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CHAP tleman of piety and virtue, whatever may be his cloth provided he is a friend of his country." On his motion, 1774. the Rev. Mr. Duché, a popular Episcopal clergyman, of Philadelphia, was invited to officiate as chaplain. Mr. Duché accepted the invitation. A rumor, in the mean time, reached Philadelphia that General Gage had bombarded Boston. When the Congress assembled the next 'morning, anxiety and sympathy were depicted on every countenance. The rumor, though it proved to be false, excited feelings of brotherhood, hitherto unknown.

The chaplain read the thirty-fifth psalm, and then, carried away by his emotions, burst forth into an extemporary prayer to the Lord of Hosts to be their helper. "It seemed," says John Adams, in a letter to his wife,

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as if Heaven had ordained that psalm to be read on that morning. He prayed, in language eloquent and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here."

When the prayer was closed, a long and death-like silence ensued, as if each one hesitated "to open a business so momentous." At length Patrick Henry slowly arose, faltering at first, "as if borne down by the weight of his subject;" but the fires of his wonted eloquence began to glow, as he recited the colonial wrongs already endured, and foretold those yet to come. "Rising, as he advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and glowing at length with all the majesty and expectation of the occasion, his speech seemed more than that of mortal man." He inspired the entire Congress with his liberal sentiments; they found a response in every heart when he exclaimed: "British oppression has effaced the boundaries of the several colonies; the distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American." When he closed, the members were not

1

THE PAPERS ISSUED BY CONGRESS.

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merely astonished at his matchless eloquence, but the CHAP. importance of the subject had overwhelmed them.

The Congress appointed a committee, which drew up a "Declaration of Rights." In this they enumerated their natural rights to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property; as British subjects, they claimed to participate in making their own laws; in imposing their own taxes; the right of trial by jury in the vicinage; of holding public meetings, and of petitioning for redress of grievances. They protested against a standing army in the colonies without their consent, and against eleven acts passed since the accession of George III., as violating the rights of the colonies. It was added, "To these grievous acts and measures Americans cannot submit."

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To obtain redress they resolved to enter upon peaceable measures. They agreed to form an American Association," in whose articles they pledged themselves not to trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, nor with those engaged in the slave-trade-which was especially denounced-not to use British goods or tea, and not to trade with any colony which would refuse to join the association. Committees were to be appointed in the various districts to see that these articles were strictly carried into effect.

Elaborate papers were also issued, in which the views of the Congress were set forth still more fully. A petition to the king was written by John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania; he also wrote an Address to the people of Canada. The Memorial to the people of the colonies was written by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and the Address to the people of Great Britain by John Jay, of New York.

Every measure was carefully discussed, and though on some points there was much diversity of opinion, yet, as Congress sat with closed doors, only the results of these discussions went forth to the country, embodied in resolu

1774.

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CHAP. tions, and signed by the members. These papers attracted the attention of thinking men in England. Said Chat1774. ham, "When your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us from America; when you consider their, decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must avow, and I have studied the master states of the world, I know not the people, or senate, who, for solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, can stand in preference to the delegates of America assembled in General Congress at Philadelphia. The histories of Greece and Rome give us nothing equal to it, and all attempts to impose servitude upon such a mighty continental nation, must be vain."