Such a Plan, had it been submitted to the Home Government and to the Parliament, would, un(]ue8tionably, have aggravated instead of conciliated, and have widened the breach which then separated the Colonies and the Mother Country, instead of closing it. It is serviceable, however, to the cai'eful student of the history of that j>eriod, to indicate how mujch the Rebellion had already palled upon the senses of even ihose who were its local leaders ; how much a reconciliation wsis secretly hankered for, even among those who were blustering in fictitious bravei-y ; how much of hypocrisy there was among those wlio were loudly pretending to be "patriots," in harmony wiih similar "patriots" in each of the other Colonies, all of them zealously and noisily crowding the entire Continent into an open and unqualified Rebellion, while, at the same time, they were secretly determining, among themselves, by how slight a bond they were bound to {heir associates in crime, how delicately constructed

1 Jimmil i\f the I'rminciiil 0»igrtiis, 4 lu)., P. M., Dii; Martis, .Imii- 27, 177'>.

were their honor and their patriotism, and at what price the Home Government could purchase their adherence and their "patriotism" and their sympathy with their compatriots, whenever that Home Government should incline to enter the market of " patriot- " ism," for such a purpose.

At a very early period, the security of the pass at Kingsbridge appears to have attracted the attention of the revolutionary faction ; and measures were taken with the evident intention of throwing up some defensive works, at that point, for the protection of the City.