ndent companies. Now let
those companies be formed into a real army. It was idle to send any more
petitions to the King.

"We must fight!" exclaimed Patrick Henry; "I repeat it, sir; we must
fight! An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left us!"

[Illustration: JOHN ADAMS, OF MASSACHUSETTS, WHO PROPOSED WASHINGTON FOR
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.]

A committee, of which Washington was one, was appointed to report a plan
for an army of Virginia.

But when people make up their minds to fight, they know very well, if
they are sensible, that more than half the task before them is to find
means for feeding and clothing not only the troops but the people who
are dependent on the troops. Therefore the convention appointed another
committee, of which Washington also was a member, to devise a plan for
encouraging manufactures, so that the people could do without England.
Heretofore, the Virginians had done scarcely any manufacturing; nearly
everything they needed they had bought from England with tobacco. But if
they were to be at war with England, they must be making ready to
provide for themselves. It was late in the day to do anything; slavery,
though they did not then see it clearly, had made a variety of
industries impossible. However, the people were advised to form
associations to promote the raising of wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, and
to encourage the use of home manufactures.

Washington was again chosen one of the delegates to the Continental
Congress, for the second Congress had been called to meet at
Philadelphia. He was even readier to go than before. On the day when he
was chosen, he wrote to his brother John Augustine Washington: "It is my
full intention to devote my life and fortune to the cause we are engaged
in, if needful."

That was at the end of March. The second Continental Congress was to
meet on May 10; and just before Washington left Mount Vernon came the
news of Lexington and Concord. Curiously enough, the Governor of
Virginia had done just what Governor Gage had attempted to do; he had
seized some powder which was stored at Fredericksburg, and placed it for
safety on board a vessel of the British navy. The independent companies
at once met and called upon Washington to take command of them, that
they might compel the Governor to restore the powder. Washington kept
cool. The Governor promised to restore the powder, and Washington
advised the people to wait to see w