USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
No sooner were the resolutions of Virginia made known than they kindled a flame throughout Ame- rica. They furnished precisely what was needed in the crisis to unite men in opposition to the claims
Jefferson's account, in Wirt, 52 ; Tucker's Jefferson, i. 43; Burk says the resolutions were adopted by a large majority ; forty only voting against them.
b Gordon, i, 119; Burk, iii. 310; Grahame, iv. 209, 210. Mr. Wirt thinks the Governor did not dissolve the Assembly, note, 54; but the fact seems to me sufficiently proved.
53
FIRST GENERAL CONGRESS.
1765.]
of Britain. Similar resolutions were adopted on every side : newspapers which had been forward in endeavours to reconcile the Colonies to the Stamp Act, now came out boldly against it.a Non-impor- tation agreements were made by merchants and wealthy planters. Stamp agents were compelled to resign, and so strenuous was the spirit of resis- tance, that by the Ist of November, when the law was to take effect; "not a sheet of stamped paper was to be found throughout the Colonies."> Clubs were formed in nearly all the Provinces, bearing the expressive name of "Sons of Liberty," whose duty it was to correspond with similar bodies in other places, and foster the spirit of freedom ; and, finally, Massachusetts presented a scheme of all others best fitted for uniting America against the common foe. She proposed that the plan for a General Congress should be revived, and that each Colony should send delegates to New York in October.
The Legislature of Virginia having been dis- solved, she was unable to comply with this request, and therefore her delegates did not sit in the First American Congress. Twenty-eight members, from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land, and South Carolina, met on the appointed day, and Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was elected President.c They proceeded to adopt reso-
a See an example in the Pennsyl- vania Gazette, 20th June, 1765; Verbatim from Belsham. Wirt's Henry, note, 56; Grahame, ii. 210.
b Belsham, v. 185; Burk, iii. 298.
c Grahame, iv. 222 ; Otis's Botta, i. 79.
54
STAMP ACT DISREGARDED.
[CHAP. I.
lutions, in which the rights of the Colonies are set forth, and their freedom from taxation, except by their own Assemblies, is declared. Memorials to the King, and to Parliament, were drafted, which were conceived in a mild, courteous, and concilia- tory tone, not entirely welcome to some of the more enthusiastic patriots; but which clearly conveyed the grievances of America, and her claims upon her mother.a
On the fatal Ist of November, signs of sadness were seen in every part of the Colonies. In Boston, muffled drums beat dead marches; bells tolled as if funerals were in progress; long processions of mourners passed through the streets; and a coffin, containing the emblematic corpse of "Liberty," was solemnly interred. These were not mere mummeries to catch the vulgar eye. They were expressions of deep feeling which sought for utter- ance in acts stronger than words. The only ap- pearance of submission to the Stamp Act was in the shutting up of the ports for customs, and the suspending of judicial business, and even these gradually ceased. In Virginia, about the close of November, the Courts were reopened and business proceeded without the slightest regard to the hated stamp requirements.' This was the passing of the Rubicon ; when a law loses its moral power over the mind of the subject, it will soon be openly de- spised and disobeyed.
Meantime a change had taken place in the
a See the resolutions and memo- b Gordon, i. 132; Grahame, iv. rials in Burk, iii. 311-322. 233.
55
PITT'S SPEECH.
1766.]
British Ministry ; Lord George Grenville had been displaced, and the Marquis of Rockingham, a Whig nobleman of wealth and influence, had suc- ceeded. When Parliament convened in December, the exciting topic was the Stamp Act and the re- sistance of the Colonies. England thought of her fleets and armies, and many proposed force; but numberless petitions from every part of the king- dom poured in, praying for a repeal of this law. (1766.) Early in the succeeding year the debate in the House of Commons commenced. It was powerful in interest, and drew forth from the friends of liberty appeals which will long be remembered. Mr. Grenville yet argued for the continuance of the law : he urged that America was protected and therefore might be taxed; he told of Durham and Chester, which had been taxed before they were represented, and asked when America had been emancipated ? In a glow of generous indig- nation, William Pitt denounced the act, and pressed for its unconditional and immediate repeal. "I rejoice," he said, " that America has resisted : three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of all the rest."a In reply to Mr. Grenville's question, when the Colonists had been emancipated, he asked when had they been enslaved ? He showed that the cases of Durham and Chester proved nothing, except that even in a despotic reign, a monarch, ashamed that
a Pitt's Speech, in Belsham, v. 327, 328; Otis's Botta, i. 94, 193 ; in Grahame, iv. 239 ; Burk, iii.
