e had been hired, as it was found impossible to
obtain soldiers in England to fight against their fellow-subjects in
America.[365] On the same day the intelligence was received from General
Washington, in Massachusetts, of the burning of Falmouth (now
Portland).[366] The simultaneous intelligence of the treatment of the
second petition of Congress, the Royal proclamation, the increase of the
army and navy, the employment of seventeen thousand Hanoverians and
Hessian mercenaries to subdue America, and the burning of Falmouth,
produced a great sensation in Congress and throughout the colonies.
Some of the New England members of the Congress, especially John and
Samuel Adams, had long given up the idea of reconciliation with England,
and had desired independence. This feeling was, however, cherished by
very few members of the Congress; but the startling intelligence caused
many members to abandon all hope of reconciliation with the mother
country, and to regard independence as the only means of preserving
their liberties. Yet a large majority of the Congress still refused to
entertain the proposition of independence, and awaited instructions from
their constituents as to what they should do in these novel and painful
circumstances. In the meantime the Congress adopted energetic measures
for the defence of the colonies, and the effectiveness of their union
and government. In answer to applications from South Carolina and New
Hampshire for advice on account of the practical suspension of their
local Government, Congress "recommended" each province "to call a full
and free representation of the people, and that the representatives, if
they think it necessary, establish such a form of government as in their
judgment will best promote the happiness of the people, and most
effectually secure peace and good-will in the province _during the
continuance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the
colonies_". The province of Massachusetts had refused to acknowledge any
other local Government than that which had been established by the Royal
Charter of William and Mary, and which had never been cancelled by any
legal proceedings; and they continued to elect their representatives,
and the representatives met and appointed the Council, and acted under
it, as far as possible, irrespective of General Gage and the officers of
his appointment.

The colonies were a unit as to their determination to defend by force
and at all hazard