had been fired at for a long time in 1760, with a fine train of artillery, hot-shot and carcasses, without effect."*

The board of conference was repeatedly in session, for three or four days. The report of its deliberations rendered by the committee, produced a resolution of Congress, that a new army of twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-two men and officers, should be formed, to be recruited as much as possible from the troops actually in service. Unfortunately the term for which they were to be enlisted was to be but for one year. It formed a precedent which became a recurring cause of embarrassment throughout the war.

Washington's secretary, Mr. Reed, had, after the close of the conference, signified to him his intention to return to Philadelphia, where his private concerns required his presence. His departure was deeply regretted. His fluent pen had been of great assistance to Washington in the despatch of his multifarious correspondence, and his judicious counsels and cordial sympathies had been still more appreciated by the commander-in-chief, amid the multiplied difficulties of his situation. On the departure of Mr. Reed, his place as secretary

* Life of Dr. Belknap, p. 96. The doctor was present at the above cited conversation.

Wasbington's Regard for Reed 311

was temporarily supplied by Mr. Robert Harrison of Maryland, and subsequently by Colonel Mifflin; neither, however, attained to the affectionate confidence reposed in their prede

cessor.

We shall have occasion to quote the correspondence kept up between Washington and Reed, during the absence of the latter. The letters of the former are peculiarly interesting, as giving views of what was passing, not merely around him, but in the recesses of his own heart. No greater proof need be given of the rectitude of that heart, than the clearness and fulness with which, in these truthful documents, every thought and feeling is laid open.

Chapter XXII.

Measures of General Howe-Desecration of Churches -Three Proclamations-Seizure of Tories-Want of Artillery-Henry Knox, the Artillerist-His Mission to Ticonderoga-Reënlistment of TroopsLack of Public Spirit-Comments of General Greene.

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HE measures which General Howe had adopted after taking command in Boston, rejoiced the royalists, seeming to justify their anticipations. He proceeded to strengthen the works on Bunker's Hill and Boston Neck, and to clear away houses and throw up redoubts on eminences within the town. The patriot inhabitants were shocked by the desecration of the Old South Church, which for more than a hundred years had been a favorite place of worship, where some of the most eminent divines had officiated. The pulpit and pews were now removed, the floor was covered with earth, and the sacred edifice was converted into a riding

Three Proclamations

313

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school for Burgoyne's light dragoons. excuse its desecration, it was spoken of scoffingly as a "meeting-house, where sedition had often been preached."

The North Church, another "meetinghouse," was entirely demolished and was used for fuel. "Thus," says the chronicler of the day, "thus are our houses, devoted to religious worship, profaned and destroyed by the subjects of His Royal Majesty.'

About the last of October, Howe issued three proclamations. The first forbade all persons to leave Boston without his permission under pain of military execution; the second forbade any one, so permitted, to take with him more than five pounds sterling, under pain of forfeiting all the money found upon his person and being subject to fine and imprisonment; the third called upon the inhabitants to arm themselves for the preservation of order within the town; they to be commanded by officers of his appointment.

Washington had recently been incensed by the conflagration of Falmouth; the conduct of Governor Dunmore who had proclaimed martial law in Virginia, and threatened ruin to the patriots, had added to this provocation; the measures of General Howe seemed of the

* Thacher's Military Journal, p. 50.

same harsh character, and he determined to retaliate.

"Would it not be prudent," writes he to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, "to seize those tories who have been, are, and we know will be active against us? Why should persons who are preying upon the vitals of their country be suffered to stalk at large, whilst we know they will do us every mischief in their power?"

In this spirit he ordered General Sullivan, who was fortifying Portsmouth, "to seize upon such persons as held commissions under the crown, and were acting as open and avowed enemies to their country, and hold them as hostages for the security of the town." Still he was moderate in his retaliation, and stopped short of private individuals. "For the present," said he, "I shall avoid giving the like order with regard to the tories of Portsmouth; but the day is not far off when they will meet with this, or a worse fate, if there is not a considerable reformation in their conduct."*

The season was fast approaching when the bay between the camp and Boston would be frozen over, and military operations might be conducted upon the ice. General Howe, if reinforced, would then very probably “cndeavor * Letter to William Palfrey. Sparks, iii., 158.