Crisis Paper I
These are the times that try men's souls
Thomas Paine
[23 December, 1776]
December 23, 1776 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 their country; but he that stands by 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: it is dearness only that
gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price
upon its goods; and 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.
Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or
delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own
simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would
have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter,
neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the
fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but
ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been
doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which
the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed,
and which time and a little resolution will soon recover.
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my
secret opinion has ever 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. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as
to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and
given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on
what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help
against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has
as good a pretence as he.
'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run
through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them.
Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of
flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the
whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven
back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was
performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman,
Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to
spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from
ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses;
they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short;
the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than
before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the
touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to
light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In
fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an
imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift
out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the
world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall
penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived
upon the Delaware.
As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the
edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances,
which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of.
Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a
narrow neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our
force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe
could bring against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the
garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our
ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores, had
been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to
penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to
us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether in the army or
not, that these kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes,
and last in use no longer than the enemy directs his force against
the particular object which such forts are raised to defend. Such
was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the
20th of November, when an officer arrived with information that the
enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above; Major
General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately
ordered them under arms, and sent express to General Washington at
the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry = six miles.
Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack, which
laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles from us,
and three from them. General Washington arrived in about
three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops
towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush
for; however, they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the
greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the
ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between
the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy
grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We
brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest
was lost. The simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march
them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or
Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid
four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey
militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed
that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior
to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in
generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island
through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at
Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but if we
believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe
that their agents are under some providential control.
I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat
to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both
officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently
without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of
a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their
wishes centred in one, which was, that the country would turn out
and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that
King William never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties
and in action; the same remark may be made on General Washington,
for the character fits him. There is a natural firmness in some
minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked,
discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind
of public blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath
blessed him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can
even flourish upon care.
I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the
state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following
question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England
provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is
easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have
been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used
numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do
to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness. The
period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our
sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God!
What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs
against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms.
Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear
is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though
he may be cruel, never can be brave.
But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between
us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation
to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to
join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is
injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to
his standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of
no use to him, unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers,
and not Tories, that he wants.
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 this 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
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.
America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper
application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and
it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an
excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and
trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning
militia. A summer's experience has now taught us better; yet with
those troops, while they were collected, we were able to set bounds
to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God! they are again
assembling. I always considered militia as the best troops in the
world for a sudden exertion, but they will not do for a long
campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on this city
[Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he is
ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all on
his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the
consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent
will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states;
for he cannot go everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as
the greatest enemy the Tories have; he is bringing a war into their
country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themselves,
they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all
the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may
never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him
encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish
that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent, and the
Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of those who
have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle next year
will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war by
the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made
happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it
rather the soft resentment of a suffering people, who, having no
object in view but the good of all, have staked their own all upon a
seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue against
determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the language
of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach
the heart that is steeled with prejudice.
Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend
to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the
matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state
or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your
shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little,
when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future
world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue
could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common
danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands
are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of
the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works,"
that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank
of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The
far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the
poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. 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. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from
it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a
whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is
that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I
conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who
at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to
cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and
the slain of America.
There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is
one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil
which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the
enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly,
to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even
mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the
cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and
we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is,
partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the
people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry
recommended the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call
making their peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding"
indeed! A peace which would be the immediate forerunner of a worse
ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do
reason upon these things! Were the back counties to give up their
arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all
armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were
the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to
the resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their
power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one
state to give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all
Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of
the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual
love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is
mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be
either rogues or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the
vapors of imagination; I bring reason to your ears, and, in language
as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes.
I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know
our situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army
was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to
him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean
opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great
credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly
retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all
our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four
rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for
we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might
have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and
remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp,
and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread
false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been
ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new
army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall
be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well
armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it.
By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious
issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of
evils - a ravaged country - a depopulated city - habitations without
safety, and slavery without hope - our homes turned into barracks
and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for,
whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over
it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it
not, let him suffer it unlamented.
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