e with
these men; but on September 17, when the famous "Suffolk Resolutions"
were laid before Congress, many conservatives, unwilling to abandon a
neighboring colony however much they might regret the step it had taken,
voted with the radicals of New England and Virginia to approve the act
which virtually put Massachusetts in a state of rebellion. The final
stand of the conservatives was made eleven days later when Galloway
introduced his Plan for a British American Parliament, a serious and
practicable plan according to Lord Dartmouth, "almost a perfect plan,"
thought John Rutledge, of South Carolina, for effecting a permanent
reconciliation. But the motion, upon which "warm and long debates
ensued," was finally rejected by a majority of one colony, and late in
October the resolution itself, and all minutes concerning it, were
expunged from the records of Congress.

After the rejection of Galloway's Plan, conservatives and radicals
united to formulate the non-intercourse measures, which New England
delegates thought so essential, and those famous addresses--to the
King, to the Inhabitants of Great Britain, to the Inhabitants of the
British Colonies--which Pitt declared to be unsurpassed for ability and
moderation. Able and moderate the addresses undoubtedly were; the work
of conservative deputies, designed to conciliate conservatives in
America and win Whig support in England. But the important work of the
First Continental Congress was embodied in the "Association," through
which Congress "recommended" to the colonies the adoption of
non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreements to
become effective December 1, 1774, March 1 and September 10, 1775. From
previous experience it was well understood that such agreements as
these, far more drastic than any which had yet been tried, would prove
ineffective if they remained purely voluntary associations; and what
made the non-intercourse policy of the First Congress distasteful to
conservative men were the measures taken to enforce it. To this end it
was provided that there should be appointed in "every county, city, and
town" a committee of inspection "whose business it shall be to observe
the conduct of all persons touching the Association"; to publish the
names of all who violated it; to inspect the customs entries; and to
seize and dispose of all goods imported contrary to its provisions. Thus
was a voluntary agreement not to do certain things transform