en protected from confiscation by the joint exertions of
all, and therefore ought to be common to all. And he that attempts
opposition to this creed is an enemy to equity and justice, and ought
to be swept from the face of the earth."

The force of this party throughout New England was computed by General
Knox at twelve or fifteen thousand men. "They were chiefly," he said,
"of the young and active part of the community, who were more easily
collected than kept together. Desperate and unprincipled, they would
probably commit overt acts of treason which would compel them, for
their own safety, to embody and submit to discipline. Thus would there
be a formidable rebellion against reason, the principle of all
government, and the very name of liberty. This dreadful situation," he
added, "has alarmed every man of principle and property in New
England. They start as from a dream, and ask--what has been the cause
of our delusion? What is to afford us security against the violence of
lawless men? Our government must be braced, changed, or altered, to
secure our lives and our property. We imagined that the mildness of
the government, and the virtue of the people were so correspondent,
that we were not as other nations, requiring brutal force to support
the laws. But we find that we are men, actual men, possessing all the
turbulent passions belonging to that animal; and that we must have a
government proper and adequate for him. Men of reflection and
principle are determined to endeavour to establish a government which
shall have the power to protect them in their lawful pursuits, and
which will be efficient in cases of internal commotions, or foreign
invasions. They mean that liberty shall be the basis, a liberty
resulting from the equal and firm administration of the laws."

Deeply affected by these commotions, General Washington continued his
anxious inquiries respecting the course they threatened to take. "I
feel, my dear General Knox," said he, in answer to the letter from
which the foregoing extracts are taken, "infinitely more than I can
express to you, for the disorders which have arisen in these states.
Good God! who besides a tory could have foreseen, or a Briton have
predicted them? I do assure you that even at this moment, when I
reflect upon the present aspect of our affairs, it seems to me like
the visions of a dream. My mind can scarcely realize it as a thing in
actual existence:--so strange, so wonderful does it