ing in the Pennsylvania assembly, Richard Henry Lee, in the name and with the authority of Virginia, proposed in congress: "That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign alliances; and that a plan of confederation be prepared, and transmitted to the respective colonies for their consideration and approbation.' The resolutions were seconded by John Adams.

At nine in the morning of the eighth of June the assembly of Pennsylvania, after debate, adopted its new instructions by a vote of thirty-one against twelve. The disingenuous measure proved the end of that body; never but once more could it bring together a quorum of its members; and it entailed on their state years of bitter strife.

At ten on the same day congress took up Richard Henry Lee's resolve, and the debate which ensued was the most copious and the most animated ever held on the subject. The argument on the part of its opponents was sustained by Robert Livingston of New York, by Wilson, Dickinson, and Edward Rutledge. They made no objection to a confederacy, and to sending a project of a treaty by proper persons to France; but they contended that a declaration of independence would place America in the power of the British, with whom she was to negotiate; give her enemy notice to counteract her intentions before she had taken steps to carry them into execution; and expose her to ridicule in the eyes of foreign powers by premature attempts to bring them into an alliance. Edward Rutledge said privately "that it required the impudence of a New Englander for them in their disjointed state to propose a treaty to a nation now at peace; that no reason could be assigned for pressing into this measure but the reason of every madman, a show of spirit." Wilson avowed that the removal of the restriction on his vote by the Pennsylvania assembly on that morning did not change his view of his obligation to resist independence. On the other hand, Lee and Wythe of Virginia put forth all their strength to show that the people

waited only for congress to lead the way; that they desired an immediate declaration of independence without which no European power could give shelter to their commerce or engage with them in a treaty of alliance. John Adams defended the proposed measures as "objects of the most stupendous magnitude, in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn were intimately interested;" as the consummation "of a revolution the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable of any in the history of nations." The voices of all New England and of Georgia were raised on the same side. A majority of the colonies, including North Carolina, appeared to be unalterably fixed in favor of an immediate declaration of independence; but the vote on the question was postponed till Monday.

On the intervening day Keith, the British minister at the court of Vienna, chanced to obtain an audience of Joseph II., and afterward of the empress Maria Theresa. The emperor referred to the proclamation which the joint sovereigns had issued, most strictly prohibiting all commerce between their subjects in the Low Countries and the rebel colonies in America, and went on to say: "I am very sorry for the difficulties which have arisen to distress the king's government; the cause in which he is engaged is in fact the cause of all sovereigns, for they have a joint interest in the maintenance of a just subordination and obedience to law in all the monarchies which surround them; I see with pleasure the vigorous exertions of the national strength, which he is now employing to bring his rebellious subjects to a speedy submission, and I most sincerely wish success to those measures.' "9 The empress queen, in her turn, expressed a very hearty desire for the restoration of obedience and tranquillity to every quarter of the British dominions.

When the congress met on Monday, Edward Rutledge, without much expectation of success, moved that the question should be postponed three weeks, while in the mean time the plan of a confederation and of treaties might be matured. Again the debate was kept up until seven in the evening, when the desire of perfect unanimity, and the reasonableness of allowing the delegates of the central colonies to consult their constituents, induced seven colonies against five to assent

to the delay, but with the further condition that, to prevent any loss of time, a committee should in the meanwhile prepare a declaration in harmony with the proposed resolution. On the next day Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were chosen by ballot for that office.

On the twelfth the duty of digesting the form of a confederation was assigned to one member from each colony; and, as if the subject had not been of transcendent importance, their appointment was left to the presiding officer. Among those whom Hancock selected are found the names of Samuel Adams, Dickinson, and Edward Rutledge; it could have been wished that the two Adamses had changed places, though probably the result would at that time have been the same; no one man had done so much to bring about independence as the elder Adams, but his skill in constructing governments, not his knowledge of the principles of freedom, was less remarkable than that of his younger kinsman. In the committee, Dickinson, who, as an opponent of independence, could promote only a temporary constitution, assumed the task of drafting the great charter of union.

