History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Part 55

About this time there was published, at Philadelphia, a pamphlet, by Carter Braxton, ent.i.tled "An Address to the Convention of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia on the subject of Government." It was looked upon as expressing the views of "the little junto from whence it proceeded," and was denounced in a letter by Richard Henry Lee as exhibiting "confusion of ideas, aristocratic pride, contradictory reasoning with evident ill design."

On the fifteenth of May Archibald Cary reported, from the committee of the whole house, a preamble and resolutions which were unanimously adopted. The preamble recited how all the efforts of the colonies to bring about a reconciliation with Great Britain, consistently with the const.i.tutional rights of America, had produced only additional insults and new acts of oppression; and it recapitulated these acts. The first resolution instructed the Virginia delegates in congress to propose to that body "to declare the United Colonies free and independent states;"

the second ordered the appointment of a committee to prepare "a declaration of rights," and a plan of government. The preamble and resolutions were drawn up by Edmund Pendleton, offered in committee of the whole house by Thomas Nelson, Jr., and supported by the eloquence of Patrick Henry.[647:A] On the next day the resolutions were read to the troops quartered at Williamsburg, under command of General Andrew Lewis; a _feu de joie_ was fired amid the acclamations of the people, and the union flag of the American States waved from the capitol, and in the evening Williamsburg was illuminated.

Patrick Henry in a letter, dated at Williamsburg, May twentieth, wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "The grand work of forming a const.i.tution for Virginia is now before the convention, where your love of equal liberty and your skill in public counsels might so eminently serve the cause of your country. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I fear too great a bias to aristocracy prevails among the opulent. I own myself a democratic on the plan of our admired friend, J. Adams, whose pamphlet I read with great pleasure. A performance from Philadelphia is just come here, ushered in, I'm told, by a colleague of yours, B----, and greatly recommended by him. I don't like it. Is the author a whig? One or two expressions in the book make me ask. I wish to divide you and have you here to animate, by your manly eloquence, the sometimes drooping spirits of our country, and in congress to be the ornament of your native country, and the vigilant, determined foe of tyranny. To give you colleagues of kindred sentiments is my wish. I doubt you have them not at present. A confidential account of the matter to Colonel Tom,[647:B] desiring him to use it according to his discretion, might greatly serve the public and vindicate Virginia from suspicions. Vigor, animation, and all the powers of mind and body must now be summoned and collected together into one grand effort. Moderation, falsely so called, hath nearly brought on us final ruin. And to see those who have so fatally advised us still guiding, or at least sharing our public councils, alarms me."[647:C]

There was an apprehension felt by some at this time lest England, in order to prevent France from a.s.sisting the colonies, should offer to divide them with her. Patrick Henry in the same letter wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "Ere this reaches you our resolution for separating from Britain will be handed you by Colonel Nelson. Your sentiments as to the necessary progress of this great affair correspond with mine. For may not France, ignorant of the great advantages to her commerce we intend to offer, and of the permanency of that separation which is to take place, be allured by the part.i.tion you mention? To antic.i.p.ate, therefore, the efforts of the enemy by sending instantly American amba.s.sadors to France, seems to me absolutely necessary. Delay may bring on us total ruin. But is not a confederacy of our states previously necessary?" His comprehensive eye glanced from the fisheries of the north to the Mississippi and western lands. "Notwithstanding solicitations from every great land company to the west, I've refused to join them. I think a general confiscation of royal and British property should be made. The fruits would be great, and the measure in its utmost lat.i.tude warranted by the late act of parliament."

In the convention a committee of thirty-four, Archibald Cary being chairman, were appointed to prepare a declaration of rights and a plan of government. The declaration was reported and adopted on the fifteenth of June, and the plan of government on the twenty-ninth, (five days in advance of the declaration of independence of the United Colonies,)--both by a unanimous vote. The declaration of rights and const.i.tution were draughted by George Mason.

George Mason, first of the family in Virginia, had been a member of parliament in England, and, at the breaking out of the civil wars, had sided with King Charles the First, although, like Falkland, not wholly approving his course, organized a military corps, and fought on the royal side until the overthrow at Worcester. After this catastrophe he came over to Virginia and landed in Norfolk County, (1651,) and was soon followed by his family. He removed to Acohick Creek, on the Potomac. He commanded (1676) a volunteer force against the Indians, and in the same year represented the County of Stafford in the a.s.sembly, being a colleague of the author of "T. M.'s Account of Bacon's Rebellion," who was probably Thomas Matthews, son of Samuel Matthews, some time Governor of Virginia. The County of Stafford had been carved out of Westmoreland in the preceding year, and was so called by Colonel Mason in honor of his native county of Staffordshire, England. His eldest son, George, married Mary, daughter of Gerard Fowke, of Gunston Hall, in that English county. Their eldest son, George Mason, third of the name, also lived in Acohick, and lies buried there. George Mason, fourth in descent, and eldest son of George, last named, married a daughter of Stevens Thomson, of the Middle Temple, attorney-general of Virginia in the reign of Queen Anne. He resided at Doeg Neck, on the Potomac, then in Stafford, now in Fairfax, and was[649:A] lieutenant and chief commander of Stafford. He was drowned by the upsetting of a sail-boat in the Potomac. He left two sons and a daughter. One of the sons was George, author of the const.i.tution of Virginia, and the other, Thomson Mason, a member of the house of burgesses, an eminent lawyer, and true patriot. He was elected one of the judges of the first general court. He suffered from the gout, and one of Governor Tazewell's earliest recollections is the having seen him carried into court when laboring under that disease. His son, Stevens Thomson Mason, was a member of the Virginia Convention of 1788, and United States Senator, and his son, Armistead Thomson Mason, was also a Senator of the United States from Virginia. George Mason, fifth of the name, was born at Doeg's Neck in 1726; he married Ann Eilbeck, of Charles County, Maryland, and built a new mansion on the high banks of the Potomac, and called it Gunston Hall.

