hitherto “defective link in the American chain,” soon became soldered by the kindling flame of liberty. In vain Sir James Wright, the governor, did his utmost to maintain the loyalty and allegiance of the province. The powder was removed from the magazine at Savannah; and the cargo of a powder-ship, which lay at the mouth of the river, forwarded to the camp at Boston. Georgia sent five delegates to the provincial congress about to assemble at Philadelphia; and henceforth the style of the “Thirteen United Colonies” was assumed. The battle of Lexington was soon followed by other events. The Massachusetts committee of safety had already contemplated gaining possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on which depended the control of Lakes George and Champlain, when, without waiting for higher commands than those of patriotism, the bold Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, at the head of their “Green Mountain Boys,” set out on the enterprise. Without being aware of this movement, Benedict Arnold, a New Haven trader, then in camp before Boston with a company of volunteers, received a commission from the committee of safety, to raise a body of troops in Vermont and proceed on this enterprise. Arnold was well pleased, for it was a favourite scheme of his own, but presently found, to his surprise, that others were before him. Taking command, therefore, under Allen, they marched together to Ticonderoga, which they reached on the 9th of May, and on the 10th, by break of day, entered the fort unperceived, with eighty men, and surprising De la Place, the commandant, in his bed, ordered him to surrender, “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.” No resistance was attempted; and Crown Point was taken with equal ease. The garrison of both forts did not amount to more than sixty men, but above 200 pieces of artillery and a valuable quantity of powder, of which there was great want in the provincial camp, fell into the hands of the captors. After this, Arnold manned a small schooner, and proceeding down the lake, surprised the Fort of St. John and seized a sloop-of-war laden with stores; the pass of Skeensborough, now Whitehall, was likewise secured. Three important posts which commanded the lakes, together with much needed cannon and munitions of war, being thus secured in rapid succession and without bloodshed, raised the hopes of the Americans and inspired them with confidence.