W. Strahan,

Phelad July 5.1775

You and one of that Majority which has my Country to Destruction___

are as Member of Parliament,

doomed

- You have begun to burnour Towns,

and murder our

People.

Your Hands ! _ They

Your

are stained with the

Blood of Relations . _ You and I were

long Friends: - You

my,

1- and

Jam,

Ene

are now

my

Your

Branklin

CHAPTER IX.

Chosen a Member of Congress.- Proceedings of Congress.- Preparations for Military Defence. — Petition to the King. — Franklin assists in preparing for the Defence of Pennsylvania, as a Member of the Committee of Safety. — Drafts a Plan of Confederation. — His Services in Congress. Goes to the Camp at Cambridge on a Committee from Congress. Chosen a Member of the Pennsylvania Assembly.. Writes Letters to Europe for the Committee of Secret Correspondence. His Journey to Canada as a Commissioner from Congress. Declaration of Independence. — Anecdotes. — President of the Convention of Pennsylvania for forming a Constitution. His Opinion of a Single Legislative Assembly.-Opposes the Practice of voting by States in Congress.- His Correspondence with Lord Howe, and Interview with him on Staten Island. Appointed a Commissioner to

the Court of Versailles. — Lends Money to Congress.

THE next day after his arrival, Dr. Franklin was unanimously chosen by the Assembly of Pennsylvania a delegate to the second Continental Congress, which was to meet at Philadelphia on the 10th of May. At this time the whole country was thrown into a state of extreme agitation by the news of the conflict at Lexington and Concord, in which the British troops were the aggressors. The yeomanry of New England, as if moved by a simultaneous impulse, seized their arms, and hastened to the scene of action. The indignation of the people was every where roused to the highest pitch, and the cry of war resounded from one end of the continent to the other. A few days after he landed, Dr. Franklin wrote as follows to Dr. Priestley.

"You will have heard, before this reaches you, of a march stolen by the regulars into the country by night, and of their expedition back again. They retreated twenty miles in six hours. The governor had called the Assembly to propose Lord North's pacific plan,

but, before the time of their meeting, began cutting of throats. You know it was said he carried the sword in one hand, and the olive branch in the other; and it seems he chose to give them a taste of the sword first. He is doubling his fortifications at Boston, and hopes to secure his troops till succour arrives. The place indeed is naturally so defensible, that I think them in no danger. All America is exasperated by his conduct, and more firmly united than ever. The breach between the two countries is grown wider, and in danger of becoming irreparable."

When the second Congress assembled, the relations between the colonies and Great Britain had assumed a new character. The blood of American freemen had been shed on their own soil by a wanton exercise of military power, and they were regarded as having fallen martyrs in the cause of liberty. This rash act dissolved the charm, which had hitherto bound the affections of many a conscientious American to the British crown, under the long revered name of loyalty. It was evident to every reflecting man, that the hour of trial had come, that a degrading submission, or a triumph of strength, in a hard and unequal struggle, was the only alternative. A large majority of the nation and of Congress were ready to meet the contest by prompt and decided measures of resistance, convinced that any further attempts for a reconciliation would be utterly unavailing. Among the foremost of this number was Franklin. Yet there were some, whose fears ran before their hopes; and others, whose interests outweighed their patriotism. Many of the timid were good patriots, but they dreaded the gigantic power of England, which they believed to be irresistible.

After an animated debate, which continued several