MEMOIR OF THE HON. JAMES DUANE.

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of Virginia , argued that by the oppression of Parliament all government was dissolved and that wewere reduced to a state of nature—that there was no longer any such distinction as colonies—that heconceived himself not a Virginian but an American —that one of the greatest mischiefs to society wasan unequal representation—that there might be, and probably would be further occasions for aCongress , and that it was time to form such a system as would give each colony a just weight inits deliberations in proportion to its opulence and numbers of inhabitants, its exports and imports.He was answered by Mr. (Ward) of Rhode Island, —who insisted that each colony should have anequal vote—that we came if necessary to make a sacrifice of our all, and that the weakest colonyby such a sacrifice would suffer as much as the greatest. Col. Harrison, from Virginia , insistedstrongly on the injustice that Virginia should have no greater weight in the determination thanone of the smallest colonies—that he should be censured by his constituents, and unable to answerhis want of attention to their interest should he assent to it, and that he was very apprehensive thatif such a disrespect was put upon his countrymen we should never see them at another convention.The debate then took a different turn. It was observed that if an equal representation was ever sojust the delegates from the several colonies were unprepared w'ith materials to settle that equitably.This was an objection that could not be answered. The question w r as then put and it wasresolved that the sense of Congress shall be taken by voting in colonies each to have one vote. Inthe course of this session two committees were appointed, one to state the rights of the colonies,the several instances in which they have been violated and infringed, and the means most proper toobtain redress; the other to state and report the several statutes affecting the trade and manufacturesof the colonies. Mr. Duane and Mr. Jay were selected for the first of these important committeesand Mr. Law for the second. As these committees withdrew so many members from the Congress ,and as the matters referred to them were those which had occasioned the Congress to be called, thePresident was authorised to adjourn it from day to day and call it together when he should think fit.The committee, to state the rights, &c., met forthwith on the adjournment of the Congress and Mr.Duane proposed Mr. Lynch as chairman, but he declined and proposed Mr. Hopkins, who wasunanimously chosen, and Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the Congress , was chosen clerk. Thecommittee met daily until the 22d September, when it made a report in part. Mr. Duane andJay, in conformity with the known wishes of their constituents, were for such measures as shouldsecure the rights of the colonies as then understood, and yet continue them members of the British empire, allowing to the King his acknowledged prerogatives, and to Parliament , by express declara-tion, her supremacy in matters of external trade and in relation to foreign connections. Mr. Duaneembodied these ideas in a preamble and a series of resolutions in substance, and some of themverbatim, which were reported to and adopted by Congress and are to be found in their Journal.The rights of the King and Parliament are only briefly alluded to in the adopted resolutions, tho’substantially acknowledged in the addresses published by the Congress .

Among the subjects of debate before this committee was the question whether the Quebec billshould be reported as a grievance, and Mr. Duane was against including it in the report, but Mr.Lee, from Virginia , on territorial considerations, the eastern members, under pretence of religioususes, and others, because it would be popular to insert it both in England and America , havingunited, formed a great majority against him and he acquiesced in its being reported unanimously.

The proceedings of Congress being had with closed doors, and secrecy being imposed on themembers, much that transpired within the Congress is unknown. Among Mr. Duane’s papers isfound a copy of Dr. Franklin’s plan of a union of the colonies proposed in 1754, with an indorsementthat it was offered to the Congress on the 28th September, by Mr. Galloway, seconded and supportedby the New-York members, but finally rejected and ordered to be left out of the minutes.