George Mason was, in 1776, fifty years of age. His complexion was swarthy, his face grave, with a radiant dark eye, his raven hair sprinkled with gray; his aspect rather foreign; nearly six feet in stature, of a large athletic frame, and active step.[649:B] His presence was commanding, his bearing lofty. He was fond of hunting and angling.

He was a systematic, wealthy, and prosperous planter; indifferent to the temptations of political ambition; devoting his leisure to study. Mr.

Madison p.r.o.nounced him the ablest man in debate that he had ever seen.

Although a warm adherent of the house of Hanover, and at the first averse to independence, yet he a.s.sumed the boldest position and maintained it. In the year 1766 he concluded a letter to the London merchants, on the repeal of the stamp act, thus: "These are the sentiments of a man who spends most of his time in retirement, and has seldom meddled in public affairs; who enjoys a moderate but independent fortune, and, content with the blessings of a private station, equally disregards the smiles and the frowns of the great." His pamphlet ent.i.tled "Extracts from the Virginia Charters, with some Remarks upon them," was considered a masterly exposition of the rights of the colonies.[650:A]

Of Mr. Mason's sons, George, the eldest, sixth of the name, was captain in the Virginia line of the Revolution, and inherited Gunston Hall. The fourth son was the late General John Mason, of a.n.a.lostan Island, near Washington City. The Honorable James Murray Mason, United States Senator for Virginia, is a son of the last named.[650:B]

The preamble to the const.i.tution, containing a recital of wrongs, was from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, who was at that time attending the session of congress at Philadelphia.[650:C] George Mason, the author of the first written const.i.tution of a free commonwealth ever framed, was pre-eminent in an age[650:D] of great men for his extensive information, enlarged views, profound wisdom, and the pure simplicity of his republican principles.[650:E] As a speaker he was devoid of rhetorical grace, but earnest and impressive.

Immediately upon the adoption of the const.i.tution, the salary of the governor was fixed at one thousand pounds per annum, and Patrick Henry, Jr., was elected the first republican Governor of Virginia, he receiving sixty votes, and Thomas Nelson, Sr., forty-five.

Mr. Henry received an address from the two regiments which he had recently commanded, congratulating him upon his "unsolicited promotion to the highest honors a grateful people can bestow," and they declared, as they had been once happy under his military command, they hoped for more extensive blessings from his civil administration.

The newly-appointed governor closed his reply by saying: "I trust the day will come when I shall make one of those that will hail you among the triumphant deliverers of America." The first council appointed under the new const.i.tution consisted of John Page, Dudley Digges, John Tayloe, John Blair, Benjamin Harrison of Berkley, Bartholomew Dandridge, Thomas Nelson, Sr., and Charles Carter, of Shirley. Mr. Nelson declining the appointment on account of infirm old age, his place was supplied by Benjamin Harrison, of Brandon. It is a remarkable instance of the vicissitudes of fortune, that "a certain Patrick Henry, Jr.," against whom Governor Dunmore had so lately fulminated his angry proclamation, now came to be the occupant of the palace at Williamsburg as governor and commander-in-chief. Although the leaders of the conservative party looked at the contest with Great Britain in a very different light from that in which it was viewed by the movement and popular party, and although the animating motives of the two were so different, yet in the face of imminent common danger they conspired with extraordinary unanimity in the common cause. So the mainmast of a ship of the line, though composed of several pieces banded together, is stronger than if made of a single spar.[651:A]

FOOTNOTES:

[644:A] Convention of '76, p. 8, in note.

[647:A] These facts were stated by Edmund Randolph in his address at the funeral of Pendleton. (_Grigsby's Convention of '76_, p. 203.)

[647:B] Thomas Nelson, Jr.

[647:C] _S. Lit. Messenger_, 1842, p. 260.

[649:A] 1719.

[649:B] His portrait is preserved, and a copy of it is in the hall of the Historical Society in Richmond.

[650:A] Convention of '76, p. 157.

[650:B] Ibid., 156, in note.

