could not be taken. When General Washington knew of the intentions of General Howe, he thought it most probable that he would go from Boston to New York, and therefore sent a large portion of his army there immediately.

On the 17th of March the English entered their ships, and soon the whole fleet sailed. The rest of the American army then marched to New York. The recovery of Boston caused great joy. When Washington entered it, he was received by the inhabitants as their deliverer from oppression; and in their public address to him, they expressed the wish he might "still go on, approved by Heaven, and revered by all good men." The fleet sailed to Halifax, remained there until June, then left it, and early in July landed the troops on Staten Island.

CHAPTER III.

HE revolutionary war afforded few very striking events compared with those of some European contests. It was a long and arduous struggle, between her feeble colonies and the most powerful of nations, in which only the greatest genius, guided by patriotism, and supported by the public enthusiasm, could have triumphed.

On the evacuation of Boston, by the British, General Washington immediately left his position at Cambridge, for New York, where, after many difficulties, he arrived in the month of April, 1776. There he received a letter from the President of Congress conveying the thanks of that body to himself and his army, for their conduct at the siege of Boston. He replied with his usual modest manliness-"I beg you," he says, "to assure them, that it will ever be my highest ambition to approve myself a faithful servant of the public; and that to be

in any degree instrumental in procuring for my American brethren a restitution of their just rights and privileges will constitute my chief happiness." Speaking of having communicated the thanks of Congress to the army, he adds, "They were indeed at first a band of undisciplined husbandmen, but it is, under God, to their bravery and attention to their duty, that I am indebted for that success which has procured me the only reward I wish to receive, the affection and esteem of my countrymen."

He found New York ill-prepared for defence in the event of General Howe's directing his operations to that quarter. The state troops were deficient in arms, and many of the citizens as much so in patriotism. Owing to various causes, the tory influence was strong in that quarter. A considerable number of British troops were always stationed in New York; the officers had many of them intermarried with the most influential families of the province; and a number of the proprietors of the largest estates were devoted loyalists. Add to this, the Asia, man-of-war, lay opposite the city for some time, having it entirely at her mercy, and the commander threatening destruction in case of any overt act of opposition to the royal government.

These and other causes damped the efforts of the

whigs, and delayed decisive measures of defence. But the body of the people finally obtained the ascendency over their disaffected opponents, and aided by a body of troops from Connecticut, under General Lee, maintained possession of the city in defiance of the threats of the commander of the Asia. That officer declared that if any troops came into the city, he would set it on fire; and Lee replied, "that if he set fire to a single house in consequence of his coming, he would chain a hundred tories together by the neck, and make that house their funeral pile."

The possession of New York, the key to the Hudson, which forms the geographical line of separation between New England and the South, and is, moreover, the most direct route to and from Canada, was deemed an object of the first importance. Accordingly, Washington used his utmost efforts to place it in the best possible state of defence. At his recommendation, Congress authorized the construction of such a number of rafts calculated to act as a sort of fire-ships, armed boats, row-galleys, and floating batteries, as were deemed necessary to the command of the port and river. They likewise voted the employment of thirteen thousand militia, to reinforce the main army under Washington.

Until now the Americans had been contending for

their rights as subjects of England; but the time had arrived when the contest was to assume a different character. An event was at hand which was to change the relations between the mother country and her colonies, and separate their future destinies for ever. The assertion of rights had produced the desire of independence. To the more sagacious of that great and illustrious body of men which composed the first Congress, it gradually became evident that, though the ancient relations of the two countries might perhaps be revived for a time, there never could in future subsist that cordiality which was indispensable to their mutual interests and happiness. Blood had been shed; bitter invectives and biting insults had been exchanged; injuries never to be forgotten, and outrages not to be forgiven, had been suffered; and the filial piety of the children had been turned into hatred of the tyranny of the parent.

They saw, too, that were England to relinquish her claim to parliamentary supremacy for the present, there would be no security for the future. The colonies would be left as before, equally exposed to a revival and enforcement of the obnoxious claim of taxation without representation. Union could no longer subsist compatibly with the mutual happiness