Wesley Corpus

I do not intend to enter upon the question whether the Americans are in the right or in the wrong. Here all my prejudices are against the Americans; for I am an High Churchman, the son of an High Churchman, bred up from my childhood in the highest notions of passive obedience and non-resistance. And yet, in spite of all my long-rooted prejudices, I cannot avoid thinking, if I think at all, these, an oppressed people, asked for nothing more than their legal rights, and that in the most modest and inoffensive manner that the nature of the thing would allow. But waiving this, waiving all considerations of right and wrong, I ask, Is it common sense to use force toward the Americans A letter now before me, which I received yesterday, says, 'Four hundred of the regulars and forty of the militia were killed in the late skirmish.' What a disproportion is this! And this is the first essay of raw men against regular troops! You see, my Lord, whatever has been affirmed, these men will not be frightened. And it seems they will not be conquered so easily as was at first imagined. They will probably dispute every inch of ground, and, if they die, die sword in hand. Indeed, some of our valiant officers say, ' Two thousand men will clear America of these rebels.' No, nor twenty thousand, be they rebels or not, nor perhaps treble that number. They are as strong men as you; they are as valiant as you, if not abundantly more valiant, for they are one and all enthusiasts--enthusiasts for liberty. They are calm, deliberate enthusiasts. And we know how this principle Breathes into softer souls stem love of war, And thirst of vengeance, and contempt of death. We know men animated with this spirit will leap into a fire or rush into a cannon's mouth.