" And WHEREAS it appears absolutely irreconcilable " to reason and good conscience for the people of these " Colonies, now, to take the Oaths and Affirmations " necessary for the support of any Government under " the Crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that " the exercise of every kind of authority under the "said Crown should be totally suppressed, and all the "powers of Government exerted under the authority " of the people of the Colonies, for the preservation of " internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for " the defence of their lives, liberties, and properties, "against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations "of their enemies, therefore

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the re- " spective Assemblies and Conventions of the United " Colonies, where no Government sufficient to the "exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto estab- " lished, to adopt such Government as shall, in the " o])inion of the representatives of the people, best " conduce to the happiness and safety of their constit- " uents, in particular, and America, in general.'

The careful reader of that Preamble and Resolution will not fail to see, in every portion of them, only Independence very thinly disguised ; ^ and he will not be surprised to learn that those, within the Continental Congress, who were most desirous of effecting a Reconciliation with the Mother Country, were most resolute in opposing the adoption of them ; ^ nor

> Journal of the Continental Congreti, " Wednesday, May 15, 1776."