The deep solemnity and unparalleled wisdom and prudence that marked the proceedings of the Congress of 1774, shed a lustre around the cause of equal rights, then in embryo, that forced applause from its most violent opposers. Had not the cabinet of Great Britain been blinded by sordid avarice, mad ambition and political delusion, and had not the king been a mere automaton, the moving, loyal and logical appeals from that august body of sages would have been treated with respect and peace restored. The colonists asked for nothing but what was clearly right, and asked in the most respectful and even suppliant manner. Ministers were left without an excuse; their sacrilegious hands broke the great seal of the social compact; their agents sowed the seeds of rebellion; their cruelty kindled the flame that devoured them; their visionary policy severed the cords of maternal affection; their treachery spread the mantle of righteousness over the cause of the revolution. We justly censure them for their corrupt designs but rejoice in the result of their projects. Haman erected his own gallows—Grenville and North destroyed their own power.
In 1775, Mr. Chase was again returned to Congress, but was tramelled with instructions of conciliation that were not congenial to his ardent feelings. His prudence, however, kept him within their limits. He was placed upon numerous committees and upon the very important one of providing ways and means for preparing a naval armament. The ensuing year he was again elected to the national legislature, bound by instructions disavowing a desire for independence, imposing upon him a course of amity and pacific submission that would have induced him to decline serving, had he not hoped and predicted truly that British violence would eventually remove the injunction. In the spring of 1776 he was appointed upon an important mission, in conjunction with Benjamin Franklin, Charles Carroll and Bishop Carroll. These gentlemen proceeded to Canada for the purpose of persuading the Canadians to join in shaking off the yoke of bondage. The fall of General Montgomery and the dark gloom that hung over the cause of liberty induced them to decline, and after the most faithful and zealous efforts the committee were compelled to return without accomplishing the desired object, and the Canadas are still enjoying the cold comforts of foreign power. When he arrived and took his seat in Congress he was rejoiced to learn that the subject of a final separation from the mother country was under consideration and was ably and boldly advocated. It was the very measure to animate the soul of Samuel Chase. His instructions now became oppressive and hung over him like an incubus. He redoubled his exertions to open the eyes of the members of the Maryland convention and induce them to leave him and his colleagues to act upon their own judgments. The request was granted just in time for him to record his vote in favour of that imperishable instrument that has immortalized the names of its signers and is the pride of every true American. The same day that the declaration was adopted he was elected a third time to the Continental Congress, and continued to serve in that body the two next ensuing years.
A short time previous to the glorious fourth of July, Mr. Chase discovered that a Judas was among them in the person of the Rev. Dr. Zubly of Georgia, who was clandestinely corresponding with the enemy. So suddenly did this ardent patriot proclaim the name of the traitor upon the floor of Congress, that “the gentleman from Georgia” admitted the truth of the charge and immediately retired from the house. His arrest was ordered, but when the officers went to his cage the bird had flown and was never “bagged.” No member but the accuser and the accused knew the fact before it fell upon their ears from Mr. Chase, like a thunder clap without a cloud in view. No one served upon more committees during his time in Congress, and no one performed his duty more cheerfully and faithfully than Mr. Chase. In every branch of legislation he was found fully competent to act well his part. In forming the articles of confederation he was all life and industry; he considered their adoption indispensably necessary to insure the completion of the good work already begun. The manner of representation, the mode of voting and the claims to the south sea, were the three points that elicited the most discussion. They were finally concluded and carried the colonies safely through their long and bloody struggle.
In the fall of 1776 Messrs. Chase, Wilson, Clymer, Stockton and Smith, were appointed a committee to take charge of the war department, the duties of which involved the great business of the nation. This power was subsequently delegated to Washington, which relieved these gentlemen from a most onerous burden. They cheerfully commenced their labours and as cheerfully resigned their task to him, in whose discretion and ability they had full confidence.
About this time Mr. Chase gave another example of his bold and fearless disposition. It was ascertained that many of the members of the society of Friends, in and about Philadelphia and New Jersey, inimical to the American cause, were circulating papers calculated to impede its progress, were acting in concert with the tories, and were in communication with the enemy; a report of which, with documents substantiating the charges, was submitted to Congress by the committee for suppressing internal enemies, of which he was the prominent member.
