ress, was written with consummate ability.[347] In this petition to
the King, the Congress begged leave to lay their grievances before the
Throne. After a particular enumeration of these, they observed that they
wholly arose from a destructive system of colony administration adopted
since the conclusion of the last war. They assured his Majesty that they
had made such provision for defraying the charges of the administration
of justice, and the support of civil government, as had been judged
just, and suitable to their respective circumstances; and that for the
defence, protection, and security of the colonies, their militia would
be fully sufficient in time of peace; and in case of war, they were
ready and willing, when constitutionally required, to exert their most
strenuous efforts in granting supplies and raising forces. They said,
"We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminution of
the prerogative; nor do we solicit the grant of any new right in our
favour. Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great
Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously endeavour to support
and maintain."[348] They concluded their masterly and touching address
in the following words:

"Permit us, then, most gracious Sovereign, in the name of all your
faithful people in America, with the utmost humility, to implore you,
for the honour of Almighty God, whose pure religion our enemies are
undermining; for your glory, which can be advanced only by rendering
your subjects happy and keeping them united; for the interest of your
family, depending on an adherence to the principles that enthroned it;
for the safety and welfare of your kingdom and dominions, threatened
with almost unavoidable dangers and distresses, that your Majesty, as
the loving Father of your whole people, connected by the same bonds of
law, loyalty, faith, and blood, though dwelling in various countries,
will not suffer the transcendent relation formed by these ties to be
farther violated in certain expectation of efforts that, if attained,
never can compensate for the calamities through which they must be
gained."[349]

Their address to the people of Great Britain is equally earnest and
statesmanlike. Two or three passages, as samples, must suffice. After
stating the serious condition of America, and the oppressions and
misrepresentations of their conduct, and their claim to be as free as
their fellow-subjects in Great Britain, they say: