USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 27
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Soon afterwards, the invading fleet left the Chesa- peake, and prepared for a descent upon North Ca- rolina. (1814.) The well-remembered events of the next year did not immediately affect Virginia. Washington City, and the exposed towns of Mary- land, were the prey sought by the enemy. The American troops suffered an unhappy reverse at Bladensburg, notwithstanding the heroism of Com- modore Barney. The Virginia militia did not reach the field until after the battle. Though America lost her Capitol, she gained the union of
a Editorial, Enquirer, July 2. The Virginia," and the same paper con- express, on the 26th June, announc- tains a letter giving an account of the conduct of the enemy in Hamp- ton, and directed to Charles K. Mal- lory, Lieutenant-Governor, Virginia. ing the capture of Hampton, is di- rected to James Barbour, Esq., the Governor. Enq. 29th. The next missive is from Major Crutchfield, Enquirer, July 2. directed simply " To the Governor of b Brackenridge, 259, 264, 268.
422
PEACE.
[CHAP. VII.
all her citizens against the foe, and the English, at last, won little by an attack which deprived them of their highest military and naval chiefs, General Ross and Sir Peter Parker.a
(1815.). On the 18th of February, in this year, Peace was proclaimed by the President of the United States, and was received with universal joy. Through the country and towns of Virginia, bon- fires were lighted, and illuminated houses at night spoke the public triumph. It is remarkable, that in the treaty of peace, several causes prominent in producing the war, were not alluded to. Nothing was said about paper blockades, or the rights of neutrals, or the impressment of seamen. Yet there was a tacit understanding on these subjects. Each nation had learned lessons from the war, and pro- fited by them. America learned her own strength, and particularly the power of her naval arm ; Eng- land was taught that she was no longer omnipotent at sea, and that the maritime rights of her rival were the last that would be resigned, or that she might violate with impunity.
After completing his second presidential term in
ª Brackenridge, 259, 264, 268.
She is of us, and of us improved. We are neither ashamed nor afraid to
b The reader will be interested in the following cotemporary view of say so. We knew it before, and the subject taken by an English knowing so much, we have uniform- ly deprecated the going to war with her. The Americans will be the most terrible warriors we have had to contend with. We have, like fools, despised them as a power in arms." mind. It is from an article in the London Statesman, March 20, 1813, (copied in Enquirer, May 21st, 1813,) announcing the capture of the Java by the frigate Constitution. " Ame- rica, however, must be excepted from the expression of ' all our enemies.'
423
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
1819.]
1809, Thomas Jefferson had retired to Monticello, in Albemarle County, and the rest of his life was spent apart from public employment. But a mind so active and so enlarged, could not be without an object worthy of its powers. Mr. Jefferson had long been deeply interested in the cause of education, and had wished to see his native state alive to her duty on the subject. We have seen that, as one of the revisors of the legal code, he had sought to elevate William and Mary College into a Uni- versity during the Revolution ; but many concur- rent causes defeated this scheme. The plan of a state institution for learning and science yet occu- pied his mind, and at length his appeals to the Le- gislature and the public were successful.
(1819.) On the 25th of January, the law was passed, establishing the University of Virginia.a The neighbourhood of Charlottesville, in Albe- marle, was selected for the site; and the lands and property which had previously belonged to Central College, there situated, were purchased by the state. Fifteen thousand dollars per annum were appropriated from the Literary Fund, to meet the expenses of building, and of subsequent endow- ment. The institution was to be under the direc- tion of seven Visiters, appointed by the Governor and Council, and from their number, these Visiters were to elect a Rector, to preside and give general superintendence. The power of the Visiters was considerable : they might make rules and regula- tions ; appoint and remove professors ; and regulate
* 1 R. C. 90-93.
424
MR. JEFFERSON FIRST RECTOR. [CHAP. VII.
salaries and fees. Mr. Jefferson's influence had secured a wide field of instruction for the Univer- sity ; and the branches of study were to be so dis- tributed among professors, not exceeding ten in number, as the Visiters might direct. They were to teach the ancient languages, including Hebrew, and many modern tongues, including the Anglo- Saxon ; mathematics, and all the physical sciences that had then gained distinct form; anatomy and medicine; mental science, ethics, rhetoric, and belles-lettres ; law, natural, international, and muni- cipal, and the science of government.