56
STAMP ACT REPEALED.
[CHAP. I.
any part of his people should be taxed without being represented, had admitted their members to the House of Commons. He spoke of the power of England, and of the force threatened against America : "I know the valour of your troops,-the force of this country,-but in such a case success would be hazardous; America, if she fell, would fall like a strong man, she would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the Constitution with her."a
Slowly and reluctantly the enemies of freedom yielded to the storm. Doctor Franklin was exa- mined in the presence of the House of Commons, and by his practical wisdom, his simple and cour- teous manner, and his transparent words, won many friends for his country. On the 22d day of February, a day already hallowed by the birth of George Washington, the vote was taken, and the bill repealing the Stamp Act passed the Commons by a vote of two hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and sixty-seven. It was immediately carried, attended by nearly two hundred members, to the House of Lords, where, after stern opposi- tion, it was likewise passed, twenty-eight Lords entering a solemn protest against it, on its third reading.b On the 19th day of March, the King gave it his sanction, and it became a law. But with express design to prove that the repeal of the
a Belsham, v. 194; Burk, iii. 329; dent approbation; but see Belsham, Otis's Botta, i. 95.
contra, v. 197. It is difficult to be- b Miller gives their reasons in lieve that Miller and Belsham be- full, George III., 58, and with evi- longed to the same nation.
57
TRANSIENT JOYS.
1766.]
Stamp Act was not intended to recognise the rights claimed by America, this measure was accompanied by a Declaratory Act, asserting the right of the King and Parliament of Great Britain, by law "to bind the Colonies and people of America, in all cases whatsoever."ª Thus the authority to impose taxes was affirmed. England was destined to drive her Colonies into independence.
When the repeal was announced, joy pervaded every bosom in the Provinces. The brightest hopes of the friends of loyalty in Virginia were more than realized. In the first emotions of their gratitude, the Assembly voted thanks to the King and both Houses of Parliament, and decreed that a statue and an obelisk should be raised to preserve the memory both of the Sovereign and of the dis- tinguished statesman to whom they believed their deliverance to be due.b But we have reason to believe that no measures were taken to carry this resolution into effect.º Subsequent oppression came too soon to leave undisturbed their dreams of happiness.
In the session of 1766, the breach of trust of which Mr. Robinson, the Treasurer, had been guilty, was made apparent; and, as it was manifest that his place as Speaker of the House had ex- posed him to the temptation of loaning to members, it was resolved that in future the two offices should be divorced. Peyton Randolph was elected Presi-
a Grahame, iv. 240; Burk, iii. 330 ; Belsham, v. 196; Miller's George III., 58; Bissett, 202.
b Burk, iii. 331 ; Gordon, i. 144.
c Wirt's Henry, 56.
58
DEATH OF GOVERNOR FAUQUIER. [CHAP. I.
dent, and Robert Carter Nicholas was made Trea- surer. His integrity and skill fitted him for its duties, and during the time he discharged them, no cause of dissatisfaction was given.a
(1767.) As the session of the succeeding year wore away, the health of Governor Fauquier, which had long been declining, rapidly failed, and he died on the 3d of March, 1768, in the 66th year of his age. He had endeared himself to many in the Colony by his graceful manners and social disposition. His taste was refined, and his education had been liberal : he made learning attractive, and endea- voured to infuse a love of letters into his colonial charge. Yet he had vices, both of opinion and of practice, which made him a dangerous companion for the susceptible hearts of Virginia. He had im- bibed much of the infidel spirit then so prevalent in Europe, and made fashionable by the most elegant writers of the French nation.' He had an insatiate passion for gaming. It has been said, that on the return of the great navigator, Anson, from his voyage round the world, he played at cards with Fauquier, and in a single night won the whole of his property, and afterwards, by way of showing his compassion, exerted his influence to obtain for him the government of Virginia.e Untaught by experience, Fauquier continued his course : he gamed furiously in the Colony. During each vaca- tion he made a social tour among the rich planters of the country, and everywhere at his approach
a Burk, iii. 332, 333; Wirt, 57, 58. . c Burk, iii. 354.
b See Tucker's Jefferson, vol. i. 41.
59
CHARLES TOWNSEND.
