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enemy can send. All the forces in America should be under one Commander, raised and appointed by the same authority, subject to the same regulations, and ready to be detached wherever occasion may require.

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MY DEAR SIR,-I am now to open my mind a little more freely. 'Permit me, then, to recommend, from the sincerity of my heart, ready at all times to bleed for my country's cause, a declaration of Independence, and call upon the world, and the great God who governs it, to witness the sincerity, propriety, and rectitude thereof. 'My worthy friend, the interests of mankind hang upon that truly worthy body of which you are a member.* You stand the representatives, not of America only, but of the whole world; the friends of liberty, and the supporters of the rights of human nature.

'How will posterity, millions yet unborn, bless the memory of those brave patriots, who are now hastening the consummation of freedom, truth, and religion!

'But want of decison renders wisdom in council insignificant.

'Frugality, a most amiable domestic virtue, becomes a vice of the most enormous kind, when opposed to the common good. The Tyrant by his last speech has convinced us, that to be free or not, depends upon ourselves. Nothing, therefore, but the most vigorous exertions on our part, can shelter us from the evils intended us. How can we, then, startle at the idea of expense, when our whole property, our dearest connexions, our liberty, nay, life itself is at stake: let us, therefore, act like men inspired with a resolution, that nothing but the frowns of Heaven, shall conquer us.

'Resolves, declarations, and all the parade of heroism in words, will not obtain a victory. Arms and ammunition are as necessary as men, and must be had at the expense of every thing short of Britain's claims.

'An army unequipped, will ever feel the want of spirit and courage; but, properly furnished, fighting in the best of causes, will bid defiance to the united force of men and devils. When a finishing period will be put to the present dispute, God only knows.

'A large body of troops will probably be wanted for a considerable time. It will be infinitely safer, and not more expensive in the end, for the Continent to give a large bounty to any number of troops in addition to what may be ordered on the present establishment, that will engage during the war, than to enlist them from year to year without a bounty; and should the present regiments be inclined to engage for the same term, let them receive the same encouragement. There is not the least prospect of our being able to disband, and form a new army again, without the enemy's availing himself of the advantage.'

*Governor Samuel Ward was a member of the Continental Congress from its commencement in 1774, until his death in Philadelphia, Mrrch 25, 1775.

The two last letters are in Judge Johnson's Sketches of the Life of General Greene, vol. i., pp. 31, 35.

Immediately after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Legislature of Massachusetts proceeded to raise an armed force. They requested and promptly received the coöperation of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Rhode Island raised sixteen hundred men, enlisted to December 31st, 1775.

Nathaniel Greene, afterwards Major General Greene, a native of East Greenwich in that State, then 33 years of age, was appointed their Commander. In that character he was soon with them on the lines before Boston.

'GENERAL WASHINGTON to JOHN AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON.

'PHILADELPHIA, 20 June, 1775.

'DEAR BROTHER,-I am to bid adieu to you, and to every kind of domestic ease, for a while. I am embarked on a wide ocean, boundless in its prospect, and in which perhaps no safe harbor is to be found. I have been called upon by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to take the command of the Continental army, an honor I neither sought after nor desired, as I am thoroughly convinced that it requires greater abilities and much more experience than I am master of, to conduct a business so extensive in its nature, and arduous in its execution. But the partiality of the Congress, joined to a political motive, really left me no choice; and I am now commissioned a General and Commander-in-chief of all the forces now, or to be raised for the defence of the United Colonies. That I may discharge the trust to the satisfaction of my employers, is my first wish; that I shall aim to do it, there remains little doubt. How far I may succeed, is another point; but this I am sure of, that, in the worst event, I shall have the consolation of knowing, if I act to the best of my judgment, the blame ought to lodge upon the appointers, not the appointed, as it was by no means a thing of my own seeking, or proceeding from any hint of my friends.

I am at liberty to inform you, that the Congress, in committee, have consented to a Continental currency, and have ordered two millions of dollars to be struck for payment of the troops, and other purposes, and have voted fifteen thousand men as a Continental army, which number will be augmented, as the strength of the British troops will be greater than was expected at the time of passing the vote. General Ward, General Lee, General Schuyler, and General Putnam are appointed Major Generals under me. The Brigadier Generals are not yet appointed. Major Gates is made Adjutant General. I expect to set out to-morrow for Boston, and hope to be joined there in a little time by ten companies of riflemen from this Province, Maryland and Virginia. For other articles of intelligence, I shall refer you to the papers, as the printers are diligent in collecting every thing that is stirring.

