Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution Part 17

His ancestors were among the early settlers of the Old Dominion and were prominent in directing the destiny of the Colony. They were men of liberal principles and at all times promptly resisted every encroachment upon their rights. The arbitrary power exercised by Charles I. over his European subjects which hurled him from his throne, was resisted by the Lees. When Cromwell a.s.sumed the crown he was never recognised by Virginia. The mandate that proclaimed the second Charles King--originated with Lee and Berkley of the Old Dominion. The plan of ultimate Independence was cherished by the elder Lees. Through the bright vista of the future they contemplated the millennium of Freedom in America. So strongly impressed was the father of Richard Henry with this idea that he fixed in his mind the location of the seat of government and purchased lands in the vicinity of Washington. By some historians this act is called a paradox that philosophy has been perplexed to explain. To my mind the solution has no perplexity. A man of deep reflection and large intelligence does not draw his conclusions alone from present appearances. He compares the past with the present and makes deductions for the future. The historic map of the world is covered with the rise, progress and extinction of nations, kingdoms and empires. From the causes and effects delineated upon the same map, it was the natural conclusion of a penetrating mind that the expansive territory of this country, with all the bounties of nature lavished upon it, must eventually become so densely populated that its physical force would be too powerful for any European country to hold dominion over it.

The geographical centre was also plain as the settlements were then progressing. This prophecy, as it has been termed, was the result of deep thought arriving at conclusions drawn from the unerring laws of nature, showing that Mr. Lee possessed an a.n.a.lyzing mind that moved in an extensive orbit.

Richard Henry Lee commenced his education at Wakefield, Yorkshire, England and remained in that kingdom until he completed it. He returned a finished scholar, an accomplished gentleman with a reputation untarnished by vice or folly. From his childhood honesty and morality were his darling attributes--he delighted in reposing under the ethic mantle. During his absence his innate republicanism did not become tinctured with the farina of European courts or the etiquette of aristocracy. In cla.s.sic history he found the true dignity of man portrayed--his inalienable rights delineated. In the philosophy of Locke he saw the rays of light reflected upon human nature--the avenues of the immortal mind opened to his enraptured vision. In the Elements of Euclid the laws of demonstration were presented to his delighted understanding and gave fresh vigor to his logical powers. Endowed with these qualifications he was prepared to enter upon the great theatre of public action and adorn the circle of private life.

His first public act was in raising a company of troops and tendering his services to Gen. Braddock. That proud Briton considered the Provincials puerile and declined the proffered aid. His fate is a matter of history. In 1757 Mr. Lee was appointed a Justice of the Peace and President of the Court. Shortly after he was elected to the House of Burgesses and made himself thoroughly acquainted with the laws of legislation and government--the true policy and various interests of the colony and with the rules of parliamentary proceedings. r.e.t.a.r.ded by an almost unconquerable diffidence, he took very little part in debate at first. It was not until he became excited by a subject in which he felt a deep interest that his Ciceronean powers were developed. A bill was before the House imposing a duty on the importation of slaves into Virginia--virtually amounting to a prohibition. It was strongly opposed by several influential members. Mr. Lee became roused and poured upon his astonished audience such a flood of burning eloquence against the importation of human beings to be made slaves, that his opponents trembled as they listened. In vivid colors he painted the cruelties of Cortes in South America, the Saracens in Spain and pa.s.sed through the dark catalogue of monsters who had disgraced humanity with barbarism--then pointed his colleagues to the darker blot--the more barbarous practices that branded with infamy the unhallowed slave-trade then monopolized by mother Britain. He pointed to the b.l.o.o.d.y scenes of other times when the physical force of the slaves had enabled them to rise and crush their masters at one bold stroke. By stopping the traffic, the evil entailed upon them might be provided for and the certain and dreadful consequences of a constant influx from Africa be warded off. His eloquence was applauded but his philanthropic views were voted down by the friends of the crown. The trade was virtually originated and long continued by Great Britain, now so loud in complaints against us for not at once providing for an evil entailed by her. Had this bill pa.s.sed, her revenue would have been less and thousands of Africans left at their peaceful homes. O! shame where is thy blush!