The preparation of a plan of treaties with foreign powers was intrusted by ballot to Dickinson, Franklin, John Adams, Harrison, and Robert Morris; and between John Adams and Dickinson there was no difference of opinion, that the scheme to be proposed should be confined to commerce, without any grant of exclusive privileges, and without any entanglement of a political connection or alliance.

On the thirteenth a board of war, of which Washington had explained the extreme necessity, was appointed, and John Adams was placed at its head.

On the twenty-fourth congress "resolved, that all persons abiding within any of the united colonies, and deriving protection from its laws, owe allegiance to the said laws, and are members of such colony ;" and it charged the guilt of treason upon "all members of any of the united colonies who should be adherent to the king of Great Britain, giving to him aid and comfort." The fellow-subjects of one king became fellowlieges of one republic. They all had one law of citizenship and one law of treason.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE PEOPLE OF EVERY AMERICAN COLONY DEMAND

INDEPENDENCE.

JUNE-JULY 1776.

AMERICAN independence was not an act of sudden passion, nor the work of one man or one assembly. It had been discussed in every part of the country by farmers and merchants, by mechanics and planters, by the fishermen and the backwoodsmen; in town-meetings and from the pulpit; at social gatherings and around the camp fires; in newspapers and in pamphlets; in county conventions and conferences of committees; in colonial congresses and assemblies. The decision was put off only to ascertain the voice of the people. Virginia, having uttered her will, and communicated it to her sister colonies, proceeded, as though independence had been proclaimed, to form her constitution. More counsellors waited on her assembly than they took notice of: they were aided in their deliberations by the teachings of the law-givers of Greece; by the line of magistrates who had framed the Roman code; by those who had written best in English on government and public freedom. They passed by monarchy and hereditary aristocracy as unessential forms, and looked for the self-subsistent elements of liberty.

The principles of the Virginia declaration of rights remained to her people as a perpetual possession, and a pledge of progress in more tranquil days; but for the moment internal reforms were postponed. The elective franchise was not extended, nor was anything done to abolish slavery beyond the prohibition of the slave-trade. The king of England pos

sessed the crown by birth and for life; the chief executive of Virginia owed his place to an election by the general assembly, and retained it for one year. The king was intrusted with a veto power, limited within Britain, extravagant and even retrospective in the colonies; the recollection that "by an inhuman use of his negative he had refused them permission to exclude negroes by law" misled the Virginians to withold the veto power from the governor of their own choice.

The governor, like the king, had at his side a privy council; and, in the construction of this body of eight men, the desire for some permanent element of government is conspicuous. Braxton, in the scheme which he forwarded from congress, would have had the governor continue in authority during good behavior, the council of state during life. But Patrick Henry, Mason, and the other chief members of the convention, did not share this dread of the power of the people; and nothing more was conceded than that two only of the eight councillors should be triennially changed, so that the body would be completely renewed once in the course of twelve years. The governor, with their advice, had the appointment of militia officers and of justices of the peace; but the general assembly by joint ballot elected the treasurer, the judges, and the officers of the higher courts. The general assembly, like the British parliament, consisted of two branches, an annual house of delegates and a senate of twenty-four members, to be chosen from as many districts, and to be renewed one fourth in each year.

The convention recognised the territorial rights of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, and the limit set by the peace of 1763; otherwise it claimed jurisdiction over all the region, granted by the second charter of King James I. The privilege of purchasing Indian titles was reserved to the state; but a right of pre-emption was secured to actual settlers on unappropriated lands.

In framing the constitution, George Mason was aided by Richard Henry Lee and George Wythe; a form of government, sent by Jefferson, arrived too late; but his draft of a preamble was adopted. Virginia became a republic. The convention, having on the twenty-ninth of June unanimously