(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