This powerful effort raised Mr. Lee to the rank of the Cicero of America. The exposure of the base corruptions practised by Mr. Robinson, then treasurer of the Colony, was the next important service rendered by him. As this was an attack upon the aristocracy, it required much skill, boldness and sagacity to introduce the probe successfully. This he did in a masterly manner and proved clearly that the treasurer had repeatedly re-issued reclaimed treasury bills to his favorite friends to support them in their extravagance by which the Colony was robbed of the amount by their payment a second time without a _quid pro quo_ [equivalent.] For this bold act Mr. Lee was applauded by every honest man--hated and dreaded by public knaves.

When Charles Townshend laid before the British Parliament the odious and more extensive plan of taxing the American colonies which Mr. Grenville called _the philosopher's stone_, Mr. Lee was among the first to sound the alarm. Within a month after the pa.s.sage of the preliminary Act in Parliament followed by a revolting catalogue of unconst.i.tutional and oppressive laws, he furnished his London friends with a list of arguments against it sufficient to convince every reasonable man of the injustice and impolicy of the measure. When Patrick Henry proposed his bold resolutions against the Stamp Act in 1765 Mr. Lee gave them the powerful aid of his eloquent and unanswerable logic. He was very active in the formation of a.s.sociations to resist the encroachments of the crown. He aided in compelling the collector of stamps to relinquish his office, deliver up his commission and the odious stamp paper. The people were advised not to touch or handle it. His pen was also ably used and produced many keen, withering, logical, patriotic, pungent essays that had a salutary influence upon the public mind. He corresponded with the patriots of New York and New England. According to the testimony of Col.

Gadsden of S. C. and the public doc.u.ments of that eventful era, Mr. Lee was the first man who proposed the Independence of the colonies. He had unquestionably imbibed the idea from his father whose ancestors had predicted it for the last hundred years and had probably handed it down from sire to son. In a letter from Richard Henry Lee to Mr. d.i.c.kinson dated July 25th 1768 he proposes upon all seasonable occasions to impress upon the minds of the people the necessity of a struggle with Great Britain "_for the ultimate establishment of independence--that private correspondence should be conducted by the lovers of liberty in every province_." His early proposition in Congress to sever the material ties was considered premature by most of the friends of Liberty. He had long nursed this favorite project in his own bosom--he was anxious to transplant its vigorous scions into the congenial bosoms of his fellow patriots.

Soon after the House of Burgesses convened in 1769, as chairman of the judiciary committee, Mr. Lee introduced resolutions so highly charged with liberal principles calculated to demolish the Grenville superstructure and reduce to dust his talismanic _philosopher's stone_, that they caused a dissolution of the House and concentrated the wrath of the British ministry and its servile bipeds against him. The rich fruits of their persecution were the formation of non-importation a.s.sociations, committees of safety and correspondence and the disaffection of the English merchants towards the mother country in consequence of the impolitic measures calculated to prostrate their importing and exporting trade. Lord North now a.s.sumed the management of the grand drama of oppression and laid more deeply the revenue plan. By causing a repeal of the more offensive Acts he hoped to lull the storm of opposition that was rapidly rising and prepare for more efficient action. Had the Boston Port Bill been omitted his dark designing treachery might have succeeded more triumphantly. This fanned the burning flame of resentment to a white heat. It spoke in language too plain to be mistaken--too strong to be endured.

In 1774 Mr. Lee was a delegate to the Congress convened at Philadelphia.

At that memorable meeting he acted a conspicuous part. After Patrick Henry had broken the seal that rested on the lips of the members as they sat in deep and solemn silence, he was followed by Mr. Lee in a strain of _belles-lettres_ eloquence and persuasive reasoning that took the hearts of his audience captive and restored to a calm the boiling agitation that shook their manly frames as the mountain torrent of Demosthenean eloquence was poured upon them by Henry. He was upon the committee that prepared an address to the king--the people of Great Britain and to the Colonies. Those doc.u.ments were written by him and adopted with but few amendments. He was upon the committee that prepared the address to the people of Quebec and upon the committee of rights and grievances and non-intercourse with the mother country. In the warmth of his ardor he proposed several resolutions that were rejected because considered premature at that time--not that the purity of his motives were doubted. Many of the members still hoped that timely redress of grievances would restore peace. They had clearly and forcibly set forth their complaints and desires and could not yet be persuaded that ministers were madly bent on ruin. For solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion--the proceedings of that Congress stand without a parallel upon the historic page. So thought Lord Chatham, Burke and many of the wisest English statesmen at that time.

