USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 19
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Nearly at the same time, Mr. Henry presented another proposal, which is so novel, and opens so inviting a field of speculation, that, though finally abortive, it deserves to be recorded. We have seen . that white settlements were gradually encroaching on the red men of the wilderness, and that though the parties became constantly more like to each other in habits both of war and peace, yet they never formed relations of amity. Patrick Henry wished if possible to destroy this hereditary en- mity of the races, and he believed that for this end no plan would be more effectual than intermar- riages between them. Therefore he introduced a bill into the Legislature, providing, that if any free white male citizen of Virginia would be joined in bonds matrimonial to an Indian lady of compe- tent age, he should receive a bounty of ten pounds, and on the birth of each child from such marriage, he should receive five pounds, and that he should be exempt from all taxes on person or property.
a Wirt's Henry, 169.
1
293
BILL REJECTED.
1784.]
Also, that if any free white female citizen would take an Indian husband, they should have ten pounds bounty, and every year thereafter the hus- band should have three pounds, to be expended for the benefit of his family; that every male child proceeding from such marriage, should at the age of ten years be sent to some public seminary of learning, and educated at the expense of the state, until he should be twenty-one years old. Families so formed were to be free from taxes, and entitled to all the privileges of citizenship.a
This bill passed its first and second readings, and there was every prospect that it would become a law. But just at the critical time Patrick Henry was elected Governor of the state for a second series of years. His bill, thus left without his aid, was read a third time, and rejected. We can only in- dulge in conjecture as to its effect. Although whites have not shown the same repugnance to the Indian as to the African race, yet regular marriages between native and European Americans have been very rare. White men have seldom been will- ing to admit Indian women to full privileges as wives, and any other connexion would have been abhorrent to the sound moralist. And few, indeed, have been the cases in which women of European descent, have accepted husbands from the red men of America. The experiment, therefore, would probably not have produced even the primary effect for which it was intended. But, had such mar- riages taken place, it is by no means certain they
a Wirt, 172, 173. The bounties and years were settled at the third reading of the bill.
294
INCORPORATION OF
[CHAP. V.
would have established amicable relations between the races. There would have been much in the circumstances attending such ties to feed jealousy, and make keen a sense of mutual wrong. Yet we may feel regret that the project was not tried, for had it done nothing else, it might at least have shown whether any scheme that the wit of man could devise, would mould Indians as a people to the refinements of civilized life.
At this time the Established Church, which had been stunned by the blows previously inflicted, be- gan again to exhibit signs of life, and peculiar in- fluences aided its struggles. During the session of the Assembly, petitions from several counties pray- ed that a "general assessment" should be laid on the people of the state for the support of religion. This question had never been decided, and now the plan found favour. Patrick Henry was an Episcopalian by preference ;ª we have reason to believe that he was truly a pious man, and that in religion, as in all other things, his professions were sincere. He had, indeed, dealt a terrible blow upon the clergy in the great tobacco case, and he had eloquently defended Baptist ministers when they were persecuted in Spotsylvania; but, unless the Church came in violent contact with his ideas of liberty, he was ready to uphold her in all her wishes. He gave his cordial support to the plan for an assessment. At the same time he urged with vigour a resolution which declared that "acts ought to pass for the incorporation of all societies of
a Compare Hawks, 160, with Wirt, 175, 176.
295
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
1784.]
the Christian religion which may apply for the same." This resolution was adopted on the 17th November, by a vote of sixty-two to twenty-three.ª
Instantly the Protestant Episcopal Church ap- plied for incorporation, and an act was passed ac- cordingly. It provided that the minister and vestry of each parish in being, or thereafter to exist, should be a body corporate, with power to purchase, have, and hold property, and to sue and be sued in relation thereto. To these corporations were transferred all the glebes, lands, parsonages, churches, chapels, books, plate, ornaments, every thing, in fact, that had been considered as the pro- perty of the late Establishment. They were far- ther empowered to purchase, use, and enjoy other property, provided its income did not exceed eight hundred pounds a year. Vestries were to be elected once in three years by the people; but no person was to vote unless he was a member of the Epis- copal Church, and contributed to its support. The vestries were required, once in three years, to ren- der a statement of the amount of their property to the County Court.
