USA > Virginia > Westmoreland County > Westmoreland County > Westmoreland County, Virginia : parts I and II : a short chapter and bright day in its history > Part 4
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The endeavor to perpetuate in enduring portraiture the forms and features of these great and worthy, men is one for which the citizens of this county find abundant incentive and encouragement from what the public spirit and patriotism of our countrymen have already done in every part of this great Republic. In the dis- charge of such a duty we are but joining hands with broad minded and liberal Americans who in the North, South, East and West, have paid more elaborate and costly tributes to the memory and deeds of these noble sons than we can do to-day. The marble effigy, the granite column, the heroic bronze, the life-like portrait, the finished steel-plate, have all been commanded, and the genius of art has bestowed its choicest benedictions on the chief figures in this pantheon of our patriots, statesmen, jurists and soldiers. It would seem to be an easy and a graceful thing that when the universal chorus is proclaiming their praises, and the votaries of patriotism and honor in other places are weaving wreaths for their brows, some notes should mingle in the mighty song from the native haunts which these worthies once frequented, and some sprigs be offered from the ground once hallowed by their birth and early footprints.
. It seems proper to note that in thus paying formal tribute to these eminent sons of Westmoreland. by birth and adoption, we are doing indirect and perchance unconscious honor to the local con-
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ditions and home influences amidst which their lofty ideals were formed and their nobility of character nurtured. These men, in their pure and lofty patriotism, their love of justice and right, their unconquerable love of liberty, their high sense of personal and professional honor, their indomitable courage and firmness, their magnanimity and patience, their public virtue which no pres- sure could bend and no shock could break, came not into possession of their rich investiture of intellectual and moral manhood by chance. These splendid qualities sprang not from the virgin soil which gave them birth; they were not exhaled from the generous foliage of the primeval trees beneath which they sported in their childhood gambols; they were not shed down on them like star- light from the heavens which bent benignly over them in youth ; nor did prodigal nature, like a fond mother, confer them along with her other splendid bestowments of physical and intellectual manhood. But they were instilled into them at their mothers' knees; they were an inheritance transmitted from sires to sons, and that from hardy men who had fought in freedom's battles beyond the sea and in the colonial wars; they were imprinted on their minds and hearts by the examples and traditions of their homes, and by the swords and rapiers, the muskets and pistols, hanging on their walls, which had mingled in bloody scenes of valor and prowess on historic fields; they came to them as an in- spiration from fathers who had in small crafts braved the ocean's storms, who had met the crafty perils of a savage foe, who had felled the forests, had cleared the jungles, opened the highways, builded the pioneer homes, and reared shrines of domestic life, edu- cation and religion where dense wildwood and tangled vines had grown, and had learned by these hardy struggles self-reliance and independence and that resolute spirit which shrinks not in the face of difficulties or at the frown of dangers.
These men caught the spirit of patriotism from fathers whose right hands had won the land from its savage occupants, and who in the struggle had been brought into close and sympathetic touch with it; who had had fellowship with it in all its varying forms and changing seasons, who had stretched their forms for rest and sleep on its leaf-covered bosom, who in the intervals of their slum- bers had gazed up through overarching branches at the stars, who had heard the roar of the tempests among the giant trees, who had watched eagles in majestic flight sweeping to their eyries, and seen the sportive deer bounding in their forest haunts free as the winds of heaven ; who had listened with eager ear to the echoes of the huntsman's horn, who knew the gurgling music of the unfettered streamlets, the sound of rustling leaves, the patter of the rain drops,
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the plaintive notes of the turtle doves, the glad voices of all the woodland songsters, in a word, all the countless harmonies which mingle in the grand oratorio of nature, and who felt:
"My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love. I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills, Like that above."
