USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 26
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The sale of the glebes removed the last legal in- equality between the religious denominations of the Commonwealth. The divorce between Church and State was complete. Virginia breathed the air of perfect religious liberty. The hope may be in- dulged that her policy on the subject is fixed for ever, and that she will not adopt any measures which will have a tendency to restore a connexion so unhappy in its origin, so disastrous during its
ª The opinion is appended to 2 Poor for Loudon, xi. Leigh, 132-136. Tucker's Commentaries.
b Now Judge of the Chancery Court for the Richmond circuit.
c Selden et al. vs. Overseers of
-Judge Tucker did not sit in the case in the Court of Appeals, having decided it as Chancellor.
406
BANK OF VIRGINIA.
[CHAP. VII.
continuance, and so painful in the remedies neces- sary to destroy it.
(January 30.) It was at this time that the Bank of Virginia was first chartered and established. The expediency of this step had long been dis- cussed, and was generally admitted. The state had been flooded with bank notes from the North, and though their character was often more than doubtful, yet the want of gold and silver, and the advantages of these notes for currency, introduced them into general circulation. In December, 1785, the old Bank of the United States had been autho- rized to establish one or more offices in Virginia, and to charge six per cent. on its loans ;ª but its issues had not long supplied an acceptable cur- rency. The evils arising from private bank notes had been so great, that the Legislature had posi- tively forbidden them ;b and the demands of trade required that Virginia should no longer be behind the age in providing a good investment for capital. The act originally establishing the Bank of Vir- ginia, provided that its stock should be one million five hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into fifteen thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each ; but by an act passed ten years afterwards,ª its stock was increased one million of dollars, in ten thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each. Under the first law, the state was to subscribe for three thousand shares, and the whole amount of
" Stat. at Large, (N. S.) i. 357.
b Hening, xii. 166.
c Stat. at Large, iii. 100-108; 2 R. C. 67-76.
d Jan. 24, 1814 ; 2 R. C. 76-80.
407
BANK OF VIRGINIA.
1804.]
three hundred thousand dollars was to be loaned by the bank to the state, at four per cent. per annum interest. Under the last act, the state was to retain two thousand shares, and the bank pledged itself to loan to her, when required, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, at seven per cent. interest. The bank was clothed with regular corporate powers, and was authorized to establish branches in sundry towns in Virginia. Though its notes could not be made a legal tender for debt, yet the state sought to give them every sanction in her power, by making them receivable for public dues, and by depositing all of her inactive funds in the vaults of the bank.
Thus the system went into operation, and the subsequent favour bestowed on it by the Legisla- ture, induces us to suppose that it was well managed. Yet very few years had elapsed before we read complaints and remonstrances in the public prints. Writers over feigned signatures began to talk of partiality and intriguing, and injury to public manners and morals.ª The salaries of the officers were said to be exorbitant, and were con- trasted with those of the judges. Why should the president of the bank receive twenty-five hundred dollars, and the cashier three thousand, while a learned judge received but fifteen hundred ? And these writers complained bitterly of inequality in discounts. They said the rich got all and the poor none. They drew a picture of a man coming from the country to live in the metropolis. " He is not
ª Virginian, January, 1808.
408
BANK OF VIRGINIA.
[CHAP. VII.
long a resident of the city, before the most impor- tant traits in his character are strictly scrutinized. Is his paper good at the bank ? says one ; does he keep a carriage ? says another ; will he take a hand at loo ? says the third. A stockholder says, No, he is an old soldier"ª of the Revolution, and therefore poor, and not to have accommodation at bank. These public censors said further, that no discount would be granted, unless the maker or endorser of the note lived in Richmond ; that the bank was despised, hated, cursed. "Excepting the murders in cold blood which have been perpetrated on the defenceless inhabitants of India, the rapacity of that monstrous mass of aristocracy, the East India ·Company, has been fully equalled by the manage- ment of the corporation of the bank."b
We have reason to believe that all of these com- plaints were founded either in ignorance or malice. It has long been conceded, that the salaries of the bank officers are meagre rather than exorbitant, when compared with the responsibility endured, and the services rendered ; and that if these salaries contrasted disproportionately with those of judges, the remedy was in raising the latter, rather than reducing the first. And experience has farther proved, that there will always be found a certain class in society, ready to rail at a moneyed institu- tion. No bank properly conducted, will lend its funds, unless upon the security of at least one man,
ª Virginian, January 8, 1808; see letter in same to Abram B. Venable and William Moseley.
b Virginian, January 15 and 29; and Agricola, in same, February 2, 1808.
