as the acts of the Commonwealth, estimate that honor too highly to make its infraction their own act. I may be permitted to hope, then, that if any removal takes place, it will be a general one; and, as it is said to be left to the Governor and Council to determine on this, I am satisfied, that, suppressing every other consideration, and weighing the matter dispassionately, they will determine upon this sole question, Is it for the benefit of those for whom they act, that the Convention troops should be removed from among them? Under the head of interest, these circumstances, viz. the expense of building barracks, said to have been £25,000, and of removing the troops backwards and forwards, amounting to I know not how much, are not to be pretermitted, merely because they are Continen. tal expenses; for we are a part of the Continent; we must pay a shilling of every dollar wasted. But the sums of money, which, by these troops, or on their account, are brought into, and expended in this State, are a great and local advantage. This can require no proof. If, at the conclusion of the war, for instance, our share of the Continental debt should be twenty millions of dollars, or say that we are called on to furnish an annual quota of two millions four hundred thousand dollars, to Congress, to be raised by a tax, it is obvious, that we should raise these given sums with greater or less ease, in proportion to the greater or less quantity of money found in circulation among us. I expect that our circulating money is, by the presence of these troops, at the rate of $30,000 a week, at the least. I have heard, indeed, that an objection arises to their being kept within this State, from the information of the commissary, that they cannot be subsisted here. In attending to the information of that officer, it should be borne in mind that the county of King William, and its vicinities, are one thing, the territory of Virginia, another. If the troops could be fed upon long letters, I believe the gentleman at the head of that department in this country would be the best commissary upon earth. But till I see him determined to act, not to write; to sacrifice his domestic ease to the duties of his appointment, and apply to the resources of this country, wheresoever they are to be had, I must entertain a different opinion of him. I am mistaken, if, for the animal subsistence of the troops hitherto, we are not principally indebted to the genius and exertions of Hawkins, during the very short time he lived after his appointment to that department, by your board. His eye immediately pervaded the whole State; it was reduced at once to a regular machine, to a system, and the whole put into movement and animation, by the fiat of a comprehensive mind. If the Commonwealth of Virginia cannot furnish these troops with bread, I would ask of the commissariat, which of the thirteen is now become the grain colony? If we are in danger of famine from the addition of four thousand mouths, what is become of that surplus of bread, the exportation of which used to feed the West

Indies and Eastern States, and fill the Colony with hard money? When I urge the sufficiency of this State, however, to subsist these troops, I beg to be understood, as having in contemplation the quantity of provisions necessary for their real use, and not as calculating what is to be lost by the wanton use, mismanagement, and carelessness of those employed about it. If magazines of beef and pork are suffered to rot by slovenly butchering, or for want of timely provision and sale; if quantities of flour are exposed by the commissaries entrusted with the keeping it, to pillage and destruction; and if, when laid up in the Continental stores, it is still to be embezzled and sold, the land of Egypt itself would be insufficient for their supply, and their removal would be necessary, not to a more plentiful country, but to more able and honest commissaries.

*

"Their health is also of importance. I would not endeavor to show that their lives are valuable to us, because it would suppose a possibility, that humanity was kicked out of doors in America, and interest only attended to. The barracks occupy the top and brow of a very high hill, (you have been untruly told they were in a bottom.) They are free from fog, have four springs which seem to be plentiful, one within twenty yards of the piquet, two within fifty yards, and another within two hundred and fifty, and they propose to sink wells within the piquet. Of four thousand people, it should be expected, according to the ordinary calculations, that one should die every day. Yet, in the space of near three months, there have been but four deaths among them; two infants under three weeks old, and two others by apoplexy. The officers tell me, the troops were never before so healthy since they were embodied.

"But is an enemy so execrable, that, though in captivity, his wishes and comforts are to be disregarded and even crossed? I think not. It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of war as much as possible. The practice, therefore, of modern nations, of treating captive enemies with politeness and generosity, is not only delightful in contemplation, but really interesting to all the world, friends, foes, and neutrals. Let us apply this.

[Here follows a detail of the labor and expense incurred in providing their present accommodations, &c.]

'Having thus found the art of rendering captivity itself comfortable, and carried it into execution, at their own great expense and labor, their spirit sustained by the prospect of gratifications rising before their eyes, does not every sentiment of humanity revolt against the proposition of stripping them of all this, and removing them into new situations, where from the advanced season of the year, no preparations can be made for carrying themselves comfortably through the heat of summer; and when it is known that the necessary advances for the conveniences already provided, have exhausted their funds and left them unable to make the like exertions anew.

Again; review this matter as it may regard appearances. A body of troops, after staying a twelvemonth at Boston, are ordered to take a march of seven hundred miles to Virginia, where, it is said, they may be plentifully subsisted. As soon as they are there, they are ordered on some other march, because, in Virginia, it is said, they cannot be subsisted. Indifferent nations will charge this either to ignorance, or to whim and caprice; the parties interested, to cruelty. They now view the proposition in that light, and it is said, there is a general and firm persuasion among them, that they were marched from Boston with no other purpose than to harass and destroy them with eternal marches. Perseverance in object, though not by the most direct way, is often more laudable than perpetual changes, as often as the object shifts light. A character of steadiness in our councils is worth more than the subsistence of four thousand people.

