And very soon a Federal question arose. Congress resolved to levy an import duty of five per cent., but could not do it without the consent of the states. Here dawns upon us the question of state rights, soon to assume a more menacing aspect and delay for years Rhode Island's entrance into the Union. Nearly all the states but Rhode Island had given their consent to it, but she foresaw in it future danger to her liberties and persisted in her refusal. Two of her delegates, Howell and Ellery, held out vigorously against it. "Howell undertook to prove that the State, by adopting the impost, would lose four-fifths of its revenue collected upon it. Mr. Ellery went upon the common danger of altering the constitution, and frightened the people with the loss of liberty." Varnum and Marchant used many arguments "to remove these prejudices, but to little purpose. The general spoke two hours and a half; his arguments were learned, sensible and conclusive; but they were unavailing." Such were the reasonings in the Rhode Island Assembly. "The truth of the matter is," wrote General Greene, "a large majority of the members are incompetent judges of so complicated a question.... What is to become of us and our national honor God only knows. No people ever had brighter prospects shaded so unexpectedly." In the midst of these exciting discussions it is pleasant to see what early attention was given to education. The college returned to the use for which it was built, and in September, 1782, seven students received their degrees. In that same year and month died Nicholas Cooke, who had filled the Governor's chair so worthily at the beginning of the war. More than once before peace was declared an armed enemy was seen in Narragansett Bay. Two vessels were cut out of Newport harbor in the night by Tory privateers, and at another time an armed party took possession of Hope Island and held it for several days. One of the most menacing signs of these troubled times, was the armed resistance to the collection of taxes which had threatened Massachusetts with civil war, but was sternly put down. Yet even when the strong arm of the law was raised to enforce, they who wielded it most firmly could not but feel that there was much ground for complaint. I shall not attempt to follow step by step the progress of Rhode Island in her return to the life and arts of peace. New laws were called for and made. New fields of enterprise were opened and entered upon. The errors of the past were to be bitterly atoned for. But her resources were great, her will strong, and her courage unabated. From the mass of detail I select a few characteristic points.