1767.]
dice rattled, cards appeared, money in immense sums was lost and won; and, to the present day, the contagion of his example may be felt in the ancient Dominion.
John Blair, as President of Council, succeeded to the vacant office, and convened the Legislature at an earlier day than was usual, to provide for dan- ger threatened on the frontiers by Indians. But a more imposing peril than this soon absorbed their thoughts.
In England the Duke of Grafton had succeeded Rockingham as Prime Minister, and Charles Town- send had been made Chancellor of the Exchequer. Not for a moment had ministers abandoned the re- solve to draw money from America by taxation. Provoked by the violent opposition which had been made in New York to the Stamp Act, Parliament passed a law suspending the powers of the govern- ment of that Colony until proper satisfaction should be made. This law has been approved even by the more liberal among English writers,a but it ex- cited deep emotion in America, and drew from Virginia expressions of sympathy for her oppressed sister.৳ Charles Townsend was not content with this triumph. Active and excitable in mind, bril- liant in debate, and formidable as a party leader, he was intriguing and unscrupulous as a politician. He openly boasted that he knew a method by which he could draw revenue from the Americans with-
a Belsham, v. 266, 267. Of course, Pennsylvania Farmer," written by Miller approves, iii. 64. ..
John Dickenson, Virginia Gazette,
b See the celebrated " Letters of a beginning January 7, 1768.
60
RENEWED TAXATION.
[CHAP. I.
out offending them, and George Grenville, who was always alive to this subject, urged him to open his plan. Incautious writers and declaimers in the Colonies and in Britain, had tried to draw a dis- tinction between external and internal taxes. They contended that England had a right to impose the first but not the latter, forgetting that an external tax or duty on imports might be just as much for the purpose of raising revenue as a duty on stamps. Cunningly availing themselves of this unsound distinction, Ministers introduced a bill imposing duties in America upon lead, painters' colours, glass, paper, and tea, imported, and in the month of May this bill became a law, having encountered little opposition in either House.
When this action was made known, the Bur- gesses of Virginia again addressed a grave memo- rial to the King and Parliament. Their argument was now more solid, their tone more decided, and their assertion of right more emphatic, than they had ever been before.' They exposed the folly of the attempted distinction between external and in- ternal taxes, and proved that a duty on articles which had become necessary to civilized life would operate as a tax for revenue." They spoke strongly of the injustice done to New York, and declared that none of the Colonies were safe while these re- strictions remained. We note with interest and
* Miller, iii. 64; Belsham, v. 271 ; Grahame, iv. 263.
c This was the great point argued in the "Letters of a Pennsylvania b Burk gives the substance of Farmer," Virginia Gazette, Feb., these memorials, iii. 336-341.
1768.
1
61
BOTETOURT.
1768.]
pleasure the advance of the free spirit, and the ap- proach to independence.
(1768.) In October of this year a new Governor arrived. Norborne Berkley, Baron De Botetourt, came out from Portsmouth in the Rippon, sixty- gun ship, and was received in Hampton Roads with all due honour.ª It has been supposed that he had been instructed to assume more than wonted dignity, and to dazzle the disaffected colonists by a display of splendour reflected from the Crown. In a beautiful carriage, presented by the King, he was slowly drawn by six milk-white horses in gorgeous trappings through the streets of Williamsburg. He met the Assembly with all the rites and ceremo- nies observed when the English Sovereign re- ceived his Parliaments.b But this empty show was worse than vain. It gained no hearts and bewil- dered no heads : it was distasteful to the Governor himself; and failing to produce the desired effect, he laid aside the burden. This excellent noble- man felt his position in Virginia to be painful. He was the first governor-in-chief who had come to reside in the Colony since Lord Culpeper, and un- der any other circumstances he might have been a blessing to the people he ruled. Moderate in tem- per, and devoted to peace, he earnestly desired to see Virginia cordial in her submission to her mo- ther ; but so strong was his sense of justice, that he could not shut his eyes to the truth of her griev-
a Virginia Gazette, in Howe, 326. 342 ; and Mr. Grahame follows him,
b Note, in Burk, iii. 363. In his iv. 290.
text, Mr. Burk adds two more horses,
62
BOTETOURT DISSOLVES ASSEMBLY. [CHAP. I.
ances. His duty to his Sovereign required that he should check the first approaches of rebellion, yet his duty to the people, who loved him, and whom he learned to love, in return, forbade him to urge harsh measures against them. Thus was he in- volved in perplexity which must soon be men- tioned.
