History of Westchester County, New York, Vol. I
Doctor Sparks, {Life of Gouvenietir itorrit, i., 22,) merged the doings of the Caucus and the Meeting at the Coffee-house, into one mass ; made Isaac Scars the master spirit of all that was done ; and said " the Committee consisted of "a nearly equal number of both parties, but with a preponderance on " the liberal side ; " although the truth wa.s, the friends the Home Government took no part whatever, in either of those meetings ; that both were composed of only those who opposed the Home Government ; that the struggle, in each of the two assemblages, was between cimrticting factions of the latter party ; that, in both, the faction of the aristocratic conser\ative element of the party outvoted and defeated the faction representing, or pretending to represent, the unfranchised ma.sses ; that the Committee contained a large proportion of those who belonged, at that time, to the aristocratic conservative faction of the party ; and that it is not known, nor is it suppose<l, that a single person was named on the Committee, who was not, at that time, opposed to the Colonial policy of the Home Government. Indeed, as Judge .lones, whose opportunities for ascertaining the exact truth and whose integrity and fearlessness in uttering it no one will seriously question, ,has emphatically stated, "all parties, denominations, and religions, apprehended, at that time, " that the Colonies laboured under grievances which wanted redressing ;" and no one, tlicrefore, opposed any reasonable movement which tended, or appeared to tend, to a peaceful redress of those serious grievances.