In 1775 Mr. Lee was unanimously elected to the Virginia Legislature where the same zeal for Liberty marked his bold career. He received a vote of thanks for his n.o.ble course in Congress and was made a delegate for the next session. A more congenial field now opened for this ardent patriot. Temporizing was no longer the order of the the day. Vigorous action had become necessary. His zeal and industry had ample scope. With all his might he entered into the good work. Upon committees--in the house, everywhere he was all activity. In 1776 he was a member of Congress. In obedience to the instructions of the Virginia Legislature and his long nursed desires, on the 7th of June he rose amidst the a.s.sembled patriots of the nation in the Hall of Liberty and offered the resolution for the adoption of a Declaration of Independence. This resolution he enforced by one of the most brilliant and powerful displays of refined and forcible eloquence ever exhibited in our country. On the 10th of the same month he was called home by the illness of his family which prevented him from taking his place as chairman of the committee upon his resolution agreeably to parliamentary rules. Mr.

Jefferson was put in his place. The wrath of British power against him was now at its zenith. During his short stay at home an armed force broke into his house at night and by threats and bribes endeavoured to induce his servants to inform them where he could be found. He was that night a few miles distant with a friend. They were told he had gone to Philadelphia.

In August he returned to Congress and most gladly affixed his name to that sacred instrument upon which his imagination had feasted for years.

He continued at his post until June 1777 when he returned home to confute a base slander charging him with unfaithfulness to the American cause in consequence of having received rents in kind instead of Continental money. He was honorably acquitted by the a.s.sembly and received a vote of thanks from that body for his fidelity and industry in the cause of freedom--rather a cooler to his semi-tory enemies.

During the two ensuing years his bad health compelled him to leave Congress several times, but his counsel was at the command of his colleagues at all times. Nothing but death could abate his zeal in the good cause.

The portals of military glory were now opened to Mr. Lee. He was appointed to the command of the militia of his native county and proved as competent to wield the sword and lead his men to action as he was to command an audience by his powerful eloquence. Defeated in the north the British made a rush upon the Southern States. Whenever they approached the neighbourhood under the charge of Mr. Lee they found his arrangements a little too precise for their convenience and abandoned their visits entirely. In 1780-1-2 he served in the Virginia legislature. The proposition of making paper bills a legal tender--of paying debts due to the mother country and of a general a.s.sessment to support the Christian religion--were then before the House and excited great interest. Mr. Lee advocated and Mr. Henry opposed them. From the necessity of the case he was in favor of the first. Upon the sacredness of contracts he based his arguments in favor of the second and from ethics he drew conclusions in favor of the last. He said refiners might weave reason into as fine a web as they pleased but the experience of all time had shown religion to be the guardian of morals. He contended that the declaration of rights was aimed at restrictions on the form and mode of worship and not against the legal compulsory support of it. In this Mr. Lee erred. He probably had forgotten that Christ declared his kingdom was not of this world and that the great Head of the Christian religion had for ever dissolved the bans of church and state by that declaration. In other respects the position is untenable in a republican government and can never promote genuine piety in any.

In 1784 he was again elected to Congress and chosen President of that body. At the close of the session he received a vote of thanks for the faithful and able performance of his duty and retired to the bosom of his family to rest from his long and arduous toils. He was a member of the Convention that framed the Federal Const.i.tution and took a deep interest in the formation of that saving instrument. He was a U. S.

Senator in the first Congress that convened under it and fully sustained his previous high reputation. Infirmity at length compelled him to bid a final farewell to the public arena. His last public services were rendered in the legislature of his own state. On his retirement a most flattering resolution of thanks for his numerous valuable services was pa.s.sed by that body on the 22d of October 1792. He then retired to the peaceful shades of Chantilly in his native county crowned with a chaplet of amaranthine flowers emitting rich odors lasting as time.

There he lived--esteemed, beloved, respected and admired until the 19th of June 1794 when the angel of death liberated his immortal spirit from its clay prison--seraphs conducted his soul to realms of bliss there to enjoy the reward of a life well spent.

