The Tory Torch – Committee for Reunion with England

As promised in the Committee for Reunion with England’s original advertisement in the Richmond Mercury, we began publishing a newsletter named The Tory Torch in July 1975. We mailed the newsletter to the people who hand sent us positive letters (some with small contributions) after the March 26 ad. By the summer we had nearly 100 names and a massive treasure chest of $83. We also sent the newsletter to media outlets that had published stories about the Committee.

The first issue featured an overview of our intent and a promise to publish every two months. The columns included “Tory Tactics: How You Can Thwart Bicentennial Propaganda and Facilitate Reunion” and “Tory Tips” (AKA “verba sapienta” – “a word to the wise”) with advice for making it through the troubled times of the Bicentennial. A featured page-long story was “Yorktown to Watergate: The Inevitable Road,” which outlined the similarities and secret connections between the Revolution and the Watergate Scandal. An even longer article provided extended excerpts from “The Secret Tory Diaries of Felix Liege” discovered by Dr. William Demesne of the Center for Advanced Tory Studies (CATS) that recounted Liege’s adventures as a double agent during the Revolution. The final section published some of the letters the Committee had received from across the country since the March advertisement.

The second issue of The Tory Torch led with what proved to be its most popular article: “CRE Announces Congressional Lay-Offs: Solons Soon to Soup Kitchens.” Another installment of “The Secret Tory Diaries of Felix Liege” unveiled the truth about Samuel Adams and the Boston Tea Party. The issue’s centerpiece was a formal petition form where Committee members could solicit signatures asking Queen Elizabeth to accept our plea for reunion. The final article was entitled “All the Rebels’ Men,” which bore a strange resemblance to Woodward and Bernstein’s recently published book, All the President’s Men.

The third issue was published in January 1976 and began with the article “Tories Wax Transcontinental,” which provided an overview of the nationwide backlash again the Bicentennial, including a Tory musical revue planned by New York City’s Direct Theatre at 455 W. 43rd St. The centerfold of the newsletter was “Selling the Bicentennial,” a montage of newspaper and magazine advertisements that used images of George Washington to sell everything from Reddi-Whip to a Granada two-door sedan. The next article, “Declaration Fraud Revealed,” reported on discoveries that many of the signatures on the Declaration of Independence were forged. A third installment of “The Secret Tory Diaries of Felix Liege” focused on his time as an undercover agent at Valley Forge.

The fourth issue of The Tory Torch turned out to be the last and featured a special format: the transcript of a speech. On February 17, 1976, as part of its celebration of the Bicentennial, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s Downtown Campus sponsored a debate on the topic: “Resolved: That the American Colonies Declare Themselves Independent of Great Britain.” John Ambrose, co-chairman of the Committee for Reunion with England, who in September 1975 had left the Thalhimer’s advertising department to become an English professor at Reynolds, took (of course) the Tory side of the proposition. The Tory Torch reprinted his entire opening speech. Incidentally, in a vote taken after the debate, the Rebels’ resolution for independence was overwhelmingly defeated.

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Use these links to download full PDF versions of each issue of The Tory Torch:

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