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the daughter of Mr. John Wayles of Virginia, an alliance by which he at once gained an accession of strength and credit, and received, in the intervals of publick business, that domestick happiness he was so well fitted to partake and enjoy. Its duration, however, was but short; in little more than ten years, death deprived him of his wife, and left him the sole guardian of two infant daughters; to whose education he devoted himself with a constancy and zeal, which might, in some measure, compensate for the want of a mother's care and instruction. Mr. Wayles was an eminent lawyer of the province, and having by his great industry, punctuality, and practical readiness, acquired a handsome fortune, he died in May, 1773, leaving three daughters: the portion which came on that event to Mrs. Jefferson was about equal to the patrimony of her husband, and consequently doubled the ease of their circum

stances.

After the dissolution of the Virginia legislature in 1769, nothing of particular excitement in the country occurred for a considerable length of time; the nation appeared to have fallen into an apathy or insensibility to their situation; although the duty on tea was not yet repealed, and the declaratory act of a right in the British parliament to bind them by their laws in all cases, was still supended over them. But they at length aroused from their stupor. A court of inquiry held in Rhode Island in 1762, with a power to send persons to England to be tried for offences committed here, was thought to have aimed a deadly stab at the most sacred rights of the citizen, and as demanding the attention of the legislature of Virginia. The subject was taken

up and considered at the spring session of 1773. Os this occasion, Mr. Jefferson associated himself with several of the boldest and most active of his companions in the house, ("not thinking," as he says himself, "the old and leading members up to the point of forwardness and zeal which the times required,") and with them formed the system of Committees of Correspondence, in a private room, in the same Raleigh Tavern. They were sensible that the most urgent of all measures was that of coming to an understanding with all the other colonies, to consider the British claims as a common cause to all, and to produce a unity of action; and for this purpose, that a committee of correspondence in each colony would be the best instrument for intercommunication, and that their first measure would probably be to propose a meeting of deputies from every colony, at some central place, who should be charged with the direction of the measures which should be taken by all. In furtherance of these views, the following resolutions were drawn up, and probably proceeded from his pen:

"Whereas the minds of his majesty's faithful subjects in this colony have been much disturbed by various rumours and reports of proceedings tending to deprive them of their ancient legal and constitutional rights:

"And whereas the affairs of this colony are frequently connected with those of Great Britain, as well as the neighbouring colonies, which renders a communication of sentiments necessary; in order therefore to remove the uneasiness and to quiet the minds of the people, as well as for the other good purposes above mentioned:

"Be it resolved, that a standing committee of corres

pondence and inquiry be appointed, to consist of eleven persons, to wit: the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq. Robert C. Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard H. Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson, Esquires; any six of whom to be a committee, whose business it shall be to obtain the most early and authentick intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British parliament, or proceedings of administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in America; and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and communication with our sister colonies respecting those important considerations; and the result of such their proceedings, from time to time, to lay before this house.

"Resolved, that it be an instruction to the said committee, that they do, without delay, inform themselves particularly of the principles and authority on which was constituted a Court of Inquiry said to have been lately held in Rhode Island, with powers to transport persons accused of offences committed in America to places beyond the seas to be tried.

"The said resolutions being severally read a second time, were, upon the question severally put thereupon, agreed to by the house nemine contradicente.

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Resolved, that the Speaker of this house do transmit to the Speakers of the different Assemblies of the British colonies on this continent, copies of the said. resolutions, and desire that they will lay them before their respective Assemblies, and request them to appoint some person or persons of their respective bodies

to communicate from time to time with the said committee."

The consulting members proposed to Mr. Jefferson to move these resolutions: but he urged that it should be done by Mr. Carr, his friend and brother-in-law, then a new member, and to whom he wished an opportunity should be given of making known to the house his great worth and talents. It was so agreed: he moved them, they were adopted without a dissenting voice, and a committee of correspondence appointed, of whom Peyton Randolph, the Speaker, was chairman. The Governour (then Lord Dunmore) immediately dissolved the house: but the committee met next day, prepared a circular letter to the Speakers of the other colonies, inclosing to each a copy of the resolutions, and left it in charge with their chairman to forward them by expresses.

We would step aside one moment, for the purpose of introducing Mr. Wirt's description of the mind and manners of the gentleman who first presented these resolutions to the house. "In supporting these resolutions," says he, "Mr. Carr made his debut, and a noble one it is said to have been. This gentleman, by profession a lawyer, had recently commenced his practice at the same bars with Patrick Henry; and although he had not yet reached the meridian of life, he was considered by far the most formidable rival in forensick eloquence that Mr. Henry had ever yet had to encounter. He had the advantage of a person at once dignified and engaging, and the manner and action of an accomplished gentleman. His education was a finished one, his mind trained to correct thinking, his conceptions

was no more!

quick, and clear, and strong; he reasoned with great cogency, and had an imagination which enlightened beautifully, without interrupting or diverting the course of his argument. His voice was finely toned; his feelings acute; his style free, and rich, and various; his devotion to the cause of liberty verging on enthusiasm; and his spirit firm and undaunted, beyond the possibility of being shaken. With what delight the House of Burgesses hailed this new champion, and felicitated themselves on such an accession to their cause, it is easy to imagine. But what are the hopes and expectations of mortals? In two months from the time at which this gentleman stood before the House of Burgesses, in all the pride of health, and genius, and eloquence, he Lost to his friends and his country, and disappointed of standing in that noble triumph which awaited the illustrious band of his compatriots." We have similar testimony from a different pen. "I well remember," says an eye witness, "the pleasure expressed in the countenances and conversation of the members generally in this debut of Mr. Carr, and the hopes they conceived, as well from the talents as the patriotism it manifested. But he died within two months after, and in him we lost a powerful fellow labourer. His character was of a high order, a spotless integrity, sound judgement, handsome imagination, enriched by education and reading; quick and clear in his conceptions; of correct and ready elocution; impressing every hearer with the sincerity of the heart from which it flowed. His firmness was inflexible in whatever he thought right; but when no moral principle was in the way, never had man more of the milk

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