ative which guided the councils of the British cabinet, the provincial leaders took the most prompt and efficacious measures in order to give a new bias to the public mind, and to prepare the people for a new state of things. Independence, which, in the earlier stages of the quarrel had only been casually and obliquely hinted, was now made a topic of public discussion. At first it alarmed timid and moderate men, who had a glimpse of the calamitous scenes which such a course would open before them. But the partisans of independence were bold and indefatigable; they labored incessantly in rendering the subject more familiar to the popular ear and mind; the number of their adherents daily increased; and such was the posture of affairs, that many who had hitherto been hostile to a separation from Britain, became friendly to that measure, or ceased to oppose it. They thought circumstances so desperate that matters could not be rendered worse by the attempt, and success might be beneficial.

At that time Thomas Paine, who had shortly before arrived in America from England, published a pamphlet under the title of Common Sense, which had a prodigious influence in promoting the cause of independence; it was widely circulated and eagerly read. To his confident and popular manner of writing, the extraordinary effect of this pamphlet on the public mind may be traced.

The subject was discussed in a variety of ways in the different provinces ; in several of them it met with more or less opposition, and the members of congress having received instructions on the point from their respective constituents, it was solemnly taken under consideration on the 4th of July, 1776; and a declaration of independence was unanimously passed at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. Of the far-famed committee appointed by congress to draft this celebrated instrument, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert R. Livingston, were

FIG. 82.--John Adams. From an Anonymous American Portrait

members. So early as the 6th of May preceding, Mr. Adams offered a prelimary resolution to the declaration of independence, which was a recommendation to all colonies to form state governments of their own, based on the happiness and safety of the people. This was soon followed by the resolution of Mr. Lee, of Virginia, declaring that the colonies ought to be free and independent. After full discussion on the 8th and 10th of June, the further consideration was postponed until the 1st of July, and on that day it passed, and a committee was cho

sen to repare the declaration. It was the good fortune of Mr. Jefferson to have been te author of the draught. Jefferson always gave Adams credit of being the ablest advocate of the measure, and Mr. Adams, it is known, was a member of every important committee while he remained in congress. "Mr. Livingston," says his biographer, Dr. Francis, "represented with earnestness the feelings and interest of the people of New York; with Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklia John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, his patriotism in that consecrated assembly was universally acknowledged."

This declaration was signed by each of the members of congress, and by it the thirteen United States of North America separated themselves for ever from the crown of Great Britain, and declared themselves an independent people.

This measure entirely altered the aspect of the contest, and gave a clear and definite view of the point at issue between the contending parties. We no longer see colonists complaining and petitioning with arms in their hands, and vigorously resisting an authority which they did not disavow; but a people asserting their independence, and repelling the aggressions of an invading foe

CHAPTER V.

We formerly left General Howe at Halifax, and General Washington on his way to New York, where he soon arrived with his army. In that city the struggle between the friends of British domination and of American freedom had been more doubtful than in any other quarter. But by superior numbers and more daring activity, the Americans had gained the ascendency. On his arrival in the city, General Washington endeavored to put it into a posture of defence; and as the British, by means of their fleet, had the command of the waters, he attempted to obstruct the navigation of the East and North rivers, by sinking vessels in the channels. He also raised fortifications at New York and on Long Island, and made every preparation in his power for giving the British army a vigorous reception.

General Howe remained some time at Halifax; but after the recovery of his troops from the fatigue and sickness occasioned by the blockade of Boston, he embarked, sailed to the southward, and on the 2d of July landed, without opposition, on Staten Island, which lies on the coast of New Jersey, and is separated from Long Island by a channel called the Narrows. His army amounted to 9,000 men; and his brother, Lord Howe, commander of the British fleet, who had touched at Halifax expecting to find him there, arrived soon afterward, with a reinforcement of about 20,000 men from Britain. Thus General Howe had the command of nearly 30,000 troops, for the purpose of subjugating the American colonies; a more formidable force than had ever before visited those shores. General Washington was ill prepared to meet such a powerful army. His force consisted of about 9,000 men, many of whom were ill-armed, and about 2,000 more without any arms at all; but new levies were daily coming in.

On his arrival, Lord Howe, by a flag, sent ashore to Amboy a circular letter to several of the late royal governors, and a declaration mentioning the powers with which he and his brother the general were invested, and desiring their publication. These papers General Washington transmitted to congress, who ordered them to be published in the newspapers, that the people as they alleged, might be apprized of the nature and extent of the powers of these commission