They still spoke the language of loyalty, still dealt in vague assurances of devotion to the crown.

But such professions deceived nobody, and least of all the loyalists.

They derived courage from the reluctance of the patriots to embark in a struggle, for the fruits of which, if successful, they evidently longed.

They were not less active--nay, in the interior, they were even more active--than their opponents; had already taken arms, and gained advantages, which nothing but decisive movements on the part of the people along the seaboard could possibly induce them to forego.
This necessity was apparent for other reasons.

In consequence of the temporizing policy already mentioned, the crown was still in possession of most of the shows of power in and about Charleston.