offered them his watch, and all the gold he had with him, to be released. But, poor and obscure as these soldiers were, they were not to be bribed. Resolutely refusing his offers, they conducted him to Lieutenant Colonel Jameson, their commanding officer. Jameson injudiciously permitted André to write to Arnold, who immediately escaped on board the British sloop-of-war Vulture, and took refuge in New York. André was tried and condemned as a spy, and hung upon a gallows. The name of Benediet Arnold has ever since been branded with infamy.

80. During the spring of 1781 a great many battles and skirmishes were fought in North and South Carolina. The British were commanded by Lord Cornwallis, and the Americans by General Greene. The latter were frequently defeated, yet they were never discouraged; and the result of the whole campaign was highly advantageous to the American cause.

81. About this time Arnold, the traitor, was sent with some British troops against New London. They took Fort Griswold by assault, and after the garrison had surrendered, murdered nearly the whole of them in cold blood. They then burned New London to the ground, and returned to New York. But the period of British triumph was fast drawing to a close.

82. In the summer of 1781 Lord Cornwallis was stationed at Yorktown, Virginia, with eight thousand British troops. Washington was near New York, making preparations to attack that city, where Sir Henry Clinton held the command. But his army being too small, he determined to march to the south against Cornwallis. Accordingly he set out with the army; and before Sir Henry Clinton suspected his design, he had already crossed the Delaware. Washington marched on, and was joined by a large number of French troops, who had just arrived in the Chesapeake, under Count de Grasse.

men.

83. The combined army amounted to sixteen thousand Cornwallis was sheltered by strong fortifications ; but the Americans and French drew near, planted their cannon, and on the 9th of October began to pour in their shot upon him. A tremendous cannonade was now kept up night and day. The walls of the British fort were battered down, their cannon were silenced, and their men slaughtered by hundreds. Cornwallis attempted to escape, but did not succeed. At length, finding all resistance vain, he offered to capitulate, and on the 19th the whole army surrendered.

84. This splendid victory, in effect, closed the war. The British government saw that America could not be conquered. Accordingly they abandoned the attempt, acknowledged the independence of the United States, and in 1783 a treaty of peace between the two nations was signed. The British troops now took their departure, and our country thenceforward assumed her station among the independent nations of the earth.

VIII. - ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

1. THE war of the revolution was now closed, and the British troops had retired from the country. It is scarcely possible for us to conceive of the sufferings of the people during this struggle. Thousands of them were killed; towns were burned; the lands lay uncultivated; and many of the churches had ceased to be places of worship, and had become barracks for soldiers. Hundreds of families had been broken up; thousands had been reduced from wealth to poverty; widows were mourning for their hus

bands who were slain; children were thrown upon the world without protection; and society, having lost its character for pure morality, was staired with profligacy and vice. Besides all this, though cur country had gained peace and independence, it was still without a regular gov

ernment.

2. No nation can exist without a government. No family can live comfortably together without some one to govern them; no school could be kept together for a day without some one to govern it. In families and schools certain rules are established for their government; and when these are complied with every thing goes on pleasantly. So it is with states and nations. If there were no laws, or nobody to put them in force, the strong would rob the weak of their possessions, the cunning would deceive the simple, and thus a large part of the community would become the victims of injustice, cruelty, and crime. Happily, we had wise and good men at this time, as well as brave ones during the war. These men, seeing the necessities of the country, called a convention, consisting of delegates from the thirteer colonies. The delegates, assembled at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, and drew up a plan of government which is called the Constitution of the United States. This was submitted to Congress in September of the same year, and being ratified by the people in the several states, went into operation in 1789; and since that time it has continued to be the foundation of our national government.

3. The Constitution of the United States, as will be seen, provides that the government shall consist of three branches, namely, the legislative, or law-making power, the executive, and the judiciary.

4. The legislative branch is vested in a Congress, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. These two houses meet in the Capitol at Washington, to make laws for the United States. The Senate consists of two

members from each of the states, chosen by the several state legislatures. They are chosen for six years. The members of the House of Representatives are chosen in districts by the people of the several states. At the present time (1855) about ninety thousand inhabitants elect one representative. They are chosen for two years.

5. At the head of the executive department is the president of the United States, whose duty it is to see that the business of government is executed throughout the whole country according to the laws made by Congress. He is assisted in the discharge of his duty by five secretaries. One of these is called the secretary of state, another the secretary of the treasury, another the secretary of war, another the secretary of the navy, and a fifth, called the secretary of the interior. These secretaries, with the postmaster general and the attorney general, form the "president's cabinet."

6. The judiciary consists of several judges, whose duty it is to explain and apply the laws of Congress.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;

Framed by a convention of delegates, of which Washington was the President, which met at Philadelphia, from the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts,1 Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; and adopted 17th September, 1787.

PREAMBLE.

WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the

1 NOTE. - Rhode Island was not represented in the convention.

general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I.

SECT. I.-1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

SECT. II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year, by the people of the several states; and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of

years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New