erous
countries, are generally much more opposed to war than people in cities;
and so it happened in New Jersey. When the Revolution began, there were
a good many people who did not care particularly about taxation, who had
been happy and comfortable all their days, without any thought of
independence, and who saw no reason why they should not continue to be
so; and these did not immediately spring to arms when the first guns of
the war were fired. There were no large cities in New Jersey. It was a
rural community, a country of peaceable people.

When the British troops first entered New Jersey, and before any battles
had been fought, the commander in chief took advantage of this state of
feeling, and endeavored as far as possible to make the people think that
the Redcoats were in reality good friends, and intended them no harm. He
protested, whenever he had a chance, that when these disturbances were
over, any complaints that the people had to make in regard to the laws
made by their English rulers, should be carefully attended to, and their
grievances redressed as soon as possible.

As has been said before, a great many of the people of the Colony were
in favor of continuance of the British rule, and from these arose that
Tory party which afterwards caused so much bitterness of feeling and
bloody contention. But there were also others, who, although they were
not Tories, were not in favor of fighting if it could be helped, and
these the British commander most wished to conciliate. He issued a great
many printed papers of protection, which he gave to those who had not
yet taken sides against the Crown. The people who received these were
assured, that, so long as they had them to show, no Redcoat soldier
would in any way disturb them or their property.

But when the English army actually spread itself over the country, and
the soldiers began to forage about to see what they could find to eat
and drink better than their rations, the Jersey farmers frequently
discovered that these papers of protection were of no use at all. If
shown to one of the Hessians, who were more dreaded than the other
soldiers of the British army, the German could not read a word of it,
and paid no attention to it. He wanted ducks and geese, and took them.
And after a time the English soldiers determined that the Hessians
should not take all they wanted while they stood by and had nothing, and
so they began to pillage, without regard to the litt