However that may be, when the contest that was to result in the independence of the United Colonies began he plunged into it with immense delight. These lines in his own handwriting, preserved to the present day by a descendant of one of his sisters (he left no children), show clearly his mental attitude at that time:
I love with all my heart
The independent part.
To obey the Parliament
My conscience wont consent.
I never can abide
To fight on England’s side.
I pray that God may bless
The great and Grand Congress.
This is my mind and heart