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BY C. R. HANLEITER.
p®EiriaY,
“ Much yet remains unsung .”
CONSOLATION, (FOR THE “COLONEL.”)
If she's cold—why complain? there are others more
warm,
‘Otherhearts more conformingly tender:
JNo skies are so checkered by sunshine and storm
As the minds of the feminine gender.
‘To-day they are willing—to-morrow averse —
Now they arc serious—now they’re mocking—
They are lavish sometimes as a prodigal’s purse,
Then as close as a miser’s old stocking.
I learned long ago not to sigh or be sad
When the woman I loved was capricious;
ißut I say to myself, “ Peter, laugh and be glad,
There are other girls quite as delicious.”
Though her smile be ns soft ns the gleam of a star,
And her blush like the tint of the morning,
There are Inssies and ladies more beautiful far
And much less addicted to scorning.
If she whom I prize over diamonds and gold,
Confers her sweet self on another,
1 reflect, though not young I am not very old,
And there's no use of making a bother.
This adage my “ mu” once recited to me,
When foiled after being enraptured—
* There arc fishes, oh Peter, that swim in the sen,
Good as any that ever were captured.” feteb.
RfID@<SBII,ILAINnr.
From the Magnolia, for May.
HISTORY OF THE DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE.
BY WILLIAM MACON STEVENS.
As every thing connected with this “char
ter of our liberties,” is worthy of preserva
tion, and as we cannot too often recur to,
and ponder over, that important event, I
propose to draw up a succinct account of
the rise and progress of independent princi
ples ; and of the preparation and ultimate
passage of the memorable “ Declaration” of
them. The doctrines of that “ Declaration,”
were early set forth in colonial history, and
the principles of republican independence,
brought over in the May-flower, were care
fully enshrined in the hearts of the people—
gradually engrafted into the civil constitu
tions, and at last became the corner stone of
this great republic. Virginia, under Sir
George Yeardly, and during the Protecto
rate-Massachusetts in the opposition to Sir
Edmund Andros in 1659, New York in their
repudiation of the tax act in 1691; and
South Carolina under Gov. Moore, had each
given good proof of the well grounded and
pervading principles of civil liberty and
elective rights, which obtained throughout
the colonies. Chalmers, an author of cre
dit and research, has'said, referring to the
troubles in 1766 consequent on the stamp
act that “none of the Statesmen of that pe
riod, nor those of the preceding or subse
quent times, had any suspicion, that there
lay among the documents in the Board of
Trade and l’apei office, the most satisfacto
ry proofs, from the epoch of the Revolution
in 1688, throughout every reign and during
every administration, of the settled purpose
of the revolted colonies to acquire direct In
dependence.” Mr. Chalmers has not sup
ported this assertion, by any testimony from
the offices to which he refers ; but his inti
mate acquaintance vv.th those documents
while preparing his “ Political Annals,”
does not permit us to doubt the statement.
Indeed this very Board of Trade in a publi
cation dated 1701, declared that “ the Inde
pendency the colonies thirst aftci is now no
torious.” Two years after Quarry wrote of
New England “ Commonwealth notions im
prove daily, and, if it be not checked in time,
the rights and privileges of English subjects
will be thought too narrow.” Two years
later still, and the assertion was boldly issued
from the press that “ the colonists will, in
process of time, cast off their allegiance to
England, and set up a government of their
own.” An old writer recording the prevail
ing opinions of the times, says it was at last
said “by people of all conditions and quali
ties, that theirincreasingnumbers and wealth,
joined to their great distance from Britain,
would give them an opportunity in the course
of some years, to throw off their dependence
on the nation and declare themselves a free
state if not curbed in time by being made en
tirely subjeettothe crown.” These,however,
were mostly speculations haded on the un
daunted spirit of liberty of thought, which
no authority could repress or extinguish. It
gave evidence of its existence in a variety
of ways; at the civil tribunal, in the legis
lative chamber—in the popular assembly—
in the periodical press; and though Royal
Governors menaced the people with ven
geance, and poured out upon them phials of
ministerial wrath, yet the tide of freedom,
gathering up in its courso the little rills of
popular feeling, rolled steadily onward—
widening, deepening and hurrying in its
current, until it swept away every land mark
of royalty, and every standard of oppres
sion. One little incident, noticed by Ban
croft shows the jealousy of the people to
any infraction of their rights. During the
troubles with Gov. Cosby of New York in
1734, M A newspaper was established to de
fend the popular cause ; and, in about a
year after its establishment, its printer, John
Peter Trcnger, was imprisoned, on the
charge of publishing false and seditious li
bels. The grand jury would find no bill
against him, and the Attorney-General filed
an information. The council of Trenger
took exceptions to the commissioners of the
judges, because they ran during pleasure,
and because they had been granted with
out consent of council. The court answer
ed the objection by excluding those who of
fered it from the bar. At the trial, the pub
lishing was confessed; but the aged An
drew Hamilton, a lawyer of Philadelphia,
pleading for Trenger justified the publica
tion by asserting its truth.
