in opening the blind eyes of many, and when people come to taste feelingly of the hardships which a suspension of trade will occasion, they will change sides; nay, I believe if the King's Standard was now erected, nine out of ten would repair to it.

The people have not, till lately, considered the consequences of a civil war with so brave and powerful a Nation as that of Great Britain; the heat and rage of party had not given them leisure to reflect on the devastation and havock it would occasion; and if our rashness should yet bring one on, quere, if such reflections as these would not arise with many? I have seen this land blessed with peace and plenty, under the happiest form of Government in the world; every branch of business flourishing; men secured in their liberty and property; a trade open to foreign parts of the world, which occasioned a ready sale for our produce. I have been in possession of wife and many children, some of whom are numbered among the slain, and others far separated; I have lived in a happy, harmonious neighbourhood, where the violence of party and the appelations of Whig and Tory were unknown. Who could think that a three Penny duty on Tea could have occasioned all these difficulties, when only a refusal to purchase the article would have kept us free.

Committee Chamber, Philadelphia, February 18, 1775.

The following Letter, in answer to one wrote by the Committee of Correspondence, to the Committee of Kent County, enclosing a Newspaper published by James Hum phreys, Junior, dated February 11, was read and ordered to be published.

J. B. SMITH, Secretary.

Dover, Delaware, February 15, 1775.

GENTLEMEN: We are this morning favoured with yours of the 13th instant, informing us of the purport of a piece of intelligence published in the Pennsylvania Ledger of Saturday last, said to be, "an extract of a letter from Kent County, on Delaware," very injurious to the publick spirit of the inhabitants of this County. We can assure you, from the knowledge we have of the sentiments of the inhabitants, that they have not in the least changed their opinions with respect to the important subject of dispute between the mother country and the British Colonies in America, and are well disposed to make a virtuous stand against tyranny and oppression, from whatsoever quarter they may threaten us, as the inhabitants of any other of these Colonies; and the said extract is a base calumny, replete with falsehood, and only designed by the wicked insidious author to cause divisions, and excite mutual suspicions and distrust in the minds of Americans, weaken our hands, and prepare the way for an easy victory to the enemies of America.

We would, therefore, request the favour of your Committee to call upon the Printer of the above Paper, to discover, if he can, the author of this piece of slander; and that this letter may be published in all the Philadelphia Newspapers.

We conclude, gentlemen, with our grateful acknowledgments to you for your vigilance and care, in endeavouring to guard and preserve the rights ant privileges of America in general.

Signed by order of a full Committee for Kent County.

MARK M'CALL, Clerk.

To the Committee of Correspondence for the City and Liberties of Philadelphia.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM PHILADELPHIA, TO MR. RIVINGTON, NEW-YORK, DATED FEBRUARY 16, 1775.

I find the people in general here much cooler than I expected, though there is a party more violent than I could have formed any idea of. The day after my arrival there were some high debates at the Coffee House not being there at the beginning, I made some Inquiry into the merits of this dispute: I found the Committee had been to demand of a Printer the name of the person who handed him some letter he had published. This letter gave great offence, not because it reflected upon any man or body of men, but because it contained some moderate sentiments. I thought this demand savored a little of a Popish inquisition, and was still more surprised to find, that the persons who had usurped this novel right of demanding authors, were the Committee, who had been chosen guardians of our liberties, but had, instead of pre serving them, introduced the worst species of tyranny, and the most dangerous kind of slavery that any country had ever experienced; however the matter was not so bad as was at first apprehended, for the Committee-men insisted with great warmth, that they did not demand, they only asked. This dispute would certainly have terminated in a general battle, but the Committee found a great majority against them; there was scarce one in five who justified them.

When the dispute ended, I went to dine with) our friend * * * * * * * who you know was lately a high Whig; I informed him of what passed at the Coffee House; he was equally with me irritated at so flagrant an instance of despotism; I did not know the names of these Committee-men, but by the description I gave him, he knew them; he told me one of them, an avowed Republican, had lately met with some disappointments, that he could not much wonder at the part he took; another had acquired his fortune partly by an illicit trade last war, and partly by taking an advantage of a Resolve of the people here, not to deal with the Rhode-Islanders, after they had broke through the Non Importation Agreement, by supplying them with Goods, when no other Merchant would do it; another was an illiterate Merchant; another too insignificant to notice, &c.

My friend observed that though he had heretofore been active in the measures of the Committee, yet their conduct now appeared to him so inconsistent and absurd, that he was determined never more to countenance them; he said he was well convinced they aimed at a general revolution, and were promoting every measure to overthrow our excellent Constitution;—drunk with the power they had usurped, and elated with their own importance, they were determined on nothing so much as to increase discord and confusion. By these they had risen to power—from these they derived their whole consequence; they know full well, if the present troubles should subside, they must again sink into their native obscurity; they are therefore willing to keep up the ball as long as possible, and nothing would give them more real concern than a speedy accommodation and reconciliation between the parent state and the Colonies; they have nothing to lose in a general havock, but all to gain from a scramble. I have great satisfaction from various information in finding that almost all the violent sons of licentiousness are of a particular sect; there are some others weak, deluded and flattered.

I have been assured that there are many of this Committee who could not get credit for twenty Shillings, and on inquiring how it happened that the inhabitants should choose such men, I was told that not one-sixth of the people ever voted at all—that in the City and Suburbs there were not six hundred votes for the sixty Committee-men, so that you see each one had only to procure ten voters; a mighty easy way this of getting into power.

Another thing I was told, which I must inform you of, for I know you are a lover of the laws and good order, and that you are fond of collecting curious instances of this kind. It seems a large quantity of Goods had arrived after the first of December; the Committee resolved that these Goods must be opened, agreeable to the Resolves of the Congress. It was looked upon as very hard that those Goods, which had been ordered near a year ago (which was the case with some) should be thus opened and exposed to sale; it was represented to the Committee as an unreasonable hardship, and they were requested to revoke their decree, but they were obdurate, and would not comply; not because the request was unreasonable, but because they had resolved. Their resolves were unalterable, as the laws of the Medes and Persians. The Goods were accordingly opened and sold, and the Merchants obtained them without any inconvenience, by paying one per cent, to the vendue-master. The Merchants requested they might have the liberty to choose their own vendue-master; this liberty was denied them; they requested they might have the liberty to agree with the vendue-master, what commission he should have; this liberty too was denied