Chapter 22

(1775, CONTINUED.)

THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN AMERICA. 442-458

The second Continental Congress meets at Philadelphia, in the month of September 442

Number and character of its members 442

Their credentials and instructions to seek remedies for grievances, but not separation from the Mother Country; mode of proceeding 443

Noble and affectionate petition to the King 443

This petition read in the House of Commons the 7th of December, 1775, but rejected 444

Penn, the agent of the Congress, not asked a question when he presented the petition, and was refused an interview by the King (in a note) 444

The King's answer a proclamation declaring the petition "rebellion" and the petitioners "rebels" 445

The effect of this proclamation upon the Continental Congress, and of the accompanying announcement, that the army and navy were to be greatly increased, and seventeen thousand mercenary soldiers from Hanover and Hesse were to be engaged to bring the Colonists to absolute submission 446

Refusal of English Generals and soldiers to fight against the Colonists (in a note) 446

Bombardment and burning of Falmouth (now Portland) by Captain Mowat, of the British navy (two accounts of it, in a note) 446

The large majority of the Congress yet opposed to independence, but were unanimously in favour of energetic measures for the defence of their constitutional rights 448

Tom Paine's appeal to the Colonists, called _Common Sense_, the first publication in America against monarchy 450

But the majority of the Congress opposed to republicanism 450

The exact time when the leading men of the Colonies conceived the measure of independence not certainly known 451

Prompted by the now-known King's own personal acts and hostility to the American Colonists 451

Deprecated by South Carolina in May, 1775, after the bloody affair of Concord and Lexington (in a note) 451

Disclaimed by Dr. Franklin in 1773 452

Disclaimed by Washington and Jefferson until after the middle of the year 1775 453

Though urged by President Dwight (of Yale), discountenanced by leading New Englanders in July, 1775 453

Retrospect of events and position of affairs between Great Britain and the Colonies at the close of the year 1775 454