(1769.) The Governor having presented no spe- cial subject for their consideration, the Burgesses took up the late measures of England, and passed four resolutions, couched in firm but respectful lan- guage, in which their rights are declared (May 16). After denying the power of taxation, except by themselves, they declare that persons accused of crime in the Colony ought to be tried at home, and that to seize them and send them to Britain for trial, was " highly derogatory of the rights of Bri- tish subjects." They point to union in these reso- lutions, and recommend that they shall be sent to all the other Colonies for their concurrence.ª Lord Botetourt seems not to have been prepared for this action. The bold assertions of the Burgesses asto- nished him: he saw the influence of the King fading away in the land. He summoned the Speaker and Assembly to the council chamber, and addressed them in laconic terms.
" Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses : I have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accord- ingly."
a The Resolutions are in Burk, iii. 342, 343; Grahame, iv. 291.
63
FIRST VIRGINIA CONVENTION.
1769.]
But now the spirit of freedom had risen too high to be at once allayed. The measure of the Go- vernor was the occasion of a decisive step, which went far in the path to Independence. Instead of returning quietly to their homes, as they had done before, when dissolved, the Burgesses, almost as with one accord, reassembled at a private house in Williamsburg, and formed the first revolutionary "Convention" that Virginia had known. Nothing like it in any respect can be found in her past his- tory, except the meeting called by Nathaniel Ba- con in the time of his rebelliona-and the parallel both in place and in purpose between these two events, will not escape the notice of the philo- sophic reader. When the representatives of the people begin to debate public measures on their own authority, they are fast approaching to self- government.
The Convention made no attempt to make laws: they simply adopted a preamble, in which they ex- pressed their sense of the wrong done them by the late acts of Parliament, and they then entered into a non-importation agreement, binding themselves to be frugal, to import no taxed article, and none of the manufactures or products of Britain, until she should return to the practice of justice. The agreement is signed by an array of names which cannot be read without feelings of veneration. The noblest of Virginia's sons will be found among them.b Long-cherished prepossessions were fast
a Vol. i. 349, 350. will be found in Burk, iii. 345-349,
b The agreement and signatures in note.
64
HILLSBOROUGH.
[CHAP. I.
yielding to a love of freedom, and a desire for in- dependence.
The effect of their action was soon apparent. Copies of the agreement were spread through the country, and thousands of signatures attested the sentiments of the people. Old and young, great and humble, wealthy and poor, united in opposition to the claims of the mother country. The other Colonies caught the flame kindled in Virginia, and fanned it into conflagration. Meanwhile, England was not ignorant of the course of her Colonists, and for a time, at least, she again paused. The Earl of Hillsborough, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, wrote to Lord Botetourt, assuring him that it was not the intention of Ministers to draw re- venue by duties from America, and that at the next meeting of Parliament, the customs on glass, paper, and colours, would be repealed, as being adverse to the interests of commerce. The generous Governor glowed with delight in receiving these assurances, and his letter communicating them to the Council and House of Burgesses, expresses in nervous lan- guage how much he felt interested for his colonial charge.ª Once more hope revived ; the Council and Assembly united in sentiments of gratitude to the Governor, and of respect for the King; but their hopes were destined to speedy betrayal.
Charles Townsend died in the month of Sep- tember, and was succeeded in his office by Frederic, Lord North, the eldest son of the Earl of Guildford. (1770.) In January, the Duke of Grafton resigned
2 Documents, in Burk, iii. 350-353.
65
DEATH OF BOTETOURT.
1770.]
his place, and Lord North became First Lord of the Treasury, and Premier of England.ª The administration of this nobleman was memorable; fatal to the best interests of Britain, and only bene- ficial to America, because it drove her into war.
In the month of March, urged on by numberless petitions from British merchants, he introduced a bill repealing the duties on glass, colours, lead and paper, but retaining that on tea. This last was re- tained with express design to affirm the right to tax, and in urging it, his Lordship openly declared his policy : "To temporise is to yield .; and the authority of the mother country, if it is now un- supported, will in reality be relinquished for ever : a total repeal cannot be thought of till America is prostrate at our feet." The bill in the form pro- posed became a law, and was transmitted to America.
