and then, as I don't know how to read, I should only be throwing myself
in a way to be laughed at!" Parents, who can waste on grog and tobacco,
that precious money you ought to educate your children with, think of this!




Chapter 5.

Governor Rutledge harangues the Troops -- shows Britain's injustice
to have been the cause of the American war -- independence declared --
great joy on that account.



On the 20th of September, 1776, all the troops in Charleston were ordered
to rendezvous without the gates of the city, to hear, as we were told,
"Some great news." Soon as we were paraded, governor Rutledge
ascended a stage, and in the forcible manner of a Demosthenes,
informed, that Congress had dissolved all relation with England,
by an open Declaration of Independence.

"You are, no doubt, gentlemen," said he, "surprised, and perhaps shocked
at this intelligence. But however painful this measure may be
to our feelings, it is absolutely necessary to our safety.

"Under the sacred name of `mother country', England has long been
working our ruin. I need not tell you that our fathers were Britons,
who for liberty's sake, came and settled in this country,
then a howling wilderness. For a long time they ate their bread,