Such exercises as engage our attention to-day, intended to com- memorate our illustrious dead as they are, should not be deemed empty or valueless as respects their moral, virtuous and patriotic tendency and teaching. They have indeed a bearing, and are fraught with a significance, above all merely practical, commercial or utilitarian aims and objects, much as these are emphasized in these strenuous and grinding times. If we should trace the his- tory of the foremost nations in all the files of time with respect to their art, their literature and their eloquence, we should find that these have all been kindled into their highest and noblest flames at the cenotaphs of their immortal dead. The inspired pens of the Hebrew writers of the Bible never caught a more seraphic fire than when portraying the footprints of the Man of Galilee or the deeds of those heroes of faith "of whom the world was not worthy." Grecian oratory knew no finer masterpiece than Pericles' eulogy of his fallen countryman, and its poetry never attained a higher mark than when Homer, "the grand old bard that never dies," sang the martial deeds of her heroes who maintained their country's honor and prowess on the Trojan plains. Amongst the Latins the foremost place in their treasured literature must be accorded to Virgil, recounting in one of the grandest epics of all time the deeds of Aneas and Anchises, of Hector and Achilles, of Dido, Pallas and Camillas. The annals of English literature- British and American-and the treasures of its painting and sculp- ture contain no triumphs nobler or more inspiring than those which portray the deeds or perpetuate the forms
"Of the few, the immortal names that were not born to die."
But it is not on the altars of genius alone, whether consecrated by poetry, or art, or eloquence, that the contemplation of men of high attainments and noble deeds is felt as an inspiration to stir the soul with aspirations for nobler and better things. The plain people, the common sons and daughters of toil-the honest yeo-
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manry, their country's strength and pride own the spell, and are responsive to the influences of such lives and characters. They recognize in such contemplations a call to set a higher estimate on their own condition and surroundings, to inspire a generous spirit of emulation, to elevate the standard of personal honor, to inspire a higher conception of the dignity and capabilities of our fallen but sublime humanity, and to brighten the prospects of our coun- try's high mission and destiny.
And this recalls to me an aged and shrivelled woman who once lived within a mile of this place, where now a lone chimney, stand- ing amidst tall scions, weeds and rubbish, keeps solitary sentry over the spot of her ruined home. I knew her in the years which im- mediately succeeded the war of secession, when the ease, afflu- ence and comforts of her better days were gone, when devastation and poverty brooded like the grim spectres of a hideous nightmare over her State; when want, chilling and haggard, threatened en- trance at her door. It was a time when chill penury might well freeze the genial current of her soul and bitter repinings suppress the glad songs of her happier days. I knew her amidst the chaos, the wreck, the gloom, that war's convulsion had left, when from her grandmother's chair, with age-dimmed eyes, she could look out on desolated fortunes, and domestic and political institutions and Southern valor all lying like a carcass on the field with the vul- tures gathering over it; when patriot graves and household gods were trodden beneath alien feet. But as far as I could observe she · yielded to no spirit of repining; she seemed to know how to "be still in God." But she would talk of her revolutionary sire, of her uncles who served under Washington, of their co-patriots, of men whom she had known in later wars upholding their country's cause and honor. How her face would brighten and her eye kindle at mention of their nobleness, their chivalry, their fine gentlemanly courtesy, their patriotism and manly honor! Amidst the shadows and desolation that surrounded her, 'twas evident that in her thought a grand and noble past was casting more than sunset glories over her State; and one could see that memories of the heroic dead were kindling the fine enthusiasm of her being, and her indomitable and unconquerable spirit was drawing inspiration from the ashes of her sires. As I listened to this noble type of a noble race, I could not but feel for myself and for my countymen, as I do feel here and now-
"Long, long be my heart with such memories filled, Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled. You may break, you may chatter the vase if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang round it still."
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II. Leedstown, the Southern Cradle of American Independence.
The Famous Articles of "The Association of Westmoreland" Of- fered by Richard Henry Lee and Passed by the Patriots of Westmoreland More Than Nine Years Before the Mecklen- burg (N. C.) Resolutions and More Than Ten Years Before the Declaration of Independence.