Mr. Lee was a rare model of human excellence and refinement. He was a polished gentleman, scholar, orator and statesman. In exploring the vast fields of science he gathered the choicest flowers--the most substantial fruits. The cla.s.sics, _Belles Lettres_--the elements of civil, common, national and munic.i.p.al law--the principles of every kind of government were all familiar to his mind. He was ardently patriotic, pure and firm in his purposes, honest and sincere in his motives, liberal in his principles, frank in his designs, honorable in his actions. As an orator the modulation of his voice, manner of action and mode of reasoning were a _fac simile_ of Cicero as described by Rollin. He richly merited the appellation--CICERO OF AMERICA.

His private character was above reproach. He possessed and exercised all those amiable qualities calculated to impart substantial happiness to all around him. To crown with enduring splendor all his rich and varied talents--he was a consistent Christian--an honest man. As his dust reposes in peace let his examples deeply impress our heart: and excite us to fulfill the duties of life to the honor of ourselves, our country and our G.o.d.

FRANCIS LEWIS.

The patriotic sages and daring heroes of the American Revolution were from different countries and of various pursuits. One feeling pervaded the bosoms and influenced the actions of all--the love of LIBERTY. This main spring of action was confined to no business or profession. All cla.s.ses who loved their country and hated chains flew to the rescue.

Self interest lost its potent powers and thousands pledged their lives and fortunes to defend their bleeding country against the merciless oppression and exorbitant demands of an unyielding monarch. No cla.s.s of men better understood the injustice of the mother country than those engaged in commerce. Many bold spirits rushed from the counting house to the forum and the field, resolved on victory or death.

Among them was Francis Lewis, born at Landaff, in the shire of Glamorgan, South Wales, March 1713. His father was an Episcopal clergyman, his mother was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Pettingal of the same sect who officiated at Caernarvonshire in North Wales.

Francis was an only child and lost both his parents when only fifteen. A maternal aunt, named Llawelling, became his guardian. She had him early instructed in the Cymraeg language which he never lost. He was subsequently sent to a relative in Scotland where he was taught the original Celtic language. From there he entered the Westminster school at London and became a good cla.s.sical scholar. He then entered a counting house and became thoroughly acquainted with the entire routine of commercial transactions which prepared him to enter into business understandingly and with safety.

When arrived at his majority he inherited a small fortune which he laid out in merchandize and embarked for New York where he arrived in the spring of 1735. He found his stock too large for that city--entered into partnership with Edward Annesley, leaving with him a part of his goods, proceeding with the balance to Philadelphia. At the end of two years he settled permanently in New York and married Elizabeth Annesley, sister of his partner in trade. To these ancestors may be traced the numerous and respectable families of the same name now residing in and about New York.

Commercial transactions frequently called Mr. Lewis to the princ.i.p.al ports of Europe and to the Shetland and Orkney Islands. He was twice shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland. His great industry, spotless integrity and skill in business, gave him a high position in commercial circles, showing clearly the great advantage derived from a thorough apprenticeship in business before a young man sets up for himself.

At the commencement of the French war he was the agent for supplying the British army with clothing. At the sanguinary attack and reduction of Oswego by the French troops under Gen. Dieskau, Mr. Lewis was standing by the side of Col. Mersey when he was killed. He was taken prisoner and held a long time by the Indians enduring the severest sufferings. As a small compensation the British government granted him five hundred acres of land.

Mr. Lewis was among the early and determined opposers to the unjust pretensions of the British ministers. He was a distinguished and active member of the Colonial Congress that a.s.sembled in New York in the autumn of 1765 to devise and mature measures to effectuate a redress of injuries. A pet.i.tion was prepared to the King and House of Commons and a memorial to the House of Lords. The language was respectful but every line breathed a firm determination no longer to yield to injury and insult. The chrysalis of the Revolution was then and there formed. The eruptions of the volcano occasionally subsided but as the lava of insubordination would again burst out the crater was enlarged and the volume increased until the whole country became inundated by the terrific flood of war, red with the blood of thousands.