The exposure resulted in the confinement of several leading Quakers, a suppression of the seditious papers, and a course of more respectful neutrality by the society. The measure was then deemed harsh by some, and, at first view, will appear more so now; but on examination, taking into consideration all the circumstances of war, it will be found to be in accordance with the rules of epic law. Agreeably to the martial code of other nations, then the precedent guide for Congress, the punishment might have been much more severe. By the religious tenets of the society of Friends it can never be sanctioned, and by every friend of liberty, the necessity of such a case, imposed by the rules of war, is always regretted. Every social compact and nation must be subject to its own laws, and minor parts of a community must submit to the ruling majority or superior power, or government cannot be maintained in any form. In 1777, Mr. Chase proposed a resolution to make loan office certificates a legal tender from whigs to tories for the payment of debts due. In 1778, the British parliament attempted a stratagem by which they hoped to create a division among the patriots by disseminating conciliatory propositions among the people, and by appointing commissioners, who, when they arrived, proposed conditions of inglorious peace. These promissory and flattering papers were widely circulated, and to counteract their influence it was necessary that Congress should prepare an answer. This task was imposed upon a committee and by that committee upon Mr. Chase. Most ably did he perform his duty. He unmasked the hypocrisy of the ministers, exposed their delusive gull trap to derision and scorn, and left them without a loop to hang upon. So well was it received by Congress that an unusually large number was ordered to be printed, and a resolution passed recommending the clergy throughout the country to read it to their congregations after service on Sundays. Like all the other plans of the British cabinet then devised for enslaving the colonies, it recoiled upon their own heads with all the force of re-action. The following is a copy of the answer written by Mr. Chase.
“Three years have now passed away since the commencement of the present war. A war without parallel in the annals of mankind. It hath displayed a spectacle the most solemn that can possibly be exhibited. On one side, we behold fraud and violence labouring in the service of despotism; on the other, virtue and fortitude supporting and establishing the rights of human nature.
“You cannot but remember how reluctantly we were dragged into this arduous contest, and how repeatedly, with the earnestness of humble entreaty, we supplicated a redress of our grievances from him who ought to have been the father of his people. In vain did we implore his protection; in vain appeal to the justice, the generosity of Englishmen; of men who had been the guardians, the asserters and vindicators of liberty through a succession of ages; men, who, with their swords had established the firm barrier of freedom, and cemented it with the blood of heroes. Every effort was vain; for even whilst we were prostrated at the foot of the throne, that fatal blow was struck which hath separated us forever. Thus spurned, contemned and insulted; thus driven by our enemies into measures which our souls abhorred, we made a solemn appeal to the tribunal of unerring wisdom and justice. To that Almighty ruler of princes whose kingdom is over all.
“We were then quite defenceless. Without arms, without ammunition, without clothing, without ships, without money, without officers skilled in war; with no other reliance but the bravery of our people and the justice of our cause. We had to contend with a nation great in arts and in arms, whose fleets covered the ocean, whose banners had waved in triumph through every quarter of the globe. However unequal this contest, our weakness was still farther increased by the enemies which America had nourished in her bosom. Thus exposed on the one hand to external force and internal divisions; on the other to be compelled to drink of the bitter cup of slavery and to go sorrowing all our lives long—in this sad alternative we chose the former. To this alternative we were reduced by men, who, had they been animated by one spark of generosity, would have disdained to take such mean advantage of our situation, or had they paid the least regard to the rules of justice would have considered with abhorrence a proposition to injure those who had faithfully fought their battles, and industriously contributed to rear the edifice of their glory.
“But however great the injustice of our foes in commencing this war, it is by no means equal to that cruelty with which they have conducted it. The course of their armies is marked by rapine and devastation. Thousands, without distinction of age or sex, have been driven from their peaceful abodes to encounter the rigours of inclement seasons, and the face of heaven hath been insulted by the wanton conflagration of defenceless towns. Their victories have been followed by the cool murder of men no longer able to resist, and those who escaped from the first act of carnage have been exposed by cold, hunger and nakedness—to wear out a miserable existence in the tedious hours of confinement, or to become the destroyers of their countrymen, of their friends, perhaps, dreadful idea! of their parents or children. Nor was this the outrageous barbarity of an individual, but a system of deliberate malice, stamped with the concurrence of the British legislature, and sanctioned with all the formalities of law. Nay, determined to dissolve the closest bonds of society, they have stimulated servants to slay their masters in the peaceful hour of domestic security. And, as if all this were insufficient to slake their thirst of blood, the blood of brothers, of unoffending brothers, they have excited the Indians against us; and a general, who calls himself a christian, a follower of the merciful Jesus, hath dared to proclaim to all the world his intention of letting loose against us whole hosts of savages, whose rule of warfare is promiscuous carnage—who rejoice to murder the infant smiling in its mother’s arms—to inflict on their prisoners the most excruciating torments, and exhibit scenes of horror from which nature recoils.