A Convention was to be established, consisting of forty members at least, which was to have autho- rity to make rules for the regulation of the Church.b Other provisions were introduced, fitted to complete the corporate system ; but it will not be necessary to detail them. Enough has been presented to show that Government had once more formed close connexion with a Church, and that an approach a Wirt, 174. b Hening, xi. 532-537.
296
ASSESSMENT PROPOSED.
[CHAP. V.
had been made to the principle of Establishment. For the Episcopal Church would now be confirmed by law in the possession of property, the great body of which had been taken from the people under the requirements of the old system. And farther, its ministers and vestries were furnished with a legal energy which would incessantly prompt them to measures for acquiring property and gaining tem- poral power. The experience of centuries had proved how dangerous were such motives, and how impotent were legislative restrictions to control the amount obtained by men whose ingenuity had been sharpened and directed by the pretext of religious zeal.
The friends of freedom took the alarm. No other church except the Episcopal, made applica- tion for the benefit of the law ; and one ecclesias- tical body had sent a solemn protest against its passage, because it was believed to be adverse to religious liberty.ª This body expressly declined to take advantage of its provisions. The question of assessment had now become prominent, and its friends and opponents were equally active. The Legislature determined not to decide it imme- diately ; but having prepared a bill for the purpose, they caused it to be engrossed, and then sent it out among the people of Virginia, in order that by the next session, the popular feeling respecting it might be known. This bill required that all taxable persons should, at the time of giving in a
a Memorial of Hanover Presby- 38; and see Semple's Va. Baptists, tery, ix .; Lit. and Evan. Mag. 35- 70, 72, 73.
297
MR. MADISON'S MEMORIAL.
1784.]
list of their tithes, declare to what religious society they wished their assessments appropriated ; and if they failed so to declare, the sums assessed on them were to be appropriated to seminaries of learn- ing in their counties.ª Such was the plan sub- mitted to the judgment of the people.
(1785.) Exciting debates occurred in many coun- ties, but the result was not long uncertain. A memorial against the bill was prepared by James Madison, which is one of the best compositions ever produced, even by his great mind. Trans- parent in style, moderate yet firm in temper, grace- ful in proportion, strong in argument, it treats its subject with a power not to be resisted.b It urged that the system of assessment was vicious, because it gave civil government control in religion ; be- cause it verged to a union of church and state ; be- cause it violated equality, in requiring men to sup- port that to which they might not have assented ; because it made the civil magistrate a judge in matters of faith; because it was unnecessary for the support of Christianity, who lives best upon the free love of her children ; because it tended to produce indolence and vice, rather than purity and zeal. The memorial was carried among the people, and before the session of Assembly, many signa- tures were appended to its various copies.
Early in November, the Legislature took up the subject. Besides the memorial of Mr. Madison, one was presented from Hanover Presbytery, which
a Wirt, 175; Semple's Va. Bap- tists, 33.
b It may be seen in Appendix to Semple's Va. Baptists, 435-444.
298
ASSESSMENT REJECTED.
[CHAP. V.
argued forcibly against the bill.ª It said that, "if the Assembly have a right to determine the pre- ference between Christianity and the other systems of religion that prevail in the world, they may also at a convenient time give a preference to some favoured sect among Christians." In order to ob- tain light from all proper sources to aid in their counsels, the Assembly permitted the Rev. John B. Smith, a Presbyterian minister, to argue the question at the bar of the House of Delegates, and he was heard for three successive days. Finally the vote was taken, and the bill was rejectede by a small majority. We have reason to rejoice at this result. Christianity needs no legal taxes to sus- tain her life, and liberty is weakened by any con- tact between church and state.
