they are doing there," said he, "the Lord only knows.” Cramped and confined in the over-crowded ships, the Tories suffered severely. Some enlisted as seamen, and all paid dear for their desertion of the cause of freedom. Wash ington was far from being pained to hear of their misera ble condition, and in describing it said, "Two have done what a greater number ought to have done long ago, com mitted suicide." These misguided men had supposed the British army invincible. "When the order issued therefore for embarking the troops, no electric shock, no explosion of thunder, in a word, not the last trump could have struck them with greater consternation."

The moment Washington got possession of Boston his amazing energies began to develop themselves. Believing that the next demonstration of the enemy would be against New York, he hurried troops off to defend it. Even before the fleet had left he dispatched thither a regiment and several companies of riflemen, and wrote to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, to throw two thousand men without delay into the town, and also to the Committee of Safety of New Jersey to add an additional thousand, that in case of a sudden attack the city might hold out till he could arrive with the army. Officers, in the meantime, were sent forward to collect vessels at Norwich to receive the troops the moment they should arrive. He also dispatched artillerists and ammunition to General Thomas, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the army in Canada, with a promise of larger reinforcements soon to follow. He knew that the evacuation of Boston would be the signal for active operations all along the coast, and he ordered all his necessary camp equipage to be got ready immediately, saying, "after I have once got into a tent I shall not soon quit it." No sooner had the enemy disappeared entirely than the whole army was set in motion for New York. Nearly thirty thousand troops had assembled around Boston, over

twenty thousand of whom belonged to the army proper. Twenty-seven hundred of these were on the sick list-the remainder, with the exception of five regiments under Lincoln left for the defense of Boston, were soon streaming southward. Division followed division in rapid succession. The inhabitants gazed with alarm on the swiftly marching columns and long trains of artillery and baggage-wagons as they rolled heavily onward, foretelling strife and carnage to come. Washington with his guard outstripped the slow march of his army, and passing through Providence, Norwich, and New London, embarked on board a vessel and reached New York on the 13th of April. He immediately inspected the works erected by Lee, and also by Putnam, who had succeeded the former in command of the city, passed from fort to fort directing the different points to be occupied, and then calmly viewed his position. The twilight shadows of the gloomy night that was so soon to close around the American cause were already creeping over the land. The disasters that had befallen our troops in the north had extinguished the hopes of securing the coöperation of the Canadians, and at the same time encouraged the Indians to break from their neutrality, so that a dark and hreatening cloud was rising along our unprotected frontiers. The troops were without blankets, and Congress without money, and worse than all without unity of feeling and purpose.

Sending off more troops into Canada, Washington hastened to Philadelphia, and though filled with anguish at the dissensions, timidity, and despondency that reigned in Congress, took courage when he found a large majority with him in insisting on a vigorous prosecution of the war. A resolution was hurried through to raise thirteen thousand eight hundred militia,* and a flying camp of ten thousand more, from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.

* From New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey

In the meantime the Virginia Convention passed a bold resolution, recommending Congress to declare the colonies free and independent. "This is a noble vote," said Washington when he heard of it; "many members of Congress, in short the whole provinces, are feeding themselves with the dainty food of reconciliation, but things have come to such a pass that we have nothing more to expect from the justice of Great Britain." The leaders of the people must not delude themselves and others with pleasing hopes and dreams, but look facts in the face, and prepare for the worst. In no other way can energy of action be secured. "One and all," said he, "must enter the contest with the full belief that he must conquer or submit to unconditional terms, such as confiscation, hanging, and the like,'" et ceteras well to be considered, however disagreeable.

The plan of the campaign on the part of the British had now begun to assume a definite form. Howe was to attack New York, ascend the Hudson, and meet an army from Canada, thus cutting the provinces in two, while Clinton should occupy the southern seaports, driving the Americans back to the interior. It was also known that mercenary troops were on the way, and the name of Hessian became a spell-word with which to conjure up shapes of evil.

Washington was absent fifteen days. On his return to New York, he pushed forward the preparations for receiving the enemy with all possible dispatch. Gondolas, boats, etc., were built to defend the Narrows, below which the English ships had been driven by the American batteries, and New York soon assumed a formidable appearance. The news, however, from the north and south grew more and more discouraging. Lee wrote from the south, over which he had been placed, that he was "like a dog in a dancing school," and did not know "where to turn himself or where to fix himself." The country was so intersected by navigable streams to which the British could fly at any mo

ment on their "canvas wings," that he was left to conjecture alone where the first onset would be made, while the Committee of Safety of Virginia, unlike its convention, was full of hesitation and doubt. Page, Lee, Mercer, and Payne," said he, "are indeed exceptions, but from Pendleton, Blond, the Treasurer and Company libera nos Domine.” From the north came tidings still more disheartening. The army was being driven in disgrace from Canada. The miserable remains of the armament that was to conquer it, lay without tents to cover them on the shores of Lake Champlain, one-half sick with small-pox, fever, and dysentery, over whose bodies myriads of loathsome vermin crawled unmolested; the other half disorganized and desponding, and with scarcely sufficient energy to cast their dead comrades into the two huge pits dug for their reception. Such was the news that ever and anon was brought to Washingon, keeping his mind on the stretch from morning till night, and tasking his powers to their utmost limit. In the mean time forty sail [June 30] were reported in sight of the Hook. To add to all these embarassments and trials, treason and disaffection were in his very midst. Governor Tryon, who remained on board ship down the bay, plotted unceasingly to detach the inhabitants and soldiers from the cause of the colonies. By seductive promises, rewards, and deceptions, he corrupted both, and finally penetrated even into Washington's guard, and set on foot a conspiracy to seize Washington himself. He expected in a short time to have the pleasure of seeing the head rebel on the deck of his ship. The plot, however, was revealed, and one of the guard was arrested, tried by court-martial, and hung-a warning to all who meditated treason.

While events were thus passing around New York, Congress, having assembled in Philadelphia, were engaged in the momentous question of a Declaration of Independence. Many of the separate provinces had already acted on the subject