r us that respect and
recognition so indispensable to our safety and, contrary to the opinion
already expressed here tonight, has sent us six thousand men, the first
installment of an army of at least twelve thousand trained soldiers,
destined to be put directly under General Washington's command. Together
with these she has already furnished Congress with large sums of money
to enable us to carry on the war. The dawn of a brighter day is now
breaking over the horizon and in the east the sun of justice and of
toleration and of liberty may be seen breaking through the low-hung
clouds of oppression, prejudice and tyranny which have so long obscured
it. In our history there has been no coward, no Tory, no traitor of our
faith. We are still Loyalists; but of different type. That precious and
historic document of July 4, 1776, definitely and for all time absolved
us from all allegiance to the British Crown. By nature, then, we have
become citizens of a new government, a government instituted by and
subject to the peoples of these free and independent states. Henceforth,
Loyalty assumes a newer and most lasting significance;--it has suddenly
become for us synonymous with the best and dearest interests of our
country."

He paused.

II

The sigh throughout the room was distinctly audible as he ended his
paragraph with a rhetorical pause. He caught the sound on the instant
and understood its meaning as the orator, holding his audience in
breathless intensity, allows them to drop suddenly that he may
appreciate his control of their feelings. Their pent-up energies give
way to an abrupt relaxation followed by a slight scuffling of the body
or an intermittent cough. From these unconscious indications, Stephen
knew that he had held their interest and he did not intend that they
should be allowed to compose themselves quite, until he had finished. He
began at once on the evidence of the plot.

"The members of this proposed company before whom I have the privilege
of speaking, have been the victims of a gigantic plot, a plot that found
its origin in the headquarters of the British army at New York City. It
was to advance the plan that John Anderson came to Philadelphia. He had
carried on communication with the enemy almost without interruption.
Because the work of recruiting in the city of the enemy was a failure,
it was decreed that the city of Philadelphia, as the most Tory of the
American cities, be called upon for the requi