Few people realize that the little settlement in Westmoreland county on the Rappahannock river, where the large steamers from Fredericksburg to Baltimore tie up for the night, is one of the his- toric places in this country, and the many travelers and tourists, passengers on these elegant steamers, never think, as they look out at the three or four houses, that this was once an important port, and that vessels direct from England landed here and discharged their cargoes of the many articles not manufactured here then ; that to this port came the polished furniture, the beautiful china, the massive silver, and the elegant dresses that adorned the homes and the persons of those great Westmoreland families, such as the Washingtons, Lees, Monroes, and others who lived here in colonial days; that here shiploads of tobacco and other products of the soil were loaded for foreign countries.
In 1608, when Captain John Smith and his party first explored the Rappahannock river, Leedstown was then an Indian town of much consequence, the home of King Passassack, of the Rappa- hannock tribe. Captain Smith's party was attacked by these Rap- pahannocks, and Richard Featherstone was killed. He was buried on the south side of the Rappahannock river, near the water edge, a few miles below Leedstown. This was the first death and burial of a white man in this section.
Leedstown was settled in 1683, and named after Leeds, in Eng- land. From the very first, the white settlers were constantly at- tacked by the Indians, with the result that a military spirit grew up among the people, and we find among the military leaders against the Indians these familiar names: Captain John Lee, Cap- tain John Washington, Captain George Mason and Captain Brent. In fact, it was the terrible retaliation upon the Indians by Captains Mason and Brent that brought on the general uprising that finally resulted in "Bacon's Rebellion."
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LEEDSTOWN AND THE STAMP ACT.
In 1764, when the British Parliament passed the odious Stamp Act, it was violently opposed by the people of this section. The justices of Westmoreland county promptly notified the Assembly that they would not act after November, 1765, because "from that period, the Acts for establishing stamps in America commences, which Act will impose on us the necessity of either not conforming to its direction, or, by so doing, to become instruments in the de- struction of the most essential rights and liberties of our coun- try." In fact, in 1766, more than ten years before the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Ludwell Lee, who was born at Stratford, but then living in Stafford county, dispatched by a boy to his brother, Richard Henry Lee (also born at Stratford, and then liv- ing at Chantilly, an adjoining estate), a letter which read: "We propose to be in Leedstown in the afternoon of the 27th inst., where we expect to meet those who will come from your way. It is proposed that all who have swords or pistols will ride with them, and those who choose, a firelock. This will be a fine opportunity to effect the scheme of an association, and I would be glad if you would think of a plan." On the day specified, on all the roads leading to Leedstown, our patriotic fathers came riding into that ancient village. On that day, they formed an association, and one hundred and fifteen of them solemnly bound themselves in the following agreement :
"We who subscribe this paper have associated and do bind our- selves to each other. to God, and to our country, by the firmest ties that religion and virtue can frame most sacredly and punctually to stand by, and with our lives and our fortunes, to support, maintain and defend each other in the observance and execution of" certain Articles. among which we find this : "As the Stamp Act does abso- lutely direct the property of the people to be taken from them without their consent, expressed by their representation, and, as in many cases, it deprives the British American subject of his right of trial by jury, we do determine, at every hazard, and paying no regard to danger or to death. we will exert every faculty to prevent the execution of said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever with this Colony, and every abandoned wretch who shall be so lost to virtue and public good as wickedly to contribute to the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this Colony, by using stamp paper, or by any other means, we will, with the utmost expedition, con- vince all such profligates that immediate danger and disgrace shall attend their profligate purpose."
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This paper, adopted February 27, 1766, is known in history as the "Westmoreland Resolution," and is probably the first public and open resistance to the Mother Country. This paper was writ- ten by Richard Henry Lee, the one who, ten years later, wrote and introduced in the Continental Congress, on June 7, 1777, that famous motion,
"Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
This Westmoreland resolution was also signed by four Wash- ingtons, brothers of the one who, ten years later, was chosen Com- mander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and, later, the first President of these United States. And the one who sent the letter, calling for this meeting, became the guiding spirit in Virginia's famous Committee of Safety."