.
409
TRIAL OF AARON BURR.
1804.]
whose unincumbered property will more than re- pay the loan. To act otherwise, would be a depar- ture from the only principles on which banking operations can be safely managed. But the indus- trious poor man will always obtain by his character, the aid of a name representing property, and will thus secure a loan. Men who have neither pro- perty nor character, neither deserve nor obtain loans ; and hence complaints, slanders, and dark hints of intrigue, and pride, partiality and cor- ruption.
As years now passed away, few events occurred either greatly to elevate or depress Virginia. She began to feel the spirit of the wonderful century upon which she had entered, and though her pro- gress was by no means so rapid as that of some of her sister states, she did not then fall so much be- hind them as to excite the fears of her admirers. In the year 1807, took place, in Richmond, the ce- lebrated trial of Aaron Burr and Herman Blenner- hasset, charged with the crime of levying war against the United States, and with the misde- meanour of preparing and providing the means for a military expedition against the territories of a foreign prince, with whom the United States were at peace. It commenced on the 22d May, and was ended by the delivery of Chief Justice Marshall's opinion, on the 20th of October.ª It has no far- ther connexion with the history of Virginia than that the adherents of Burr first assembled within
2 A full report of this trial will be edit. Washington, 1834, Miscel. i. found in the American State Papers, 486, 645.
410
BURNING OF
[CHAP. VII.
her borders, and that the trial took place in her metropolis ; but the splendid displays of forensic eloquence which it drew from William Wirt and other counsel engaged in the cause, increased the already high reputation enjoyed by the lawyers of the Old Dominion.
It is not often that a domestic calamity is so mortal in its character, and so widespread in its influence, as to merit a place in general history ; but one now presents itself, which has formed an era in the life of Virginia, never to be forgotten. (1811.) During the winter of this year, unwonted gaiety prevailed in Richmond; brilliant assemblies followed each other in quick succession ; the theatre was open and sustained by uncommon histrionic talent; the fascinations of the season had drawn together, from every part of the state, the young, the beautiful, the gay. On Thursday night, the 26th of December, the theatre was crowded to ex- cess. Six hundred persons had assembled within it, embracing the fashion, the wealth, and the ho- nour of the state. A new drama was to be pre- sented, for the benefit of Placide, a favourite actor ; and it was to be followed by the pantomime of " The Bleeding Nun."" The wild legend on which this spectacle was founded, had lost none of its power under the pen of Monk Lewis, and, even in pantomime, it had awakened great interest. The regular piece had been played ; the pantomime had commenced ; already the curtain had risen upon its second act, when sparks of fire were seen to fall
a Niles' Weekly Register, i. 329; Virginia Patriot. Advert. Dec. 24, 1811.
411
RICHMOND THEATRE.
1811.]
from the scenery on the back part of the stage.a A moment after, Mr. Robertson, one of the actors, ran forward, and waving his hand towards the ceiling, called aloud, "The house is on fire !" His voice carried a thrill of horror through the assembly. All rose and pressed for the doors of the building.
The spectators in the pit escaped without diffi- culty ; the passage leading from it to the outer exit was broad, and had those in the boxes de- scended by the pillars, many would have been saved. Some, who were thrown down by violence, were thus preserved. But the crowd from the boxes pressed into the lobbies, and it was here, among the refined and the lovely, that the scene became most appalling. The building was soon wrapped in flames ; volumes of thick, black vapour penetrated every part, and produced suffocation ; the fire approaching, caught those nearest to it; piercing shrieks rose above the sound of a mass of human beings struggling for life. The weak were trampled under foot, and strong men, frantic with fear, passed over the heads of all before them, in their way towards the doors or windows of the theatre. The windows even of the upper lobby were sought; many who sprang from them perish- ed by the fall; many were seen with garments on fire as they descended, and died soon afterwards from their wounds; few who were saved by this means escaped entirely unhurt.
But, in the midst of terrors which roused the
a The fire is supposed to have improperly raised .- Virginia Stan- been communicated by a chandelier dard, Dec. 27th, in Howe, 309.
