Street, till a Hole could be made in the Earth to receive and cover
them.
But the Wickedness cannot be covered, the Guilt will lie on the whole
Land, till Justice is done on the Murderers. THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT
WILL CRY TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE.
* * * * *
If an _Indian_ injures me, does it follow that I may revenge that Injury
on all _Indians_? It is well known, that _Indians_ are of different
Tribes, Nations and Languages, as well as the White People. In _Europe_
if the _French_, who are White People, should injure the _Dutch_, are
they to revenge it on the _English_, because they too are White People?
The only Crime of these poor Wretches seems to have been, that they had
a reddish-brown Skin, and black Hair; and some People of that Sort, it
seems, had murdered some of our Relations. If it be right to kill Men
for such a Reason, then, should any Man, with a freckled Face and red
Hair, kill a Wife or Child of mine, it would be right for me to revenge
it, by killing all the freckled red-haired Men, Women and Children, I
could afterwards anywhere meet with.
But it seems these People think they have a better Justification;
nothing less than the _Word of God_. With the Scriptures in their Hands
and Mouths, they can set at nought that express Command, _Thou shalt do
no Murder_; and justify their Wickedness by the Command given _Joshua_
to destroy the Heathen. Horrid Perversion of Scripture and of Religion!
To father the worst of Crimes on the God of Peace and Love! Even the
_Jews_, to whom that particular Commission was directed, spared the
_Gibeonites_, on Account of their Faith once given. The Faith of this
Government has been frequently given to those _Indians_; but that did
not avail them with People who despise Government.
We pretend to be _Christians_, and, from the superior Light we enjoy,
ought to exceed _Heathens_, _Turks_, _Saracens_, _Moors_, _Negroes_ and
_Indians_, in the Knowledge and Practice of what is right. I will
endeavour to show, by a few Examples from Books and History, the Sense
those People have had of such Actions.
Homer wrote his Poem, called the _Odyssey_, some Hundred Years before
the Birth of Christ. He frequently speaks of what he calls not only _the
Duties_, but _the Sacred Rites of Hospitality_, (exercised towards
Strangers, while in our House or Territory) as including, besides all
the common Circumstances of Entertainment, full Safety and Protection of
Person, from all Danger of Life, from all Injuries, and even Insults.
The Rites of Hospitality were called _sacred_, because the Stranger, the
Poor, and the Weak, when they applied for Protection and Relief, were,
from the Religion of those Times, supposed to be sent by the Deity to
try the Goodness of Men, and that he would avenge the Injuries they
might receive, where they ought to have been protected. These Sentiments
therefore influenced the Manners of all Ranks of People, even the
meanest; for we find that when _Ulysses_ came, as a poor Stranger, to
the Hut of Eumæus, the Swineherd, and his great Dogs ran out to tear the
ragged Man, _Eumæus_ drave them away with Stones; and
"'Unhappy Stranger!' (thus the faithful Swain
Began, with Accent gracious and humane,)
'What Sorrow had been mine, if at _my_ Gate
Thy rev'rend Age had met a shameful Fate!
But enter this my homely Roof, and see
Our Woods not void of Hospitality.'
He said, and seconding the kind Request,
With friendly Step precedes the unknown Guest,
A shaggy Goat's soft Hide beneath him spread,
And with fresh Rushes heap'd an ample Bed.
Joy touch'd the Hero's tender Soul, to find
So just Reception from a Heart so kind:
And [']Oh, ye Gods! with all your Blessings grace'
(He thus broke forth) 'this Friend of human Race![']
The Swain reply'd. [']It never was our guise
To slight the Poor, or aught humane despise.
For Jove unfolds the hospitable Door,
'Tis Jove that sends the Stranger and the Poor.[']"[69]
These Heathen People thought, that after a Breach of the Rites of
Hospitality, a Curse from Heaven would attend them in every thing they
did, and even their honest Industry in their Callings would fail of
Success. Thus when _Ulysses_ tells _Eumæus_, who doubted the Truth of
what he related, "If I deceive you in this, I should deserve Death, and
I consent that you should put me to Death," _Eumæus_ rejects the
Proposal, as what would be attended with both Infamy and Misfortune,
saying ironically,
"Doubtless, O Guest! great Laud and Praise were mine,
If, after social Rites and Gifts bestow'd,
I stain'd my Hospitable Hearth with Blood.
