efforts of this unrivaled propagandist, were powerfully reinforced by those solid appeals to the reason and conscience, which were propounded to individual characters of weight, in different sections, through the dignified medium of Private Correspondence. This was the great political lever of Mr. Jefferson; and upon this, as upon all other occasions, its power, in application to the moral, was like that of Archimedes to the material, world. These active moral causes, mingling in confluence, poured a steady stream of excitement into the popular mind. The brilliant success of the American arms, in several important engagements, strengthened the general proclivity; and the unmitigable rigor of the parent despotism, pursuing with unbridled ferocity, the destruction of her devoted offspring, swelled the torrent of irritation and of generous enthusiasm, to its ultimatum.

In Congress also, at this period, May, "76, corresponding advances had been made in political sentiment. The doctrines of Mr. Jefferson were now clearly in the ascendant. It was no longer heresy to maintain the sovereignty of the people, and the co-ordinate sovereignty of the States with Great Britain, in all matters of government, external as well as internal; at least, it was not so in practice, however it may have been in the abstract. The revolution party were predominant. A powerful minority, however, still existed, who clung with filial suppliancy to the supposed ties, which bound them in conscience and in honor, to the parent government. But, happily, this party were terribly shaken in their faith, by a recent act of Parliament, which declared the Colonies in a State of rebellion, and out of the protection of the British Crown. They reasoned from this, that as protection and dependence were reciprocal, the one having ceased, the other might also; and that therefore, Great Britain herself had actually declared them independent! This was a sound conclusion; and who can sufficiently admire the stupendous folly of the British Parliament? Still, however, cautious approaches to the last extremities, were requisite, to preserve the customary unanimity.

A preparatory step was accordingly taken by the Patriots, which discovered great address. A resolution was proposed declaring, that 'whereas the government of Great Britain had excluded the United Colonies from the protection of the Crown, it was therefore irreconcilable to reason and good conscience, for the people to con

tinue their allegiance to the government under that. Crown; and they accordingly recommended the several Colonies to establish independent governments of their own!'

This resolution was adopted on the 15th of May; and by a remarkable coincidence, the Convention of Virginia had, on the same day, adopted the resolution appointing a committee to prepare a declaration of rights and plan of government for that Colony. It is said, that Mr. Jefferson, being constantly apprised of the progress of the Convention, promoted this singular concurrence of parallel results, with a view to popular effect. Be this as it may, he was an ardent patron of the measure in Congress; regarding it, as he did, the entering wedge of the grand proposition, which he throbbed with impatience to see carried.

On the 28th of May, upon motion of Mr. Jefferson, Congress resolved, "that an animated Address be published, to impress the minds of the people with the necessity of now stepping forward to save their country, their freedom, and their property." Being appointed chairman of the committee upon this resolution, he prepared the address; and an animated address it was; conceived in his happiest manner, with a power of expression and of argument, which carried conviction and courage to the breast of every man. This was another ingenious stroke of policy, designed to prepare the popular mind for a favorable reception of the momentous decis ion in reserve.

The plot of the magnificent drama now began to thicken. The delegates from Virginia received their Independence instructions early in June, and immediately held a conference to arrange the preliminaries for acting upon them, with all the solemnity which the nature of the occasion required. Richard H. Lee, being the oldest in the delegation, and endowed with extraordinary powers of eloquence, was designated to make the introductory motion, and the seventh of June was ordered as the day. Accordingly, on that day he rose from his seat and moved, that Congress should declare, "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken for procur

ing the assistance of foreign powers, and. a. Confederation be formed to bind the Colonies more closely together.'..

The House being obliged to attend at that time, to some other business, the proposition was deferred to the next day, when the members were ordered to attend punctually at ten o'clock.

Saturday, June 8th, Congress proceeded to take the subject into consideration, and referred it to a Committee of the Whole, into which they immediately resolved themselves, and passed that day and Monday, the 10th, in warm and vehement debates.

The conflict was painful. The hardest metal of that hard race of legislators, was brought into collision. All the strong combatants in that giant Areopagus, the impetuous declaimer, and the astute logician, were marshaled in fearful array, and the most mometous question that ever agitated a political assembly, alternately oppugned and defended, with a power and pertinacity which set imagination at defiance. The heads only, of the arguments delivered on this interesting occasion, have been preserved-by one man alone, Mr. Jefferson; and they owe their first disclosure to the world, to his posthumous publication. They shall be given here in the summary form, in which they were left by him.