412
VICTIMS OF THE FIRE.
[CHAP. VII.
selfishness of human nature to its utmost strength, there were displays of love in death, which make the heart bleed with pity. Fathers were seen rushing back into the flames to save their children; mothers were calling in frenzied tones for their daughters, and were with difficulty dragged from the building ; husbands and wives refused to leave each other, and met death together; even friends lost life in endeavouring to save those under their care. George Smith, the Governor of Virginia, had brought with him to the theatre a young lady under his protection. Separated from her in the crowd, he had reached a place of safety, but, in- stantly turning back, himself and his young ward both became victims of the fire.ª Benjamin Botts, a lawyer of great distinction, had gained the door ; but his wife was left behind. He hastened to save her, and they perished together.
Seventy persons were the martyrs of this horrible night. Besides those already named, there perished Abram Venable, the President of the Bank of Vir- ginia, and Lieutenant Gibbon,' who was destroyed in attempting to save Miss Conyers. Richmond was shrouded in mourning; hardly a family had escaped the visit of the destroying angel, and many had lost several loved ones. And the stroke was not felt only at home. It fell upon hearts far re- moved from the immediate scene of the disaster.
a Niles' Register, i. 329.
trine that dreams sometimes have
b The name of this officer, in con- prophetic power, finds strong sup- nexion with the circumstances of his port. The incident rests in tradi- death, will recall to the minds of tion; but, by oral testimony, it is many, an incident in which the doc. well authenticated.
413
LETTER FROM A FATHER.
1811.]
On the day succeeding this night, a father in Richmond, who had lost a child by the fire, wrote a letter to Matthew Clay, then a member of the House of Representatives from Virginia, to tell him that he too was called to mourn. It would be hard to imagine circumstances more affecting than those disclosed by this touching letter. The writer says, " Yesterday a beloved daughter gladdened my heart by her innocent smiles; to-day she is in heaven. God gave her to me, and God-yes, it has pleased Almighty God to take her from me. O! sir, feel for me, and not for me only; arm yourself with fortitude, while I discharge the mournful duty of telling you that you have to feel also for yourself. Yes, for it must be told ! You also were the father of an amiable daughter, now, like my beloved child, gone to join her mother in heaven." "The images of both my children were before me; but I was re- moved by an impassable crowd, from the dear suf- ferers; the youngest, (with gratitude to Heaven I write it,) sprang towards the voice of her father, reached my assisting hand, and was extricated ; but ... my dear, dear Margaret, and your sweet Mary, with her companions, Miss Gwathmey and Miss Gatewood, passed together, and at once, into a happier world." . "Oh! God! eternity can- not banish that spectacle of horror from my recol- lection. Some friendly, unknown hand, dragged me from the scene of flame and death."ª
On the 30th December, intelligence of this cala- mity was communicated to the Senate of the United
a Niles' Weekly Register, i. 330.
414
WAR WITH ENGLAND.
[CHAP. VII.
States; and, on motion of Mr. Bradley, a resolution was adopted that the senators would wear crape on the left arm for a month. On the same day, a similar resolution was adopted by the House of Representatives, having been introduced in a short and feeling address, by Mr. Dawson of Virginia.ª
Many years passed before the impression of this event was erased in the state where it occurred. It will never be forgotten. Some who escaped, yet survive to tell of the scene. The day after the fire, the Common Council of Richmond passed an ordi- nance forbidding any public show or spectacle, or any open dancing assembly, for four months.b A monumental church has risen on the very spot where the ill-fated theatre once stood, and its monument, bearing the names of many victims of the night, will recall to the visiter thoughts of death and of the life beyond. Yet it is not the nature of man to cherish depressing memories. Time, the great destroyer, and yet the great physician, sweeps away, first, the friends whose loss brings sorrow, and the sorrow caused by their loss. Another theatre has been reared in the metropolis of Vir- ginia, and another " Bleeding Nun" may yet be impersonated within its walls.
(1812.) The succeeding year witnessed a de- claration of war made against Great Britain by the United States. The causes which led to this se- cond struggle have often been detailed : treaties broken, neutral rights violated, seamen impressed, a flag insulted, merchantmen unjustly seized ; these
a Niles, i. 331. b Ibid. i. 329, 330.
415
GUN. BOATS.