How would the Gods my righteous Toils succeed,
And bless the Hand that made a Stranger bleed?
No more."--
Even an open Enemy, in the Heat of Battle, throwing down his Arms,
submitting to his Foe, and asking Life and Protection, was supposed to
acquire an immediate Right to that Protection. Thus one describes his
being saved, when his Party was defeated;
"We turn'd to Flight; the gath'ring Vengeance spread
On all Parts round, and Heaps on Heaps lie dead.
The radiant Helmet from my Brows unlac'd,
And lo, on Earth my Shield and Javelin cast,
I meet the Monarch with a Suppliant's Face,
Approach his Chariot, and his Knees embrace.
He heard, he sav'd, he plac'd me at his Side;
My State he pity'd, and my Tears he dry'd;
Restrain'd the Rage the vengeful Foe express'd,
And turn'd the deadly Weapons from my Breast.
Pious to guard the Hospitable Rite,
And fearing Jove, whom Mercy's Works delight."
The Suitors of _Penelope_ are by the same ancient Poet described as a
sett of lawless Men, who were _regardless of the sacred Rites of
Hospitality_. And therefore when the Queen was informed they were slain,
and that by _Ulysses_, she, not believing that _Ulysses_ was returned,
says,
"Ah no! some God the Suitors Deaths decreed,
Some God descends, and by his Hand they bleed:
Blind, to contemn the Stranger's righteous Cause,
And violate all hospitable Laws!
... The Powers they defy'd;
But Heav'n is just, and by a God they dy'd."
* * * * *
Now I am about to mention something of _Indians_, I beg that I may not
be understood as framing Apologies for _all Indians_. I am far from
desiring to lessen the laudable Spirit of Resentment in my Countrymen
against those now at War with us, so far as it is justified by their
Perfidy and Inhumanity. I would only observe, that the _Six Nations_, as
a Body, have kept Faith with the _English_ ever since we knew them, now
near an Hundred Years; and that the governing Part of those People have
had Notions of Honour, whatever may be the Case with the Rum-debauched,
Trader-corrupted Vagabonds and Thieves on the _Sasquehannah_ and _Ohio_,
at present in Arms against us.
* * * * *
Unhappy People! to have lived in such Times, and by such Neighbours! We
have seen, that they would have been safer among the ancient _Heathens_,
with whom the Rites of Hospitality were _sacred_. They would have been
considered as _Guests_ of the Publick, and the Religion of the Country
would have operated in their Favour. But our Frontier People call
themselves _Christians_! They would have been safer, if they had
submitted to the _Turks_; for ever since _Mahomet's_ Reproof to
_Khaled_, even the cruel _Turks_ never kill Prisoners in cold Blood.
These were not even Prisoners. But what is the Example of _Turks_ to
Scripture _Christians_? They would have been safer, though they had been
taken in actual War against the _Saracens_, if they had once drank Water
with them. These were not taken in War against us, and have drank with
us, and we with them, for Fourscore Years. But shall we compare
_Saracens_ to _Christians_?
They would have been safer among the _Moors_ in _Spain_, though they had
been Murderers of Sons; if Faith had once been pledged to them, and a
Promise of Protection given. But these have had the Faith of the
_English_ given to them many Times by the Government, and, in Reliance
on that Faith, they lived among us, and gave us the Opportunity of
murdering them. However, what was honourable in _Moors_, may not be a
Rule to us; for we are _Christians_! They would have been safer it seems
among _Popish Spaniards_, even if Enemies, and delivered into their
Hands by a Tempest. These were not Enemies; they were born among us, and
yet we have killed them all. But shall we imitate _idolatrous Papists_,
we that are _enlightened Protestants_? They would have even been safer
among the _Negroes_ of _Africa_, where at least one manly Soul would
have been found, with Sense, Spirit and Humanity enough, to stand in
their Defence. But shall _Whitemen_ and _Christians_ act like a _Pagan
Negroe_? In short it appears, that they would have been safe in any Part
of the known World, except in the Neighbourhood of the CHRISTIAN WHITE
SAVAGES of _Peckstang_ and _Donesgall_!
