USA > Virginia > Virginia and Virginians; eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia, Vol. II > Part 8
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Bayou Biddell (Louisiana) October 15
Glasgow (Missouri) October 16 · ·
Snake Creek Gan (Georgia) October 15
October 15
Ships Gap (Taylors Ridge, Georgia)
October 16
Cedar Run Church (Virginia)
October 17
Pierces Point (Blackwater, Florida)
October 18
Lexington (Missouri) ..
October 19
Cedar Creek, or Middletown (Virginia) 0
October 19
Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) October 20-26 0
Little River (Tennessee)
October 20
Harrodsburg (Kentucky)
October 21
Little Blue (Missouri)
October 21
Independence (Missouri) October 22
White River (Arkansas) October 22
Gunboat attack on the Onion batteries on the James River (Va.) October 22
Hurricane Creek (Mississippi) October 23
Princeton (Arkansas) October 23
Westport (Big Blue, Missouri) October 23
Cold Water Grove (Osage, Missouri). October 24
Mino Creek, Maria des Cygnes and Little Osage River (Arkansas) .October 25
Milton, Blackwater (Florida) October 26
Decatur (Alabama) October 26-29 Hatchers Run, South Side Railroad or Boydtown Road, Vaughn Road and Burgess Farm (Virginia) October 27
Fair Oaks (near Richmond, Virginia) . October 27-28
Newtonia (Missouri). October 28-30
Fort Haiman (Tennessee) October 28
Destruction of the Rebel Ram Albemarle October 28
Fayetteville (Arkansas)
October 28 Morristown (Tennessee) October 28 Boverly (West Virginia)
October 29 Muscle Shoals (Raccoon Ford, Alabama).
Near Brownsville (Alabama)
October 30
Plymouth (North Carolina)
October 31
Black River (Louisiana).
November 1
Union Station (Tennessee)
November 1-4 Vera Cruz (Arkansas)
November 3 Johnsonville (Tennessee) November 4-5
Big Pigeon River (Tennessee). November 5-6
Fort Sedgwick (Virginia) November 5
Atlanta (Georgia)
.November 8
Shoal Oreoks (Alabama)
November 9
0
October 30
Ladija (Terrapin Creek, Alabama).
October 30
Sedalia (Missouri) .
494
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
1854%
Newtown, Ninevah, and Cedar Springs (Virginia) November 18
Bulls Gap (Morristown, Tennesace) November 13
Cow Creek (Arkansas) November 14-28
Clinton and Liberty Creek (Louisiana) November 15
Lovejoy Station (Jonesboro, Georgia). November 16 November 16 Bear Creek Station (Georgia). e 0
Chester Station (Bermuda Hundred, Virginia) November 17
Aberdeen and Butler Creek (Alabama) November 17
Myerstown (Virginia) November 18
Bayou La Fouche, or Ash Bayou (Louisiana). November 19
Macon (Georgia) November 20
Liberty and Jackson (Louisiana) November 21 0
Rolling Fork (Mississippi) November 23 a 0 t 6
Griswoldville (Georgia) 0 ·
November 23
Clinton (Georgia) November 22 6 . 0 5
November 22
Lawrenceburg (Tennessee).
November 22
Bents Old Fork (Texas)
November 24
Campbellville and Lynnville (Tennessee). November 24
Columbia (Duck Run, Tennessee) November 24-28
Balls Ferry (Oconee River, Georgia) November 24-25 0 1
Pawnee Forks (Kansas) November 25
St. Vrain's Old Fort (New Mexico) November 25
Madison Station (Alabama) November 26
Sandersville, or Buffalo Creek (Georgia) November 26
Sylvan Grove (Georgia). November 26 Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi Central Railroad. November 27
Waynesboro, Thomas Station and Buck Head Creek, or Reynolds
Plantation, Jones' Plantation and Browns Cross Roads (Ga.) ..
November 27-99 Fort Kelly, New Creek (West Virginia) November 28
Spring Hill, or Mount Carmel (Tennessee). November 29
Big Sandy (Colorado Territory) November 29
Franklin (Tennessee).