Mr. Jefferson was elected the first Rector, and retained the office to the time of his death. He entered into the scheme with his whole heart, and was indefatigable in labours to forward it. He drew all the plans for the buildings, and his taste was so generally admitted, that few of his sugges- tions were rejected by the Visiters. The workmen were mostly procured in Philadelphia, and the materials used were the best that the means allow- ed could purchase. Mr. Jefferson's passion for Grecian architecture showed itself in these edifices. They are formed on models exquisitely beautiful ; yet not the most economical, or the most conve- nient for the intended purpose.ª Notwithstanding the energy with which the Rector urged on the work, its progress was slow; the principal difficulty was want of money. The original estimate for the cost had been one hundred and sixty-two thou- sand dollars; but it was found it would be much
a See Tucker's Jefferson, ii. 430, 431.
425
EUROPEAN PROFESSORS.
1825.]
greater, and the Legislature did not very readily grant the required appropriation. But at length, in 1824, the buildings were so nearly complete, that preparations might be made to open the schools. The rotunda was not finished; but the professor's houses, the lecture rooms, and dormi- tories, were ready. Deeply anxious that all should be favourable in the opening session, Mr. Jefferson, with the concurrence of the other Visiters, sent Francis W. Gilmer to Europe, to procure pro- fessors for all the schools, except law and moral philosophy.ª This step was adopted from liberal motives, but it caused some dissatisfaction.
(1825.) Early in this year, the teachers arrived. Only the chairs of law, chemistry, and ethics, were filled from the United States. The Rector was fired with zeal; he rode from his house to the buildings several times a day ; professors and stu- dents often dined with him, and his hospitable doors were open to the crowds of visiters who came from a distance to see the University. The system of laws which he had suggested for the government of the institution was approved by his coadjutors, with hardly a dissenting voice. It sought to rule rather by presenting high motives and examples, and by addresses to reason, than by stringent penalties. The professors being gene- rally inexperienced in the ways of American youth, willingly adopted this plan presented by the philo- sopher.
But in the very first year of its life, the Univer-
a Ibid. ii. 474, 475.
426
UNIVERSITY -RELIGION.
[CHAP. VII.
sity was nearly rent to pieces. (October.) The wild young men there assembled, indulged to ex- treme their propensity to disorder. Riot followed riot in quick succession, until at length the students rose up against the faculty in open resistance. Mr. Jefferson was keenly mortified by this occurrence, and the more so, because his own nephew was so prominent in the rebellion that it was found neces- sary to expel him.ª The Rector came, with James Madison, and Chapman Johnson, to the grounds, and each of the three addressed the rebels in earnest remonstrance. The riot was quelled, and the ex- ercises resumed their course.
The religious views of Thomas Jefferson, and his fears of sectarian influence, undoubtedly gave a bias to the early life of this institution, much to be deplored.b But whatever may have been the sinister causes operating on its infancy, they have long since ceased. It is a truth practically illus- trating the value of religion, that the employment of a chaplain at the University, was the voluntary work of its professors, officers, and students. A divine, chosen each year from one of the four prin- cipal evangelical denominations, is paid by sub- scriptions of the students and a percentage upon their salaries voluntarily granted by the faculty and other officers. And since this change, not- withstanding the scenes of rebellion and murderd
ª Ibid. ii. 481. d In 1840, the lamented Davis, Professor of Law, was killed on the lawn of the University, by a pistol- Report, 1844-45. shot fired by a student in disguise.
b See the Catalogue and Report for 1844-45.
427
LETHARGY.
1825.]
which have shaken it to its base, the University has disappointed the fears of its friends, and the hopes of its foes. In the past ten years, it has annually averaged one hundred and eighteen new students ; its number in 1845, was one hundred and ninety-four ; and its organization has, perhaps, never held out a more exhilarating prospect than at the present time.