O, ye unhappy Perpetrators of this horrid Wickedness! reflect a Moment
on the Mischief ye have done, the Disgrace ye have brought on your
Country, on your Religion, and your Bible, on your Families and
Children! Think on the Destruction of your captivated Country-folks (now
among the wild _Indians_) which probably may follow, in Resentment of
your Barbarity! Think on the Wrath of the United _Five Nations_,
hitherto our Friends, but now provoked by your murdering one of their
Tribes, in Danger of becoming our bitter Enemies. Think of the mild and
good Government you have so audaciously insulted; the Laws of your King,
your Country, and your God, that you have broken; the infamous Death
that hangs over your Heads; for Justice, though slow, will come at last.
All good People everywhere detest your Actions. You have imbrued your
Hands in innocent Blood; how will you make them clean? The dying Shrieks
and Groans of the Murdered, will often sound in your Ears: Their
Spectres will sometimes attend you, and affright even your innocent
Children! Fly where you will, your Consciences will go with you. Talking
in your Sleep shall betray you, in the Delirium of a Fever you
yourselves shall make your own Wickedness known.
* * * * *
Let us rouze ourselves, for Shame, and redeem the Honour of our Province
from the Contempt of its Neighbours; let all good Men join heartily and
unanimously in Support of the Laws, and in strengthening the Hands of
Government; that JUSTICE may be done, the Wicked punished, and the
Innocent protected; otherwise we can, as a People, expect no Blessing
from Heaven; there will be no Security for our Persons or Properties;
Anarchy and Confusion will prevail over all; and Violence without
Judgment, dispose of every Thing.
* * * * *
TO THE EDITOR OF A NEWSPAPER
Monday, May 20, [1765].
SIR,
In your Paper of Wednesday last, an ingenious Correspondent that calls
himself THE SPECTATOR, and dates from _Pimlico_, under the Guise of Good
Will to the News-writers, whom he calls an "useful Body of Men in this
great City," has, in my Opinion, artfully attempted to turn them & their
Works into Ridicule, wherein if he could succeed, great Injury might be
done to the Public as well as to those good People.
Supposing, Sir, that the "_We hears_" they give us of this & t'other
intended Voyage or Tour of this & t'other great Personage, were mere
Inventions, yet they at least offer us an innocent Amusement while we
read, and useful Matter of Conversation when we are dispos'd to
converse.
Englishmen, Sir, are too apt to be silent when they have nothing to say;
too apt to be sullen when they are silent; and, when they are sullen, to
hang themselves. But, by these _We hears_, we are supplied with abundant
funds of Discourse, we discuss the Motives for such Voyages, the
Probability of their being undertaken, and the Practicability of their
Execution. Here we display our Judgment in Politics, our Knowledge of
the Interests of Princes, and our Skill in Geography, and (if we have
it) show our Dexterity moreover in Argumentation. In the mean time, the
tedious Hour is kill'd, we go home pleas'd with the Applauses we have
receiv'd from others, or at least with those we secretly give to
ourselves: We sleep soundly, & live on, to the Comfort of our Families.
But, Sir, I beg leave to say, that all the Articles of News that seem
improbable are not mere Inventions. Some of them, I can assure you on
the Faith of a Traveller, are serious Truths. And here, quitting Mr.
Spectator of Pimlico, give me leave to instance the various numberless
Accounts the Newswriters have given us, with so much honest Zeal for the
welfare of _Poor Old England_, of the establishing Manufactures in the
Colonies to the Prejudice of those of this Kingdom. It is objected by
superficial Readers, who yet pretend to some Knowledge of those
Countries, that such Establishments are not only improbable, but
impossible, for that their Sheep have but little Wooll, not in the whole
sufficient for a Pair of Stockings a Year to each Inhabitant; and that,
from the Universal Dearness of Labour among them, the Working of Iron
and other Materials, except in some few coarse Instances, is
impracticable to any Advantage.
Dear Sir, do not let us suffer ourselves to be amus'd with such
groundless Objections. The very Tails of the American Sheep are so laden
with Wooll, that each has a little Car or Waggon on four little Wheels,
to support & keep it from trailing on the Ground.[70] Would they caulk
their Ships, would they fill their Beds, would they even litter their
Horses with Wooll, if it were not both plenty and cheap? And what
signifies Dearness of Labour, when an English Shilling passes for five
and Twenty? Their engaging 300 Silk Throwsters here in one Week, for New
York, was treated as a Fable, because, forsooth, they have "no Silk
there to throw." Those, who made this Objection, perhaps did not know,
that at the same time the Agents from the King of Spain were at Quebec
to contract for 1000 Pieces of Cannon to be made there for the
Fortification of Mexico, and at N York engaging the annual Supply of
woven Floor-Carpets for their West India Houses, other Agents from the
Emperor of China were at Boston treating about an Exchange of raw Silk
for Wooll, to be carried in Chinese Junks through the Straits of
Magellan.