In 1771 Mr. Lewis visited England and became familiar with the feelings and designs of the British ministry. From that time he was fully convinced that the infant Colonies in America could never enjoy their inalienable rights until they severed the parental ties that bound them to the mother country. On all proper occasions he communicated his views to the friends of freedom and did much to awaken his fellow citizens to a just sense of impending dangers.

When it was determined to convene the Continental Congress Mr. Lewis was unanimously elected a member by the delegates convened for that purpose on the 22d day of April 1775. He immediately repaired to the Keystone city and entered upon the important duties a.s.signed him. The following year he was continued in Congress and recorded his name upon the chart of Independence. His great experience in commercial and general business united with a clear head, a patriotic heart, a matured and reflecting mind richly stored with intelligence--rendered him a useful and influential member. As an active and judicious man on business committees he stood pre-eminent. As a warm and zealous advocate of his country's rights he had no rival.

He was continued a member of Congress to April 1779 when he obtained leave of absence. He had suffered much in loss of property which was wantonly destroyed by the British troops.

Time or angel's tears can never blot out the d.a.m.ning stigma that rests upon the escutcheon of Great Britain for personal abuse and the wanton destruction of private property during the Revolutionary War. Talk of savage barbarity. He is a Pagan and knows none but his own mode of warfare. England has professed to be the conservatory of Christianity for centuries. Compared with the brutality of her armies in America, looking at her in the light of even a _civilized_ nation, savage barbarity is thrown in the distance so far that it could not be seen through a microscope of a million power.

Not content with destroying the property of Mr. Lewis, the British seized his unprotected wife and placed her in close confinement without a bed--a change of clothes--almost without food and exposed to the cowardly and gross insults of wretches who were degraded so far below the wild man of the wilderness, that could an Archimedian lever of common decency have been applied to them with Heaven for a fulcrum and Gabriel to man it, they could not have been raised, in a thousand years, to the grade of common courtesy. No true American can trace the cruelties of the British troops during the times that verily tried men and women's souls, without having his blood rush back upon his aching heart--his indignation roused to a boiling heat.

Mrs. Lewis was retained in prison several months and finally exchanged, through the exertions of Gen. Washington, for a Mrs. Barrow, the wife of a British paymaster retained for the express purpose but treated in the most respectful manner and made perfectly comfortable with a respectable family. The base imprisonment of Mrs. Lewis caused her premature death.

At the close of the war Mr. Lewis was reduced from affluence to poverty.

He had devoted his talents, his property to the cause of Liberty and what was infinitely more--the wife of his youth--the mother of his children had been brutally sacrificed by the hyenas of the crown.

Notwithstanding these heart rending misfortunes the evening of his life was made comfortable by his enterprising children and on the 30th day of December 1803, calm and resigned, peaceful and happy, he closed his eventful and useful life.

He left a well earned fame that will survive, unimpaired, the revolutions of time. His private character was a fair unsullied sheet as pure and valued as his public life was useful and ill.u.s.trious. As a man of business he stood in the front rank. He was the first merchant who made a shipment of wheat from America to Europe. He was the pioneer in the transporting trade. He was a full man in all that he undertook. His shining examples are worthy of our imitation in all the walks of a good and useful life.

PHILIP LIVINGSTON.

Men often originate and engage in transactions that produce results in direct opposition to their desires. Religious persecution scattered the primitive Christians to various parts of the world and instead of annihilating the doctrines of the Cross they were thus more widely spread over the earth. For the enjoyment of the liberty of conscience the emigrants to New England left their native homes. For the same reason the Huguenots of France fled before the blighting edict of Nantes in 1685, many of them settling in the city of New York. To the persecuted and oppressed--America was represented as a land of rest.

Immigrants poured in upon our sh.o.r.es from France, Holland, Germany, England, Ireland and Scotland--among whom were many eminent for piety, intelligence and liberal principles. They were also men of courage and fort.i.tude, at that time considered necessary requisites in the perilous undertaking of leaving the old for the new world. Among those who came to our country were men of all the learned professions, the liberal arts and sciences, trades and occupations.

Robert Livingston was the son of an eminent Scotch divine who died in 1672. Robert then came to this country and obtained a grant for the manor along the Hudson River. He had three sons--Philip, father of the present subject--Robert, grandfather of Chancellor Livingston, and Gilbert, grandfather of the Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston.