[650:C] Journal of Convention of 1776; Wirt's Henry, 195; Grigsby's Convention of '76, p. 19.

[650:D] Patrick Henry in a letter to Richard Henry Lee, dated December 18th, 1777, quoted in Grigsby's Convention of 1776, p. 142, in note, states that there was opposition; but the vote appears unanimous on the journal. The persons who opposed it were known, but were so few they did not think fit to divide the house, or contradict the general voice.

Ibid., 161, in note. The same persons subsequently opposed the confederation.

[650:E] His statue is to stand on the monument in Richmond.

[651:A] Extract from Orderly Book:--

"WILLIAMSBURG, May, 14th, 1776.

"Parole--Liberty.

"The many applications for furloughs make it necessary for Brigadier-General Lewis to mention in orders as improper in our critical situation, and hopes that no request of this kind for the future, until circ.u.mstances will admit, will be made.

"Officer for day to-morrow, Lieutenant-Colonel McClenahan.

Officers for guard, Lieutenant Garland, Ensign Barksdale. For guard, 8 p. 1 s. 1 c."

"WILLIAMSBURG, May 17th, 1776.

"Parole--Convention.

"Let it not be forgot that this day is set apart for humiliation, fasting, and prayer: the troops to attend divine service."

CHAPTER Lx.x.xVIII.

1776.

Richard Henry Lee moves a Resolution for a Separation--Seconded by John Adams--Declaration of Independence--Jefferson--General Orders--Thomas Nelson, Jr., and the Nelsons--Benjamin Harrison, Jr., and the Harrisons--George Wythe.

ON the 7th day of June, 1776, a resolution in favor of a total and immediate separation from Great Britain was moved in congress by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John Adams. On the twenty-eighth a committee was appointed to prepare a declaration of independence, the members being Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert R.

Livingston. Richard Henry Lee being compelled, by the illness of Mrs.

Lee, to leave congress on the day of the appointment of the committee, and to return to Virginia, his place was filled by Roger Sherman. The declaration, adopted on the 4th day of July, 1776, was composed, in committee, mainly by Mr. Jefferson, but much modified by congress. The Virginia delegates who subscribed it were George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, and Carter Braxton.[652:A]

Thomas Nelson, Jr., eldest son of the Honorable William Nelson, some time president of the council of Virginia, was born at York, in December, 1738. His mother was of the family of Burwell. After having been under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Yates, of Gloucester, he was sent at the age of fifteen to England, where he remained seven years, for the completion of his education. He enjoyed the superintending care of Dr.

Porteus,[653:A] and was at the school of Dr. Newcome, at Hackney, at Eton in 1754, and at Cambridge. While on his voyage returning to Virginia he was elected (1774) a member of the house of burgesses, being then just twenty-one years of age.[653:B] He was a member of the conventions of 1774 and 1775, and displayed extraordinary boldness in opposing the British tyranny. He was afterwards appointed colonel of a Virginia regiment. In 1775 and 1776 he was a member of Congress. There is a fine portrait of him still preserved, taken, it is said, while he was a student at Eton, (by an artist named Chamberlin, London, 1754,) the only portrait of him for which he ever sat.[653:C]

The first of the Nelsons of Virginia was Thomas, son of Hugh and Sarah Nelson, of Penrith, c.u.mberland County, England. This Thomas Nelson was born in February, 1677, and died in October, 1745, aged sixty-eight. He married, first, a Miss Reid, secondly, a widow Tucker. Coming from a border county, he was styled "Scotch Tom." He was an importing merchant.

Yorktown was in his day, and for a long time, the chief sea-port town of Virginia. Of his two sons, Thomas being long secretary of the council, was known as Secretary Nelson. Three of his sons were officers in the army of the Revolution.

William, the other son of the first Thomas Nelson, imported goods not only for Virginia, but at times for Baltimore, and even Philadelphia.

Negroes were a princ.i.p.al subject of importation; merchants and planters of chief note, some of them leading men in the colony, and patrons of the church, engaged in it; and no odium appears to have been attached to a business in which British capital was so largely interested, which was so constantly encouraged and protected by the British government, and which had been so long an established feature of the colonial system, and so generally concurred in. John Newton, while personally engaged in the slave-trade on board of a Guinea ship, appears to have entertained at the time no scruples whatever on the subject of his employment. It is no matter of surprise that a Virginia consignee of slaves should have received them with a like indifference.

William Nelson married a Miss Burwell, a granddaughter of King Carter.

Having been long president of the council, and at one time acting governor, he came to be known by the t.i.tle of President Nelson. He died in November, 1772, aged sixty-one, leaving an ample estate. His sons were Thomas, Hugh, William, Nathaniel, and Robert. A daughter, Betsy, married, in 1769, Captain Thompson, of his majesty's ship Ripon, which brought over Lord Botetourt. The portion descending to Thomas, oldest son of President Nelson, and who had been a.s.sociated in business with him, was estimated at forty thousand pounds.