November 30
Honey Hill, Broad River, or Grahamsville (South Carolina). November 30
Bermuda Hundred (Virginia). November 80-December 4 Stoney Creek Station and Duvalls Mills (Weldon Railroad, Va.) .. December 1 Twelve Miles from Yazoo City (Mississippi) December 1
Trenches before Petersburg (Virginia)
December-1-31
Skirmishing in front of Nashville (Tennessee)
December 1
Rocky Creek Church (Georgia)
December 2
(Mississippi)
December 2
Block House No. 2 (Mill Creek, Chattanooga, Tennessee).
December 3
Coosaw River (South Carolina).
Block House No. 7 (Overalls Creek, Tennessee). December 4
Waynesboro and Brier Creek (Georgia). December 4
Statesboro (Georgia). December 4
Murfreesboro or Cedars (Tennessee). December 5-8 Deveaux Neck, or Tillafinney River, Mason's Bridge and Gregory's Farm (South Carolina) December 6-9
December 6
White Post (Virginia)
December 7 Ebenezer Creek, Cypress Swamp (Georgia)
*
3 .
0
0
C
.
0
€
.
.
December 1-14 Millen Grove (Georgia)
December 2-3
Thomas Station (Georgia). ... December 4
Roods Hill (Virginia).
0
495
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
1866.
Ogeechee River, or Jenks Bridge, Eden Station and Pooles Station (Georgia) December 7-9
Weldon Railroad Expedicion December 7-11
Reconnaissance to Hatchers Run (\ rginia) December 8-9
Raid to Gordonsville (Virginia) December 8-28
Expedition into Western North Carolina. December 9-January 14, 1865
Fort Lyons or Sand Creek (Indian Territory) December
Cuylers Plantation (Monteith Swamp, Georgia) .December 9
Expedition to Hamilton, North Carolina December,9-13
Bellefeld and Hicksford (Virginia) December 9
Siege of Savannah (Georgia) December 10-21
Elkton (Kentucky). December 12
Stoneman's Raid from Beans Station, Tenn., to Saltville (Va.) .. December 12-21 December 18
Kingsport (Tennessee).
Fort McAllister (Georgia). December 13
Bristol (Tennessee) . December 14
Memphis (Tennessee) December 14
Abingdon (Virginia) December 15
December 15
Murfreesboro (Tennessee).
Glade Springs December 15
Nashville; or Brentwood (Overtons Hills, Tennessee) December 15-16
Hopkinsville (Kentucky)
December 16
Marion and Wythoville (Virginia).
December 16
Millwood (Virginia) December 17
Hollow Tree Gap (Tennessee)
December 17
Franklin (Tennessee).
December 17
Mitchells Creek (Florida).
December 17
Pine Barren Creek (Alabama)
December 17-19
Marion (Virginia). 0
December 18 0 Franklin Creek (Mississippi) December 18
Rutherford Creek (Tennessee) December 19
Saltville (Virginia) December 20
Laceys Springs (Virginia) December 20
Madison C. Il. (Virginia). December 20
Lynnville (Tennessee) December 23
Jacks Shop (near Gordonsville, Virginia) .. December 23
Buford Station (Tennessee) December 23
Elizabethtown (Kentucky). December 24
Mocassin Gap (Virginia) December 24
Murfreesboro (Tennessee) December 24
Fort Fisher (North Carolina). December 25
Pulaski, Lambs Ferry, Anthonys Hill and Sugar Creek (Tenn.) ... December 25 Verona (Mississippi). December 25
Decatur (Alabama) December 27-23
Egypt Station (Mississippi) December 28
Pond Springs (Alabama) December 29
1865-BATTLES AND ENGAGEMENTS-135.
1865.
Franklin (Mississippi) January 2
Nauvoo (Alabama) January 2
Thorn Hill (Alabama). January 3 Smithfield (Kentucky) January 5
Julesburg (Indian Territory) January 7
Scottsboro (Alabama)
January 8
1
496
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
1935.
Ivy Ford (Arkansas). January 8
Beverly (West Virginia).