Philip, the subject of this brief sketch, was born at Albany on the 15th of January 1716. He was one of the few who enjoyed a collegiate education at that period. After his preparatory studies he entered Yale College and graduated in 1737. He had strong native talent improved by the lights of a liberal education. Religion and moral rect.i.tude prepared him for a career of usefulness. In those days of republican simplicity and common sense the graduates of an American college did not believe themselves licensed to ride rough shod over those whose literary advantages were less--nor did they believe themselves exonerated from the field, the shop and the counting house and destined only for the learned professions. They thought it no disparagement to apply themselves to agricultural, mechanical and commercial pursuits and wear apparel spun and wove by the hands of their n.o.ble mothers and hale sisters. An enervating change is visible.

Mr. Livingston engaged extensively and successfully in mercantile business in the city of New York and became noted for punctuality, honesty and fair dealing. Reposing full confidence in his integrity, _then_ a necessary pa.s.sport to public honors, his fellow citizens elected him an alderman in 1754, which office he filled for nine consecutive years, doing much to promote the peace and prosperity of the city. In 1759 he was elected to the colonial a.s.sembly which had important business on hand. Great Britain was at war with France which brought the northern Colonies in contact with the French and Indians.

Twenty thousand men were to be raised by the colonials to guard the frontier settlements and carry the war into the Canadas. The province of New York raised 2680 men and 250,000 pounds to aid in the proposed object.

Mr. Livingston took an active and judicious part in these deliberations.

He introduced laws for the advancement of commerce, agriculture and various other improvements--manifesting a sound judgment and liberal views. He was an active member on the Committee of Foreign Relations that wisely selected Edmund Burke to represent the interests of the Colony in the British Parliament. Through the lucid communications of Mr. Livingston that celebrated statesman and friend to America was made thoroughly acquainted with the situation, feelings and interests of the colonists.

After the dissolution of the a.s.sembly by the death of George II. Mr.

Livingston was elected to the one organized under the new dynasty. In 1761 he wrote an answer to the message of Lieutenant Governor Colden, pointing out, in bold but respectful language, the oppressions and infringements of the British ministry upon colonial rights. He at once became the nucleus around which a band of patriots gathered and formed a nut too hard to be cracked by the sledgehammer of monarchy. The governor uniformly dissolved the a.s.sembly at the commencement of its session if he found a majority of the members were liberals.

In 1768 the a.s.sembly consisted of the brightest luminaries of talent then in the Colony. Mr. Livingston was unanimously elected Speaker.

Discovering that a majority of the members were not pliant enough for tools nor submissive slaves, Governor Moore dissolved them and ordered a new election. He succeeded in obtaining a majority of creeping things but patriots enough were elected to hold the minions of the crown in awe. Disgusted at the tyranny of the governor, Mr. Livingston declined a re-election in the city but was returned to the a.s.sembly by the people upon his manor. On mature deliberation he took his seat but was objected to because not a resident of the district for which he was elected. The Argus eyes of the patriots quickly discovered that by this very plan the governor had succeeded in obtaining a majority in his favor--most of his creatures being in the same predicament. To save their own gla.s.s houses from a smash they withdrew their objection to Mr. Livingston. During the session he offered a resolution setting forth the grievances of his countrymen and the violation of chartered rights. This gave great umbrage to the adherents of the crown and they determined to expel him from his seat on the ground of his non-residence in the district he represented. This was done by a vote of 17 to 6, a very large majority of the members being in the same situation. This blind act was on par with the whole course of the infatuated ministry and their hirelings. It const.i.tuted a thread in the web that England wove to make a straight jacket for herself.

A wider field now opened for Mr. L. He was elected to the first Congress at Philadelphia and became a brilliant star in the galaxy of national patriots. He was one of the committee that prepared the spirited address to the British nation and roused from their lethargy those whose attention had not been turned to the all important subjects then in agitation--involving a nation's rights and a nation's wrongs. He was continued a member of Congress and when the grand birthday of our nation arrived--aided in the thrilling duties of the occasion--invoked the smiles of Heaven upon the new swathed infant and gave the sanction of his name to the Magna Charta that secured to our nation a towering majesty--a sublime grandeur before unknown.