USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 3
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ª Miller, iii. 49 ; Bissett, 183. in Burk, iii. 280; Belsham's Great
b This was all granted between the years 1756 and 1763. See note
Britain, v. 165, 166.
c Note in Belsham, v. 166.
37
GEORGE GRENVILLE.
1764.]
dominion in a time of imminent danger that it was undertaken, and its principal loss, both in blood and treasure, fell upon her colonial offspring.
But George Grenville found in this war and its consequent burdens, a sufficient pretext for intro- ducing a new feature into the policy of his country. He was a Minister to whom America owes more gratitude than Britain. He is entitled to the honour of having applied the torch which kindled the flame of our Independence. Laborious in his habits and skilled in the details of business, he had yet no ex- pansion of view-none of that higher sagacity which had distinguished some of his predecessors. He knew figures better than men. His arithmetic would convince him that a certain tax laid by Par- liament on a certain subject, would probably pro- duce a certain amount of money ; but how such a measure would affect the complicated passions of man, and the moral aspect of government, were considerations upon which he bestowed but tran- sient thoughts. Yet he did not approach the sub- ject of a tax for revenue upon the Colonies without appearances of perplexity and hesitation.
He commenced by drawing more closely the reins of the Navigation Laws. During many years a trade had existed between the English Colonies and the French West India islands and Spaniards in South America, which was so beneficial to all parties that it was connived at by the ruling British authorities. It circulated English manufactures among the French and Spaniards, and returned gold and silver in exchange. But when Mr. Gren-
38
HINTS TO AMERICA.
[CHAP. I.
ville's eye fell upon this trade, he gave instructions to all the naval commanders in the waters of Ame- rica to act as custom-house officers, and rigidly to enforce the existing laws.ª This gave rise to innu- merable cases of vexation and petty tyranny, and the remonstrances of the Colonists were so loud as to induce the English Parliament to pass an act sanctioning, upon certain terms, the trade which had been thus interrupted. (April 5.)
Early in the session of 1764, Mr. Grenville pre- sented to Parliament the subject of drawing revenue from the Colonies. An act was passed, in which it was declared to be just and necessary " that a re- venue be raised in his Majesty's dominions in America for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same.". At the same time intimation was given that the Stamp Act was before the eyes of English law-makers; but, with apparent moderation and real timidity, the. Minister announced that this measure would be postponed one year, in order that in the mean time the Colonies might offer an equivalent for its pro- ceeds in any form they thought proper to adopt.b A sensitive shrinking from the decisive step was manifested, and Mr. Grenville hoped that America would joyfully accept the chain when it was only to be imposed in the form of a voluntary contribu- tion.
But he had not sounded the depth of feeling with which this subject was regarded in the Colonies.
ª Grahame, iv. 175; Miller, iii.
b Miller, iii. 51.
49,50.
39
REMONSTRANCE OF VIRGINIA.
1764.]
It was not merely to a tax that Americans ob- jected. They were fast increasing in wealth, and might have borne a single infliction without injury ; but their danger was found in the recognition of the right. A principle, when once admitted, is steady in its operation, and almost limitless in its influence. It may work slowly and silently, but it is therefore the more dangerous: it were better that a nation should bestow as a gift more than half its wealth, than acknowledge the principle of tax-paying to the most insignificant amount. The Colonists were not deceived by the specious proposal of the minis- try. They saw that, by voluntarily voting an equi- valent, as compensation for the proposed stamp duties, they would recognise the right for which England contended ; and, while some provinces re- turned equivocal answers, the refusal of the larger number was firm and decided.a
Virginia was true to herself in this crisis, but the observant reader will note with interest the respect- ful and almost suppliant tone she assumed in ad- dressing her mother. In no colony was the spirit of loyalty more prominent : her people were deeply imbued with love to England, which was cherished by the institutions and customs under which they lived; her church was formed upon the model of that in the mother country ; her clergy threw their in- fluence into the scale adverse to innovation; her wealthy planters had been generally educated on British soil; and even her statesmen were strongly infected with this prevalent feeling. But the love
a Miller, iii. 50 ; Grahame, iv. 182.
40
REMONSTRANCE OF VIRGINIA.
[CHAP. I.
of liberty was stronger than national prepossession. It was strong enough gradually to change her love into hostility, and to array her in battle against the parent who seemed determined to repay her affec- tion by tyranny. It will be instructive to mark the progress of this change.
