Boston." The ships, a forest of masts, set sail and, crowded with
soldiers and refugees, headed straight out to sea for Halifax.
Abigail, wife of John Adams, a clever woman, watched the
departure of the fleet with gladness in her heart. She thought
that never before had been seen in America so many ships bearing
so many people. Washington's army marched joyously into Boston.
Joyous it might well be since, for the moment, powerful Britain
was not secure in a single foot of territory in the former
colonies. If Quebec should fall the continent would be almost
conquered.

Quebec did not fall. All through the winter the Americans held on
before the place. They shivered from cold. They suffered from the
dread disease smallpox. They had difficulty in getting food. The
Canadians were insistent on having good money for what they
offered and since good money was not always in the treasury the
invading army sometimes used violence. Then the Canadians became
more reserved and chilling than ever. In hope of mending matters
Congress sent a commission to Montreal in the spring of 1776. Its
chairman was Benjamin Franklin and, with him, were two leading
Roman Catholics, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a great landowner
of Maryland, and his brother John, a priest, afterwards
Archbishop of Baltimore. It was not easy to represent as the
liberator of the Catholic Canadians the Congress which had
denounced in scathing terms the concessions in the Quebec Act to
the Catholic Church. Franklin was a master of conciliation, but
before he achieved anything a dramatic event happened. On the 6th
of May, British ships arrived at Quebec. The inhabitants rushed
to the ramparts. Cries of joy passed from street to street and
they reached the little American army, now under General Thomas,