But, during the years in which the Old Domi- nion was rearing an institution of learning, her friends have been forced to acknowledge that her general progress was far behind the demands of the age. The delays that occurred ere her scheme was accomplished, may be considered as indicative of her character. After 1820, the difference be- tween herself, and her sisters of the North and her daughters of the West, became constantly more apparent. She was indeed advancing, but it was with a step sluggish and undecided, while they were moving forward with vigour and speed. Vir- ginia was seeking to feed herself upon the accu- mulations of the past, while all around her were growing strong upon the healthful aliment of the present age. We shall again have occasion, in the closing chapter of this work, to refer to this lethargy which has so much weakened the sinews of our state. It may not be impossible to find causes adequate to produce such stupor, and to foresee in
The original proposal for a chaplain formation from the Rev. Prof. Fran- came in the form of a memorial from cis S. Sampson, now of Union the students of the University. On Theological Seminary, Prince Ed- this subject and others connected ward, Virginia.
with it, I have obtained valuable in-
428
CONSTITUTION.
[CHAP. VII. .
the removal, or at least the mitigation of those causes, the return of full life and energy to Vir- ginia.
The Constitution of 1776 had been a tried and faithful servant. It had its faults, but its virtues outweighed them. It had endured for half a cen- tury, and had guided the state through many scenes of trial. But now it seemed to be time that the government-making abilities of her statesmen should again be put in motion. They had been so long unemployed, that they were in danger of growing dull from disuse. We have admitted that the old system had several weak points ; and have described those most objectionable. None of these defects were greatly injurious ; for had they been so, they would have been remedied long before the year 1830. But as the people were now quiet, and moderately prosperous, free from war, and not painfully disturbed by fear of federal encroach- ment, they thought it a favourable season for taking the ancient machine of government to pieces, and fitting it together again, with certain added springs and wheels, which would increase its beauty and usefulness.
The chief objection to the old constitution, was the narrow right of suffrage. We have seen that under its provisions, as finally interpreted by the Legislature, the privilege of voting was confined to men having a freehold in fifty acres of unim- proved, or twenty-five acres of improved land, or in a house and lot in some town.ª Though this
ª ] R. C. 39, note.
429
CONVENTION.
1828.]
freehold qualification may restrict the number of voters, yet many wise men have thought it to be most expedient in all points of view. For, a free- holder, in most cases, will have other interests be- sides that in land ; he will be interested to protect personal property ; to insure good faith between man and man ; to provide for the pure administra- tion of justice ; and therefore he will choose honest and competent law-makers. Yet it was natural
that this restriction should dissatisfy many who felt deep interest in the welfare of the community, but whose pursuits did not lead them to acquire land. And it is true, that minds of high order have held a freehold suffrage to be too narrow for the spirit of American institutions.
(1828.) At length, after several ineffectual efforts to procure a change, an Act of Assembly was passed, on the 31st January, to provide for taking the sense of the people as to the call of a conven- tion.ª The voters on this question were, of course, to be qualified according to the existing constitu- tion ; and upon full returns, it appeared that twen- ty-one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six voted for a convention, and sixteen thousand six hundred and thirty-seven against it. (1829.) On the 10th of February, another act was passed, for organizing the convention; and it was provided that its members should be elected by voters qualified according to the old constitution, but that the question of ratifying their labours should be de- cided by voters qualified to vote for members of the
a Supplement to R. C. 1-3.
430
CONVENTION.
[CHAP. VII.
most numerous branch of the Legislature, accord- ing to the requirements of the new or amended Constitution.ª. Once more, then, Virginia was busy with popular meetings and debates. The members of Convention were elected, and on Mon- day, the 5th of October, they met at the Capitol in Richmond, and prepared to enter upon their duties.
Their number varied from time to time during the session, but it was generally about ninety-six. It embraced men venerable in years and in reputa- tion. James Madison was the only member who had also been a member of the Assembly of 1776, that adopted the old Constitution. John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, was elected from Richmond City. Besides these, there were James Monroe, the ex-President, John Randolph of Roanoke, Samuel Taylor, Benjamin Watkins Leigh, William B. Giles, Lucas P. Thompson, Philip N. Nicholas, Archibald Stuart, Briscoe G. Baldwin, Chapman Johnson, John R. Cooke, John Y. Mason, Robert Stanard, Littleton W. Tazewell, Abel P. Upshur, William F. Gordon, and others equally distinguished, of whom some have gone from among us, but most are alive to the present day. At first, James Monroe was elected Presi- dent, and George W. Munford, Secretary ; but a change afterwards took place, and when the amended Constitution was approved, Philip P. Barbour was President, and David Briggs, Se- cretary.
" Act in Suppl. 3-9.
b See Debates, 1829-30, 3-14.
431
AMENDED CONSTITUTION.
1830.]
