to tread back the ftcps they have taken.
vc u i f i. f u . .u r- . i ;,,
?C'ir.n l J lilts IS 1U uappci. kuai lucjr aic u pibiwi n j
c. Afferent whether or not your king and parliament acknowledge
a Heir independence, and ftill more indifferent as to the withdraw
ing his fleets and armies.
Tou mirlake the matter exceedingly when you fuppofe that any
perfon in America wilhes to pn long the calamities of war. No,
my lord, we have had enough of them in all confeience ; but the
fault lies with you or your mailer, or fome of tbe people he has
about him. Congrefs, when Sir William Howe landed on Sta
ten lAand, met him with their declaration of independence.
They adhered to it, in the mod perilous circumftances. They
put their lives upon the iffue, nay their honour. Now, in the
name of common fenfe, how can you fuppofe they will relinquitfi
this object in the prefent moment?
I am fully of your lordftiip's opinion when you decline any
difpute with Congrefs about the meaning of the term indepen
dence. They would have infinite advantage over you logically ;
but hat is worfe, they are politically, in capacity, to put upon
the term j oft what conftruclion they pleafe. Nay, my lord, e
ventc uy-Grcat Britain muft acknowledge juft loch an indepen
dence as Congrcis think proper ; they are now in the full poflefli
on and enjoyment of it. How idle in you to talk of enfuring or
enlarging what is oat of your power, and cannot be encreafed !
You fcive to reafns for not vi:hd aing your fleets and ar
mie. The flrft is, that you keep them here by way of precauti
on againft your ancient enemies. Really, my lord, I was at a
lofa for fome rime to comprehend the force of this reasoning, or
how a bedy of men in this country, and a large fleet, could pro
tect you again ft an invaflon frin France; and I am even now
perhaps miltaken when I luppcle that your fca and lard forces
have been kept here to draw the attention of your enemies to this
quarter, and leave their coaft exrn li d, that fo yea may have an
opportunity of invading Fance. If this was the objad; it hath
had the di fired erred. Your armies are doabtlefs affembfed in
read ir els for the defcent, which, confiderln tbe unprovided itate
of that country, cannot but prove iuccefsful j aud therefore I
congratulate your lordfhip on the fair profpett you erj y of fee
ing your fovercign make his triumphant entry through the gates
Ol Pans.
Your fecond reafon for feeing here is to protea the torxes.
Pray, my lord, cafe your mind upon , that fubject. Let them
take care of therhfclves. The little ones may be pardoned,
whenever they apply. The great ones have joined you front
conlcienrious or from interested motives. The firft, in having
done what they thought right, will find fufficient comfort. The
laft defer ve none. I offer you this confolation, my lord, becaufe
we both know that you cannot protect the tcries, and becaufe
there is every reafon to believe that you Cannot protect your
felves.
You have, it feems, determined your judgment by what you
conceive to be the intercft of your country, and you propofe to
abide by your declarations in every poujble ficuaticn. I rather
imagine that you are determined by your inductions ; but if o
therwife, furely, my lord, you are not to learn that circumilan
ces may materially alter the intereft of your country and your
conceptions of it. The decifion of fome miliary events, which
y 'U did not wait for, would put you in a fituation to fpeak. to
Congrefs in much more decent terms than thole contained in your
laft letter.
But you want to know, my lord, what treaties we have enter
ed into. In pity to your nerves, Congrefs have kept back thia
knowledge. It will make the boldett among you tremble. As
we are not about to negotiate at prefent, there is no need of the
communication. However, to fatisfy your curiofity as far as aft
individual can, I pray you to recoiled, that the marquis de
Noailles told you his court, when they formed an alliance with
America, had taken eventual meafurcs. You cannot but know
that a French fleet is now hovering on the coaft near you. Draw
your own conclulions, my tarsi.
It is a m ft diverting circumftance to hear you aik Congrefc
what power they have to treat, after crY ring to enter into treaty
with them, and being refufed. But I hall be glad to know by
what authority you call on them for this difcovery. The Connt
de Vergennes had a right to it, but the earl of Carlifle certainly
has not. Let me add, my lord, that in making the rebueft there
is a degree of afperity not fuited to your fituation. When y"
were in the arms of victory, we pardoned an infolence which had
become habitual to your natron. We (hall relerve ie if prefervei
when you are reduced to the lowed pitch of wretchednefs. But
in the prefent moment, when you certainly cannot terrify, and
have not fufrered fo as to deferve city, fueh language is quite
improper; and it forces from me certain fads which I im fcrry to
mention, as they Ihow your mailers to be wicked beyond all ex
ample. When they found that an alliance was actually cn the carpet
between his moft chriftian majefty and thefe dates, they offered
to cede a part of the Eaft Indies, to give equal privileges to the
African trade, and to divide the f.ftienes, provided they might
be at liberty to ravage America. And when that would not do,
they told the French miniftry that it was abfurd to treat with
Congrefs ; that they were faith lefs ; nay, that the bargain was
adually ftruck for the purchafe of America, and money, to te
amount of half a million, fen t over to pay the price. Thefe, my
lord, are fads uds which will hang up to eternal infamy the
names of your rulers. The French, my lord, laughed at the
meannefs and falfehood of thefe declarations, But they fuirer