While their minds were heated with the subject, the patriots of Virginia resolved to place religious freedom upon a firm foundation. (Dec. 26.) It was at this time that the celebrated bill was adopted which has drawn attention throughout the Chris- tian world, and which, in its composition and pro- gress, offers some phases of thought too singular to be passed in silence. During the revisal of the legal code heretofore noticed, Mr. Jefferson had drawn this bill,d and it was printed in the report of the revisors, but like many other clauses, had not yet been acted upon. Thomas Jefferson was not a believer in Christianity as divine, or in Christ as
* This memorial is in the Evan. and Lit. Mag., ix. 43-47.
b Evan. and Lit. Mag., ix. 47.
c Hawks, 159 ; Wirt, 176.
d Jefferson's Works, i. 36, 37.
299
REASON AND RELIGION.
1785.]
God. It is doubtful whether he was a simple Deist, or a Unitarian. If he admitted the existence of Jesus, it was to ascribe to him weakness, impru- dence, fanaticism,-to degrade him into a self- deceiver ; to reject his atonement, and only to ad- mit the excellence of his morality, because it was too plain to be denied.ª But though infidel in his opinions, Mr. Jefferson followed the highest reason in his views of religious liberty. Reason and Re- ligion are never contradictory, the one to the other ; the first is inferior to the last, and needs to be in- structed ; but the deductions of the first, when legitimately made, are always consistent with the teachings of the last. Reason declares that it is wrong in civil government to seek to control the conscience, and Revelation approves the judgment. Thus may it happen that the most learned of in- fidels, and the most enlightened of Christians, may attain to the same conclusions as to religious liberty. At the very time when Jefferson was embodying his views in definite form, a number of consecrated minds were at work on the same subject; and it is instructive to mark the result. Between the years 1775 and '86, the Presbytery of Hanover sent to the General Assembly five memorials, in which the relations of church and state are fully dis- cussed ; and a careful analysis of these documents will draw from them every material argument and
a See his letter to Peter Carr,
b These memorials are all in the Works, ii. 216-219 ; letter to Dr. Lit. and Evan. Mag., ix. 30-47. Rush, iii. 506-509 ; to Dr. Water- house, iv. 349.
300
JEFFERSON'S BILL OF
[CHAP. V.
principle, that will be found embodied in the " Act for establishing Religious Freedom," written by Mr. Jefferson, and adopted by the Legislature for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The preamble to this actª is long and argumenta- tive, and penned in a style peculiar to its author. Without giving all its recitals, it will be sufficient to say that it declares that " to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and ty- rannical ;" that " to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all reli- gious liberty ;" and that "truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposi- tion disarmed of her natural weapons, free argu- ment and debate : errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them." Then, it is enacted, " That no man shall be com- pelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened, in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." The remaining clause in substance declares, that these are the natural rights
ª The Act is in 1 R. C., 77, 78, and in Lit. and Evan. Mag. ix. 48, 49.
301
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
1785.]
of mankind, and that no act of a subsequent Legis- lature could impair them.
" This law, with its preamble, has not escaped cen- sure,ª but all who love liberty have admired it, and will support it unto the end. Had such a law al- ways prevailed throughout Christendom, what an amount of human suffering would have been pre- vented ! Rome would never have seen Christians torn by wild beasts in her amphitheatres ; the iron chair would not have consumed the tortured body ; the fagot, the stake, the halter, would have lost numberless victims. And Papal Rome would not have incurred deeper guilt than her parent by her cruelties ; the valleys of France would not have streamed with the blood of murdered men, and rung with the shrieks of violated women ; the fires of the Inquisition would never have been kindled ; Saint Bartholomew would never have become a name of horror ; Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, might all have lived. And England would have been spared the disgrace of her Protestant persecutors; John Bunyan might have written his Pilgrim in a cottage rather than in a jail ; Richard Baxter would have been saved from the insults of Jeffries. But above all, the soul would have been free; the heart would have escaped the nameless tortures of devo- tion suppressed, of irreligion feigned, of injustice unreproved. It may be true, that the God of pro- vidence can bring good out of evil, and make " the blood of martyrs the seed of the church ;" but this can never justify man in sanctioning religious
a See Dr. Hawks, 173-179.
