ing that the neglect with which all our overtures were received, had destroyed every hope, but that of reliance on our own exertions.

On the eleventh of August, Mr. Jefferson was again elected a delegate from Virginia, to the third congress. During the winter, his name appears very frequently on the journals of that assembly, and we find him constantly taking an active part, in the principal matters which engaged its attention. He was a member of various committees, but from the information to be obtained from the records of congress, and it is but scanty, his attention seems rather to have been devoted to objects of general policy, the arrangement of general plans and systems of action, the investigation of important documents, and objects of a similar nature, than to the details of active business for which other members could probably be found, equally well qualified.

With the commencement of the year 1776, the affairs of the colonies, and certainly the views of their political leaders, began to assume a new aspect, one of more energy, and with motives and objects more decided and apparent. Eighteen months had passed away, since the colonists had learned by the entrenchments at Boston, that a resort to arms was an event, not beyond the contemplation of the British ministry; nearly a year had elapsed, since the fields of Concord and Lexington had been stained with hostile blood; during this interval armies had been raised, vessels of war had been equipped, fortifications had been erected, gallant exploits had been performed, and eventful battles had been lost and

won; yet still were the provinces bound to their British brethren, by the ties of a similar allegiance; still did they look upon themselves as members of the same empire, subjects of the same sovereign, and partners in the same constitution and laws. They acknowledged, that the measures they had adopted were not the result of choice, but the exercise of a right if not a duty, resulting from this very situation; they confessed that they were engaged in a controversy peculiarly abhorrent to their affections, and whose only object was to restore the harmony which had formerly existed between the two countries, and to establish concord between them, on so firm a basis, as to perpetuate its blessings uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations in both countries.

There is indeed among all men a natural reluctance to throw off those habits, we may say principles, to which they have become attached, by education and long usage there is an uncertainty always hanging over the future, that makes us dread to explore it, in search of an expected but uncertain good—and we seem rather willing to wait until fortune or time shall afford a remedy, than to seek it by boldly grasping at that, which although bright and beautiful in appearance, can be reached only with toil and danger, and may prove at last a phantom. A revolution, however just in its principles, however plausible in its conduct, however pure in its ends, cannot be but uncertain in its results; and though even the thinking and the good will not hesitate, when no other means are left to preserve those rights without

which happiness is only a name, they will resort to it as the last resource, after every other expedient has been tried, after long suffering, with hesitation, almost with regret.

Every expedient, however, short of unconditional separation, had now been tried by congress-but in vain. It appeared worse than useless, longer to pursue measures of open hostility, and yet to hold out the promises of submission. The time had arrived when a more decided stand must be taken-the circumstances of the nation demanded it, the success of the struggle depended on it. The best and wisest men had become convinced, that no accommodation could take place, and that a course which was not marked by decision, would create dissatisfaction among the resolute, while it would render more uncertain the feeble and the wavering.

During the spring of 1776, therefore, the question of independence, became one of very general interest and reflection among all classes of the nation. It was taken into consideration by some of the colonial legislatures, and in Virginia a resolution was adopted in favour of its immediate declaration.

Under these circumstances, the subject was brought directly before congress, on Friday, the seventh June, 1776. It was discussed very fully on the following Saturday and Monday, after which they came to the determination, to postpone the further consideration of it until the first of July following; and in the mean while, that no time might be lost, in case the congress should agree thereto, a committee was appointed to prepare a decla

VOL. VII.-D

ration "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 connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

This committee consisted of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. R. R.. Livingston, and to Mr. Jefferson, the chairman of the committee, was ultimately assigned the important task of preparing the draught of the document for the formation of which they had been appointed.

The task thus devolved on Mr. Jefferson, was of no ordinary magnitude; and required the exercise of no common judgment and foresight. The act was one, which in its results, would operate far beyond the effects of the moment; and which was to indicate, in no small degree, the future tone of feeling, and the great course of policy that were to direct the movements of a new and extensive empire. Yet it was on all hands surrounded with difficulty and danger-clouds and darkness rested on the future-and without experience, without re-. sources, and without friends, they were entering on a wide field, with nought but providence for their guide. Even the feelings of the nation, the very feelings which prompted the act, were to be examined with caution and relied on with distrust, for how much soever they might be the primary cause, and however powerfully they might exist at the moment, their effect would have ceased, and their operation would be unknown, at that period when the principles they had called forth were

*

in full exercise. Yet all this caution and distrust was to be exerted, amid the excitement of passion, the fluctuation of public opinion, and the headstrong impetuosity, which made the people, whose act it purported to be, blind to every thing but their own wrongs, and the deepest emotions of exasperation and revenge.

It was an act which at once involved the dearest and most vital interests of the whole people. It overturned systems of government long established, and sacrificed a trade, already amounting annually to more than twenty millions of dollars. By it the whole nation was to stand or fall; it was a step that could not be retracted; a pledge involving the lives, the fortunes, and the honour of thousands, which must be redeemed at the deepest cost of blood and treasure; it was a measure, supposed to be viewed unfavourably by a very large proportion of those whose interests and happiness were concerned in it, and, as such, a want of prudence in its conduct, as well as of success in its end, would be attended with even more than ridicule or disgrace.

Nor was it in America alone, that its effects would be felt; it was a document to guide other nations in their course of policy, to turn their attention to our situation, in which there was nothing to dazzle and little to interest, and to bring them if possible into our alliance. As such, it would become a matter of deep reflection by prudent if not unfeeling statesmen, far removed from the scene of action; looking upon it without passion; and forming from it their opinions of our character, and the reliance that might be placed on us. In a word while it purported