III.] The State Constitutions. 85 government, only equalled in that respect by the Declaration of Independence and by the Bill of Rights, drawn up by John Adams and adopted by Massachusetts in 1780. The Virginia Constitution also contained a Declaration of Independence, and a summary of the causes which led to this action, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson. It bears a close resemblance to the great declaration, and was formulated only a few weeks earlier. It is important to notice that this action of New Hampshire and Virginia was taken, as above stated, in conformity with the advice of the Continental Congress. Paine's Common Sense. No one can read the State papers of the revolutionary period without being impressed with the constitutional knowledge and literary skill of their authors. Yet it well may be doubted if, all put together, they exerted so much influence in bringing the people to an acquiescence in the policy of independence as was exerted by one small pamphlet, Thomas Paine's Common Sense. It is fortunate that our task does not require a description of Paine's personal character. He came to America, was recognized as a man of remarkable literary power, and was encouraged by Franklin and Jefferson, who may have been unaware of the moral contamination which lurked in his neighbourhood. Certainly, he was a friend to liberty. In January, 1776, he published, anonymously, a pamphlet showing in simple language that "common sense" dictated independAmong other reasons which he gave, was the improbability of foreign nations interfering in the dispute so long as the Americans acknowledged allegiance to the British king. The essay met with great favour. It was read and debated in smithy and shop, and converted thousands of the people. ence. Declaration Virginia now again took the lead, and directed her delegates in Congress to propose a declaration of independence. The motion was made in Congress of Independby Richard Henry Lee, the chairman of the ence, 1776. Two Virginia delegation, on June 17th, 1776. It was seconded by John Adams of Massachusetts. As many delegates were not instructed in the matter or, indeed, united in the approval of the proposal, the discussion of the motion was postponed for two weeks. To save time, however, a committee consisting of Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams, and two more, was appointed to prepare a declaration for discussion in case the motion should be adopted. This committee intrusted the drafting of the document to Jefferson, while it fell to John Adams to defend the motion on the floor of Congress. The ablest man on the other side was John Dickinson, a most patriotic and high-minded statesman. As the debates of Congress were secret and no notes of this disputation were ever published, we have slight knowledge of the arguments of the two champions. After more delay, and after a good deal of concession on both sides, the motion was finally carried on July 2nd, 1776. days later, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, though somewhat toned down and in a few cases materially altered from Jefferson's original draft. Some weeks afterwards, it was signed by the members of Congress present at the time of signing. This was done probably to protect Hancock, the presiding officer of Congress, who had attested the first copies of the document sent out on July 5th. The Declaration of Independence, apart from its arraignment of the king, contains the clearest definition of the theory of democratic government in existence. It is, therefore, of interest not to Americans alone, but to all civilized peoples. The Declaration contained in a concise form the theory of government commonly held by the people of the United States. was the result of a long historical development, and was of American and English parentage. The ideas of Locke and Hooker can be seen in every sentence of the theoretical part. In fact, so impregnated was Jefferson with the language of Locke's essay, that, in some cases, he repeats the very words It III.] Declaration of Independence. 87 of the great philosopher. In his Ancient Laws, Sir Henry Maine makes the curious statement, which has been repeated by later and less distinguished writers, that, in their great Declaration, the American jurists combined the French idea of equality with the more familiar English doctrine, that all men are born free. It will be interesting for the student to turn to the Declaration itself1 and observe that there is no statement in that document to the effect that men are born free; the words are, “all men are created equal." Furthermore, the doctrine of natural equality is to be found in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity and in Locke's Essay on Government. Later, at the outbreak of the French Revolution, Jefferson was United States Minister at Paris. He returned to America in 1790, greatly influenced by French ideas. But there is not the least evidence that in 1776 he knew anything of French political writers, except Montesquieu, and in the latter's book there is no statement of the natural equality of man. received valuable material aid from France. they inherited from their fathers, as their portion of the common heritage of the English race. The Americans Their theories The Hessians. A large portion The seat of war was now shifted to the Middle States. In the summer of 1776, Sir William Howe, the new commander-in-chief, entered New York harbour with a powerful army, convoyed by a strong fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Howe. of the new troops were German veterans hired from their masters, the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, the Duke of Brunswick, and some others. The "dirty selfishness" of these men, as Frederick the Great termed it, is beneath contempt, and almost beyond belief, were it not so well authenticated. These leased soldiers, for it would be unfair to call those mercenaries who had not the option to go or stay, numbered, including all who came to America, some thirty thousand men. About 1 Appendix II. eighteen thousand arrived in 1776, mostly from Hesse-Cassel. For this reason, the whole body was known to the Americans under the generic term of Hessians. To the English government there seemed nothing incongruous in hiring these men. The British king was a German prince — although he himself had been born in England. In the wars which Great Britain had waged on the Continent it had been customary to hire the Germans, in one way or another, to fight Britain's battles. The only new circumstance in this case was the fact that these foreign soldiers were now employed to kill English people who happened to live beyond the ocean. The opposition in Parliament remonstrated against the business for this reason, but their remonstrance was unavailing. The great mass of Englishmen seem to have viewed with rejoicing the acquisition of a force which they were led to believe was both cheap and efficient. In reality, the employment of these soldiers was one of the greatest mistakes made by the government. It aroused in the breasts of many lukewarm Americans a desire for independence; it induced others to acquiesce in the Declaration of Independence; and it justified, in the eyes of many men, the alliance with France and Spain. The fate of these poor 'Hessian" soldiers was indeed a hard one. Torn from their firesides and families, they were sent to the conquest of a savage people for so most of them regarded the Americans. They found the art of war quite undeveloped in many respects in America. In Europe, where the father of this same Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel had in one campaign loaned six thousand soldiers to either side, the amenities of war were fully developed. There was as little shooting as possible, and one might almost imagine the two pickets of the opposing forces calmly smoking their pipes together and communicating the latest news from home. With the Americans the case was different. They were fighting for everything that was dear to them. Whenever they had a good opportunity III.] The Hessians. 89 to shoot an opponent, they shot him. The American statesmen, however, endeavoured to induce the "Hessians" to desert. In 1776, Congress passed a resolution, drafted by Jefferson, Franklin, and John Adams, offering land in amounts. of one thousand acres to every Hessian colonel, with suitable amounts to other officers, and one hundred acres to every private who should desert. Before the end of the war, the Hessians and the Americans understood each other well, and desertions seem to have been frequent. The most attractive person in this throng was the Baroness Riedesel, the young wife of one of the Hessian generals. She is chiefly memorable for a charming journal which she kept, and which gives us glimpses of American life as viewed by an outsider. On her way to America, she heard a story of the indecent and brutal treatment of two women by the Boston mob. This tale, given on hearsay evidence, was incorporated by Lord Mahon in his history, and has been repeated by later and generally fairer writers. There is not the slightest hint as to any such occurrence in any newspaper of that time, in the papers of the very respectable family to which the alleged victims belonged, nor in any document of that period which has come to light. The Boston rabble did many things which might well have been left undone, but there is no recorded instance of their behaving indecently to any woman. The story was probably told to the credulous German woman by some person as ill-disposed to her as to the Americans. International comity, to say nothing of the ties of blood, might well forbid the relating of such discreditable anecdotes, except when well attested. The Campaign of 1776. Washington gathered to the defence of New York about one-half as many men as Howe could place in the field. Yet the latter general by his supineness allowed the Americans to escape from Long Island, and then from Manhattan Island, on the southern end of which New York City then stood. Still hesitating, Howe |