302
CAPITOL-WASHINGTON.
[CHAP. V.
tyranny. He is no true friend to his country, who would wish to see the " Act of Religious Freedom" narrowed in its operation, or who would favour any measure tending to such result.
After having gone so far, the Assembly would not stop in its reform. Convinced that the act au- thorizing incorporations was inconsistent with true policy, they prepared to repeal it. A bill for the purpose was introduced at the October Session of the next year, and on the 9th of January, 1787, the late law incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church was repealed, and the property it claimed was confided simply to trustees.ª Thus a false step hastily taken was withdrawn. As we advance in her history, we shall see that the statesmen of Virginia again turned to this subject, and gradually removed every vestige of a privileged church.
While seeking to secure the advantages of the Revolution, the state did not forget the great leader who had been chief in effecting it. She deter- mined to adorn her capital city with a State House, and to place in it a statue of George Washington. Mr. Jefferson was now in Paris, as Minister to France from the United States, and his taste in the fine arts was so exquisite, that he was well fitted to aid his state in accomplishing her object. For the Capitol, he selected the "Maison quarrée" of Nismes as a model; it was simple, elegant, ma- jestic, "yielding to no one of the beautiful monu- ments of Greece, Rome, Palmyra, and Balbec."b
a Hening, xii. 266, 267 ; Hawks,
b Letter to James Madison, Works, 194.
i. 316.
c
303
HOUDON THE STATUARY.
1785.]
Learning, with horror, that the first bricks of the Capitol were soon to be laid, and that the directors were proceeding on a plan of their own, he has- tened to arrest a work which must inevitably have entailed a mass of architectural infamy upon the state. His views prevailed, and in due time the building arose. Its position is elevated, and the grounds encircling it are full of the picturesque ; the Capitol itself charms by its massive grace, and gains more and more upon the beholder as he looks upon it; but it has been strangely deformed by a departure from the model. A noble flight of steps, that ought to have descended from the portico to the ground, has been omitted; hence, one ap- proaching on that side, feels as though he were sternly repulsed ; and if he walks in the portico, he has fear of a fall, which Lucius Cæsar and Louis XIV. would fain have prevented.
To make the statue, Mr. Jefferson employed Houdon, a French statuary, distinguished in his art, perhaps, beyond any then in the world.ª He was "disinterested, generous, candid, and panting after glory ;"ª nevertheless, he could not live upon glory, and, therefore, he was to receive a thousand English guineas for the figure and pedestal, to have his expenses to, in, and from America paid, and in case of his death during his absence from France, his family were to receive ten thousand livres.b To make this last sum secure, the great sculptor's life was insured when he sailed for America. In three
* Jefferson's Works, i. 248-253. b About four hundred guineas, Jefferson, i. 250.
304. EDMUND RANDOLPH GOVERNOR. [CHAP. V.
years the work was complete, and it now adorns the central hall of the Capitol. The Father of his country is represented standing in an easy and graceful position; the majestic form is clothed in the military costume of his age; the right hand rests upon a cane; the head is bare and the ex- panded brow is seen in full; a sword hangs near his side; and the only departure from the modern is found in the Roman "fasces," emblematic of authority. To the uninitiated, at least, this statue is more pleasing than the taste which has enve- loped George Washington in a flowing toga, co- vered his feet with sandals, and placed a short Roman sword in his hand.
In the same hall, and near the figure of Wash- ington, is a bust of Lafayette, voted by the Legisla- ture in 1781. While in life they were often united, and now that each has ceased to live, it is meet that the "silent marble" should recall both together, to the eye and heart of the beholder.
(December, 1786.) Edmund Randolph was elected to succeed Patrick Henry as Governor of the Commonwealth. He was nephew to Pey- ton Randolph, so favourably known as the friend of the people, even when he was the King's Attorney-General, and as the conservative advo- cate for freedom in the early stages of the Re- volution. The new chief magistrate was an emi- nent lawyer; he had long filled the office of Attor- ney for the state, and his great skill had attracted to him an amount of practice which would have interfered materially with the discharge of executive
305
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERACY.
