CHAPTER XXI.

The Declaration of Independence and the Overthrow of the Provincial Government-The Arrest of the Royal Governor, William Franklin.

The most important of New Jersey's provincial congresses, and the final one for the year 1775, opened on the third of October and continued for twenty-two days. Its members had been elected by the people, the previous bodies having been provisional in character, the delegates emanating from the choice of informal county meetings or conventions. The amount of business transacted at this session was very great. The whole colony was in a state of intense agitation, and excitements ruled the hour. It was a time of civil discord, when neighbor feared neighbor and friend suspected friend. Disputes and difficulties. between the people were rife, culminating in all manner of charges and complaints, which were poured in upon congress in the shape of accusations, petitions and appeals. Communications from township and county committees had to be received and deliberated upon, charges against loyalists investigated, and many complaints of personal grievances considered.

Ordinances were passed for the raising of regiments, the strengthening of the militia, the purchase of munitions of war, and, to meet the many pecuniary necessities of the hour, arrangements were effected for the issue of bills of credit to the amount of thirty thousand pounds, proclamation money. But we will not speak in detail of all the important matters that were patiently and ably considered by this patriotic congress, among whose officers were Samuel Tucker of Hunterdon, as president, and John Mehelm of Hunterdon and Hendrick Fisher of Somerset, as vice-presidents. It is enough for us to know that at a

period when legislative difficulties of the most involved character had to be encountered, these deputies conducted their deliberations with wisdom and prudence, and by their intelligent and far-seeing devotion to the best interests of the colony laid a firm foundation upon which was afterward raised the superstructure of a great state. This important session adjourned to meet at New Brunswick on the first Tuesday in April, 1776. One of its final acts was to appoint a committee of safety to govern the province ad interim, among whom were Samuel Tucker, John Hart and John Mehelm of Hunterdon, Hendrick Fisher and Ruloff Van Dyke of Somerset.

All this time the second continental congress, which had convened on the tenth of May, was in session, and in constant communication with the congresses and committees of the several provinces. It is unnecessary to speak in detail of the many important measures that were ably considered by this celebrated legislature, or of the ardor of its patriotic members whose soulstirring debates in the historic State House at Philadelphia still arouse the enthusiasm of mankind, the wide world over. Wherever the name of liberty is known and loved, the broad comprehensive views and deep political knowledge exhibited by the many distinguished men composing this congress, have been recognized and extolled. Since the formation of society the record of no other representative body contributes pages of such value and brilliancy to the history of the cause of human progress. We should be false, however, to the continuity of the story of the times did we fail to note that by early June in 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia had submitted a motion, declaring the colonies to be "absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all connection between them and Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved." This was but anticipatory of the culminating act of the memorable second day of July which saw the final adoption, without a dissenting voice, of that resolution for independence which was to insure a name and a national existence to the United States of America.

The second of July was, therefore, the momentous day on which was broken the last political link binding the colonies and the mother country. A committee was at once appointed to draft a declaration of reasons justifying this all-important step

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taken by the delegates. Two days later, on the morning of the fourth, Thomas Jefferson as chairman of that committee presented to the continental congress the immortal Declaration of Independence. Among the illustrious men who listened to the reading of this document there is one figure that stands sharply defined on the canvas which portrays the scene of the crowning act of this historic body. It is that of John Witherspoon, a distinguished representative from New Jersey, whose patriotism and foresight at a crucial moment is believed to have powerfully promoted the prompt acceptance of the Declaration of Independence. After Jefferson had finished the reading of this paper, the members of congress were appalled by the solemnity of the occasion, and by the apparent realization for the first time of the portent of the document. The knowledge seemed suddenly forced upon them of what its adoption must entail upon the country. It meant a continuation of the war, and all the miseries that would necessarily follow a prolonged civil conflict. Should the American arms not prevail, complete subjection of the entire people must follow, and for the signers and promulgators of this incendiary and rebellious instrument naught could be expected but an ignominious death. Through the halls of congress an intense silence prevailed. It was a critical moment. When the painful hush should be broken the temper of the first speaker might decide the weal or woe of the people. As has been said by a witness: "The very destiny of the country seemed to be suspended upon the action of a moment."

