pon the Assembly House.
The habits of law and obedience were, however, strong in the
citizens of Philadelphia, and in the end they dispersed quietly to
their own homes; but a fire had been kindled in their hearts which
would not easily be quenched.

Days were wasted by the Quakers in an unsuccessful attempt to prove
that there had been some fraud on the part of the Governor in a
recent land purchase from the Indians. And they again laid before
the Governor one of their proposals, still containing the clause
which he was unable to entertain, and which inevitably brought
matters to a deadlock.

The Quakers drew up a declaration affirming that they had now taken
every step in their power, "consistent with the just rights of the
freemen of Pennsylvania, for the relief of the poor distressed
inhabitants," and further declared that "we have reason to believe
that they themselves would not wish us to go further. Those who
would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary
relief and safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

The Governor, in a dignified reply, once more urged upon them the
absolute necessity of waiving for the present the vexed question of
the proprietary estates, and passing a bill for the relief of the
present sufferers; but the Quakers remained deaf and mute, and
would not budge one inch from their position.

All the city was roused. In houses like that of Benjamin Ashley,
where people were coming and going the whole day long, and where
travellers from these border lands were to be found who could give
information at first hand, the discussion went on every day and all
day long. Ashley himself was keenly excited. He had quite broken
away from a number of his old friends who supported the Assembly in
its blind obstinacy. Nobody could sit by unmoved whilst Charles and
Humphrey Angell told their tale of horror and woe; and, moreover,
both Julian Dautray and Fritz Neville had much to tell of the
aggressive policy of France, and of her resolute determination to
stifle and strangle the growing colonies of England, by giving them
no room to expand, whilst she herself claimed boundless untrodden
regions which she could never hope to populate or hold.

Fresh excitements came daily to the city. Early one morning, as the
tardy daylight broke, a rumble of wheels in the street below told
of the arrival of travellers. The wheels stopped before Ashley's
door, and he hastily finished his toilet and wen