man call England or any other king-
dom his country? A country that had
no bread for him, whose fields procured
him no harvest, who met with nothing
but the frowns of the rich, the severity
of the laws, with jails and punishments;
who owned not a single foot of the ex-
tensive surface of this planet? No!
Urged by a variety of motives, here
they came. Every thing has tended to 10
regenerate them; new laws, a new mode
of living, a new social system; here
they are become men. In Europe they
were as so many useless plants, want-
ing vegetative mould, and refreshing
showers; they withered, and were
mowed down by want, hunger, and
war; but now by the power of trans-
plantation, like all other plants they
have taken root and flourished! For- 20
merly they were not numbered in any
civil lists of their country, except in
those of the poor; here they rank as
citizens. By what invisible power has
this surprising metamorphosis been
performed? By that of the laws and
that of their industry. The laws, the
indulgent laws, protect them as they
arrive, stamping on them the symbol
of adoption; they receive ample re- 30
wards for their labours; these accumu-
lated rewards procure them lands;
those lands confer on them the title of
freemen, and to that title every benefit
is affixed which men can possibly re-
quire. This is the great operation daily
performed by our laws. From whence
proceed these laws? From our govern-
ment. Whence the government? It is
derived from the original genius and 40
strong desire of the people, ratified and
confirmed by the crown. This is the
great chain which links us all, this is
the picture which every province ex-
hibits, Nova Scotia excepted. There
the crown has done all; either there
were no people who had genius, or it
was not much attended to. The conse-
quence is, that the province is very
thinly inhabited indeed; the power of 50
the crown in conjunction with the
mosquitoes has prevented men from
settling there. Yet some parts of it
flourished once, and it contained a mild,

harmless set of people. But for the fault of a few leaders, the whole were banished. The greatest political error the crown ever committed in America, was to cut off men from a country which wanted nothing but men!

What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? The knowledge of the language, the love of a few kindred as poor as himself, were the only cords that tied him; his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence. Ubi panis, ibi patria,1 is the motto of all emigrants. What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of en European; hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals. of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry which began. long since in the east; they will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born.

1 where your bread is, there is your fatherland

I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.

As to pay, Sir, 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 from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I desire.

Here the rewards of his industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labour; his labour is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest; can it want a stronger allurement? Wives and children, who before in vain demanded of him a morsel of bread, now fat and frolicsome, gladly help their father to clear those fields whence exuberant crops are to arise to feed and 10 to clothe them all, without any part being claimed, either by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord. Here religion demands but little of him; a small voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God; can he refuse these? The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary 20 expressible concern, and this concern

idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.-This is an American.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

(1732-1799)

REMARKS TO CONGRESS ON HIS
APPOINTMENT AS COM-

MANDER-IN-CHIEF

IN CONGRESS, 16 June, 1775.

MR. PRESIDENT:

Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for the support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation.

30

40

But, lest some unlucky event should 50 happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity,

LETTER TO MRS. MARTHA
WASHINGTON

PHILADELPHIA, 18 June, 1775.

MY DEAREST,

I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with in

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 defence 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 endeavour 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

partment yesterday, fresh and more powerful reasons oblige me to add, that I am now convinced beyond a doubt, that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place in that line, this army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things: starve, dissolve, or disperse in order to obtain subsistence in the best 10 manner they can. Rest assured, Sir, this is not an exaggerated picture, and that I have abundant reason to suppose what I say.

40 any.

All I could do, under these circumstances, was to send out a few light parties to watch and harass the enemy, whilst other parties were instantly detached different ways to collect, if possible, as much provision as would satisfy the present pressing wants of the soldiery. But will this answer? No, Sir; three or four days of bad 50 weather would prove our destruction. What then is to become of the army this winter? And if we are so often without provisions now, what is to become of us in the spring, when our

10

force will be collected, with the aid
perhaps of militia, to take advantage.
of an early campaign, before the enemy
can be reinforced? These are consid-
erations of great magnitude, meriting
the closest attention; and they will,
when my own reputation is so inti-
mately connected with the event and
to be affected by it, justify my saying
that the present commissaries are by
no means equal to the execution of the
office, or that the disaffection of the
people is past all belief. The misfor-
tune, however, does in my opinion pro-
ceed from both causes; and, though I
have been tender heretofore of giving
any opinion, or lodging complaints, as
the change in that department took
place contrary to my judgment, and
the consequences thereof were pre- 20
dicted, yet, finding that the inactivity.
of the army, whether for want of pro-
visions, clothes, or other essentials, is
charged to my account, not only by
the common vulgar but by those in
power, it is time to speak plain in
exculpation of myself. With truth,
then, I can declare, that no man, in
my opinion, ever had his measures
more impeded than I have, by every
department of the army.

30

Since the month of July we have had no assistance from the quartermaster-general, and to want of assistance from this department the commissary-general charges great part of his deficiency. To this I am to add, that, notwithstanding it is a standing. order, and often repeated, that the troops shall always have two days' pro- 40 visions by them, that they might be ready at any sudden call, yet an opportunity has scarcely ever offered, of taking an advantage of the enemy, that has not been either totally obstructed, or greatly impeded, on this account. And this, the great and crying evil, is not all. The soap, vinegar, and other articles allowed by Congress, we see none of, nor have we seen them, I 50 believe, since the battle of Brandywine. The first, indeed, we have now little occasion for; few men having more than one shirt, many only the moiety

of one, and some none at all. In addition to which, as a proof of the little benefit received from a clothier-general, and as a further proof of the inability of an army, under the circumstances of this, to perform the common duties of soldiers, (besides a number of men confined to hospitals for want of shoes, and others in farmers' houses on the same account,) we have, by a field-return this day made, no less than two thousand eight hundred and ninetyeight men now in camp unfit for duty, because they are barefoot and otherwise naked. By the same return it appears that our whole strength in Continental troops, including the eastern brigades, which have joined us since the surrender of General Burgoyne, exclusive of the Maryland troops sent to Wilmington, amounts to no more than eight thousand two hundred in camp fit for duty. Notwithstanding which, and that since the 4th instant, our numbers fit for duty, from the hardships and exposures they have undergone, particularly on account of blankets (numbers having been obliged, and still are, to sit up all night by fires, instead of taking comfortable rest in a natural and common way), have decreased near two thousand men.

We find gentlemen, without knowing. whether the army was really going into winter-quarters or not (for I am sure no resolution of mine would warrant the remonstrance), reprobating the measure as much as if they thought the soldiers were made of stocks or stones, and equally insensible of frost and snow; and moreover, as if they conceived it easily practicable for an inferior army, under the disadvantages I have described ours to be, which are by no means exaggerated, to confine a superior one, in all respects well-appointed and provided for a winter's campaign, within the city of Philadelphia, and to cover from depredation and waste the States of Pennsylvania and Jersey. But what makes this matter still more extraordinary in my eye is, that these very gentlemen,-who