Suddenly a stalwart form arose—that of a man full of years; his hair whitened by the snows of many winters. With a countenance resolute and determined, and a voice trembling with the intensity of his emotions, he broke the deep silence of the chamber: "There is," said he, "a tide in the affairs of man, a nick of time; we perceive it now before us. The noble instrument upon your table, which insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in the house. He who will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy the name of a freeAlthough these gray hairs must descend into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by the hand of the public executioner than desert, at this time, the

man.

sacred cause of my country." The speaker sat down, and a great sigh of relief and murmur of approval went up from his listeners the tension was over, the crisis safely passed. In the debates which followed, the speeches of the members displayed much of the spirit of patriotic firmness that had characterized the timely appeal of this excellent man, resulting finally in the adoption of that portentous document which secured the independence of the thirteen states.

ton.

John Witherspoon was a Scotch divine who in 1768 had been called to the presidency of the College of New Jersey, and to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in PrinceThis was not his first appearance in the arena of rebellion. When the Highlanders flocked to the royal standard unfurled by the young pretender in the north of Scotland, Witherspoon, though the pastor of a parish, raised a corps of militia and marched to his support. The young parsonsoldier's enthusiasm carried him into the battle of Falkirk, where he was taken prisoner; he lay captive in the castle of Donne until after Culloden. In America he proved a patriot of great influence in the councils of the nation, and served the state in congress with honor and ability for six years, and in 1776 was also a member of the provincial congress, afterwards the "Convention of the State of New Jersey." As a Princeton resident, we may fairly claim Doctor Witherspoon to have been a Somerset man; it was many years after that time before the county was shorn of its southern border which then included that seat of learning, in order to contribute to the new county of Mercer.

It must be remembered that until early in 1776 the semblance of royal government continued to exist in New Jersey. Up to

*The declaration signed that day is not the venerable parchment now so carefully preserved in the state department at Washington. This latter document was subsequently engrossed, and it was not for many months afterward that all of its appended signatures were thereon inscribed. Indeed a number of its signers, among them Charles Carroll and Dr. Benjamin Rush, were not even members of congress on the fourth of July, 1776, but were elected delegates some weeks later. The original declaration has not been preserved and may possibly have been destroyed by order of congress. Much interesting, and what to many would be considered new, information regarding the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, is to be found in a paper by William L. Stone in Harper's Magazine, Vol. LXVII., p. 208. The Witherspoon incident is given in Alexander Graydon's "Memoirs of His Own Times."

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the fourth of July all official documents and proclamations ended with the phrase, "God save the King." At this time, with the exception of that grand old "Rebel Governor," Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, there was not in all the thirteen colonies a chief magistrate but that was strongly prejudiced in favor of British interests, and zealous to check the uprising of the people. Governor William Franklin occupied the proprietor's house at Perth Amboy-yet extant, and used as a home for aged Pres-byterian ministers. His duties mainly consisted in keeping his government advised as to the treasonable acts of the citizens. The colonial assembly still had a legal existence, though the house had been prorogued by the governor on the sixth of December, 1775, until the third of January, 1776; it never reassembled; and thus terminated the colonial legislature of New Jersey.

The provincial congress of 1776 met on the first of February at New Brunswick; owing to the exigency of the times it was convened by the council of safety before the date to which the previous congress had adjourned. The business before this session was largely composed of following the suggestions made by continental congress as to the raising and equipping of regular battalions, and for supplying the province's portion of the munitions of war. Among the many ordinances passed was one making radical changes in the franchise laws, whereby all persons who had lived one year in the county, were worth fifty pounds in personal estate, and had signed the articles of association prepared by the township committees of observation and inspection, were entitled to vote for deputies. The first election under this ordinance took place in May, 1776, and the deputies chosen from Somerset were Frederick Frelinghuysen, William Paterson, John Witherspoon (also member of continental congress), Jacob R. Hardenbergh (pastor of the Raritan Reformed Dutch churches), and James Linn. Judge James Linn was one of Somerset's aristocrats and a citizen highly esteemed throughout the country. He lived on a well improved plantation of six hundred acres, lying in the Mine brook valley in Bernards township, about one mile east of the village of Bedminster. He had quite a retinue of servants and twenty slaves. His estate had