On the record
The first is, that the conduct of Great Britain is made too absurd for possibility, and the second, that it is not made absurd enough for fact.
Source
gutenberg.orgBenjamin Franklin: “The first is, that the conduct of Great Britain is made too absurd for possibility, and the second, that it is not made…”
Editor's note · Context
Franklin critiques the absurdity of British conduct towards the colonies, highlighting the extremes of their actions.
Share
More from Benjamin Franklin
They have ever been applied with prudent frugality to the honour and advantage of the public, and the king's immediate service, to the general approbation of the people: the credit of the government has been preserved, and the debts of the…
We are restrained in our trade with foreign nations; and where we could be supplied with any manufacture cheaper from them, but must buy the same dearer from Britain, the difference of price is a clear tax to Britain.
Our legal method of compulsion is by imprisonment: the Indians cannot and will not imprison one another; and if we attempt to imprison them, I apprehend it would be generally disliked by the nations, and occasion breaches.
In all cases where the strength of the whole was necessary to be used against the enemy, there would be the same difficulty in degree, to bring the several unions to unite together, as now the several colonies; and consequently the same…
Other voices in this conversation