January 11
Fort Fisher (North Carolina)
January 13-15
Red Hill (Alabama) January 14
Dardenelle (Arkansas)
January 14
Pocotaligo (South Carolina). January 14-16
Explosion of the Magazine at Fort Fisher January 16
Ten Miles from Columbus (Kentucky) January 18
Half Moon Battery, Sugar Loaf Hill (North Carolina) January 19
Fort Brady, or Fort Burnham or Boggs Mills (Virginia) January 24
Combahee River (South Carolina) January 25
Powhatan (Virginia) January 25
Simpsonville (Kentucky). January 25
Expedition into Western North Carolina January 29-February 11
Rivers Bridge (Salkahatchie, South Carolina) February 8-9
Dabneys Mills, or Rowanty Creek and Vaughn Road (Virginia)
February 5-7
Dunn Lake (Volusia county, Florida)
February
5
Mud Springs (Indian Territory)
February
8
Wiliston (South Carolina)
February 8
Binnakers Bridge (South Edisto River, South Carolina).
February 9
Rush Creek (Indian Territory)
February 9
James Island (South Carolina)
February 10
Blackville (South Carolina)
February 11
Sugar Loaf Battery (Federal Point, North Carolina)
February 11
Aiken (South Carolina)
February 11
Orangeburg (North Edisto River, South Carolina).
February 12
Gunters Bridge (South Carolina)
February 14
Congaree Creek (South Carolina). February 15
February 16
Columbia (South Carolina)
February 16-17
Fort Jones (Kentucky) February 18
February 18
Charleston (South Carolina) February 18
Fort Anderson (North Carolina)
February 18
Fort Myers (Florida). February 20
Town Creek (North Carolina) February 20
Wilmington (North Carolina)
February 22
Douglass Landing (Pine Bluff, Arkansas) February 23
Mount Clio (South Carolina). February 26
Lynch Creek (South Carolina) February 26
Chattanooga (Tennessee) February ===
Sheridan's Raid in Virginia February 27-March 25
February 29
Waynesboro (Virginia). March 2
Clinton (Louisiana) March -
March 2
Cheraw (South Carolina)
March 2-8
Florence (South Carolina).
March 3
Olive Branch (Louisiana)
March 6
Natural Bridge (Florida)
March 6
North Fork (Shenandoah, Virginia) March 6
Rockingham (North Carolina) March 7
Wilcoxs Bridge. Wises Fork. Kinston (North Carolina).
March 8-10
Cedar Keys (Florida).
Ashby Gap (Virginia)
Mount Crawford (Virginia).
Chesterfield (South Carolina).
.
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
497
Monroes Cross Roads (North Carolina) March 10
Clear Lake (Arkansas). March 11
Silver Run (Fayetteville, North Carolina) March 13
Kingston (North Carolina)
March 15
Taylors Holo Creek (North Carolina)
March 10
Ashland (Virginia).
March 15
Averysboro, or Smith's Farm (North Carolina) ..
March 16
Boyds Station (Alabama)
March 18
Bentonville (North Carolina).
a March 19-21
Stoneman's Raid, Southwestern Va. and N. C.
March 90 -- April 6
Goldsboro (North Carolina)
March 91
Hamilton (Virginia).
March 21
Wilson's Raid, Chickasaw, Alabama, to Macon, Georgia
March 22 -- April 26
Sumterville (South Carolina)
March 29
Rerock (Arizona Territory
March 21
Coxes Bridge (North Carolina)
March 24
Fort Steedman (in front of Petersburg, Virginia).
March 25
Petersburg (Virginia). March 25 0
Pine Barren Creek, or Bluff Spring (Alabama) March 25
Siege of Mobile (Alabama). .March 26-April 9 3 3
Spanish Fort (Alabama). March 26-April 8 O
Quaker Road (Gravelly Run, Virginia). March 29
0 Boydtown and White Oaks Road (Virginia). March 31 · 6 .
Dinwiddie C. H. (Virginia). March 31 0
3 Montavallo and Six Mile Creek (Alabama) March Si 0 0 .
Five Forks (Virginia).
April 1
Boone (North Carolina)
April 1
Trion (Alabama)
. April 1
Mount Pleasant (Alabama).
April 1
Centreville (Alabama)
April 1
Bogler's Creek and Plantersville, or Ebenezer Church and Maplesville (Alabama)
April 1
Scottsville (Alabama) April 2
Fall of Petersburg (Virginia)
Namozin Church and Willicomack (Virginia) April 2
Richmond (Virginia). April 3
Salem (North Carolina) April 3-
Wytheville (Virginia) April 3
April 3
Deep River Bridge (North Carolina)
April 4
Tuscaloosa (Alabama) April 4
Amelia Springs, or Jetersville (Virginia) April 5
Sailors Creek, or Harpers Farm and Deatonsville (Virginia) April 6
Sipsey Swamp (Alabama) April 6
High Bridge, Appomattox River (Virginia) April 6
Farmville (Virginia). .April ?