(November 14.) The General Assembly ap- pointed a committee, consisting of nine of its ablest members,a to draw up memorials in answer to the intimations of the English Ministry, which threat- ened taxes. The address to the King was written by Peyton Randolph. It is dutiful and conciliatory in its tone, and uses entreaty that his Majesty would protect them in " their ancient and inesti- mable right" of paying no taxes except those im- posed by themselves. The memorial to the House of Lords is supposed to be from the pen of Richard Bland. It is even more peaceful and suppliant in its manner than that to the King : it speaks of the burdens the people already bore ; of the debt of half a million contracted during the war ; the total want of specie, and the late restrictions upon their trade ; it humbly deprecates taxation : no firm protest, no vigorous assertion of right can be found through its pages. The address to the Commons was by George Wythe, and in this we mark a brave and manly spirit, which rises at once to meet its sub- ject, and to grapple with its dangers.t The King
a They were, Peyton Randolph Mr. Fleming .- Appen. to Wirt's (Attorney-General), Richard Henry Life of Henry, Note A, 297. Lee, Landon Carter, George Wythe, b These memorials will be found Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Har- in Appendix to Wirt's P. Henry, rison, Richard Bland, Mr. Cary, and 297-300, edit. 1839.
41
STAMP ACT.
1765.]
and the Lords were yet invested with the sanctity of hereditary honours, but the Commons might be approached without awe. Such is the genuine spirit of British loyalty.
(1765.) Finding that he could hope for nothing from the action of the Colonies, the Minister hesi- tated no longer in his course. On the 7th day of February, the celebrated Stamp Act was introduced into the House of Commons. To detail its provisions would now be an unnecessary task. It has become a part of the proverbial knowledge of America. Chil- dren hear and read of it as the cause of the Revolu- tionary war. It declared void wills, deeds, con- veyances, leases and contracts, bonds, bills of ex- change, and notes, unless they should be duly stamped, and upon each stamp a tax was imposed, varying in amount according to the nature of the instrument.ª Nothing to which a stamp could be applied escaped the vigilance of Ministers. Parch- ment, vellum, or paper ; declarations, pleas, demur- rers and rejoinders, bills and answers in chancery ; newspapers, pamphlets, calendars and almanacs, all were laden with the same requisition. The ingenuity long known and applied in England, was called in to aid this scheme ; and it seemed as though the whole mechanism of the social system must cease to work in America, or else that she must pay the taxes demanded.
This act did not pass into a law without strenuous opposition. The arguments of its supporters were
ª The Stamp Act in full will be found in Otis's Botta, i. 58.62, Notes to Book I.
42
INDIGNATION.
[CHAP. I.
met by counter-arguments, which might have con- vinced any mind not blinded to truth. The decla- mation of Charles Townsend was answered by the eloquence of Colonel Barré, whose defence of America has made his name dear to all of her children. But the decree had gone forth : the dan- gerous experiment was to be tried. The bill passed the House of Commons by a vote of two hundred and fifty in its favour, and fifty opposed to it; and, after obtaining in the House of Lords yet more decided favour, it received the royal sanction, and on the 22d of March became a law, to take effect in the Colonies on the 1st day of the succeeding November.ª
Men on both sides of the Atlantic may have ex- pected to hear complaints in America when this law was announced; but few were prepared for the burst of indignant feeling with which it was received. The whole nation seemed to mourn, but it was that mourning which rouses to strength rather than subdues to submission. The act itself, on being issued from the King's press in Boston, was seized upon and torn to pieces.b All classes determined that the hateful impost should fail in its effect. In Virginia, nearly every lawyer who had been practising in her courts, resolved rather to abandon his profession than to use the stamps, the very sight of which would have been a memo-
a Bissett's George III., 190 ; Mil. ler, iii. 51; Belsham, v. 168, 169 ; Otis's Botta, i. 54; Grahame, iv. 201; Gordon, i. 112-116.
b Belsham, v. 184; Burk, iii. 289.
43
STATESMEN OF VIRGINIA.
