mination on the part of the ministry, to enforce their measures with the strong hand. It was now that the poor looked for consolation to the rich, and the few animated the efforts of the many; while, in a steady reliance on Divine Providence, they all moved forward in a firm and determined opposition to arbitrary sway.' Military companies were formed, the spirit of resistance animated the inhabitants of Charleston, and was diffused among the people of the country districts.

1

The delegates to the Continental Congress sailed for Philadelphia on the 3d of May.2 They went from a community, anxious, excited, but determined in purpose, and resolved to put to hazard everything most dear to man, in defence of their rights and liberties. When they returned, the war had already begun; and having, in the mean time, witnessed the services of Rutledge in the Continental Congress, we shall then see how conspicuously were his energy, high spirit, and decisive will, displayed in the affairs of his native Commonwealth.

Drayton, vol. i., p. 218.

2 News of the battle of Lexington reached Charleston five days after, on the 8th of May.

CHAPTER VIII.

SERVICES IN THE CONGRESS OF 1775.

'THE Congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the perfidy of General Gage, and his attack on the country-people, that propositions for attempting an accommodation were not much relished.'' Thus wrote Franklin to his friend Priestley; and his statement is confirmed by Adams. But when measures leading directly to independence were urged upon the attention of Congress; when they were even confronted with a formal proposition to sunder the British connection, a more moderate spirit began to manifest itself. It became evident, that they wished to keep the door open for an accommodation.3

'Franklin's Works, vol. viii., p 155; July 7, 1775.

2 Adams' Works, vol. ii., pp. 406, 407. See Ante, p. 132; also Force's Archives (4th series), vol. 4, p. 1874.

3 See Gordon's History of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 336. Gordon, of Roxbury,' says Adams, in his Diary of September 16th, 'spent the evening here. I fear his indiscreet prate will do harm in this city. He is an eternal talker, and somewhat vain, and not accurate nor judicious; very zealous in the cause, and a well-meaning man, but incautious, and not sufficiently tender of the character of our province, upon which, at this time, much depends; fond of being thought a man of influence at head-quarters, and with our council and House, and with the general officers of the army, and also with gentlemen in the city and other colonies. He is a good man, but wants a guide.' Adams' Works, vol. ii., pp. 423, 424. This, we suspect, is a pretty faithful portrait of the historian. His history, however, is valuable, and contains information not elsewhere to be obtained. He did not deem it the part of a good historian to conceal the faults, nor habitually to magnify the merits of the actors on the revolutionary scene. This is no slight tribute to his honor and fidelity.

Adams ascribes the change of tone, in Congress, to private and social influences. In some of the earlier deliberations in May,' he says, 'after I had reasoned at length on my own plan, Mr. John Rutledge, in more than one public speech, approved of my sentiments; and the other delegates from that state, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Gadsden, and Mr. Edward Rutledge, appeared to me to be of the same mind. Mr. Dickinson himself told me, afterwards, that when we first came together the balance lay with South Carolina. Accordingly, all their efforts were employed to convert the delegates from that state. . . . . The proprietary gentlemen, Israel Pemberton, and other principal Quakers, now united with Mr. Dickinson, addressed themselves, with great art and assiduity, to all the members of Congress whom they could influence, even to some of the delegates of Massachusetts; but most of all to the delegates from South Carolina. Mr. Lynch had been an old acquaintance of the Penn family, particularly of the Governor. Mr. Edward Rutledge had brought his lady with him, a daughter of our former President, Middleton. Mr. Arthur Middleton, her brother, was now a delegate in place of his father. The lady and the gentlemen were invited to all parties, and were visited perpetually by the party; and we soon began to find that Mr. Lynch, Mr. Arthur Middleton, and even the two Rutledges, began to waver, and to clamor about independence. Mr. Gadsden was either, from despair of success, never attempted, or, if he was, received no impression from them.'1

Adams, in this statement, has obviously mingled and confounded two distinct periods. In the first place, Arthur Middleton was not a member of the Congress of 1775 at all. He did not take his seat in that body until the following year.2 In the second place, Rutledge's

2

2

'Adams' Works, vol. ii., p. 408.

Henry Middleton, on the 16th of February, 1776, while attending the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, then in session, requested

approval of the sentiments, at this time, avowed and defended by Adams, would not accord with the system of politics which he had all along professed. If, however, the news of the action at Lexington, which met him on his arrival at Philadelphia, together with the multiplying evidences of the ministry's intention to enforce their measures with the sword, exasperated his mind, as it did the minds of others, and led him to approve the measures recommended by Adams, he very soon reverted to his original sentiments. He cherished the hope of reconciliation, clung to it with tenacity, and, so far as we can discover, was not an advocate of independence prior to its declaration.1 But, while thus anxious for a restoration of harmony, he would prepare for the worst; and it will appear, as we proceed with our narrative, that he supported many of the most vigorous propositions brought forward in this Congress, for the defence of the colonies.

The time of the Congress, for the first two weeks after it assembled, was spent in committee of the whole, on the state of America. No report of the discussions that took place has been handed down to us. The result, however, is on record. On the 26th of May, Congress resolved, that the colonies be immediately put into a state of defence; but, to restore the harmony formerly subsisting between them and the mother-country, they resolved, at the same time, that an humble and dutiful petition be presented to his majesty. The petition was conceded to the earnest wishes of the more moderate portion of Congress. It encountered, however, strong that body not again to appoint him a delegate to the Continental Congress, 'as the infirmities of age, which were creeping on, deprived him of the ability of rendering so much service to the public as in his earlier days he might have done.' His request was complied with, and on the same day his son, Arthur Middleton, was chosen in his stead. He did not take his seat in Congress, however, until several weeks after

opposition at the time, and its propriety has been much questioned since.' Rutledge was among the number of its supporters, and appointed on the committee to prepare it. The chairman of the committee was John Dickinson; and the petition, as reported and adopted by Congress, with scarcely any amendment, was his production.

On the 2d of June, a letter from the Provincial Convention of Massachusetts was laid before Congress, stating the condition of that State, and expressing the hope that the representative body of the continent would favor them with their most explicit advice respecting the taking up and exercising the power of civil government.' This was a subject of grave importance. It lay with great weight upon my mind,' says Adams, as the most difficult and dangerous business that we had to do... And when this letter was read, I embraced the opportunity to open myself in Congress, and most earnestly to entreat the serious attention of all the members, and of all the continent, to the measures which the times demanded. For my part, I thought there was great wisdom in the adage, "When the sword is drawn, throw away the scabbard." Whether we threw it away voluntarily or not, it was useless now, and would be useless forever. The pride of Britain, flushed with late triumphs and conquests, their infinite contempt of all the power of America, with an insolent, arbitrary Scotch faction, with a Bute and Mansfield at their head for a ministry, we might depend upon it, would force us to call forth every energy and resource of the country, to seek the friendship of England's enemies; and we had no rational hope, but from the ratio ultima regum et rerum-publicarum. These efforts could not be made without government; and, as I supposed no man would think of consolidating this vast See Ante, pp. 137-142.

1