1786.]
duties. He thought himself bound to withdraw from the active part of his profession, and there- fore, through the papers, informed his clients of his design, and requested them to transfer their busi- ness to John Marshall, to whom he had consigned his dockets.ª However great in the law Mr. Ran- dolph may have been, it is presumed that few suitors could have suffered by confiding their inte- rests to the man whose fame as a jurist, is now wide as the bounds of civilization.
With the progress of the new Executive, we open a subject which must receive careful thought ; for of all others it most deeply affected the inte- rests of Virginia, and will continue to affect them, while the FEDERAL CONSTITUTION endures. It is always interesting to watch the phenomena attend- ing the changes in human governments ; the bring- ing in of a single new principle, or the loss of any one feature, will often mould the fortunes of a peo- ple for centuries. But in the peaceful revolution which the statesmen of America accomplished, when they discarded one system of rule, and deli- berately assumed another, there are some things which cause it to differ from every prior change in government the world had ever known. That we may appreciate this singular action, it will be necessary to unfold the motives which induced it.
The " Articles of Confederacy" had been pre- pared by men patriotic and wise, yet inexperienced in the practical workings of the American system.
a Mr. Randolph's advertisements are in the Virginia Indep. Chronicle for December, 1786.
VOL. II.
20
306
WEAKNESS OF
[CHAP. V.
They could not possibly have known what could only be developed by events unlike any that had occurred in past ages. Hence this union never gave satisfaction; it was watched with jealousy, and adopted with reluctance. While the war lasted, its defects were little felt, because necessity compelled the states to exert themselves, and to sacrifice selfish views for the common defence. But in each year, from the close of the Revolution to 1787, the vices of the system became more glaring, and its results more disastrous.
We have already seen that the public lands had been a subject on which several states had based their unwillingness to adopt the Articles. This difficulty had been happily removed; but perma- nent evils of far greater importance yet remained. The control of Congress in matters of trade and com- merce was inefficient, and as each state sought to guard her own interests, ceaseless murmurings were heard. Some states had seaports and others had not; those having ports of course demanded duties on goods imported, which were always paid by con- sumers at last, and thus the interior states thought themselves unjustly taxed. New Jersey, between New York and Philadelphia, was compared to "a cask tapped at both ends ;" and North Carolina, between Virginia and South Carolina, was likened to "a patient bleeding at both arms."a The want of a general power of supervision, led to many irre- gularities : some states claimed standing armies ; some violated contracts by making depreciated
ª Madison Papers, ii. 692.
-
307
THE CONFEDERACY.
1786.]
paper a legal tender ; and others declared that pro- perty under certain circumstances should be taken for money.ª
But the fatal defect in the Government was the want of power in Congress to force a payment of the public dues. The federal body had no right even to lay duties on imports ; it must humbly ask permission of the states before this could be done, and though in two instances most of them granted such permission, yet their compliance was reluc- tant, and fettered by so many terms that it pro- duced very little revenue.b Whenever money was to be raised, the regular mode was that Con- gress should send a polite request or "requisition" to the states, setting forth the urgency of the case, and praying that it might be promptly met. These appeals, though loud and earnest, were heard by the states generally with indifference, sometimes with impatience; seldom with a disposition to com- ply. The demands of Congress were evaded as eagerly as a proud debtor escapes from a dun, or rather as a penurious citizen turns from the impor- tunity of a beggar in the streets. The result was soon apparent. At the close of the war, the Federal Government owed forty-three millions of dollars, and the states nearly one half that sum. The public debt was due to three classes of creditors : first, to individuals at home, old soldiers who had fought, and capitalists who had advanced funds for their country ; secondly, to individuals abroad, men who were willing to help freedom by lending their money to its supporters ; thirdly, to foreign powers,
* Madison Papers, ii. 710-712. ৳ Jefferson, i. 408.
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