Appomattox O. H., or Clover Hill (Virginia). April 8-9
Fort Blakely (Alabama). April 9
Lee's Surrender. April 9
Sumterville (South Carolina) .April 9
Neuses River (North Carolina). April 10
Lowndesboro (Alabama)
April 10
Montgomery (Alabama)
April 12-13
.
.
0
0
.
Selma (Alabama). April 2
April 3
Northport (Alabama)
1
1865.
6 South Anne River (Virginia) March 14 .
498
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
Grants Creek (Salisbury, North Carolina)
April 12
Whistlers Station (Alabama) April 13
South Fork, John Days River, Oregon April 16
Fort Taylor, West Point, Georgia. April 16
Columbus, Georgia April 16
Berryville (Virginia) April 17
Boykins Mills, or Bradfords Springs (South Carolina). April 18
Swift Creek (South Carolina)
April 19
Dallas (North Carolina).
April 19
Catawba River (North Carolina).
April 19
Tobosofkee (Georgia).
April 20
Macon (Georgia). April 20
April 22
Mumfords Station, Blue Mount (Alabama) April 23
Suwano Gap (North Carolina) April 23
Johnston'e Surrender April 26 $ .
Taylor's Surrender . May 4 0 0 0
Irwinsville (Georgia) May 10
Sam Jones' Surrender at Tallahassee, Florida May 10 9
Jeff Thompson's Surrender at Chalk Bluff (Arkansas) May 11
Palmetto Ranch (Texas) .May 13
Kirby Smith's Surrender
May 26
ENGAGEMENTS BY STATES AND TERRITORIES.
.
Engagements in Virginia 519
Engagements in Pennsylvania .. . -
9
Engagements in Tennessee 298
Engagements in Kansas
Engagements in Missouri. 244
Engagements in California 6
Engagements in Mississippi 186
Engagements in Minnesota 6
Engagements in Arkansas 167
Engagements in Oregon
4
Engagements in Kentucky 138
Engagements in Colorado
4
Engagements in Louisiana
118
Engagements in Arizona
4
Engagements in Georgia 108
Engagements in Indiana
4
Engagements in North Carolina . 85
Engagements in Ohio
3
Engagements in West Virginia
80
Engagements in Nebraska
Engagements in Alabama
78
Engagement in Idaho
1
Engagements in Florida. 32
Engagement in Illinois
1
Engagements in Maryland 30
Engagement in Washington Ter .. 1
Engagements in New Mexico 19
Engagement in Utah 1
Engagements in Indian Territory 17
Engagement in New York 1
Engagements in Texas 14
Engagement in Dist. of Columbia 1
·
0
e
:
Total number 2,261
Engagements in Dakota 11
1865.
Engagements in South Carolina . 60
Engagements in Nevada 2
Talladega (Alabama)
EMINENT VIRGINIANS.
Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
GEORGE WYTHE.
" The honor of his own, and the model of future times," was the eulogy pronounced upon George Wythe at his death, by Thomas Jeff's erson, who in youth bad been his pupil at law, and in later years bis coadjutor in Congress, and a warm personal friend.
George Wythe was born in 1726, in Elizabeth City county, Colony of Virginia. His father was a Virginia gentleman of the old school, amiable, courteous, a lover of his family, a good manager of his large estate, but with more fondness for outdoor life than for his study, and a better acquaintance with the denizens of field and forest than with his classics. From his mother, George Wythe inherited his intellec- tual tastes and mental vigor. She was a woman of great strength of mind, and was possessed of singular learning for her day, among her accomplishments reckoning a thorough knowledge of Latin.
Under the tuition of his mother, George Wythe attained an excel- lent education, pursuing with her the study of grammar, rhetoric and logie, mathematics, natural and moral philosophy, civil law, Latin and Greek. Of the latter tongue Mrs. Wythe had no knowledge, but she assisted her son in bis acquisition of it by reading an English version of the works which he studied, and so testing the accuracy of bis translations.
