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XVIII.

Pennsylvania Journal in 1775.

The writer of an article published in the Pennsylvania Journal, of April 24, 1775, said: "Can this Continent be happy under the government of Great Britain, or not? Secondly, Can she be happy under a government of our own? * * * The answer to the second questioncan America be happy under a government of her own, is short and simple, viz.: As happy as she pleases; she has a blank sheet to write upon. Put it not off too long."

XIX.

Sermon in 1775.

On the 23d of June, 1775, at the "request of the officers of the Third Battalion of the City of Philadelphia and district of Southwark," a sermon was preached in Christ Church, by William Smith, D.D., who said: "As we know that our civil and religious rights are linked together in one indissoluble bond, we neither have, nor seek to have, any interest separate from that of our country, nor can we advise a desertion of its cause. Religion and liberty must flourish or fall together in America. We pray that both may be perpetual."-Principles and Acts of the Revolution, p. 220.

XX.

Boston Gazette, 1775.

In 1775, the author of a "History of the Dispute with America, from its origin in 1754" (published in the Boston Gazette), said: "The grand aphorism of the policy of the Whigs has been to unite the people of America, and divide those of Great Britain. The reverse of this has

been the maxim of the Tories, viz. to unite the people of Great Britain, and divide those of America. All the movements, marches, and counter-marches of both parties, on both sides of the Atlantic, may be reduced to one or the other of these rules. I have shown that the people of America are united more perfectly than the most sanguine Whig could ever have hoped, or than the most timid Tory could have feared."-Remembrancer, for 1775, published in London, Vol. I, p. 13.

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XXI.

Provincial Congress, at Watertown, Mass., in 1775.

It seems that, in 1775, the idea of American Independence was not in the minds of many of the people of the United Colonies. In the Provincial Congress, at Watertown, Massachusetts, on the 26th of April, 1775, an "Address to the inhabitants of Great Britain" was adopted. It contained the following passage: They" [the British Ministry] "have not yet detached us from our Royal Sovereign; we profess to be his loyal and dutiful subjects; and, so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready, with our lives and fortunes, to defend his person, family, crown, and dignity; nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel Ministry, we will not tamely submit."-Remembrancer, Vol. I, p. 71.

XXII.

Thomas Jefferson, in 1775.

In a letter dated "Monticello, August 25, 1775," Thomas Jefferson said, he "would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any other nation upon the earth, or than on no nation. But," he continued, "I am one of those too, who, rather than

submit to the rights of legislating for us, assumed by the British Parliament, and which late experience has shown they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean."-Jefferson's Complete Works, Vol. I, p. 201.

XXIII.

James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, on the Declaration of Independence.

James Wilson, in a letter addressed "to the citizens of Pennsylvania," said: "When the measure" [the Declaration of American Independence] "began to be an object of contemplation in Congress, the Delegates of Pennsylvania were expressly restricted from consenting to it. My uniform language in Congress was, that I never would vote for it, contrary to my instructions. I went further, and declared that I never would vote for it, without your authority."***"When your authority was communicated by the conference of Committees from the several counties of the State, I then stood upon very different grounds: I declared so in Congress. I spoke and voted for the measure." * * "Some who would not accede to the Declaration of Independence when it was made, have ever since shone in the number of its most determined and most illustrious supporters."Pennsylvania Journal, Oct. 18, 1780.

XXIV.

Examination of Joseph Galloway, in 1779.

Extracts from "The Examination of Joseph Galloway, Esq., late Speaker of the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania, before the House of Commons, in a Committee on the American Papers"-Mr. Montagu in the chairJune 16, 1779:

"Question.-How long have you lived in America ? Answer. I have lived in America from my nativity to the month of October last, about forty

eight years.

*

Question. At the beginning of the present rebellion, when the inhabitants took up arms, had

the people, in general, independence in view?

Answer.-I do not believe, from the best knowledge I have of the state of America at that time,

that one-fifth of the people had independence in view.

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Question. That part of the rebel army that enlisted in the service of the Congress, were they chiefly composed of the natives of America, or were the greatest part of them English, Scotch and Irish?

Answer.-The names and places of their nativity being taken down, I can answer the question. with precision. There were scarcely

one-fourth natives of America-about one-half Irish-the other fourth were English and Scotch."

XXV.

Germans in 1775.

A letter dated "Philadelphia, June 20, 1775," says: "It is amazing to see the spirit of the Germans among us. Thousands of them have served as soldiers in their own country. They speak with infinite pleasure of sacrificing their lives and property for the preservation of liberty, which they know full well how to value from its deprivation by despotic princes."-London "Remembrancer' for 1775, p. 144.

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CHAPTER VI.

I.

Congress of 1776.

On the 15th of May, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a Preamble, which contains the following passage: "And, whereas, it appears absolutely irreconcileable to good reason and conscience, for the people of these Colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under the authority of the people of the Colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defense of their lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies, Therefore

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the United Colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people,

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