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Most of the few who desired a separation lived in or about Boston. "A view to independence grows more and more general" appears in a letter from Dr. Benjamin Church intercepted by Washington at Cambridge in October.

There, Samuel Adams was a central figure.

On April 4th, he writes to Arthur Lee: "[W]. . . if the British administration and government do not return to the principles of moderation and equity, the evil which they profess to aim at preventing by their rigorous measures, will the sooner be brought to pass, viz.—the entire separation and independence of the Colonies. . . It requires but a small portion of the gift of discernment for anyone to foresee that Providence will erect a mighty empire in America . . ."

Of the opinions of John Adams during this year respecting independence, we have found no contemporaneous record; but a letter to Timothy Pickering, describing the trip to Philadelphia, written many years later (August 6, 1822) says: "[Ms] I can write nothing which will not be suspected of personal vanity, local prejudice or Provincial & State partiality As Mr Hancock was sick and confined Mr Bowdoin was chosen at the head of the Massachusetts delegation to Congress. His relations thought his great fortune ought not to be hazarded. Cushing, two Adams's and Paine were met at Frankfort by Dr Rush, Mr Mifflin, Mr Bayard and several others of the most active Sons of Liberty, in Philadelphia, who desired a conference with us. We invited them to take Tea with us in a private apartment. They asked leave to give us some information and advice, which we

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thankfully granted. They represented to us, that the friends of Government in Boston and in the Eastern States, in their correspondence with their friends in Pennsylvania and all the Southern States, had represented us as four desperate adventurers. Mr Cushing was a harmless kind of man; but poor, and wholly dependent upon his popularity for his subsistence. Mr Samuel Adams was a very artful designing man, but desperately poor and wholly dependent on his popularity with the lowest vulgar for his living. John Adams and Mr Paine were two young Lawyers of no great talents reputation or weight, who had no other means of raising themselves into consequence but by courting popularity. We were all suspected of having Independence in view. Now, said they, you must not utter the word Independence, nor give the least hint or insinuation of the idea, neither in Congress or any private conversation; if you do you are undone; for the idea of Independence is as unpopular in Pennsylvania and in all the middle and Southern States as the Stamp Act itself. No Man dares to speak of it. Moreover, you are the Representatives of the suffering State . . . you are thought to be too warm, too zealous, too sanguine, you must be therefore very cautious. You must not come forward with any bold measures you must not pretend to take the lead. You know Virginia is the most populous State in the Union. They are very proud of their antient Dominion, as they call it; they think they have a right to take the lead, and the Southern States and the middle States too, are too much disposed to yield it to them. This . . made a deep impression on my mind and it had an equal

effect on all my Colleagues. This conversation and the principles, facts and motives suggested in it, have given a colour, complection and character to the whole policy of the United States, from that day to this. Without it . . . M Jefferson [would never] have been the Author of the declaration of Independence, nor M Richard Henry Lee the mover of it. . . Although this advice dwelt deeply on my mind, I had not in my nature prudence and caution enough always to observe it . . . It soon became rumoured about the City that John Adams was for Independence; the Quakers and Proprietary gentlemen, took the alarm; represented me as the worst of men; the true-blue-sons of Liberty pitied me; all put me under a kind of Coventry. I was avoided like a man infected with the Leprosy. I walked the Streets of Philadelphia in solitude, borne down by the weight of care and unpopularity. But every ship for the ensuing year, brought us fresh proof of the truth of my prophesies, and one after another became convinced of the necessity of Independence."

Of Virginians, very many think that Henry contributed more than any other man to light the fires of the Revolution; and Wirt goes 27 much farther claiming for him the credit of being the first of all the leading men of the Colonies to suggest independence. In the account of this patriot's burst of eloquence, in 1773, he tells us that one of the audience reported that "the company appeared to be startled; for they had never heard anything of the kind even suggested." Henry, in speaking of Great Britain, (his biographer continues) said: "I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to cope with so powerful

a nation. But where is France? Where is Spain? Where is Holland? the natural enemies of Great Britain — Where will they be all this time? . . . Will Louis the XVI. be asleep all this time? Believe me, no! When Louis the XVI. shall be satisfied by our serious opposition, and our Declaration of Independence, that all prospect of reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and clothing; and not with these only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight our battles for us; he will form with us a treaty offensive and defensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the confederation! Our independence will be established! and we shall take our stand among the nations of the earth."

Even Wirt's claim, however, is outdone by Dr. Joseph Johnson. He says 28: "We claim for Christopher Gadsden that he first spoke of Independence in 1764, to his friends under Liberty Tree, and there renewed the subject in 1766, rather than submit to the unconstitutional taxes of Great Britain."

II

SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE

SEV

EVENTEEN hundred and seventy-five is the year of Paul Revere's ride- the year of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill.

War had become a reality.

Strangely enough, however, the majority of the people still desired reconciliation1- the love of Liberty of the Anglo-Saxon, as a race, not yet having overcome in them the cradle-nurtured spirit of the subject; and, of the comparatively few who favored independence, many feared and others seemed ashamed openly to express their opinions.

Only six days before the end of the year, Portsmouth, N. H., instructed 2 her Representatives to the Provincial Congress: "We are of opinion that the present times are too unsettled to admit of perfecting a firm, stable and permanent government [for New Hampshire]; and that to attempt it now would injure us, by furnishing our enemies in Great Britain with arguments to persuade the good people there that we are aiming at independency, which we totally disavow . . . We particularly recommend, that you strictly guard against every measure that may have a tendency to cause disunion . .

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