ran rapidly through several editions.

Mr. Marshall, in his history of General Washington, chapter 3, speaking
of this proposition for Committees of correspondence and for a General
Congress, says, 'this measure had already been proposed in town meeting
in Boston,' and some pages before he had said, that 'at a session of
the General Court of Massachusetts, in September, 1770, that Court, in
pursuance of a favorite idea of uniting all the colonies in one system
of measures, elected a Committee of correspondence, to communicate with
such Committees as might be appointed by the other colonies.' This is an
error. The Committees of correspondence, elected by Massachusetts, were
expressly for a correspondence among the several towns of that province
only. Besides the text of their proceedings, his own note X, proves
this. The first proposition for a general correspondence between the
several states, and for a General Congress, was made by our meeting of
May, 1774. Botta, copying Marshall, has repeated his error, and so it
will be handed on from copyist to copyist, _ad infinitum_. Here follow
my proposition, and the more prudent one which was adopted.

'Resolved, That it be an instruction to the said deputies, when
assembled in General Congress, with the deputies from the other states
of British America, to propose to the said Congress that an humble and
dutiful address be presented to his Majesty, begging leave to lay before
him, as Chief Magistrate of the British empire, the united complaints of
his Majesty's subjects in America; complaints which are excited by many
unwarrantable encroachments and usurpations, attempted to be made by the
legislature of one part of the empire upon the rights which God and the
laws have given equally and independently to all. To represent to his
Majesty that, these, his States, have often individually made humble
application to his imperial throne, to obtain, through its intervention,
some redress of their injured rights; to none of which was ever even
an answer condescended. Humbly to hope that this, their joint address,
penned in the language of truth, and divested of those expressions of
servility which would persuade his Majesty that we are asking favors,
and not rights, shall obtain from his Majesty a more respectful
acceptance; and this his Majesty will think we have reason to expect,
when he reflects that he is no more than the chief officer of the
people, appointed by the laws, and cir