They were in session until the 15th January, 1830. Thus, their debate lasted more than three months, nearly as long as that of the immortal Con- vention of 1787. They discussed, most elaborately, all the interests of Virginia,-present, past, and fu- ture; and at length approved an " Amended Con- stitution," by a vote of fifty-five to forty. Philip Doddridge, of Brooke County, was sick at the time; had he voted, the majority for the Constitution would have been reduced to fourteen.ª Several members had strong objections to the plan, but voted for it in a spirit of compromise. John Ran- dolph moved that the question of ratifying should be submitted to the vote of the people, qualified according to the " Old Constitution ;" but, as the Act of Assembly, under which the Convention was elected, had expressly declared 'that this question should be decided by the votes of those qualified according to the amended plan proposed, Mr. Ran- dolph's motion was properly rejected.b
The principal change involved in the " Amended Constitution," was in the right of suffrage.º Under it, with some salutary exceptions, white men twenty-one years old are to vote, if they are quali- fied according to the Old Constitution, or if they are possessed, or have a tenant possessed of an estate of freehold, worth twenty-five dollars, or have in land a share worth twenty-five dollars, or have a reversion, or vested remainder in fee in land worth fifty dollars; or have a leasehold estate, ori- ginally for five years or more, of the annual value
a Debates, 1829-30, 882.
৳ Ibid. 885, 892.
c Supplement, 13-24, and Debates, 895-902.
432
ITS PROVISIONS.
[CHAP. VII.
of twenty dollars; or be housekeepers and heads of families, having actually paid within the year pre- ceding that in which they propose to vote, the part of the revenue of the Commonwealth with which they have been assessed.ª
The New Constitution adopts the old " Bill of Rights" without the slightest change. It also in- terweaves into its own texture the enactments of the " Bill of Religious Freedom," and farther de- clares that "the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatsoever ; nor confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any one sect or denomi- nation, nor pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this Commonwealth, to levy on themselves or others any tax for the erection and repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry." It forbids bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, laws impairing the obligation of contracts, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or any law "whereby private property shall be taken for public uses without just compen- sation."
It will not be necessary farther to detail the pro- visions of the new system of government, and it is perhaps the less necessary, because the Constitu- tion has already been threatened with change. Notwithstanding the great experience and ability of the men who framed it, their work has given small satisfaction. Serious attempts to provide for another convention have been made, and though
a Art. iii. cl. 14.
433
ADOPTION - VOTE.
1830.]
they have heretofore been defeated, it is impossible to say when they may be renewed and carried into full effect. To this subject allusion will again be, presently, required.
After the Convention adjourned, the plan they had approved was submitted to the people, and was ratified by a majority of nearly ten thousand five hundred votes : twenty-six thousand and fifty-five voting in the affirmative, and fifteen thousand five hundred and sixty-three in the negative.ª The at- tentive reader will observe, that under the ancient freehold qualification, the number of votes thrown on the question of a convention, was thirty-eight thousand five hundred and thirty-three, and that, two years afterwards, the whole number thrown, on the expanded basis of suffrage provided by the new system, was but forty-one thousand six hun-
dred and eighteen. Thus, the difference was very little more than three thousand votes, and if we take into view the natural increase in Virginia's population during these two years, the difference will appear yet smaller. The quantity of the popular constituency seemed very little augmented, and will any say that its quality was improved ? This fact may furnish evidence either that the Convention ought to have made no change, or that the change made ought to have gone far beyond that actually adopted.
And in reviewing the official returns from the polls,' we may see the broad shadow that " coming
a Supplement, note 15; Debates,
b In the Debates, page 903. Preface, iv.
VOL. II. 28
434
EAST AND WEST.
[CHAP. VII.
events" cast before them. It will be remarked that, in general, the counties west of the Blue Ridge voted heavily against the Amended Consti- tution. Harrison threw one thousand one hundred and twelve votes to eight; Ohio, six hundred and forty-three to three; Randolph, five hundred and sixty-five to four; Logan, two hundred and fifty- five to two; Hardy, one hundred and twenty to sixty-three; Grayson, six hundred and forty-nine to seventy, and in the county of Brooke, the whole vote of three hundred and seventy-one was against the plan. In the forty-one counties then com- posing the entire region west of the Blue Ridge, there was a clear majority of seven thousand three hundred and two votes against the New Con- stitution. And yet, in its favour, the sixty-eight counties east of the Ridge, gave a majority of seventeen thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, which was sufficient to extinguish the whole ad- verse majority of the West, and to bring the state in favour of the new government, by a balance of ten thousand four hundred and ninety-two votes.
