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 40 counties co-operating with the city, and Lieutenant-Governor Colden despairingly told the English ministry that it could not be prevented; the royal government was powerless in the matter, since "it was the action of individuals in their private characters, and beyond the energy of the laws." At this Convention leaders were chosen in whom the people trusted; and while there was many an after tilt between the leaders and the people as to whether the leaders should lead the people or the people the leaders, the selection furnishes unmistakable evidence of wise, thoughtful discrimination on the part of the real leaders of popular opinion. The election was conducted with dignity and in an orderly manner; and the mass of the people were satisfied that the new delegates were in no humor to shirk responsibility or hasten war.

The very day after the Convention adjourned, news came of the affair at Concord, and the battle at Lexington. It was Sunday, but Wall Street was precipitated almost instantly into a state of alarming confusion. One of the chambers of the City Hall contained a quantity of fire-arms and military equipments, purchased by the corporation a few years before; these were hurriedly taken into custody by the "Liberty Boys"—of whom were McDougall, Lamb, Willett, and Sears—who retiring into an alley near by formed into a city guard, and patrolled the streets. Some vessels laden with supplies for the English troops at Boston were boarded by this ad interim force, and their cargoes speedily unloaded. Within a few days, or as soon as messages could be sent to the different counties, a committee of one hundred men of eminence was chosen to direct the general affairs of New York until a provincial congress could be elected. Daniel Phoenix was one of this famous committee, whose name is identified with the history of the Wall Street Presbyterian Church, of which he was a trustee from 1772 to 1812, and the manager almost exclusively of its financial concerns. He was after the war the city treasurer or chamberlain, and was also connected with every mercantile institution of his day. In all these early attempts at self-government we note judicious, uniform, and systematic management. At the same time there were elements that could not be controlled. So fierce was the bitterness between friend and foe that neutrality became intolerable. Men were compelled to show their colors. Loyalists were pursued with merciless rancor. More than one instance is recorded of men being carried through Wall Street on rails. It was unsafe at this juncture to breathe a syllable against the American cause. Rev. Charles Inglis, rector of Trinity Church, was forbidden to pray for the king and royal family. He could not comply with such an order without violating his oath and the dictates of his conscience, and was