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3. The note here reads, “Josiah Quincy Junr.” Quincy departed America for Britain on September 28, 1774, but died in April 1775 on his return voyage from his meetings with friends and opponents of the colonial resistance. 14 to catharine sawbridge macaulay Plimouth N.E. December 29 1774 Your kind Notice of my last Emboldens me again to Interrupt your more important pursuits by offering my Warmest acknowledgments for the Expressions of personal Regard contained in your agreable Favour of Sept. 11th as well as for your Generous Attention to the publick Calamities of my Country. Though I never imagined that while you were Researching the Records of time & by your Elegant pen Exhibiting to the World the most striking traits of former Tyrants, you was inattentive to the living Agents of a Corrupt Court: who have been long forming a system of Despotism that should Reach beyond the Atlantic & involve this Extensive Continent in the same Thralldom that Awaits the Miserable Asiatic. But how Absurd will the plans of modern policy appear when the faithful Historian shall transmit to posterity the late Manoeuvres of a British Administration: when they shall Behold them plunging the Nation still deeper in an immense debte, Equiping her Fleets to Harrass the Coasts, & her armies to insult & subjugate these loyal & populous Colonies, who (from the first settlement of this once dreary Wilderness to the mad project of shuting up the port of Boston,) have been Voluntarily pouring their treasures into the Lap of Britain. Will not succeeding generations be Astonished when told that this Maritime City was Blokaded at a period when her Commercial interests were closely interwoven with those of Britain, when the Tracts of Cultivated Lands on this Continent, acknowledging the sceptre of Brunswick were almost immeasurable, & when at the same time they boasted their united Millions Ready to pour out the Warm Blood as a Libation at the shrine of Freedom ere they would submit to become the slaves of Arbitrary power? But tho America stands Armed with Resolution and Virtue, she still Recoils at the thought of Drawing the sword against the state from whence to catharine macaulay, december 1774  37 she derived her Origen, tho that state like an unnatural parent has plung’d her dagger into the Bosom of her affectionate offspring. But may I not hope to hear from you Madam, who can easily Delineate their Characters that the New parliment principly Consists of men of more conciliating tempers, of men who inherit the glorious spirit which distinguished their Noble Ancestors: & stimulated them to stand forth as the Barriers of English Liberty in the most perilous seasons: yet such is the prevailing Luxury & Dissipation of the times, such the undue influence of the Crown from the tribes of placemen, Pensioners, & Dependants (Backed with a large standing army, that Nursery of slavery & Vice, that Bane of Every free state) that I fear there is little Reason to Expect it. But if the Majority of the Commons still continue the Dupes of Venality and Corruption, they will soon see the Genius which once Animated their Hambdens, Haringtons,1 & Pyms, has taken up her Residence on these Distant shores. The seeds of Empire are sown in this new World, the Ball Rolls Westward fast, and though daily threatned with the incursion of savages: & the Depredations of foreign auxilliries, yet each City from Nova Scotia to Georgia has her Decii & her Fabii:2 Ready to Sacrifice their Devoted Lives to preserve inviolate & to convey to their Children the inherent Rights of Men, confered on all by the God of Nature, and the priviledges of English men claimed by Americans from the sacred sanctions of Compacts. It is not possible for me Madam to give you an Adequate Idea of the situation of this Country, ’tho doubtless it will be done by some more able pen. The Boston port Bill ocasions such A stagnation of commerce as is felt in Every Villa of the Massachusets. The Bill for altering the Constitution has Reduced the province to a state of Nature. The Legislative Body is prevented meeting, the Executive officers Rendered incapable of acting, & the Courts of justice shut up. Nothing but the Virtue of this people prevents our Daily feeling the Dreadful Consequences of Anarchy in the Exstream. Heaven only knows how long we can continue in this state. But such is the Ferocity of Human Nature that it is not to be expected society can subsist long without some Government which may finally drive us to assume...

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