Plead with your Mother; plead. Saith the Lord.
O Britannia! can a Woman forget her suckling child, that She
Should not have Compassion on the Son of her womb! yea they
may forget, but when this is the Case, Such "Mothers Monsters
prove' in the Esteem of Common Sense-they forfeit the Cha-
acter of true Mothers! We own our Descent from thee, we glory
in being the Sons of Brittania.- We glory in the Birth-Right
of Englishmen,- We claim no more: Let us but have this, let
us enjoy it quietly, and we shall be all tranquil without the
least Symptom of Uneasiness. - Is it not the Birth-Right of Eng-
lishmen to be free? Can they be free, if they are taxed, to raise a
Revenue, without their Consent? What Privilege of Englishmen
is left us, - and wherein do we differ from mere Slaves, if the
British Parliament may lay a Tax upon us, and will do it, for
without our Consent, for the Sole use ^purpose End of raising a Revenue?
Is there not such a Thing belonging to Englishmen as Property?
Can one man dispose of the Property of another without his
consent and not be guilty of Robbery? Is North America,
with all it's numerous Inhabitants, the Property of the House
of Commons^(who have the power of Taxation) in Great Britain? If we are their Property, we are
not the free Sons of Britannia but the Slaves of that respectable
House! We have no just Claim to the Birth-Right of English-
men! We have no ^just Right to enjoy Such Privileges, as are al-
lowed us under the Broad Seal in our ^royal Charter! But how did
we become their Property? Was it by Purchase? of whom did
they purchase us? or was it by conquest? no surely; we have
Sworn Allegiance to his Brittanic Majesty. - We glory in being his
loyal Subjects. - We have never done any Thing to forfeit this
Character, nor the Rights of Englishmen! Surely then, we are no
more their Property, than they are ours! nor have they any more right
to dispose of our Property without our Consent, then we have of theirs:
Their being older and more numerous than wew are, gives them no
more Right to our Property^or to deprive us of the disposal of it, than a Man's being armed, gives him
a Right to take Posession of every unarmed Person's Money, he
Meets on the King's highway.- And now, O Brittannia! Where
is your Compassion for the Sons of your womb! for us Ame-
ricans.- as true Sons as ho any you have, if you can bear to
See us deprived of our Birth-Right and reduced to Slavery by our
Brethren, without interposing for our Relief! Must we be re-
presented as Rebels, because we are not willing to part with the
Rights of Englishmen! Must Troops be sent here to dragoon us in-
to a Submission to their inslaving Acts! But did we Say, By our
Brethen! They are false Brethren: - they are not thy true Sons, but
Bastards - Enemies to your happy Constitution and to the well-
being and Prosperity of our Empire, who have done this! Thro' the
Misrepresentations made by Such Bastards ^ among ourselves of two Instances of Riot
in the Town of Boston, which were by the wisest of men judged
So Trivial as not to be a ^fit Subject of Representation, we are looked
upon, as we understand, in great Britain, as engaged in a General Insur-
rection! would it be a fair conclusion, that Great Britain is engaged in
a general Insurrection, because there have been of late Some Riots in
the City of London? O Britannia! What Shall we do? Don't' your Decla-
ration of Rights say, "That it is the Right of Subjects to petition the King?"
