From those autonomous settlements the spirit of independence spread in time to all the towns and cities on the coast, inspiring many of their inhabitants with the same enthusiasm for liberty. In New York and other places the People’s Party was organized, which strongly opposed the insolence and encroachments of the Government and aristocrats. Among its members was Peter Zenger, the fearless printer, whose caustic articles in the “New York Weekly Journal” in 1735 led to that famous trial, whereby one of the highest privileges—=the freedom of the press=—became established in America. And when in complete disregard of this significant omen England continued in her selfish policies toward the colonies, curtailing all privileges which had been granted to them by their charters, the spirit of rebellion spread like wildfire, and the great struggle for independence began. When a Declaration of Independence was considered, the men, selected to draw up such a document, were greatly influenced by two noble-minded women, whose names should not be omitted in a history of remarkable women: =Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren=, and =Abigail Smith Adams=. Mrs. Warren was a sister of James Otis, the famous lawyer, whose fiery words did so much to arouse the colonists against British aggression. She was one of the first persons who advocated separation, and she energetically impressed this view upon John Adams before the opening of the first Congress. With Abigail Smith Adams, the wife of John Adams, she shared the belief, that the declaration should not consider the freedom of man alone, but that of woman also. How outspoken Mrs. Adams was in her views about this question, appears in a letter she wrote in March, 1776, to her husband, who was then attending the Continental Congress. In this letter she says: “I long to hear you have declared an independency; and, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention are not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound to obey any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”— [Illustration: STRUGGLING FOR INDEPENDENCE. ]