Union of America held in trust for the liberties of the country. On the 20th of December, therefore, he wrote to the President of Congress a memorable letter, asking for extraordinary powers, but displaying at the same time all the modesty and high principle of his character.1

To this appeal Congress at once responded, in a manner suited to the exigency. On the 27th of December, 1776, they passed a resolution, vesting in General Washington ample and complete power to raise and collect together, in the most speedy and effectual manner from all or any of the United States, sixteen battalions of infantry, in addition to those already voted; to appoint the officers of these battalions; to raise, officer, and equip three regiments of artillery and a corps of engineers, and to establish their pay; to apply to any of the States for such aid of their militia as he might judge necessary; to form such magazines of provisions, and in such places, as he should think proper; to displace and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier-general; to fill up all vacancies in every other department of the American army; to take, wherever he might be, whatever he might want for the use of the army, if the inhabitants would not sell it, allowing a reasonable price for the same; to arrest and confine persons who should refuse to receive the continental currency, or were otherwise disaffected to the American cause; and to return to the States of which

1 Writings, IV. 232.

such persons were citizens their names and the nature of their offences, together with the witnesses to prove them. These powers were vested in the Commander-in-chief for the space of six months from the date of the resolve, unless sooner revoked by the Congress.1

The powers thus conferred upon General Washington were in reality those of a military dictatorship; and in conferring them, the Congress acted upon the maxim that the public safety is the supreme law. They acted, too, as if they were the proper judges of the exigency, and as if the powers they granted were then rightfully in their hands. But it is a singular proof of the unsettled and anomalous condition of the political system of the country,

1 Journals, II. 475. A committee, at the head of which was Robert Morris, was appointed to transmit this resolve to General Washington, and in their letter they said: "We find by these resolves that your Excellency's hands will be strengthened by very ample powers; and a new reformation of the army seems to have its origin therein. Happy it is for this country, that the general of their forces can safely be intrusted with the most unlimited power, and neither personal security, liberty, nor property be in the least degree endangered thereby." In his reply, the General said to the committee : "Yours of the 31st of last month inclosed to me sundry resolves of

Congress, by which I find they have done me the honor to intrust me with powers, in my military capacity, of the highest nature, and almost unlimited in extent. Instead of thinking myself freed from all civil obligations, by this mark of their confidence, I shall constantly bear in mind, that, as the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first thing laid aside when those liberties are firmly established. I shall instantly set about the most necessary reforms in the army; but it will not be in my power to make so great a progress as if I had a little leisure time

upon my hands." Writings of Washington, IV. 257, 552.

and of the want of practical authority in the continental government, that, in three days after the adoption of the resolves conferring these powers, the Congress felt it necessary to address a letter to the Governors of the States, apologizing for this step. Nor was their letter a mere apology. It implied a doubt whether the continental government possessed a proper authority to take the steps which the crisis demanded, and whether the execution of all measures did not really belong to the States, the Congress having only a recommendatory power. "Ever attentive," their letter declared, "to the security of civil liberty, Congress would not have consented to the vesting of such powers in the military department as those which the inclosed resolves convey to the continental Commander-in-chief, if the situation of public affairs did not require, at this crisis, a decision and vigor which distance and numbers deny to assemblies far removed from each other and from the seat of war." The letter closed, by requesting the States to use their utmost exertions to further such levies as the general might direct, in consequence of the new powers given him, and to make up and complete their quotas as formerly settled.1

Strictly examined, therefore, the position taken by the Congress was, that a crisis existed demanding the utmost decision and vigor; that the measures necessary to meet it, such as the raising of troops and the compulsory levying of supplies, belonged to the

I Writings of Washington, IV. 551.

States; but that, the State governments being removed from each other and from the seat of war, the Congress confers upon the continental general power to do things which in reality it belongs to the States to do. In this there was a great inaccuracy, according to all our present ideas of constitutional power. power. But still the action of the Congress expresses and exhibits their real situation. It contains a contradiction between the true theory of their revolutionary powers and the powers which they could in fact practically exercise. Upon principle, it was just as competent to the Congress to take the steps required by the exigency, as it was to adjudge them to the States; and it was just as competent to the Congress to do any thing directly, as to confer a power to do it on their general. But the jealousies of the States, the habits of the country, and the practical working of the existing institutions, had never permitted the full exercise of the revolutionary powers which properly resided in the hands of the Congress. The true theory of their situation was limited by practical impossibilities; and an escape from contradictions became impossible. It was perceived that the States would neither pass laws or resolves for the summary raising of forces and levying of supplies, nor allow this to be done by committees or commissioners of Congress; but it was believed that they would acquiesce in its being done by General Washington, out of respect for his character, for his abilities and his motives, and from conviction that he alone could save the country.

The expectations of the Congress were not disap

pointed. It was felt throughout the country, that such powers could be lodged in the hands of Washington without danger. The States in general acquiesced in the necessity and propriety of this measure, and there was little disposition to encroach upon or to complain of the authority conferred. To this acquiescence, however, there were exceptions.1

The period which now followed was a part of the interval during which the Articles of Confederation were pending in Congress. We have seen that the plan of a confederation was reported to that body in July, 1776, and finally adopted for recommendation to the States in November, 1777. But soon after the extraordinary powers had been conferred upon General Washington, the attendance of the members began to diminish, and several of the most eminent and able men, who had hitherto served, retired from Congress. In January, 1777, there were no delegations present from the States of Delaware and New York; and in February, the absence of many distinguished men, whose counsels had been of vast importance, made a striking deficiency. The formation of the State governments, and the local affairs of the States, absorbed for a time, with a few important exceptions, the best civil talent in the country.3

1 Writings of Washington, IV. 551.

2 Journals, III. 35.

3" We have now to lament," said Robert Morris, in a private letter to General Washington, un

der date of February 27th, 1777, "the absence from the public councils of America of Johnson, Jay, R. R. Livingston, Duane, Deane, W. Livingston, Franklin, Dickinson, Harrison, Nelson, Hooper,