nish milled dollars, be ftruck in bills of thirty dollars each.

They established a post-office, to reach from Fal- 26. mouth in New England to Savannah in Georgia; and then unanimously elected Benjamin Franklin efq; postmafter general.

They proceeded to the establishment of an hofpital 27. for an army of 20,000 men; and elected Benjamin Church to be director of and physician in it.

They agreed to an addrefs to the people of Ireland, 28. and in it furnished them with a true state of the colonial motives and objects, the better to enable them to judge of the conduct of the colonists with accuracy, and to determine the merits of the controverfy with impartiality and precifion. They then anticipated the golden period, when liberty, with all the gentle arts of peace and humanity, 'fhould eftablifh her mild dominion in this western world, and erect eternal monuments to the memory of those virtuous patriots and martyrs, who fhall have fought and bled, and fuffered in her cause. Toward the close, the Hanguage is, "Accept our moft grateful acknowledgments for the friendly difpofition you have alway fhown toward us. We know that you are not without your grievances. We fympathize with you in your distress, and are pleased to find that the defign of fubjugating us, has perfuaded administration to difpenfe to Ireland fome vagrant rays of minifterial funfhine.-Even the tender mercies of government have long been cruel toward you. In the rich pastures of Ireland, many hungry parricides have fed, and grown strong to labor in its deftruction." In the body of it, a fhaft is elegantly pointed at one of the British generals." America is

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amazed to find the name of Howe in the catalogue of her enemies :-fhe loved his brother." The former lord Howe fell by a fhot from a French Indian, after landing on the left toward the bottom of Lake George, and while heading his corps and marching under the command of general Abercrombie, to attack Tyconderoga. The Maffachusetts affembly, to express their affection and ftrong fense of his worthy character, had a monument erected to his memory in Westminster-abbey.

The quotas of the feveral colonies toward the common expence was fettled, for the prefent, fubject to a future revifion and correction....

The affemblies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, having referred to the congress the refolution of the house of commons, comprehending lord North's conciliatory plan, they expreffed their opinion upon it, to the following purpose, viz..." The colonies are entitled to the fole and exclufive privilege of giving and granting their own money. As they poffefs a right of appropriating their gifts, fo are they entitled at all times to inquire into their application. This privilege of giving or withholding their monies, is an important barrier against the undue exertion of prerogative.

"The propofition contained in the refolution is unreasonable and infidious: unreasonable, because, if we declare we accede to it, we declare without refervation, we will purchase the favor of parliament, not knowing at the fame time at what price they will please to eftimate their favor; it is infidious, because, individual colonies, having bid and bidden again, till they find the avidity of the feller too great for all their powers to fatisfy, are then to return into oppofition, divided from

their fifter colonies, whom the minifter will have previously detached by a grant of easier terms, or by an artful procrastination of a definitive answer. The fufpenfion of the exercife of their pretended power of taxation being exprefsly made commenfurate with the continuance of our gifts, these must be perpetual to make that fo. The propofition is altogether unfatisfactory, because it imports only a suspension of the mode, nót a renunciation of the pretended right to tax us; because too, it does not propose to repeal the feveral acts of parliament complained of as grievances.

"Upon the whole, this propofition feems to have been held up to the world, to deceive it into a belief that there was nothing in difpute between us, but the mode of levying taxes; and that the parliament having now been fo good as to give up this, the colonies are unreasonable if not perfectly satisfied; whereas, in truth, our adverfaries still claim a right of demanding ad libitum, and of taxing us themselves to the full amount of their demand, if we do not comply with it. This leaves us without any thing we can call property."

Congrefs had reprobated the conciliatory plan in their addrefs to the British inhabitants; but now they difcuffed it fully, and expofed its futility. The next day, August the first, they adjourned to Tuesday the fifth of September.

The declaration of congrefs, their petition to the king, their addrefs to the inhabitants of Great Britain, the other to the people of Ireland, and their opinion upon the refolution of the house of commons, must evidence to the world, that they have men of the first abilities among them, whose writings will vie with the pub

lic declarations and acts of any powers, on the greatest occafions, in refpect to art, address, and execution.

When you confider the variety of climates, foils, religions, civil governments, commercial interefts, &c. which were represented in the former congrefs, and the late feffion of the prefent; and the various occupations, educations and characters of the gentlemen who composed them; you will judge, that the general harmony and unanimity which prevailed in them, is scarcely to be paralleled. At the revolution, fuch mighty questions as, "Whether is the throne vacant or not? Whether fhall the prince of Orange be king or not?" were determined in the convention parliament, by fmall majorities the laft queftion by two only. The great majorities, the almoft unanimity, with which moft capital questions have been decided in the continental congress, will be confidered by numbers in no other light than as the happiest omens; or rather as providential difpenfations in favor of the colonies; as well as the cleareft demonftrations of their cordial, firm, radical, and indif foluble union.

The adjournment of congrefs affords the delegates, the beft means of confulting with their conftituents, as to what further measures it may be neceffary to adopt : as alfo certain individuals, who may look forward to independency, a much more favorable opportunity of ripening their designs by private, personal, intercourse with special confidants, than can be enjoyed by an epistolary correfpondence. By well-timed hints, they may fcatter those sentimental feeds, which fhall at length produce events, not at prefent fufpected even by the perfons attending to fuch hints.

The Georgia delegates did not come on, and join the congrefs before the feffion was closed.

The inhabitants of South Carolina were fo zealous, and the alarm spread by the Lexington engagement fo extenfive through the colony, that 172 members met in June provincial congrefs, agreeable to the fummons iffued three and twenty days before by the general committee. They unanimously refolved, that an affociation was neceffary, which was drawn up and figned by their prefident Henry Laurens efq; and all the members present. In it they declared Thoroughly convinced that, under our present diftreffed circumftances, we fhall be justified before God and man, in refifting force by force, we do unite ourselves under every tie of religion and honor, and affociate as a band in the defence of an injured country against every foe-hereby folemnly engaging that, whenever our continental or provincial councils fhall decree it neceffary, we will go forth, and be ready to facrifice our lives and fortunes to secure her freedom and fafety. This obligation to continue in full force until a reconciliation fhall take place between Great Britain and America, upon constitutional principles-an event which we most heartily defire. And we will hold all thofe perfons inimical to the liberty of the colonies who fhall refufe to fubfcribe this affociation." This was afterward pretty generally fubfcribed by the inhabitants...

It was refolved to raise two regiments of foot, and a regiment of rangers; and to put the town and province in a refpectable pofture of defence. The provincial congress were fenfible, that the expences would be great. But it was the language there, as well as in the

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