cused of any offence-these tyrannical and cruel impositions were felt by the whole as aggressions on each, and by general consent the memorable congress of 1774 was assembled.

The business of this meeting of delegates was not to prepare for war, but by pacific consultation and explanations, to produce a restoration of tranquillity and good understanding. The fervent loyalty which breathes in their eloquent addresses to the king, the British people, and their fellow subjects in the colonies, and the entire absence of all hints at any intention of resistance, shew the purposes for which they considered themselves brought together.

There could not have been a fairer experiment made of the efficacy of humble petitions to the royal government, and of affectionate appeals to the people of England. And no experiment, begun with such rational prospect of at least partial success, could have terminated in a more total failure.

Mr. Lewis Morris was not a member of this Congress. He was too decided and zealous an assertor of the rights of the colonies, and too bold a declaimer against the arbitrary acts of the ministry. The object at this time was peace, to be secured by compromise, and too rigid an adherence to the rights of the colonists, or too warm an expression of the sentiments which the conduct of the government could not fail to excite, might mar the scheme of pacification.

The entire indifference with which the representations of this Congress were received in England,

and the manifestations of a determined perseverance on the part of the ministry, convinced the greater part of the colonists that something more vigorous must be done than the issuing of humble memorials.

The choice of delegates to the Congress of the succeeding year, was governed in a considerable degree by different principles, and men of less timid disposition, and more enthusiastic spirit, were in many cases substituted for more cautious and more loyal predecessors.

The bloody skirmish, sometimes called the battle, at Lexington, had occurred just in time to infuse fresh ardour into the hearts of the New York convention of deputies, which on the twenty-second of April, 1775, assembled for the purpose of choosing delegates to the general Congress; and under the influence of this feeling they chose Mr. Morris as one of them; an appointment which he proceeded to fulfil, on the fifteenth of May, when he took his seat.

In the proceedings of the previous Congress, the olive branch alone was discernible-humility, loyalty, patient suffering was the only boast;-now the tone appears somewhat changed, the sword is shown, undrawn, in one hand: the olive branch still held in the other; loyalty was still the profession and devoted attachment to the king, but these sentiments are curiously blended with an acknowledgment that reconciliation may not be possible, and recommendations to prepare for war. This mixture of affectionate fidelity to the king, with bitter complaints against

his ministers, and a stern resolution to defend themselves, is strikingly exemplified in the following resolutions, which were adopted very early in the ses

sion.

"That his majesty's most faithful subjects in these colonies are reduced to a dangerous and critical situation, by the attempts of the British ministry to carry into execution, by force of arms, several unconstitutional and oppressive acts of the British parliament for laying taxes in America; to enforce the collection of those taxes, and for altering and changing the constitution and internal police of some of these colonies, in violation of the natural and civil rights of the colonists.

"Hostilities being actually commenced in the Massachusetts Bay, by the British troops under the command of general Gage, and the lives of a number of the inhabitants of that colony destroyed, the town of Boston having not only been long occupied as a garrisoned town in an enemy's country, but the inhabitants thereof treated with a severity and cruelty not to be justified even towards declared enemies; large reenforcements too being ordered and soon expected, for the declared purpose of compelling these colonies to submit to the operation of the said acts; that therefore, for the express purpose of securing and defending these colonies, and preserving them in safety against all attempts to carry the said acts into execution by force of arms, these colonies be immediately put into a state of defence.

"But, as we most ardently wish for a restoration of the harmony formerly subsisting between our mother country and these colonies, the interruption of which must, at all events, be exceedingly injurious to both countries, that with a sincere design of contributing by all the means in our power, not incompatible with a just regard for the undoubted rights and true interests of these colonies, to the promotion of this most desirable reconciliation, an humble and dutiful petition be presented to his majesty.

"That measures be entered into for opening a negociation, in order to accommodate the unhappy disputes subsisting between Great Britain and these colonies, and that this be made a part of the petition to the king.

"That the militia of New York be armed and trained, and in constant readiness to act at a moment's warning; and that a number of men be immediately embodied and kept in that city, and so disposed of as to give protection to the inhabitants, in case any insult should be offered by the troops, that may land there, and to prevent any attempts that may be made to gain possession of the city, and interrupt its intercourse with the country.

"That it be recommended to the provincial convention at New York, to persevere the more vigorously in preparing for their defence, as it is very uncertain whether the earnest endeavours of the Congress, to accommodate the unhappy differences between

Great Britain and the colonies, by conciliatory measures, will be successful."

Soon after these first hints of war, Mr. Morris was placed on a committee, of which Washington was the chairman, to consider on ways and means to supply the colonies with ammunition and military stores, The labours of this committee were as embarrassing as any that could be imagined: the condition of the colonies as to the possession of the implements of war was nearly that of absolute destitution; and the choice was difficult between the expediency of keeping the degree of their poverty, in that respect, a secret, and the urgent necessity of an appeal to the patriotism of the country at large for the means of a supply.

The battle of Bunker's Hill, which occurred in the ensuing month, left no argument for half-way measures unrefuted; and the appointment of Washington to the command of the army at the same time, was a decisive indication of the course which the congress had determined to adopt.

Mr. Morris continued during the residue of this session faithfully performing his duties on the floor and in committee; but before the commencement of the next, he went to the western country for the purpose of assisting in the difficult operation of detaching the Indians from the interests of the British government, and inducing them to join their force to that of the colonists.