And yet all this is as certainly true, as the Account said to be from
Quebec, in all the Papers of last Week, that the Inhabitants of Canada
are making Preparations for a Cod and Whale Fishery this "Summer in the
upper Lakes." Ignorant People may object that the upper Lakes are fresh,
and that Cod and Whale are Salt Water Fish: But let them know, Sir, that
Cod, like other Fish when attack'd by their Enemies, fly into any Water
where they can be safest; that Whales, when they have a mind to eat Cod,
pursue them wherever they fly; and that the grand Leap of the Whale in
that Chase up the Fall of Niagara is esteemed, by all who have seen it,
as one of the finest Spectacles in Nature. Really, Sir, the World is
grown too incredulous. It is like the Pendulum ever swinging from one
Extream to another. Formerly every thing printed was believed, because
it was in print. Now Things seem to be disbelieved for just the very
same Reason. Wise Men wonder at the present Growth of Infidelity. They
should have consider'd, when they taught People to doubt the Authority
of Newspapers and the Truth of Predictions in Almanacks, that the next
Step might be a Disbelief in the well vouch'd Accts of Ghosts Witches,
and Doubts even of the Truths of the Creed!
Thus much I thought it necessary to say in favour of an honest Set of
Writers, whose comfortable Living depends on collecting & supplying the
Printers with News at the small Price of Sixpence an Article, and who
always show their Regard to Truth, by contradicting in a subsequent
Article such as are wrong,--for another Sixpence,--to the great
Satisfaction & Improvement of us Coffee-house Students in History &
Politics, and the infinite Advantage of all future Livies, Rapins,
Robertsons, Humes, and McAulays, who may be sincerely inclin'd to
furnish the World with that _rara Avis_, a true History.
I am, Sir, your humble Servant,
A TRAVELLER.
TO LORD KAMES
Craven Street, London, June 2, 1765.
MY DEAR LORD,
... In my passage to America I read your excellent work, the _Elements
of Criticism_, in which I found great entertainment: much to admire and
nothing to reprove. I only wished you had examined more fully the
subject of Music, and demonstrated, that the pleasure which artists feel
in hearing much of that composed in the modern taste, is not the natural
pleasure arising from melody or harmony of sounds, but of the same kind
with the pleasure we feel on seeing the surprising feats of tumblers and
rope-dancers, who execute difficult things. For my part I take this to
be really the case, and suppose it is the reason why those, who being
unpractised in music, and therefore unacquainted with those difficulties
have little or no pleasure in hearing this music. Many pieces of it are
mere compositions of tricks. I have sometimes, at a concert, attended by
a common audience, placed myself so as to see all their faces, and
observed no signs of pleasure in them during the performance of a great
part that was admired by the performers themselves; while a plain old
_Scottish tune_, which they disdained, and could scarcely be prevailed
on to play, gave manifest and general delight.
Give me leave on this occasion to extend a little the sense of your
position, that "Melody and Harmony are separately agreeable, and in
union delightful," and to give it as my opinion, that the reason why the
Scotch tunes have lived so long, and will probably live for ever (if
they escape being stifled in modern affected ornament), is merely this,
that they are really compositions of melody and harmony united, or
rather that their melody is harmony. I mean the simple tunes sung by a
single voice. As this will appear paradoxical, I must explain my
meaning. In common acceptation, indeed, only an agreeable _succession_
of sounds is called _Melody_, and only the _co-existence_ of agreeing
sounds, _Harmony_. But, since the memory is capable of retaining for
some moments a perfect idea of the pitch of a past sound, so as to
compare with it the pitch of a succeeding sound, and judge truly of
their agreement or disagreement, there may and does arise from thence a
sense of harmony between the present and past sounds, equally pleasing
with that between two present sounds.
Now the construction of the old Scotch tunes is this, that almost every
succeeding _emphatical_ note is a third, a fifth, an octave, or in short
some note that is in concord with the preceding note. Thirds are chiefly
used, which are very pleasing concords. I use the word _emphatical_ to
distinguish those notes which have a stress laid on them in singing the
tune, from the lighter connecting notes, that serve merely, like grammar
articles, to tack the others together.