“ You cannot be admitted,” interrupted
the chief justice, “to give the truth of a
libel in evidence.”
“ Then,” said Hamilton to the jury, “we
appeal to you for witnesses of the facts.
The jury have aright to determine both the
law and the fact, and they ought to do so.”
“ The question before you,” he added, “is
not the cause of a poor printei, nor of New
York alone; it is the best cause—the cause
of liberty. Everyman who prefers - free
dom to a life of slavery, will bless and ho
nor you as men who by an impartial verdict,
lay a noble foundation for securing to our
selves, our posterity and our neighbors, that
to which nature and the honor of our coun
try has given us a right—the liberty of op
posing arbitrary power by speaking and
writing truth.” The jury gave their verdict
“ not guilty ;” the people of the colonies
exulted in the victoiy of freedom ; Hamil
ton received of the common council of New
York the franchise of the city for “his learn
ed and generous defence of the rights of
mankind.” A patriot of the revolution es
teemed this trial to have been the morning
star of the American revolution. But it was
not one light alone that ushered in the dawn
of our Independence : the stars of a whole
constellation sang together for joy.
That colonial independence was not un
thought of in England, we gather from vari
ous writers ; a passage from the memoirs of
Horace Walpole, Earl of Oxford, will sus
tain this assertion. Speaking of the designs
of the ministry towards America, he says,
“ The instructions to Sir Danvers Osborn, a
new Governor of New York, seemed better
calculated for the latitude of Mexico, and
fora Spanish tribunal, than for a free, rich,
British settlement, and in such opulence
and such haughtiness,thatsuspicions had long
been conceived of their meditating to throw
off theirdependence on the mothercountry.”
It is evident however, from the tenor of
History, that the Independence of the Ame
rican colonies, was more suspected and
feared in England, than entertained or act
ed upon in the Provinces.
Dr. Gordon in his History of the Revo
lution has preserved part of a conversation
between Mr. Pratt (afterward Lord Cam
den, and ever a friend of America,) and
Benj. Franklin, in which Mr. Pratt says :
“ For all what you Americans say of your
loyalty, I know you will one day throw off
your dependence upon this country, and
notwithstanding your boasted affection for
it, will set up for independence.” Franklin
replied, “ No such idea is entertained in the
mind of the Americans; and no such idea
will ever enter their heads unless you gross
ly abuse them.”
Even during all the heated controversy
which followed the arbitrary acts of 1765-
66, &c. we hear but little of throwing off
allegiance to the crown or of erecting an in
dependent state. But the time of which
Franklin had spoken, as giving birth to such
feelings was at hand, the colonies had been
“ grossly abused.” The passage of the
“ Boston Post Bill” in March 1774, caused
the fervid Patrick Henry to hirft at indepen
dence to a popular assembly in Virginia, but
Mr. Wirt tells us, that “at the word inde
pendence, the company appeared to be star
tled, for they had never heard anything of
the kind even before suggested.”
In September 1774, Capt. Mackenzie, an
English officer of the 43d regiment, writing
from Boston to Washington under whom he
had served in the French war as Captain in
the Virginia regimentcommanded by Wash
ington, spoke of the “ fixed aim at total in
dependence,” evinced-l>y the Massachusetts
people. In his reply during the following
month, Washington says, “Although you
are taught I say, by discoursing with such
men, to believe, that the people of Massa
chusetts are rebellious, setting up for inde
pendency and what not, give me leave my
good friend to tell you that you are abused,
grossly abused.” * * . * * “ Give me
leave to add and I think I can announce it
as a fact, that it is not the wish or intention
of that government, or any other upon this
continent, seperately or collectively to set
up for independence.” And again, at the
close of the same letter recapitulating his
opinions he writes, “ I am well satisfied that
no such thing is desired by any thinking
man in all North America. On the contra
ry, that it is the ardent wish of the warmest
advocates for liberty, that peace and tran
quility upon constitutional grounds may be
restored and the horrors of civil discord
prevented.”