1813.]
were the wrongs of which America complained. Virginia sustained Mr. Madison and his adminis- tration in their views of the war. Many of her sons gained distinction in the combats that followed · by sea and by land, and she was not to escape actual invasion by the enemy. Early in May, 1813, the infamous Admiral Cockburn, with a British fleet, entered Chesapeake Bay, and com- menced a series of private depredations, to which nothing that Dunmore had done could be compared. His first efforts were against the coasts and villages of the District of Columbia and Maryland. His excesses at Havre de Grasse, Fredericktown, and Georgetown, have placed his name among the most brutal buccaneers that have disgraced the world. But he was to gain even a darker reputation in Virginia. A considerable English fleet was col- lected in the Bay, near the Capes, and in Lyn- haven Harbour. They were closely watched from Norfolk and Hampton. From time to time some of the ships put to sea, but they soon returned, and a heavy reinforcement came in, which swelled the fleet to four line-of-battle ships and twelve frigates.ª They carried a large land force, under Sir Sidney Beckwith; the naval commander was Admiral Warren.
At this time Mr. Jefferson's famous " Gun-boat System," was in course of trial in the United States; and the harbour of Norfolk was chiefly defended by this species of naval armament. But to meet the emergency, large bodies of militia, from
* Enquirer, May 18, 1813.
416
COMBAT.
[CHAP. VII.
the upper counties, had been ordered down to the seaboard. Unused to the "malaria" of the sum- mer season in lower Virginia, these brave men fell sick in numbers. Many of them died in and near Norfolk, and the sick-list bore an appalling face. General Robert Taylor was the commander of the military district, and Commodore Cassin di- rected the sea defences. On the 20th June, the English frigate Junon had approached to a point one and a half miles above Hampton, apparently with design to lead the way to Norfolk. Now was the time for defence. Captain Tarbell determined to send gun-boats against her, and test the effi- ciency of this armament. " Every one was impa- tient to know how Mr. Jefferson's bull dogs would acquit themselves ; and whether the philosopher's scheme would prove, upon trial, a monument of his wisdom or his folly.""
On the morning of Sunday, the 20th, the gun- boats drew near and opened their fire. The frigate suffered severely in her hull; but she warped her broadside upon them and returned the fire. At the same time, another frigate and a corvette, see- ing the danger of their sister, came to her aid; and for some time, the fifteen guns of the boats, were opposed to one hundred and fifty on the decks of the men-of-war. The fight was hotly continued for a time, but the sails of the gun-boats having been pierced, and a thirty-two pound ball having shattered one of them, they were compelled to
a Letter in Enquirer, Friday, June 25, 1813.
417
CRANEY ISLAND.
1813.]
draw off. They had done well, and had certainly checked the advance upon the town.a
Craney Island lies near the mouth of Elizabeth River, and commands the approach from Hampton Roads to Norfolk. Its defence, therefore, became all-important; and Commodore Cassin resolved that it should not be taken without a desperate conflict. The frigate Constellation was anchored nearly opposite to the town; a detachment of her sailors and marines, under Lieutenant Neale, as- sisted by Lieutenants Shubrick and Saunders, were sent to the island, where they soon threw up a battery, on the northwest side. At the same time, on the south side, opposite the narrow inlet between the island and the main land, Captain Beatty was intrenched with his regiment, and a number of volunteers from various other regiments. High enthusiasm prevailed among the Virginians ; many who had been on the sick-list rose from their beds, and reported for duty at the batteries on the island.b
(June 22d.) The enemy advanced in boats to the attack, numbering twenty-six hundred men, and under Sir Sidney Beckwith. They divided their force into two detachments. One of these pressed forward to carry the northwest battery ; but when they came within reach, Lieutenant Neale and his men opened upon them a galling fire. The eighteen-pounder was trained with so fatal pre- cision that three of the boats were sunk ; one was
a Letter in Enquirer, dated June
b Norfolk Herald, 22d June, in 22; Brackenridge's Late War, 133. Enquirer. VOL. II.