That we have a most perfect idea of a sound just past, I might appeal to
all acquainted with music, who know how easy it is to repeat a sound in
the same pitch with one just heard. In tuning an instrument, a good ear
can as easily determine that two strings are in unison by sounding them
separately, as by sounding them together; their disagreement is also as
easily, I believe I may say more easily and better distinguished, when
sounded separately; for when sounded together, though you know by the
beating that one is higher than the other, you cannot tell which it is.
[I have ascribed to memory the ability of comparing the pitch of a
present tone with that of one past. But, if there should be, as possibly
there may be, something in the ear, similar to what we find in the eye,
that ability would not be entirely owing to memory. Possibly the
vibrations given to the auditory nerves by a particular sound may
actually continue some time after the cause of those vibrations is past,
and the agreement or disagreement of a subsequent sound become by
comparison with them more discernible. For the impression made on the
visual nerves by a luminous object will continue for twenty or thirty
seconds. Sitting in a room, look earnestly at the middle of a window a
little while when the day is bright, and then shut your eyes; the figure
of the window will still remain in the eye, and so distinct that you may
count the panes.
A remarkable circumstance attending this experiment, is, that the
impression of forms is better retained than that of colors; for after
the eyes are shut, when you first discern the image of the window, the
panes appear dark, and the cross bars of the sashes, with the window
frames and walls, appear white or bright; but, if you still add to the
darkness in the eyes by covering them with your hand, the reverse
instantly takes place, the panes appear luminous and the cross bars
dark. And by removing the hand they are again reversed. This I know not
how to account for. Nor for the following; that, after looking long
through green spectacles, the white paper of a book will on first taking
them off appear to have a blush of red; and, after long looking through
red glasses, a greenish cast; this seems to intimate a relation between
green and red not yet explained.]
Farther, when we consider by whom these ancient tunes were composed, and
how they were first performed, we shall see that such harmonical
succession of sounds was natural and even necessary in their
construction. They were composed by the minstrels of those days to be
played on the harp accompanied by the voice. The harp was strung with
wire, [which gives a sound of long continuance,] and had no contrivance,
like that in the modern harpsichord, by which the sound of the preceding
could be stoppt, the moment a succeeding note began. To avoid _actual_
discord, it was therefore necessary that the succeeding emphatic note
should be a chord with the preceding, as their sounds must exist at the
same time. Hence arose that beauty in those tunes that has so long
pleased, and will please for ever, though men scarce know why. That they
were originally composed for the harp, and of the most simple kind, I
mean a harp without any half notes but those in the natural scale, and
with no more than two octaves of strings, from C to C, I conjecture from
another circumstance, which is, that not one of those tunes, really
ancient, has a single artificial half note in it, and that in tunes
where it was most convenient for the voice to use the middle notes of
the harp, and place the key in F, there the B, which if used should be a
B flat, is always omitted by passing over it with a third. The
connoisseurs in modern music will say, I have no taste; but I cannot
help adding, that I believe our ancestors, in hearing a good song,
distinctly articulated, sung to one of those tunes, and accompanied by
the harp, felt more real pleasure than is communicated by the generality
of modern operas, exclusive of that arising from the scenery and
dancing. Most tunes of late composition, not having this natural harmony
united with their melody, have recourse to the artificial harmony of a
bass, and other accompanying parts. This support, in my opinion, the old
tunes do not need, and are rather confused than aided by it. Whoever has
heard James Oswald play them on his violoncello, will be less inclined
to dispute this with me. I have more than once seen tears of pleasure in
the eyes of his auditors; and yet, I think, even _his_ playing those
tunes would please more, if he gave them less modern ornament. My son,
when we parted, desired me to present his Affectionate respects to you,
Lady Kames, and your amiable children: be so good with those, to accept
mine, and believe me, with sincerest esteem, my dear Lord, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
P.S. I do promise myself the pleasure of seeing you and my other friends
in Scotland, before I return to America.
LETTER CONCERNING THE GRATITUDE OF AMERICA[71]
AND THE PROBABILITY AND EFFECTS OF A UNION WITH GREAT BRITAIN; AND
CONCERNING THE REPEAL OR SUSPENSION OF THE STAMP ACT
[London,] January 6, 1766.
SIR,