1765.]
rial of disgrace.a Few persons in the Colony could be found willing to take the office of distributor of stamps, although the strongest desire was felt by the English Ministry that all their agents should be Americans.b A Mr. Mercer, to whom this office was assigned in Virginia, immediately rejected it ; nor would it have been easy to secure a successor, had the law gone fully into operation.e
But though the feeling of indignation was gene- ral, the ruling authorities had not yet dared to speak openly on the subject. Habit had too long bound them, to be at once violated, and some of the very ablest men in Virginia would have shrunk from a protest against the right claimed by the mother country. It was reserved for one man to break the charm, and to remove at once the cloud which yet concealed the dangerous crisis that was approaching.
With a special view to the debate on the Stamp Act, William Johnson of Louisa, vacated his seat in the House of Burgesses, and made way for Patrick Henry, who, on the 20th of May, was placed on the Committee for Courts of Justice.d Already the fame of the orator had gone abroad through the state, and the wish was felt to have his aid in the coming discussion. In this Assembly we note the names of many who have filled a broad space in the history of America. John Robinson was the Speaker, and he had, also, long discharged the duties of Treasurer to the Colony. He was
a Grahame, iv. 220.
b Gordon, i. 116.
c Grahame, iv. 220.
d Wirt's P. Henry, 40.
44
STATESMEN OF VIRGINIA.
[CHAP. I.
reputed to be very wealthy : large landed estates had been held by his family during a course of years, and had imparted to him the character and the feelings of the aristocracy of Virginia. He was courteous in manner, and liberal in heart : his very generosity betrayed him into indiscretions which made him false to his public trust, and finally wrought his downfall.
Peyton Randolph was the Attorney-General, and was also a member of the House of Burgesses. He had already distinguished himself in a contest with Dinwiddie, involving the rights of the Colony,ª and he was at all times ready to promote what he re- garded as the true interests of Virginia. Though deeply learned in the law, he had but little of the power of oratory, yet his solid attainments, and his weight of character, made him invaluable in his sphere. Richard Bland was a member of this House : a ripe scholar, a patient and laborious stu- dent, a lover of the antique, and a man profoundly versed in the early history of the Anglo-American settlements.
Next may be mentioned the eloquent and ac- complished Pendleton. The early education of this gentleman had been defective, but a native dig- nity of mind rose superior to youthful habit. Fos- tered by the care of John Robinson, the Speaker, he addicted himself to polite studies and to the law
a See vol. i. 482. ton is said to have passed his early
b So says Mr. Wirt, P. Henry, years with Benjamin Robinson, 41, 42 ; but see Alden's Collec. Am. Clerk of Caroline County Court. Epitaphs, v. 20, where Mr. Pendle-
45
RICHARD HENRY LEE.
1765.]
with success seldom equalled. He became a grace- ful and impressive speaker. A fine person pre- sented him with advantage to his hearers,-a sil- very and melodious voice charmed the ear, and a constant flow of sweet and perspicuous words won the heart. He possessed not the overwhelming power which sweeps away an audience as in a whirlwind of passion, but he could convince the reason and fascinate the soul.
Richard Henry Lee has been truly called the Cicero of the House.ª Nature had formed his face in the Roman mould, and the whole contour of his head and his person increased the resemblance. He had studied classic literature with exquisite ap- preciation. The rich colours of Lucretius, the graces of Virgil, and the wit of Horace, had all be- come his own. He loved History, and opened her stores with indefatigable hand. He was not by profession a lawyer; he knew little of the niceties of special pleading, or of the artificial rules of the English real property system, but he had studied the Constitution of Britain and her Colonies with deep scrutiny, and he knew all that an American statesman needed to know. His manner as an orator was perfect : even the hand which had be- come withered, and which was covered with a silken bandage, added to his effect ; and so graceful was his gesture, that many thought he had gained it before a mirror. His voice was deeper than Mr.
a Wirt's P. Henry, 43. The reader Wirt's elegant sketches of these will not demand from me any apo- great men. How could I have found logy for having sought aid from Mr. more beautiful models ?
46
GEORGE WYTHE.
[CHAP. I.
Pendleton's, and having a fervid imagination, he often poured out strains of eloquence which capti- vated his hearers, and carried them with him in welcome slavery. Yet he was too smooth-too flowing : he never struck those chords which startle the soul, and cause the blood to run like liquid fire through the veins.
