izens out of their counties
for trial,--an exception which Gallatin succeeded in having stricken
out. He then urged the adoption of the resolution, without the
exception, as necessary "to the establishment of the laws and the
conservation of the peace," and here he was supported by Brackenridge.
The entire resolutions were finally referred to a committee of
four,--Gallatin, Bradford, Husbands, and Brackenridge. The meeting then
adjourned. The next morning a standing committee of sixty was chosen,
one from each township. From these a committee of twelve was selected
to confer with the government commissioners. Upon this committee were
Cook, the chairman, Bradford, Marshall, Gallatin, Brackenridge, and
Edgar. The meeting then adjourned.

Upon this representative body there seems to have been no outside
pressure. The proclamation of the President, which arrived while it was
in session, showed the determination, while the appointment of the
commission showed the moderation, of the government. Gallatin availed of
each circumstance with consummate adroitness, pointing out to the
desperate the folly of resistance, and to the moderate an issue for
honorable retreat.

Meanwhile, the commissioners reached Pittsburgh, where on August 20 the
committee of conference was received by them, and an informal
understanding arrived at, which was put in writing. The laws were to be
enforced with as little inconvenience to the people as possible. All
criminal suits for indictable offenses were to be dropped, but civil
suits were to take their course. Notice was given that a definitive
submission must be made by September 1 following. On the 22d the
conference committee answered that they must consult with the committee
of sixty. Thursday the 28th was appointed for a meeting at Red Stone Old
Fort, the very spot where the original resolutions of opposition were
passed in 1791. In the report drawn up every member of the twelve,
except Bradford, favored submission.

The hour was critical, the deliberations were in the open air, and under
the eyes of a threatening party of seventy riflemen accidentally present
from Washington County across the stream. Bradford, who instinctively
felt that he had placed himself beyond the pale of pardon, and to whom
there was no alternative to revolution but flight, pressed an instant
decision and rejection of the written terms of the commissioners. In the
presence of personal danger, the conferrees only dared