It was not so in the other Colonies; and had not the master-spirits of the revolutionary faction, in New York, in the interest of Reconciliation, obstructed the work of creating a new form of Government, quite ac effectively as, at the same time, they were creating a necessity for such a new system -- at least for a Provisional Government, if not for a permanent one -- New York might, also, have been fully prepared for the great changes, in all her governmental arrangements, which were thus crowded on her. A very competent writer, a witness of the great changes of which he wrote and of which we write, thus accurately and graphically described them: " The Decla- " ration of Independence, published by Congress on "the fourth of July, 1776, was the first act that put "an end to the Courts of Law, to the Laws of the "land, and to the administration of Justice, under "the British Crown, within the thirteen Colonies. "The revolt was now complete. Upon this event, "the Law, the Courts, and Justice itself ceased: all "was anarchy: all was confusion. A usurped kind "of Government took place: a medley of Military " Law, Convention Ordinances, Congress Recommen- " dations, and Committee Resolutions." 2

It is proper that we shall say, however, that, notwithstanding the Declaration of Independence was thus nominally accepted and approved, and notwithstanding New York was thus formally obligated to stand or fall with her sister States in the support and defense of the cause in which they were engaged, Independence had not been, as we have already seen, what the revolutionary faction of the great party of