This devoted mother died before her son attained the years of manhood, and his father dying about the same time, George Wythe entered upon the possession of a large fortune. For some timo he abandoned study, and led a life of dissipation. He was thirty years of age when he shook off youthful follies, and on- tered upon the life of honor and usefulness which has per- petuated his name. Thenceforth, for fifty years, it was his privi-
£
-
500
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
lege to pursue, with unremitting ardor, all the noble purposes of life, but at its close he looked back upon the wasted years of his young manhood with deep regret.
Under the instructions of Mr. John Lewis, a noted practitioner in the Virginia courts, George Wythe read law and fitted himself for practice. His success in his chosen profession was equal to his desert. As a pleader at the bar his extensive learning, fine elocution, and logical style of argu- ment, made him irresistible. But his distinguishing characteristic was his rigid justice. The dignity of his profession was never prostituted to the support of an unjust cause. In this rule he was so inflexible that if he entertained doubts of his client's rights, he required of him an oath as to the truth of his statements before he undertook his cause, and if deception were in any manner practiced upon him, he would return the fee and abandon the case. Such a stand as this early called attention to Mr. Wythe's fitness for administering justice in important causes, and ultimately led to his appointment as chancellor of Virginia, the important duties of which position he discharged with the most exact justice until the day of his death.
Early in life Mr. Wythe was elected to represent Elizabeth City county in the House of Burgesses, a position he filled for many years. Novem- ber 14, 1764, he was appointed a member of a committee of the House to prepare a petition to the king, a memorial to the House of Lords, and a remonstrance to the House of Commons, on the "Stamp Act," then a measure before Parliament.
The paper was drawn by Mr. Wythe, but its language was so vigorous and his utterances so abounding in plain truths that must give offense to his majesty, that the draft was considered treasonable by his hesitating colleagues, and was materially modified before the report was accepted.
The "Stamp Act" was passed, and the news was received in the House of Burgesses of Virginia, as an intimation on the part of king and Parliament that the rights of the colonists were to be deliberately disre- garded. Before the session of 1765 closed, in May, Patrick Henry offered resolutions of defiance that received the cordial support of Mr. Wythe, and, after a stormy debate and some alterations, were carried, although so close was the contest that the fifth, and strongest resolution, only passed by a single vote, and the following day, during Henry's absence from the convention, this resolution was expunged from the journal. The repeal of the "Stamp Act," and other conciliatory measures on the part of England, now left a few years of quiet legislation, during which Mr. Wythe attended to his professional duties. But his stand was taken upon the justness of the demands of the colonies, and when events tended toward independence, he early favored the movement, and exerted his influence among his colleagues in that direction. In these efforts he had the assistance of Thomas Jefferson; and the two, who had been preceptor
-
Benj tarisme
George Mythe
ThePetterson
.
502
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
and pupil, now stood friends and counselors, noble examples of self-sacri- ficing patriots, in the very front of danger.
In 1775, Wythe joined a corps of volunteers, believing & resort to arms the only hope of the colonists. But his services as a statesman were of more importance, and he left the army in August, 1775, to attend the Continental Congress as one of the delegates of Virginia. He held this position until after the Declaration of Independence had become a matter of record, with his name as one of its fifty-six attesting witnesses.
November 5, 1776, he was one of a committee of five appointed by the State Legislature to revise the laws of Virginia. Of this committee two members, George Mason and Thomas Ludwell Lee, were prevented from serving, and the remaining three, Wythe, Jefferson and Edmond Pendle- ton, worked so industriously and so ably that on the 18th of June, 1779, they reported to the General Assembly one hundred and twenty-six bills.
In 1777, Mr. Wythe was chosen speaker of the House of Burgesses. In the same year he was appointed one of the three judges of the high court of chancery of Virginia, and on a change in the form of the court was con- stituted sole chancellor.
In December, 1786, he was one of the committee who prepared the con- stitution of the United States, and in 1787 was a member of the Virginia convention which ratified the constitution on behalf of that State. He was subsequently twice a member of the electoral college of Virginia.
His political record now closes, unless to it is added hisindirect influence exerted through the distinguished pupils whom he trained for the bar and for public life. Some of the most noted sons of Virginia at the bar and in the Senate were his pupils, and in the list we find one chief justice and two presidents of the United States.