This conflict of sentiment was too remarkable, and too plainly defined by geographical bounds, to be without an adequate cause. We must endea- vour to explain it.
In 1830, Eastern Virginia, upon a surface of twenty-seven thousand two hundred square miles, had a population of eight hundred and thirty-two thousand nine hundred and eighty souls, of whom four hundred and sixteen thousand three hundred and twenty (or within a minute fraction of one-half ) were
435
DIFFERENCE OF SENTIMENT.
1830.]
slaves. At the same time, Western Virginia, upon an area of forty-two thousand eight hundred square miles, had a population of three hundred and se- venty-eight thousand four hundred and twenty-five, of whom fifty-three thousand four hundred and thirty-seven, (or about one-seventh,) were slaves. The above estimate includes the free blacks, who were about fifty-seven thousand in number, and were distributed through both sections of the state.ª Thus will be perceived at a glance the enormous disparity of the slave interest in the two great divi- sions of Virginia. And this has caused the diffe- rence of sentiment between them, which has threat- ened to rend them asunder. Other and minor causes may have increased the feeling, but this has been paramount. Its operation may be deve- loped.
When the Federal Government was formed, slavery was in full being, and it entered largely into the debates of the body that framed the Con- stitution. It was soon decided that direct taxes and representation in the several states must be proportioned to their respective numbers, but in estimating those numbers the difficulty arose. Were the slaves to be considered as persons or as property ? In fact, they were both : they were per- sons, for they had bodies and souls; they increased the numerical strength of the country for every effort requiring human exertion ; they added to its responsibility for the protection of life and health ;
a These statistics are originally from the census of 1830, Murray's Encyc. Geog. iii. 524.
436
MIXED BASIS.
[CHAP. VII.
they were capable of crime, and liable to punish- ment for it. And they were also property, liable to be bought and sold, conveyed by deed, bequeath- ed by will, gained by marriage or descent. At length a fair compromise was effected between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states, and the result was the well-known article in the Constitu- tion, by which three-fifths of the slaves are added to the free people of the states in estimating their numbers. This established what is called the Mixed Basis of representation and taxation.
It would be hard to find an equitable objection to this compromise. The instrument containing it was adopted by the Northern States, and they have, ever since, acquiesced without resistance. And if it was right for the Union, it seemed à for- tiori right for Virginia. For, the expenses of the Federal Government have been generally paid without direct taxes, and thus the slave states have had the advantage of having their slaves estimated in representation without the corresponding burden, which must be imposed when necessary. But Virginia was obliged to pay her expenses by direct taxes, and these of course would fall most heavily upon slaveholders, and it seemed reasonable that those who bore the burden, should have the loudest voice in ordering its adjustment. This view so commended itself to the majority of the Convention, that they adopted the principle of the Mixed Basis for representation in Virginia. They were, of course, compelled, under the Federal Constitution, to apply it in apportioning representatives for Con-
1830.]
MIXED BASIS.
437
.
gress.ª And they, in substance, carried it out for the state government.
Their Legislature was to consist of two branches, the Senate and the House of Delegates. To consti- tute the Senate, they considered the state as divided into Eastern and Western Virginia by the Blue Ridge. To Eastern Virginia they gave nineteen senators, to Western Virginia, thirteen. To con- stitute the House of Delegates, they considered the state under a division into four districts, to wit : the Tide-Water District, running from the Atlantic coast and the Bay to the head of tide-water; the Middle District, from the head of tide-water to the eastern base of the Blue Ridge; the Valley District, between the two great ranges of mountains; and the Trans-Alleghany District, running from the Alleghany range to the western boundary of the state. To the first of these districts, they gave thirty-six delegates; to the second, forty-two ; to the third, twenty-five ; and to the fourth, thirty-one. A comparison of these numbers with the popula- tion of the several parts of the state, would show that both Houses were, substantially, constituted on the principle of the Mixed Basis ; and though power was given to the Legislature to re-apportion the Senators and Delegates from time to time, yet it was given with some restraints, and it has uni- formly been exercised according to the original principle.
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