In a letter of John Jay to Geo. A. Ot’s
the translator of Botta’s History, dated
Bedford 12th Jan., 1821, he thus refutes an
assertion in the pages of that work, as to
the early yet masked desire on the part of
America for independence. “ Our country,”
says he, “ does not deserve this odious and
disgusting imputation. During the course
of my life, and until after the second peti-
MADISON, MORGAN COUNTY, GEORGIA, SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 18, 1842.
tion of Congress in 1775,1 never did hear
any American of any class, or of any des
cription, express a wish for the indepen
dence of the colonies.”
Few Americans had more, or better means
and opportunities of becoming acquainted
with the sentiments and dispositions of the
colonists, relative to public affairs than Dr.
Franklin. In the letter to his son, dated
22nd March, 1775, he relates a conversation
which he had with Lord Chatham in the pre
ceding month of August. His lordship having
mentioned an opinion prevailing iu England,
that America aimed at setting up for her
self as an independent state, the Dr. thus ex
pressed himself. “ I assured him, that hav
ing more than once travelled almost from
one end of the continent to the other, and
kept a great variety of company, eating,
drinking, and conversing with them freely,
I never had heard in any conversation, from
any person, drunk or sober, the least ex
pression of a wish for aseperation, or a hint
that such a thing would be advantageous to
America.”
“It does not appear to me necessary to
enlarge further on this subjeck It has al
ways been and still is my opinion and be
lief, that our country was prompted and im
pelled to independence by necessity, and not
by choice. They who know how we ’were
circumstanced, know from whence that ne
cessity resulted.”
Mr. Otis, in replying to Judge Jay, intro
duces into his letter two extracts from com
munications made to him by President
Adams (the elder) and Jefferson, which are
strong and interesting testimony on this point.
Mr. Adams says, “ it is true, there always ex
isted in the colonies a desire of independence
so parliament in the articles ofinternal taxa
tion and internal policy, and a very general if
not an universal opinion .that they were consti
stutionally entitled to it, and as general a de
termination, if possible, to maintain and de
fend it; but there never existed a desire of
independence of the crown, or of general
regulations of commerce, for the equal and
impartial benefit of all parts of the empire.
It is true, there might be times and circum
stances in which an individual or a few indi
viduals might entertain and express a wish,
that America was independent in all re
spects ; but these were “ rari nantes in gur
gite vasto.” For example, in one thousand
seven hundred and fifty-six, seven and eight,
the conduct of the British Generals Shirley,
Braddock, Loudon, Webb and Abercrom
bie, was so absurd, disastrous, and destruc
tive, that a very general opinion prevailed
that the war w as conducted by a mixture of
ignorance, treachery, and cowardice; and
some persons wished we had nothing to do
with Great Britain for ever. Os this num
ber I distinctly remember I was myself one;
fully believing that we were able to defend
ourselves against the French and Indians,
without any assistance or embarrassments
from Great Britain. In fifty-eight and fifty
nine, when Amherst and Wolfe had chang
ed the fortunes of the war, by a more able
and faithful conduct of it, I again rejoiced
in the name of Briton, and should have re
joiced in it to this day, had not the king and
parliament committed high treason and re
bellion against America, as soon as they had
conquered Canada and made peace with
France. That there existed a general de
sire of independence of the crown, in any
part of America, before the revolution, is as
far from truth as the Zenith is from the Na
dir. The encroaching disposition of Great
Britain, it was early foreseen by many wise
men in all the States, would one day attempt
to enslave them by an unlimited submission
to parliament, and rule them with a rod of
iron; that this attempt would produce re
sistance on the part of America, and an aw
ful struggle, was also foreseen but dreaded
and deprecated as the greatest calamity that
could befall them. Foi; my own part, there
was notamoment duringthe revolution when
I would not have given every thing I possess
ed fora restoration to the state of things be
fore the contest began, provided we could
have had a sufficient security for its con
tinuance,” &c. &c.
Mr. Jefferson says, in fewer words, “ I
confirm by my belief, Mr. Jay’s criticisms
on the passages quoted from Botta. I can
answer for its truth from this State south
wardly, and northwardly I believe to New
York, for which State Mr. Jay himself is a
competent witness. What, eastward of that,
might have been the disposition, towards
England before the commencement of hos
tilities, I know.not; before that I never had
heard a whisper of a disposition to seperate
from Great Britain ; and after that, its pos
sibility was contemplated with affliction by
all,” &c.