*

*

*

"To conclude. The separation of these troops would be a breach of public faith; therefore I suppose it impossible. If they are removed to another State, it is the fault of the Commissaries; if they are removed to any other part of the State, it is the fault of the Commissaries; and in both cases, the public interest and public security suffer, the comfortable and plentiful subsistence of our own army is lessened, the health of the troops neglected, their wishes crossed, and their comforts torn from them, the character of whim and caprice, or, what is worse, of cruelty, fixed on us as a nation, and, to crown the whole, our own people disgusted with such a proceeding.

"I have thus taken the liberty of representing to you the facts and the reasons, which seem to militate against the separation or removal of these troops. I am sensible, however, that the same subject may appear to different persons in very different lights. What I have urged as reasons, may, to sounder minds, be apparent fallacies. I hope they will appear, at least, so plausible, as to excuse the interposition of your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant."

The reasonableness and cogency of this appeal, produced the intended effect. The Governor and Council, on a dispassionate review of the arguments submitted by Mr. Jefferson, were convinced, that the removal or separation of the troops, would be a breach of the public faith, and fix the character of unsteadiness, and what was worse, of cruelty, on the Councils of the nation. The proposition was accordingly abandoned, and the troops permitted to remain together at Charlottesville.

The liberal and high-minded conduct of Mr. Jefferson, on this occasion, and his uniform endeavors, during their confinement, te ameliorate their suffering condition, excited in the soldiers the liveli

est emotions of gratitude. They loaded him with expressions of their sensibility; and no time could obliterate the impression from their hearts. Subsequently, when Ambassador in Europe, Mr. Jefferson visited Germany; and passing through a town where one of the Hessian corps, that had been at Charlottesville, happened to be in garrison, he met with Baron De Geismar, who immediately apprized his brother officers of the presence of their benefactor. They flocked around him, greeted him with affecting tokens of their remembrance, and spoke of America with enthusiasm.

On taking leave of Charlottesville, the principal officers, Major Generals Phillips and Riedesel, Brigadier Specht, C. De Geismar, J. L. De Unger, and some others, addressed him letters, expressive of their lasting attachment, and bidding him an affectionate adieu. Phillips emphatically extols his "delicate proceedings." Riedesel repeatedly and fervently pours out his thanks, and those of his wife and children. To all these letters, Mr. Jefferson returned answers, replete with sentiments of politeness and generosity, of the highest order. Some of these answers have been preserved. "The great cause which divides our countries," he replied to Phillips, "is not to be decided by individual animosities. The harmony of private societies cannot weaken national efforts. To contribute, by neighborly intercourse and attention, to make others happy, is the shortest and surest way of being happy ourselves. As these sentiments seem to have directed your conduct, we should be as unwise as illiberal, were we not to preserve the same temper of mind.”

To General Riedesel he thus wrote: "The little attentions you are pleased to magnify so much, never deserved a mention or thought. Opposed as we happen to be, in our sentiments of duty and honor, and anxious for contrary events, I shall, nevertheless, sincerely rejoice in every circumstance of happiness and safety which may attend you personally."

To Lieutenant De Unger, who wrote in French with an air of great naivete, he replied in the following manner: "The very small amusements which it has been in my power to furnish, in order to lighten your heavy hours, by no means merited the acknowledgements you make. Their impression must be ascribed to your extreme sensibility rather than to their own weight. When the course of events shall have removed you to distant scenes of action, where laurels not moistened with the blood of my country, may

be gathered, I shall urge my sincere prayers for your obtaining every honor and preferment which may gladden the heart of a soldier. On the other hand, should your fondness for philosophy resume its merited ascendency, is it impossible to hope, that this unexplored country may tempt your residence, by holding out materials, wherewith to build a fame, founded on the happiness, and not on the calamities of human nature? Be this as it may, a philosopher or a soldier, I wish you personally many felicities." De Unger was a votary of literature and science. He was a frequent visitor at the hospitable mansion of Mr. Jefferson, and enjoyed in his library advantages, which, his taste combined with his situation to render doubly precious. Other officers loved music and painting; they found in him a rich and cultivated taste for the fine arts. They were astonished, delighted; and their letters to several parts of Germany, gave of the American character, ideas derived from that exalted specimen. These letters found their way into several Gazettes of the ancient world, and the name of Jefferson was associated with that of Franklin, whose fame had then spread over Europe. "Surely," says an historian,* "this innocent and bloodless conquest over the minds of men, whose swords had originally been hired to the oppressors of America, was in itself scarcely less glorious, though in its effects less extensively beneficial, than the splendid train of victories which had disarmed their hands."

CHAPTER VII.

On the 1st of June, 1779, Mr. Jefferson was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia; and retired from the Legislature, with the highest dignity within the scope of their appointment. Political distinctions being then unknown, the ballot box determined the exact value put upon the abilities of public characters. Being but thirty-six years old, his personal ascendency must have been great to have outweighed the sanctimonious and almost irresistible predisposition for age and experience, in selecting the Executive

*Girardin, p. 327.

ག