=165. Purport and Effect of the Declaration.=—The Declaration of Independence was aimed directly at the Crown. It charged the king with “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States.” This general indictment was sustained, with some exaggerations but with essential truthfulness, by no less than eighteen accusations, or separate counts, aimed at the king, and the king alone. So far as the purpose of the colonies was defined by the Declaration, it was not a contest against the parliamentary government of Great Britain, but a contest against those unconstitutional usurpations of the Crown to which the colonies would not submit. From this point of view many modern criticisms of the document are seen to be hypercritical. However much the signers may have exaggerated specific charges, they did not exaggerate the general danger to be apprehended from the king’s self-willed conduct. [Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.] [Illustration: PORTION OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.] THE WAR IN NEW JERSEY. =166. Washington’s First Campaign in New Jersey.=—After the fall of Fort Washington and the withdrawal from Fort Lee, Washington planned to concentrate the main portion of his army in New Jersey, to prevent the enemy from advancing upon Philadelphia. In crossing to New Jersey he had left General Charles Lee, with seven thousand men, at Northcastle on the east side of the Hudson. Washington now directed General Heath to fortify the Highlands about Peekskill and West Point in the strongest manner possible, and ordered General Lee to join the main army in New Jersey. =167. Disobedience and Capture of Lee.=—For reasons which were long unexplained, Lee disobeyed the order of Washington, and chose to remain where he was. Repeated orders were disobeyed, but finally Lee made a show of obedience. He reached Morristown, however, with only three thousand of his seven thousand troops. Scarcely had he posted this fragment of his army on the Morristown Heights when, leaving the immediate command to Sullivan, he took quarters in a small public house some miles away. A Tory, learning of this fact, galloped eighteen miles with the news to the British, and the consequence was that Lee, in dressing gown and slippers, was taken prisoner by a troop of British dragoons. From Lee’s subsequent career (§§ 183, 184) and the discovery of his correspondence, it now seems probable that he already had traitorous designs.