In July, 1775, Congress reported their
last petition and address to the king. The
first draft was drawn up by Jefferson, but he
says “ it was too strong for Mr. Dickenson.”
This gentleman, distinguished as the author
of the “ Farmers Letters” which produced
such a great effect in rousing the colonies
to a sense of their rights and dangers, was
yet lingering on the side of conciliation,
and unwilling to break off from the Royal
authority. His early efforts in the cause of
the Colonies, induced the members of Con
gress to treat him with deference, and be
was therefore suffered to take Mr. Jefferson’s
draft and remodel it to his own views and
sentiments; which he so effectually did, as
only to leave four and a half of the para
graphs of the original. Jefferson in* his
valuable notes relates the following interest-
ing anecdote of its reception. “ The dis
gust against its humility was general; and
Mr. Dickenson’s delight at its passage was
the only circumstance which reconciled them
to do it. The vote being passed, although
further observation on it was out cf order,
lie could not refrain from rising, and ex
pressing his satisfaction ; and concluded by
saying, “ there is but one word, Mr. Presi
dent, in the paper which I disapprove, and
that is the word Congress on which Ben
Harrison (father of the late President Har
rison) rose and said, “ there is but one word
in the paper, Mr. President, of which I ap
prove, and that is the word Congress.” This
petition was taken over to England by Rich
ard Penn former Gov. of Pennsylvania, who
on the 10th November 1775 was examined
upon it before the House of Lords, when
the following questions and answers taken
from the parliamentary debates were put
and given.
Question. Are you personally acquaint
ed with many of the members of Congress?
Answer by Penn. lam acquainted with
almost all the members~of Congress.
Question. Do you think they levy and
carry on this war fur the purpose of estab
lishing on Independent empire 1
Answer. I think they do not carry on
this war for independency. I never heard
them breathe sentiments of that nature.
Question. For what purpose do you be
lieve they have taken up arms ?
Answer. In defence of their liberties.
The remarks above made as to the draw
ing up of the petition to the king by Dick
enson, and “ the general disgust felt first”
by the members, reconcile the apparent in
sincerity of Mr. Adams in writing letters
full of independence to his wife and James
Warren, only a fortnight after the signing
the above last act of fealty to his sovereign ;
and which, being intercepted, were laid be
fore the king along side of the Petition, each
giving the lie to the contents of the other,
and puzzling both the king and ministers by
their contrariety. Indeed after the battles
of Concord and Lexington which happened
nearly two months before the passing of Mr.
Dickenson’s petition, the feeling of inde
pendency rapidly gained ground, and sooti
became openly declared. Tho sentiment
of Edmund Burke that “an English gov
ernment must be administered in the spirit
of one, or it will that moment cease to ex
ist” was verified. England had ceased to
govern America with justice and honor—
America therefore renounced her allegiance
and set at naught her authority.
On the 15th May 1776 a Resolution was
proposed to, and adopted by Congress, de
claring, that “ whereas the government of
Great Britain had excluded the United
Colonies from the crown, it was therefore
irreconcilable to reason and good conscience,
for the people to continue their hllegience
to the government under that crown ; and
they accordingly recommended the several
colonies to establish independent govern
ments of their own.” The same day Col.
Archibald Cary introduced a resolution into
the Virginia Convention which was assem
bled at Williamsburg on the 6th May in
structing their delegates in Congress to pro
pose to them to declare the colonies inde
pendent of Great Britain. This coinci
dence it has been said was brought about by
the contrivance of Jefferson who designed
it for popular effect. Accordingly on Fri
day the 7th June 1776, Richard Henry Lee
the oldest of the delegation, in accordance
with the instructions of the Virginia Con
vention, moved “ that the Congress should
declare that these United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be, free and independent
states ; that they are absolved from all alle
gience to the British Crown, and that all the
political connexion between them and the
state of Great Britain, is and ought to be to
tally dissolved ; that measures should be im
mediately taken to procure the assistance of
foreign powersand a confederation be formed
to bind the Colonies more closely together.”
This motion was seconded by John Adams
of Massachusetts, and the next day, Satur
day the Bth at 10 o’clock A. M. was appoint
ed for considering it. On that day, the
House resolved itself into a committee of
the whole, and spent the remainder of that
day and Monday the 10th, in deliberating
upon the question. The principal advocates
of the proposition were John Adams, Sam.