No man wielded greater influence in the House than George Wythe. , Law had been his favourite study, but with this he united a close acquaintance with the models of ancient literature, and a love of the earlier English writers, which imparted a pecu- liar tone to his style. He was a powerful reasoner ; prompt in seizing the strong points of his subject, witty and sarcastic in reply, yet fair, open, and honourable in every conflict. He spurned all art, and went directly to the point he sought; and if at times a wily adversary gained an advantage, it was more than compensated by the confidence felt by all in the man whose integrity of character had passed into a proverb.
Among these great men, and many others who represented the wealth and intelligence of the Co- lony, Patrick Henry was now to appear. He came in all the simplicity of nature, but nature soon as- serted her dignity, and made art her minister for accomplishing her great ends. Many had heard of his power, yet few had any prescience of the mighty change to be wrought through his influ- ence. His first effort displayed his strength. Ha- bits of extravagance and vice had gained ground in the Colony, encouraged, it is to be feared, by the
47
PATRICK HENRY.
1765.]
example of Governor Fauquier, whose love for the gaming-table was his ruling passion. Seduced by his own good nature, the Treasurer, Robinson, had loaned the public money to his friends in so im- mense sums, that at length he found exposure in- evitable, unless some happy expedient could be found for his relief. With the aid of his friends in the Assembly, he devised the plan of a public loan- office, from which money should be loaned to indi- viduals on good landed security. Had this scheme been adopted, the debt due to Mr. Robinson would have been transferred to the public, and thus his breach of trust would never have been known.ª
Immediately after Mr. Henry had taken his seat, this plan was proposed. Few members had any knowledge of the secret object for which it was in- tended. Some knew it who were among the finest speakers and the most influential members of the House, and there was every prospect that it would be carried without serious opposition. But Patrick Henry attacked it, and with his matchless power of words, overwhelmed it in a moment. His clear mind enabled him to see its dangerous tendency, and his honest spirit looked with horror upon the corruption that it would breed. In answer to the argument that it would be beneficial to many who would be ruined if their debts were suddenly ex- acted, he asked if they expected to "reclaim the spendthrift by filling his pockets with money ;" and by the working of a bold common sense,
a See Mr. Jefferson's Letter to 46; Tucker's Life of Jefferson, i. Mr. Wirt, in Life of P. Henry, 45, 41-43.
48
RESOLUTIONS.
[CHAP. I.
clothed in words pointed by their very simplicity, he so affected members that the plan was voted down by a heavy majority.ª It is with regret that we are compelled to relate the sequel : Mr. Robin- son died in the succeeding year, and on examining his accounts, the huge deficiency was discovered, and the reason for this proposed scheme was made apparent.b
Not until near the close of the session was the subject approached, which was beyond all others interesting to every mind. The aristocracy were yet disposed to remonstrate, and to pray rather than to protest, and the more humble members needed a leader to give strength to their action. It was at this juncture that Patrick Henry appeared in his true greatness, and gave an impulse to America which she feels to the present day.
Finding his compeers in the Assembly divided in sentiment and indisposed to action, he instantly resolved to assume the lead. On the blank leaf of an old law book he wrote the rough draft of those celebrated resolutions which were soon circulated through every colony. They were originally five in number : the first declared that the original settlers were entitled to all the " privileges, fran-
a Wirt's P. Henry, 46.
b Note by Mr. Jefferson, in Wirt's P. Henry, 46, 47 ; see Burk, iii. 332, who says the default was discovered before Mr. Robinson's death, and that the mortification he experienced hastened his end.
" They will be found in full, as- 310.
given by Mr. Henry himself, in Wirt's P. Henry, 49. Marshall gives six, and reports them inaccurately, Life of Washington, ii. 130, edit. 1804. Mr. Burk has the same error as to the number, and says two were discarded by compromise, iii. 306-
49
RESOLUTIONS.
1765.]
chises, and immunities," at any time held by the people of Great Britain; the second, that these pri- vileges had been expressly secured to them by the charters granted by James I .; the third, that taxa- tion by the people themselves, or their representa- tives duly chosen, was an essential characteristic of British freedom; and the fourth, that the colonists of Virginia had uniformly enjoyed this right of taxation by their own assemblies, that it had been recognised by the King and people of Great Bri- tain, and that in no way had it ever been forfeited or given up. The fifth is so remarkable that it must be given entire : "Resolved, therefore, that the General Assembly of this Colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this Colony : and that every at- tempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the General Assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy Bri- tish as well as American freedom."