Here, at Leedstown, you can still see the ruins of one of the first three churches built in this country, and was known as Leeds, or Brays Church. In 1857 Bishop Meade wrote (Vol. II, p. 164) : "This church stood on the Rappahannock, at the outskirts of the place called Leeds. It was of brick. The ruins of it are yet to be seen, apparently hanging on the bank of the river. It has under- gone many changes of late years, since it was deserted as a house of worship, having been used as a tavern, a stable or barn, and having been altered to suit the different purposes to which it has been applied.
"Leeds was once a place of note in this part of Virginia. It was, doubtless, named by the Fairfaxes or Washingtons, after the town of Leeds, in Yorkshire, near which both of their ancestral families lived. This, in Virginia, was a place of much trade in tobacco and other things. Its shipping was very considerable at one time, and it gave promise of being a town of no small impor- tance, but, like many other such places in Virginia, as Dumfries, Colchester, Warren, Warminster, it failed to fulfill the expecta- tion excited. For one thing, it deserves to retain a. lasting place in the history of the American Revolution. As Boston was the North- ern, so Leeds may be called the Southern cradle of American In- · dependence. This was the place where, with Richard Henry Lee as their leader, the patriots of Westmoreland met before any and all others, to enter their protest against the incipient steps of Eng- lish usurpation. At this place did they resolve to oppose the Stamp Act, and forbid any citizen of Westmoreland to deal in stamps. This is a true part of American history."
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Why should not a suitable monument be erected here to com- memorate the great event, and let the world know the truth, that proper credit may be given this ancient hamlet and the patriotic citizens of this county ?- F. W. ALEXANDER, in Colonial Beach Record, January 24, 1910.
We give the full text below of the famous Articles (sometimes referred to as resolutions) of "the Association in Westmoreland." They were prepared and offered by Richard Henry Lee at Leeds- town, Va., February 27, 1766 (Judge Richard Parker presiding), and passed by the patriots of Westmoreland, one hundred and fif- teen in number. They are taken from The Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser, edited by William Maxwell, Vol. II (1849), pages 14-18.
The original manuscript document is in the Virginia Histori- cal Society, Richmond, Va., found among the papers of the late Major Henry Lee, eldest son of General Henry Lee (by Matilda Lee, of Stratford), Consul-General to Algiers during Jackson's administration.
THE ASSOCIATION IN WESTMORELAND.
At the late annual meeting of the Virginia Historical Society, on the 14th ult., the President of the Society, the Hon. William C. Rives, of Albemarle, submitted a very interesting document illus- trative of the patriotic spirit that prevailed in Virginia, and par- ticularly in the county of Westmoreland, about the time of the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765; which he had received from the Hon. John Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy, together with a letter from that gentleman, which was read, and is as follows:
Copy of a letter from the Hon. John Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy to the Hon. William C. Rives, President of the Historical Society of Virginia.
WASHINGTON CITY, December 13, 1848.
Sir,-In the year 1847, Dr. Carr, now deceased, placed in my hands an original Manuscript Document, dated in 1766, which ap- pears to me so interesting in the Colonial History of Virginia, that I venture to transmit it to you, for such disposition as the Histori- cal Society may think proper to make of it. It was signed by the patriots of that day, soon after the passage of the British Stamp
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Act of 1765 was known in the Colony-and it asserts in bold lan- guage, the rights, essential to Civil Liberty, which were subse- quently maintained by the American Revolution. I have the honor to be
Very respectfully your ob't serv't,
J. Y. MASON.
To the President of the Historical Society of Va.
The document referred to in the foregoing letter, is now lodged in the archives of the Society, and is enclosed in a paper which has an indorsement upon it in these words :
This remarkable document, illustrative of the early patriotism of Virginia gentlemen, was found among the papers of the late Henry Lee, Esq., Consul Gen'l to Algiers.
In view to its better preservation for the honor of Virginia and the numerous descendants of the illustrious men who signed it, it is now confided to the care of the Hon. John Y. Mason, an eminent son of Virginia, whose appreciation of its importance will secure it perpetual safety, by
SAM'L JNO. CARR, Of So. Carolina, now residing in Maryland.
Baltimore, 1847,
(Now inscribed on tablet at Montross, Va., and in Circuit Court Order Book.)