Lord · Botetourt was deeply wounded by this re- sult. His hopes, based on the assertions of Hills- borough, vanished into air, and so much was he mortified by the position in which his own govern- ment had placed him, that he asked leave to resign. While his application was pending, the pain of a generous mind aggravated a disease of his body, and he died during the summer, deplored not merely by personal friends, but by all classes in the Colony, capable of appreciating his worth." In death he has not been forgotten; one of the most beautiful counties in the valley bears his name,
a Belsham, v. 285, 286; Bissett's
George's III., 256, 257.
VOL. II. 5
b Belsham, v. 358.
c Burk, iii. 361.
66
LORD DUNMORE.
[CHAP. I.
and a monument at Williamsburg, erected by order of the Assembly,a perpetuates the memory of the man who preferred the love of Virginia to the smiles of his King.
After the death of Botetourt, William Nelson, President of Council, administered the affairs of the Colony. The appointment of a governor at this crisis, had become a matter of great delicacy and importance, and had the English rulers sought through their dominions, they could hardly have made a worse selection than the man on whom their choice fell. (1772.) From the Province of New York, Lord Dunmore was transferred to Vir- ginia. He is said to have been coarse in his person, rude in his manners, and unscrupulous in his morals : he wanted the courtesy, the refinement, the sensitive love of justice possessed by his pre- decessor in so eminent a degree.b He brought with him Captain Foy, as his private secretary, an officer of the British army who had distinguished himself in the bloody battle of Minden. To pro- vide well for his favourite, Dunmore resorted to a practice honoured by the renowned examples of Culpeper and Effingham, and invented a new list ·of fees, which promised to bring him some revenue; but the first Assembly after his arrival, scrutinized the matter so rigidly, that he was obliged to desist.c With much reason it has been supposed that a military companion was selected by Dunmore with a special view to the disturbed state of the Colony,
a Howe, 326; Burk, iii. 364, in b Wirt's Henry, 99.
note.
c Burk, iii. 368-370.
67
DABNEY CARR.
1772.]
and the forcible measures he might find it expedient to adopt.
Though harsh and unprepossessing in his man- ners, his Lordship had decided talents, and an ability for diplomacy, upon which the English Court placed some reliance. He detected a scheme of extensive forgery of the public securities, and brought the offenders to justice by means so stern and summary, that the Assembly could not ap- prove.ª But events of greater importance were soon to attract his attention. (1773.) The Assembly of this year, contained members of great power of mind, and of uncompromising patriotism. Among the youngest and most brilliant were Dabney Carr and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Carr was already a rival of Patrick Henry at the bar. His person was fine, his voice full of melody, his feeling keen, his reason unclouded ; his heart overflowed with love to his country, and his tongue was ever ready to express it. On the 12th March, he introduced im- portant resolutions, appointing " a standing com- mittee of correspondence and inquiry," to consist of eleven members, whose duty it should be, to watch Britain and commune with the other Colo- nies. This measure was powerful in its operation, and we may judge of its weight by the men placed on the committee. They were the leaders of America in the approaching struggle. It is sad
2 Burk, iii. 371. Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archi-
b They were Peyton Randolph, R. bald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson .- C. Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard Wirt, 69, 70; Burk, iii. 392; Tuck- er's Life of Jefferson, i. 52, 53. Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry,
68
DEATH OF DABNEY CARR.
[CHAP. I.
to reflect how short a time the young statesman who had introduced it, survived the triumph of his scheme. Mr. Carr died in Charlottesville, on the 16th of May, in the thirtieth year of his age.a
Every day brought nearer to explosion the storm which was gathering in the British Colonies. It was delayed as long as forbearance was possible. Had the war been a sudden outburst, it would have had as sudden a termination. But it was the legitimate consequence of years, and even cen- turies of oppression ; and therefore it was destined, when commenced, to end only with the total re- moval of its cause. It was a war of principle, and not of mere expediency. Of this, the best proof is found in the conduct of the adverse parties, as the contest drew near to its acme. Hoping to reconcile the Colonists to the payment of the tax of three pence on tea, England by law permitted the East India Company to withdraw from her ports millions of pounds of this commodity which they had there in store, and to ship them to America without pay- ing any duty in the custom-house, of the mother country. The effect of this was to make the price of tea actually lower in America than it had been before the duty was imposed. But the eyes of the Colonists were now open to the subject; they were not to be deceived by the appearance of fairness. So long as duty was demanded in the ports of America, so long was she taxed without her own consent, and until this principle was abandoned, she
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.