The death of George Wythe is the saddest record of these pages. Already past his eightieth year, and with his days still filled with useful and benevolent deeds, he died the victim of poison, administered, it seems but too evident, by the hand of one who was a near kindred, and who should have been bound to him by the ties of gratitude for daily kindnesses and tokens of love.
In the midst of the lingering hours of agony produced by the slow action of his death potion, Wythe thought of others and not of himself. As long as he retained his senses, he gave his mind to the study of the cases pend- ing in his court, and his last regret was that his fatal illness would cause delay and added expense to those who had appeared before him.
Mr. Wythe had been twice married, but had no living children, and at his death his estate passed to the children of a sister, his last act of justice being to add, upon his deathbed, a codicil to his will which revoked all benefits which would have accrued to the nephew who had hastened his death.
Hle expired on the morning of the 8th of June, 1806.
----
503
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
Like many great minds who cannot accept of a formulated creed, Mr. Wythe was considered an infidel by his cotemporaries. The student of to-day will, however, more willingly believe of such a life that, in the words of Jefferson, "while neither troubling nor perhaps trusting any one with his religious creed, heleft to the world the conclusion that that religion must be good which could produce a life of such exemplary virtue."
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
Who was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 20, 1732, was descended from a family eminent in public life and of high social standing in that colony. The grandfather whose name he bore, was Richard Lee, a member of the King's council, and his father, Thomas Lee, was for a number of years president of that council. His maternal grandfather, who was a son of Governor Ludington, of North Carolina, was also a member of that body of statesmen.
Richard Henry Lee was sent to England, and attended school at Wake- field, in Yorkshire. At the age of nineteen, he returned to his native colony, and having ample means and no desire to pursue a professional life, be gave himself up to his love of books, for a number of years pursu- ing with ardor the study of ethics and the philosophy of history.
In 1754, he was rudely awakened from his student's dreams by the encroachments of Indians upon the border counties of Virginia, and the appeal of the frontier settlers to be protected from their atrocities. In his twenty-third year he was called on by the Westmoreland Volunteers to place himself at their head and lead them to protect the living and avenge the dead. Reporting with his troops to General Braddock, at Alexandria, Virginia, that vain-glorious general, who was to pay with his life for his ignorance, decided that "the British troops could quell a handful of savages without the help of the provincials," and the young volunteers, with their young leader, were sent home.
In 1757, Mr. Lee was appointed justice of the peace for Westmoreland county, and in the same year was elected to serve that county as its repre- sentative in the House of Burgesses.
The first few years of service in that body rendered by Richard Henry Lee, who was yet to be styled "the Cicero of America," have left little record of his action, save that he was too diffident to take the prominent position his merits warranted. Before the contest between the colonists and the royal government was begun, Mr. Lee's most prominent act in the House of Burgesses was the discovering and bringing to light and punishment of defalcations on the part of the treasurer of the colony.
The holder of this important trust was a Mr. Robinson, a leader of the aristocratic party in the House, and a man so surrounded by powerful family associations, that even those best convinced of his guilt, and upon whom should have rested the duty of his punishment, sbrauk from the task
1
50
VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
as being one impossible of fulfillment, and which would only bring odium and defeat upon any one who attempted it.
Richard Henry Lee, regardless of such base motives for inaction, entered upon this task, nor desisted from its prosecution until his object was attained and the colony secured from heavy loss and pecuniary embarrass- ment. When the evidence necessary had been secured and Lee rose, in the presence of the man accused and of his collegues who were to be his judges, the candor of Lee's countenance, which was stamped with sorrow at the painful necessity of his words, and the persuasive eloquence accompanied with scathing denunciations with which he spoke, absolutely silenced those who expected by sophistry to turn aside the evidence, and by sarcasm and intimidation to silence the truth.
When the British ministry entered upon the system of taxation of the colonies without their consent, Lee was one of the first to sce whither the action would tend. Writing to a friend in London, May 31, 1764, he said: "Possibly this step, though intended to oppress and keep us low. in order to secure our dependence, may be subversive of this end. Poverty and oppression, among those whose minds are filled with ideas of British liberty, may introduce a virtuous industry with a train of generous and manly sentiments, which, when in future they become supported by num- bers, may produce a fatal resentment of parental care converted into tyrannical usurpation."
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