In opposition to the measure, it was argued by Dickinson and Wilson of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, and others—

"That, though they were friends to the measures themselves, and saw the impossibility that we should ever again be united with Great Britain, yet they were against adopting them at this time:

"That the conduct we had formerly observed was wise and proper now, of deferring to take any capital step till the voice of the people drove us into it:

"That they were our power, and without them our declarations could not be carried into effect:

"That the people of the middle Colonies (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys and New York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection, but that they were fast ripening, and in a short time, would join in the general voice of America:

"That the resolution, entered into by this House on the 15th of May, for suppressing the exercise of all powers derived from the Crown, had shown, by the ferment into which it had thrown these middle Colonies, that they had not yet accommodated their minds to a separation from the mother country:

"That some of them had expressly forbidden their Delegates to

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with the voice of the people, and that this is remarkably the case in these middle Colonies:

"That the effect of the resolution of the 15th of May has proved this, which, raising the murmurs of some in the Colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, called forth the opposing voice of the freer part of the people, and proved them to be the majority even in these Colonies:

"That the backwardness of these two Colonies might be ascribed partly, to the influence of proprietary power and connections, and partly, to their having not yet been attacked by the enemy:

"That these causes were not likely to be soon removed, as there seemed no probability that the enemy would make either of these the seat of this summer's war:

"That it would be vain to wait either weeks or months for perfect unanimity, since it was impossible that all men should ever become of one sentiment on any question :

"That the conduct of some Colonies, from the beginning of this contest, had given reason to suspect it was their settled policy to keep in the rear of the confederacy, that their particular prospect might be better, even in the worst event;

"That, therefore, it was necessary for those Colonies, who had thrown themselves forward and hazarded all from the beginning, to come forward now also, and put all again to their own hazard :

"That the history of the Dutch Revolution, of whom three states only confederated at first, proved that a secession of some Colonies would not be so dangerous as some apprehended:

"That a Declaration of Independence alone could render it consistent with European delicacy, for European powers to treat with us, or even to receive an Ambassador from us:

"That till this, they would not receive our vessels into their ports, nor acknowledge the adjudications of our courts of admiralty to be legitimate, in cases of capture of British vessels:

"That though France and Spain may be jealous of our rising power, they must think it will be much more formidable with the addition of Great Britain; and will therefore see it their interest to prevent a coalition; but should they refuse, we shall be but where we are; whereas without trying, we shall never know whether they will aid us or not:

"That the present campaign may be unsuccessful, and therefore we had better propose an alliance while our affairs wear a hopeful aspect:

"That to wait the event of this campaign will certainly work de lay, because, during this summer, France may assist us effectually, by cutting off those supplies of provisions from England and Ireland, on which the enemy's armies here are to depend; or by setting in motion the great power they have collected in the West Indies, and calling our enemy to the defence of the possessions they have there:

"That it would be idle to lose time in settling the terms of alliance, till we had first determined we would enter into alliance:

"That it is necessary to lose no time in opening a trade for our people, who will want clothes, and will want money too, for the pay

ment of taxes:

"And that the only misfortune is, that we did not enter into alliance with France six months sooner, as, besides opening her ports for the vent of our last year's produce, she might have marched an army into Germany, and prevented the petty Princes there, from selling their unhappy subjects to subdue us."

The tenor of these debates indicated such a strength of opposition to the measure, that it was deemed impolitic to press it at this time. The Colonies of New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, were not yet 'matured for falling from the parent stem;' but as they were fast advancing to that state, it was thought most prudent to wait awhile for them. The final decision of the question was therefore postponed to the 1st of July. But, that this might occasion as little delay as possible, it was ordered that a committee be appointed to prepare a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, to the intent of the motion. Mr. Jefferson having the highest number of votes, was placed at the head of this Committee; the other members were John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The Committee met, and unanimously solicited Mr. Jefferson to prepare the draught of the Declaration, alone. He drew it; but before submitting it to the Committee, he communicated it, separately, to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, with a view to avail himself of the benefit of their criticisms. They criticised it, and suggested two or three alterations, merely verbal, intended to soften somewhat the original phraseology. The Committee unanimously approved it; and on Friday, the 28th of June, he reported it to Congress, when it was read and ordered to lie on the table.

On Monday, the first of July, agreeably to assignment, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole, and resumed the consideration of the preliminary motion. It was debated again through the day, and finally carried in the affirmative, by the votes of New-Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, NewJersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. South Carolina and Pennsylvania, voted against it. Delaware had but two members present, and they were divided. The Delegates from