Adams, Richard Henry Lee, George Wythe
and Thomas Jefferson, and the principal op
ponents of the measure were Messrs.
Dickenson and Wilson of Pennsylvania,
Robot R. Livingston of New York, and
Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. The
debate was, as may well bo conceived, of
intense interest, and as an abstract of the
discussion, we give the notes of Jefferson,
who says ol them in a letter to Mr. Wells,
that, for the truth of them, he pledges him
self “to heaven and earth; having, while
the question of independence was under
discussion before Congress, taken written
notes, in my seat, of what was passing and
reduced them to form on the final conclu
sion.” It was argued by the opponents of
the declai ation, says he,
“ That though they were friends to tho
measures, and saw the impossibility that we
should ever again be united with Great
Britain, yet they were against adopting them
at this time:
That the conduct w’e had formeily ob
served was wise and proper now, of defer
ring to take any capital step till the voice of
the people drove us into it:
That they were our power, and without
them our declarations could not be carried
into effect:
That the people of the middle colonies,
(Maryland, Delawme, Pennsylvania, the
Jerseys, and New York,) were not yet ripe
for bidding adieu to British connection, but
that they were fast ripening, and, in a short
time, would join in the general voice of
America;
That the resolution, entered into hy this
House on the 15th of May, for suppressing
the exercise of all powers derived from the
crown, had shown, by the ferment into which
it had thrown these middle colonies, that
they had not yet accommodated their minds
to a seperation from the mother country:
That seme of them had expressly for
bidden their delegates to consent to such a
declaration and others had given no instruc
tions, and consequently no powers to give
such consent:
That if the delegates of any particular
colony had no power to declare such colony
independent, certain they were, the others
could not declare it for them ; the colonies
being as yet perfectly independent of each
other:
That the assembly of Pennsylvania was
now sitting above stairs, their convention
would sit within a few days, the convention
of New York was now sitting, and those of
the Jerseys and Delaware counties would
meet on the Monday following, and it was
probable these bodies would take up the
question of Independence, and would de
clare to their delegates the voice of their
State:
That if such a Declaration should now
be agreed to, these delegates must retire,
and possibly their colonies might secede
from the Union:
That such a secession would weaken us
more than could be compensated by any
foreign alliance:
That in the event of such a division, for
eign powers would either refuse to join
themselves to our fortunes, or, having us so
much in their power as that desperate De
claration would place us, they would insist
on terms proportionalily more hard and pre
judicial :
That we had little reason to expect an al
liance with those to whom alone, as yet, we
had cast our eyes :
That France and Spain had reason to be
jealous of that rising power, which would
one day certainly strip them of all their
American possessions:
That it was more likely they should form
a connection with the British Court, who, if
they should find themselves unable other
wise to extricate themselves from their diffi
culties, would agree to a partition of our
territories, restoring Canada to France, and
the Floridas to Spain, to accomplish for
themselves a recovery of these colonies :
That it would not be long before we
should receive certain information of the
disposition of the French Court, from the
agent whom we had sent to Paris for that
purpose:
That if this disposition should be favora
ble, by waiting the event of the present
campaign, which we all hoped would be
successful, we should have reason to expect
an alliance on better terms:
That this would in fact work no delay of
any effectual aid from such ally, as, from the
advance of the season and distance of our
situation, it was impossible we could re
ceive any assistance during this campaign:
Thatit was prudent to fix among ourselves
the terms on which we would form alliance,
before we declared we would form one at
all events :
And that if these were agreed on, and
our Declaration of Independence ready by
the time our Ambassador should be piepar
cd to sail, it would be as well, as to go into
that Declaration at this day.”
These were certainly strong, and appa
rently unanswerable arguments, and may
be regarded as an exponent of the views of
that body of the American people who then
thought that the time had not yet come to
declare themselves independent; but wait
ed until furtheraggression and blood dissolv
ed the ties of their allegiance. But turn
now to the other side, and read tho cogent
arguments of the advocates of the Declara
tion, and who embodied in their reasons the
views of that other and dominant class who
had resolved, that living or dying they would
be Independent.
“ No gentlemen,” £feid the Adamses, Lee,
Wythe, Jefferson and those on this side,“had
argued against the policy or the right of se
paration from Britain, nor had supposed it
possible we should ever renew our connec
tion ; that they had only opposed its being
now declared.