27
418
HAMPTON
[CHAP. VII.
literally cut in twain, and as she filled, her men clung to her sides. The other boats hauled off in discomfiture, and the Virginians instantly sent aid to the drowning wretches in the water.ª
Meanwhile, the other detachment had landed on the main shore, and were attempting to cross the narrow inlet in front of the southern battery. Two twenty-four pounders and two sixes were waiting to receive them; and the volunteers stood to their guns like veterans. The enemy were cut to pieces at long shot, and as they came nearer, the battery played havoc among them. Unable to endure, they precipitately retreated ; and so eager were the Virginians, that the Winchester riflemen ran into the water, hoping to reach the foe with their bullets.' Most of the attacking force had consisted of miserable French troops, taken prisoners in Spain, and induced to enlist in the English army by prospect of pillage in America !c
The heroic defence of Craney Island filled the enemy with rage and shame. They abandoned their designs upon Norfolk, and sought a more de- fenceless prey. Hampton became their object. Major Stapleton Crutchfield was charged with its protection. He had about four hundred artillerists and infantry. The fortifications of the place were very slight, and it was exposed to attack at many points. Major Crutchfield was obliged to divide his little force ; he himself took post at a battery
· Brackenridge, 134; Enquirer, June 29.
b Enquirer, June 29th ; Official accounts.
· Brackenridge, 133.
1
419
ATTACKED AND TAKEN.
1813.]
below the town; Captain Pryor commanded ano- ther immediately in front of the principal landing ; and Captain Servant, with a company of rifles, guarded the rear approaches of Hampton. (June 25th.) Cockburn in person led the attack, firing round shot and rockets from his barges; but he was warmly received by Crutchfield, and for a time was brought to a stand. Sir Sidney Beckwith en- countered a severe fire from Servant's riflemen, but the British detachments were twenty-five hun- dred strong, and soon drove all opposition before them. At the same time, a heavy corps of royal marines were advancing upon the central battery, commanded by Captain Pryor. Already his men regarded captivity as certain; but their brave leader roused them to a desperate effort. He
spiked every gun in the battery, and then at the head of his force, made a furious charge upon the marines, broke through their ranks, swam the creek above the town, and actually made his escape without the loss of a man !a In these conflicts the British lost two hundred men ; while on the other side not more than twenty were killed or wounded.b
The enemy took possession of Hampton, and com- mitted revolting enormities upon the people and the town. A wanton destruction of private property took place ; but this, in itself, would have been un- important. The degraded soldiery, and the blacks who had been enticed from their owners, were allowed to riot in every species of brutality. An
" Major Crutchfield's letter, 25th June, Enquirer.
b Compare Enquirer, 29th June, with Brackenridge, 135.
420
WOMEN VIOLATED.
[CHAP. VII.
aged man named Kirby, while lying sick in bed, was murdered before the eyes of his wife, and the next moment she was herself desperately wounded by the discharge of a pistol !ª The women unhap- pily left in the town, became the victims of the lust both of the soldiers and negroes. They were forcibly violated, with every species of insult; and when one of their number sought Cockburn, and wildly implored him to arrest this violence, the das- tardly officer replied, " he had no doubt before he entered Hampton, all the ladies had left it, and therefore had given no orders to prevent it !"> Find- ing the militia of the country collecting in formi- dable numbers for an attack, at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 27th June, the British evacuated Hampton, and returned to their ships.
While these events were in progress, Richmond was the scene of intense excitement. On Saturday the 26th, the citizens met at the Capitol, and adopted defensive measures. An alarm occurred, and every man was at his post; the drums beat to arms; the volunteer companies, and militia regi- ments assembled in the public square; their num- ber had never been so full, and every thing indi- cated a resolve to defend the city to the last. Gray- haired men were seen in the ranks with shouldered muskets, and encouraging their companions by their words. There were means at hand for an obstinate resistance, and had it been necessary, we cannot doubt they would have been used. But the
ª Enquirer, July 2. Brackenridge,
135.
b Letters in Enquirer, July 2, and July 9.
4
421
COCKBURN'S INFAMY.
1814.]
next intelligence was the retreat of the enemy, and their subsequent movements banished all appre- hensions of an attack.
General Taylor made the conduct of the British at Hampton the subject of a special protest to Sir Sidney Beckwith, in which he depicted the infamy of their proceedings with manly eloquence. There can be no doubt that this English officer regretted the excesses which had been committed; but there can be no doubt, also, that by proper measures, he might have prevented them.b Cockburn's cha- racter was already too degraded to sink lower, and by their culpable indifference, the other command- ing officers in this expedition became involved, be- yond redemption, in his guilt.
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