"Roused by danger, and alarmed at attempts, foreign and domestic, to reduce the people of this country to a state of abject and detestable slavery, by destroying that free and happy constitu- tion of goverment, under which they have hitherto lived,-We, who subscribe this paper, have associated, and do bind ourselves to each other, to God, and to our country, by the firmest ties that religion and virtue can frame, most sacredly and punctually to stand by, and with our lives and fortunes, to support, maintain, and defend each other in the observance and execution of these following articles :
First. We declare all due allegiance and obedience to our law- ful Sovereign, George the third, King of Great Britain. And we determine to the utmost of our power to preserve the laws, the peace and good order of this Colony, as far as is consistent with the preservation of our Constitutional rights and liberty.
THE ASSOCIATION OF WESTMORELAND.
Thue Thilo ming articles prepared and offered by RICHARD HENRY LEE there passed by the patriots ofthat day Of LEEDSTOWN, Virginie, on the 220 dos ACFebruary 170G.
DOUSED BY DANGER, and alarmed at attempts foroisn and domestic lo reduce K.the people of this country to a state of abject and detestable slavery, by destroy ing that FREE and happy constitution of fororn mout.under which they have hitherto lived,-WE,who subscribe this paper, havo associated,and do bind ourselves to anch other, to GOD, and in our country, by the firmest ties Ahat RELIGION and virtue can frame, most sacredly and punctually te stand hy and with our lives and fortunes, to SUPPORT, MAINTAIN, and DEFEND each other in the observance and execution at theo FOLLOWING ARTICLES :-
FIRST. We declare all due allegiance and obedience la our lawful Sovereign, Geer fe the third, King af Great Britain, And wa determine to the utmost el aur power fn preserve the late, fire pesce and food order of this Colony, as far as is consistent with the preservation of our Constitutional rights and liberty.
SECONDLY. A. we knew it to be the Birthright privilege of every British subject. (and of the people of Virginia as being such ) founded on Reason, Law, aud Compact; that he cannot be legally tried, but by his peers; and that he cannot be taxed, but by consent of a Parliament.in which he is represented by poresas chosen by the people, and who themselves pay a part of the faz they impose on others.If therefore, any person or persons shall attempt, by any action ar proceeding to deprive this Colony of those fundamental rights.we will immediately refard him or them,as the most dangerousonemy of the community; and we will jo ta any extremity. not only to prevent the success of such attemple,butto stigmatize and punish the offender.
THEUGLY.AS the Stamp Act dees absolutely direct the property of the people to be lehan from them without their con sunt expressed by their representatives and as in mumy ca ces it deprives the British American Subject of his right to trial by jury;we do determine.atewry hazard, and.paying no regard to danfer er to death.we will exart every faculty,to prevent the mercution of the said Stamp Actin any instance whatsoever within this Caleny And avery abandoned wretch, who shall be so lost fo virtue and public good, as wickedly to contribute lo the introduction or fixture ofthe Stamp Act in this Colony, by using stampe paper,er by any other means.we will,with the utmost expedition convince all such profli fates that immediate danger and diedrace ahall attand their prostitute purposes. FOURTHLY, That the last article may most surely and effectually be executed, we eufafe to each other, that whenever it shall be known to any of this associatien that any person is so conducting himself as ta fever the introduction of the Stamp Act. that immediate notice shall be figen fa as many of the association as possible; and that every individual an informed, shall,with expedition,repair to e place of mentia [ le be appointed as naar the scene of action as may be. FIFTHLY.Each associater shall de his true endaaver to ablain as many signers le this association, so he possibly can.
CIXTHEY. If any attempt shall he made on the liberty or property of any associater for any action or thing to be done in con sequence of this afreement, we de most calentaly bind ourselves by the sacred engagements ahave enteredipla, al the risk of our lives and fortunes, to restore such ansociale to his liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his property ."
Tu testimony of the good faith with which we resolve le execute this asseciation we have this 279 day of February 1766, in Virginia, put gur bands and ceals hereto.
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