XXXIII. Nov. 3. of government to be adopted in that province, the Con- CHAPTER tinental Congress had recommended to call a "full and free representation of the people," and if, upon consulta- 1775. tion, it should seem necessary, "to establish such a form of government as in their judgment will best produce the happiness of the people, and most effectually secure peace and good order in the province during the maintenance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the colonies." Similar advice upon a similar application was given to South Carolina, and shortly aft- Nov. 4. er to Virginia. Dec. 4. This advice seemed a little startling to the Assembly of Pennsylvania, and, on occasion of re-electing their Nov. 9 delegates to Congress, they strictly enjoined them “to dissent from, and utterly reject any proposition, should such be made, that may cause or lead to a separation from our mother country, or a change of the form of this government." To the Assembly of New Jersey, in session at the same time, Governor Franklin complained of the open avowal of sentiments tending to a separation from Great Britain, and of the appearance of essays in the newspapers favorable to that "horrid measure." Several petitions against independency were presented to the Assembly, and the petitioners being called up and examined, declared their apprehension that such a design was in progress. The House replied to the governor, "We know of no sentiments of independency that are, by men of any consequence, openly avowed, nor do we approve of any essays tending to encourage such a measure." They resolved that the reports of independ- Nov. 28. ency were, in their apprehension, "groundless;" but, at the same time, they voted instructions to their delegates in Congress the same with those just given in Pennsylvania. A new and separate petition to the king was Dec. 5. CHAPTER even proposed, a measure from which they were only XXXIII. dissuaded by the earnest efforts of Dickinson, Jay, and 1775. Wythe, sent as a committee from Congress, and admitted to address the Assembly. 1776 The Convention of Maryland provided for the defense Jan. 1. of that colony by ordering the enlistment of seven inde pendent companies and one battalion, of which William Smallwood, a member of the Convention, was chosen colonel. The lieutenant colonel was Mordecai Gist, afterward a brigadier general. But, while thus raising Jan. 12. troops, instructions were given, at the same time, to the Maryland delegates in Congress to entertain no proposition of independency without the previous consent and approbation of the Convention. No little excitement was produced by the publication in Philadelphia about this time of "Common Sense," a pamphlet by Thomas Paine, a recent emigrant from England, and editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. This pamphlet, written at the suggestion of Benjamin Rush, a young physician and ardent patriot, argued, in that plain and convincing style for which Paine was so distinguished, the folly of any longer attempting to keep up the British connection, and the absolute necessity of a final and formal separation. Pitched exactly to the popular tone, it had a wide circulation throughout the colonies, and gave a powerful impulse to the cause of independence. A Provincial Convention in New Hampshire, elected Jan 5. in conformity to the advice of Congress, assumed the character of a House of Representatives, and proceeded to elect a council composed of twelve members, distributed among the several counties. This council, which chose its own president, and constituted the second branch of the Legislature, was in future, like the House of Rep XXXIII. resentatives, to be annually elected by the people. While CHAPTER in session, this legislative body acted also as supreme executive; at other times that authority was exercised 1776 by a Committee of Safety, at the head of which was the president of the council. Nothing was said in the frame of government about a judiciary, but the Assembly constituted a Supreme Court and County Courts much on the model of the colonial judiciary. Mesheck Weare, one of the justices of the Supreme Court, an unambitious but honest and most worthy man, was chosen president of the council and chief justice, offices which he continued to fill, to the general satisfaction, till the end of the war. This arrangement was expressly declared to be temporary, to continue only while the dispute with the mother country lasted. Such was the first example set of "assumption of government," a proceeding not agreed to without a protest on the part of several timid members, who thought that a small colony like New Hampshire ought to have waited for the previous action of New York and Virginia, larger provinces, whose political predicament was similar to hers. With the opening of spring, re-enforcements were sent on from Montreal, and the siege of Quebec was renewed. But the northern army was surrounded with difficulties. Moses Hazen, a half-pay lieutenant in the British army, formerly a captain of Rangers under Wolfe, and distinguished as a partisan, had accepted a commission as colonel of the second Canadian regiment, but he found it difficult to fill the ranks. The Canadians would not take the Continental paper money; the supply of specie was very scanty; and, small as the army was, it was difficult to feed it. Upon the unexpected appearance of some British ships in the river, the besieging Mar & army, under Thomas, retreated to Sorel in a good deal CHAPTER of confusion. The new troops suffered terribly from the small-pox, of which disorder Thomas socn died. A post 1776. at the Cedars, above Montreal, garrisoned by four hund red men, disgracefully surrendered to a party composed principally of Canadians and Indians; and a hundred men more were lost in an attempt to recover it. Το save these prisoners from being murdered by the Indians -so it was alleged, but the British denied it-Arnold, who commanded at Montreal, signed a cartel of exchange, by which it was agreed to release as many prisoners in the hands of the Americans. But Congress refused to ratify this agreement; and this refusal presently became a serious obstacle in the way of any regular exchange of prisoners. As the spring advanced, several British and German regiments began to arrive in the St. Lawrence. They made their rendezvous on both sides of the river, about half way from Quebec to Montreal. Sullivan, who had June 4 just assumed the chief command, very anxious to do something brilliant, sent Thompson with two thousand men, including St. Clair's, Wayne's, and Irving's regiments, to surprise one of these divisions. This attack was repulsed with a loss of two hundred and thirty in killed and prisoners, including among the latter Thomp son himself and Colonel Irving. Wayne was badly wounded. Pressed by the superior force of the enemy, raised by successive arrivals to thirteen thousand men, the northern army retreated out of Canada, in the emphatic words of John Adams, "disgraced, defeated, discontented, dispirited, diseased, undisciplined, eaten up with vermin, no clothes, beds, blankets, nor medicines, and no victuals but salt pork and flour," and a scanty supply of that. The retreat was rapid, but well conducted and without loss. Chambly, Montreal, and St. XXXIIL John's passed back again into the hands of the British. CHAPTER The American army retired up Lake Champlain to Crown Point. Hazen's regiment accompanied the re- 1776. treating army, and continued to serve under the same commander to the end of the war. Carleton was presently rewarded for the recovery of Canada by the Order of the Bath, while Sullivan received the thanks of Congress for his prudent retreat. Shortly after the army reached Crown Point, Gates, who had been made a major general with that view, arrived and assumed the command. Partisans of the American cause were more numerous in Nova Scotia than in Canada. They had formerly petitioned Congress, and had recently opened a communication with Washington. The distance, isolation, and weakness of Nova Scotia made assistance impracticable; but more than once, at subsequent periods, Massachusetts was solicited to aid in revolutionizing that province. The Convention of South Carolina, acting on the advice of Congress, and following the example of New Hampshire, resolved itself into an Assembly, and chose March 24 from its own body a legislative council of thirteen members. By the concurring vote of this council and Assembly, John Rutledge was chosen president, and Henry Laurens vice-president. Of an executive council of six members, over which the vice-president was to preside as an ex-officio seventh member, three were chosen by the legislative council and three by the Assembly. A judiciary was also organized, William Henry Drayton being appointed chief justice. Such was the temporary form of government adopted in South Carolina, to last during the war. Though the three regiments already authorized were far from full, two new regiments of ri |