GREAT ALLY

The Selectmen of Boston, seeing the city threatened with destruction,
had made terms with Washington for the British army. It was to be
allowed peaceably to abandon the city and withdraw in its fleet of one
hundred and fifty vessels. The American army was now well organized
and in high spirit. Washington waited on Dorchester Heights for the
evacuation of Boston to be completed. Meanwhile, a large force was
sent to New York to assist in the defense of that city. Jack and
Solomon went with it. On account of their physical condition, horses
were provided for them, and on their arrival each was to have a leave
of two weeks, "for repairs," as Solomon put it. They went up to Albany
for a rest and a visit and returned eager for the work which awaited
them.

They spent a spring and summer of heavy toil in building defenses and
training recruits. The country was aflame with excitement. Rhode
Island and Connecticut declared for independence. The fire ran across
their borders and down the seaboard. Other colonies were making or
discussing like declarations. John Adams, on his way to Congress, told
of the defeat of the Northern army in Canada and how it was heading
southward "eaten with vermin, diseased, scattered, dispirited, unclad,
unfed, disgraced." Colonies were ignoring the old order of things,
electing their own assemblies and enacting their own laws. The Tory
provincial assemblies were unable to get men enough together to make a
pretense of doing business.

In June, by a narrow margin, the Congress declared for independence, on
the motion of Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. A declaration was drafted
and soon adopted by all the Provincial Congresses. It was engrossed on
parchment and signed by the delegates of the thirteen states on the
second of August. Jack went to that memorable scene as an aid to John
Adams, who was then the head of the War Board.

He writes in a letter to his friends in Albany:

"They were a solemn looking lot of men with the exception of Doctor
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The latter wore a
long-tailed buff coat with round gold buttons. He is a tall, big-boned
man. I have never seen longer arms than he has. His wrists and hands
are large and powerful.

"When they began to sign the parchment he smiled and said:

"'Gentlemen, Benjamin Franklin should have written this document. The
committee, however, knew well that he would be sure to put a joke in