'I shall hope that my friends will visit and endeavor to keep up the spirits of my wife, as much as they can, for my departure will, I know, be a cutting stroke upon her; and on this account alone ĺ

have many disagreeable sensations. I hope that you and my sister, although the distance is great, will find so much time this summer as to spend a little of it at Mount Vernon.

'My sincere regards attend you both, and the little ones, and I am your most affectionate brother.'-Writings of Washington, by Dr. Sparks, vol. iii., p. 5.

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INTRODUCTION

TO THE SECOND AND THIRD NUMBERS, ETC.

THE intelligent and attentive reader of the preceding Number has perceived, that, as long as confidence remained of so terminating the difficulties between this country and Great Britain, as to admit a continuance of their then existing connection, and opposition was therefore extended hardly beyond Petitions, Memorials, Addresses, Letters, Resolves, Associations, and Declarations, so long, from the first assembling of Congress in 1774, did unanimity signalize all their proceedings, and so long, too, did near three millions of People look up to that Congress, for guidance, for direction, for deliverance.

But, a few pages onward will begin to disclose, that, little sooner did events press upon the minds of some men the possibility of a separation, and require to the aid of opposition a military force, than, in that Transcendent Council then holding the power, the confidence, and the destinies of a Nation, arose, instead of such unanimity, a difference so great and so determined, that its deranging influences quickly affected all the civil and military operations throughout the country.

It was, however, a difference between Patriots; for in no sane mind can exist a doubt of the patriotism of men, who, in any stage of that eventful contest, stood forth, and in council or field, perseveringly hazarded their lives and devoted their labors, in the best way or not, to render effectual that opposition which labored out, ultimately, the Independence of this Union. Yes, Patriots were they all, and each.

Causes far other than want of patriotism may be found as manifest, as their consequences have been enduring. They were rather in the head, than in the heart. That Assembly was justly esteemed

wise; but, by laws ever immutable, its members were not, all, equally

SO:

'Some [were,] and must be, greater than the rest.'

The stern work of the Revolution before them, impelled alike to effort, those of smaller, and those of larger comprehension, and forced to their entire measure, the intellectual energies of every one. As separation in prospect seemed near, and old objects with their relations receded from their views, various new ones more and more advanced, and with these as various new influences, operating on some minds less, but on others, more.

In the Autumn of 1775, Congress first realized a necessity to raise an extensive military force, when the increasing difficulties had demonstrated, at least to many, that the struggle of Revolution was fast approaching, and demanded method and means to carry it on and through.

Then came that test and measure of minds with minds; and soon, between that company of Patriots, who all had been, and from beginning to end of the contest continued to be, inflexibly firm in the opposition, and in favor of its prosecution-Men, who but a few months before had declared to their countrymen and the world, 'Our Union is perfect,' * between the same men, even our Fathers of the Revolution, so soon began that wide political difference, whose rending consequences those Fathers did feel; whose consequences we have felt, and feel now. Indeed, reasons apparently worthy of consideration have induced the belief, that the legitimate, the only adequate security against a prevalence of these mischiefs, is a knowledge of truth, instead of error, enlarged and extended to the people - a knowledge of those uniting and securing truths and principles, which, when predominant over distracting and destroying errors, never yet failed to save and protect the great interests of our country.

This belief well founded, the motive and the object of this Inquiry are enough explained. In pursuing it are regarded, not more, effects alone, undoing as many of them were and have been, than their connection with the causes that produced them; not more, how battles were fought, how victories were lost, or how gained, than how other battles were not fought, their victories not lost, and how fatal defeat was avoided; not more, the great dangers from the ampler means and superior armies of the enemy, than those greater dangers from want and disorder, by interfering friends; not more, the extent of sufferings borne, or their causes even, than how those sufferings were alleviated, and how patience was induced to bear them; not more, the number, or aggregate amount of opposing evils, than how the Master-Agents averted or controlled those evils, and persevered and labored on to a general conquest of them all; not more, any other object of honest, impartial, and just inquiry, than, what Agents led, and by what means they led, to this country's safety and its glory.

The whole is guided by the marks of their footsteps, yet visible; al

* See page 78.

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