When these firm resolutions, with their preamble, were read, conflicting emotions arose in every bosom. Loyalty and freedom, fear and hope, love of the country from whom they drew their birth, and hatred of the injustice she was striving to perpetuate, all mingled strangely together, and kept each heart in agitation. The most powerful men in the House shrunk back, and prepared to oppose their passage. They saw at once the broad line between their feeble memorials, and these nervous and manly protests. They felt that the last resolution, in particular, arraigned the English Legislature, VOL. II. 4
50
PATRICK HENRY'S TRIUMPH.
[CHAP. I.
King, Lords, and Commons, before them; and · boldly charged them with despotism and tyranny.a But Henry was equal to the task he had assumed. Now, at length, he had a theme worthy of himself. Not confined by technical rules or provincial limits, but broad as the British empire; affecting the rights of mankind, and appealing at once to the highest powers of the intellect, and the warmest feelings of the heart. He rejoiced in his subject, and grasping it like a giant, he expanded it before his astonished hearers, until its sublimity began to force itself upon them. His words were pregnant with a nation's freedom. He reasoned upon the chartered rights of the Colony; he unfolded the written grants of English monarchs, even in an age of servitude, and showed the clauses guarantying the privileges of America. He explored the depths of the British Constitution, and, by long-established precedents, proved the connexion between taxes and the free consent of the people; then, leaving charters and human conventions, he entered upon an inquiry into the natural rights of man, and an- nounced doctrines then almost unheard, but which have since become the basis of our government.b
Not without conflict was his triumph achieved. The accuracy of legal learning, the refinements of oratory, and the suggestions of long-tested wisdom, were marshalled against him.e' Pendleton, Bland, Wythe, and Randolph, all opposed him. It was in the heat of this debate that the memorable scene
a See Wirt's Henry, 51.
b Burk, iii. 307-309.
c Jefferson's note in Wirt's Henry, 54.
51
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
1765.]
occurred which has since become familiar to young and old. Urged on by the strength of his feelings, and glowing with the truth which seemed almost by inspiration to rise in his mind, Henry had reached a climax of eloquence :- " Cæsar," he cried, " had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell ; and George the Third" -" Treason !" burst in- stinctively from the lips of the President; " Trea- son! treason !" resounded through the house. The orator paused, then raising himself to his full height, with eyes of fire, and a voice which thrilled through every bosom, he concluded his sentence, " and George the Third may profit by their ex- ample; if this be treason, make the most of it."a
While this debate was in progress, a young student of William and Mary College, stood in the lobby of the house, and listened with reverence and delight to the sounds of Patrick Henry's voice. He was destined, in future years, to fill a large space in the eyes of his country, and he was already learning lessons from a master, far beyond whose teachings on human liberty, he was himself after- wards to advance. On the 29th day of May the debate closed ; the vote was taken, and the resolu- tions were adopted by a majority of a single voice. Immediately after the result was announced, Pey- ton Randolph came to the door of the house, and the excited young listener heard him exclaim, with every mark of passion, "I would have given five hundred guineas for a single vote." He knew that
a Burk, iii. 309; Belsham, v. 185, Wirt's Henry, 55; Howe's Hist. not perfect; Grahame, iv. 209 ; Collect. 297, 298.
52
EFFECT OF THE RESOLUTIONS.
[CHAP. I.
one would have divided the House, and the Presi- dent, Robinson, would have given a casting vote in the negative.ª Thus freedom triumphed, notwith- standing the opposition of those who were, after- wards, her warmest friends.
George Johnston, of Alexandria, had ably se- conded the efforts by which the victory was gained. On the evening of the day on which the resolu- tions passed, Mr. Henry left Williamsburg for his home, cheered by the proud consciousness of having led Virginia to her duty. The next morning the Governor and Council were busy in efforts to have the bold protests erased from the journals of the House, and they partially succeeded. The fifth resolution was so strong that even those who had voted for all were startled as they read it, and con- sented that it should be stricken out, provided the others might stand. Thus the journals of the House for May 30th, 1765, bear the four of which notice has already been taken. Finding the Bur- gesses infected with a spirit which threatened ruin to the influence of the King, on the 1st of June the Governor dissolved the Assembly.b
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