That the question was not whether, by a
Declaration of Independence, we should
make ourselves what we are not; but
whether wo should declare a fact which al
ready exists:
That as to the people or parliament of
England, we had always been independent
of them, their restraints on our trade deriv
ing efficacy from our acquiescence only,
and not from any rights they possessed of
imposing them, and that so far, our connec
tion had been federal only, and was now
dissolved by the commencement of hostili
ties :
That, as to tho King, wo had been bound
to him by allegiance, but that this bond was
now dissolved by his assent to tho late act of
parliament, by which he declares ns out of
VOLUME 1.--NUMBER 12.
his protection, and by his levying war on ns,
a fact which had long ago proved us out of
his protection ; it being a certain position in
law, that allegiance and protection are reci
procal, the one ceasing when the other is
withdrawn :
That James the ll.‘never declared the
people of England out of his protection,
yet his actions proved it and the parliament
declared it:
No delegates then can be denied, or ever
want, a power of declaringan existent truth:
That the delegates from the Delaware
counties having declared their constituents
ready to join, there are only two colonies,
Pennsylvania and Maryland, whose dele
gates are absolutely tied up, and that these
had, by their instructions, only reserved a
right of confirming or rejecting the mea
sure:
That the instructions from Pennsylvania
might be accounted for from the times in
which they were drawn, near twelvemonth
ago, since which the face of affairs has total
ly changed:
That within that time, it had become ap
parent that Britaiu was determined to ac
cept nothing less than a carte-blanche, and
that the King’s answer to the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Common Council of London,
which had come to hand four days ago, must
have satisfied every one of this point:
That the people wait for us to lead the
way:
That they are in favor of the measure,
though the instructions given by some of
their representatives are not:
That the voice of the representatives is
not always consonant with the voice of the
people, and that this is remarkably the case
in these middle colonies:
That the effect of the resolution of the
15th of May has proved this, which, raising
the murmurs of some in the colonies of
Pennsylvania and Maryland, called forth
the opposing voice of the freer part of the
people, and proved them to be the majority
even in these colonies:
That the backwardness of these two col
onies might be ascribed, partly to the influ
ence of proprietary power and connections,
and partly, to their having not yet been at
tacked by the enemy:
That these causes were not likely to be
soon removed, as there seemed no proba
bility that the enemy would make either of
these the seat of this summer’s war:
That it would be vain to wait either weeks
or months for perfect unanimity, since it
was impossible that all men should ever be
come of one sentiment on any question :
That the conduct of some colonies from
the beginning of this contest had given rea
son to suspect it was their settled policy to
keep in the rear of the confederacy, that
their particular prospect might be better,
even in the worst event:
That, therefore, it was necessary for those
colonies who had thrown themselves forward
and hazarded all from the beginning, to
como forward now also, and put all again to
their own hazard:
That the history of the Dutch revolution,
of whom three States only confederated at
first, proved that a secession of some colo
nies would not be so dangerous as some ap
prehended :
That a Declaration of Independence
alone could render it consistent with Euro
pean delicacy, for European powers to treat
with us or even to receive an Ambassador
from us:
That till this, they would not receive our
vessels into their ports, nor acknowledge the
adjudications of our courts of admiralty to
be legitimate, in cases of capture of British
vessels:
That though France and Spain moy be
jealous of our rising power, they must think
it will be much more formidable with the
addition of Great Britain; and will there
fore see it their interest to prevent a coali
tion, but should they refuse, we shall be but
where we are; whereas without trying, we
shall never know whether they will aid us or
not:
That the present campaign may be un
successful, and therefore we had better pro*
Eose an alliance while our affairs wear a
opeful aspect:
That to wait the event of this campaign
will certainly work delay, because, during
this summer, France may assist us effectual
ly, hy cutting off those supplies of provisions
from England and Ireland, on which the
enemy’s armies here are to depend; or by
setting in motion the great power they have
collected in the West Indies, and calling our
enemy to the defence of the possessions
they have there:
That it would be idle to lose time in set
tling the terms of alliance, till we had first
determined we would enter into alliance:
That it is necessary to lose no time in
opening a trade for our people, who will
want clothes, and will want money too for
the payment of taxes:
And that the only misfortune is, that we
did not enter into alliance with France six
months sooner, as, besides opening her ports
for the rent of our last year’s produce, she
might have marched an army in Germany,
and prevented the petty princes there, from
selling their unhappy subjects to subdue
ns.”
On the 10th June, Mr. Lee having been
informed of the dangerous illness of his
wife, obtained leave of absence from Con
gress, and returned home. The members
after some debate on the order of the day