the enemy have hitherto obtained, and render desperate the hopes to which those successes have given birth."

To this magnanimous resolution, were appended the well known sentiments of Mr. Jefferson, with respect to the navigation of the Mississippi, and the necessity of securing a free Port at the mouth of that river.

In the course of one month after the adoption of this measure, the Confederation was completed.

On the first of June, 1780, Mr. Jefferson was re-elected Governor by the unanimous vote of the Legislature. During his second gubernatorial term, Virginia, which had hitherto been distant from the seat of war, was destined to be made the theatre of a campaign more arduous, perilous and distressing, than perhaps distinguished any other period of the Revolution. Three systematic invasions, by numerous and veteran armies, inundated the State, in quick and terrible succession; nor could there have been a more unfavorable concurrence of circumstances, for offering an adequate resistance, than existed during the whole time these formidable operations were carried on. Virginia was completely defenceless; her physical resources were exhausted; her troops had been drawn off to the South and to the North, to meet the incessant demands' in those quarters, and the Continental army was too much reduced to afford her any important succors. The militia constituted the only force on which any reliance could be placed; and the resort to this force was limited by the deficiency of arms, which was aggravated by the pressing destitution of the finances. Indeed, the general condition of the country, at the South, exhibited a deplorable aspect. The city of Charleston, with the main body of the Continental army, had fallen into the hands of Lord Cornwallis; and the haughty victor, inflated with success, had proclaimed his intention of pushing his advances northward, on a magnificent scale of conquest, subjugating in his course, the entire States of North Carolina and Virginia, and devoting the inhabitants to unconditional submission, or the sword.

Intelligence of these menacing calculations had no sooner reached Virginia, than the Governor commenced the most vigorous measures for recreating the army, and putting the country in a firm posture of defence. For this purpose, he was invested by the Legislature with new and extraordinary powers. Should the State be

invaded, 20,000 militia were placed at his disposal; he was empowered to impress provisions and other articles, for the public service, and likewise, to lay an embargo in the ports of the Commonwealth, whenever expedient. He was authorized to confine or remove all persons suspected of disaffection; and to subject to martial law individuals acting as spies or guides to the enemy, or in any manner aiding, abetting, and comforting them, or disseminating among the militia the seeds of discontent, mutiny and revolt. He was directed to invigorate the laboratory for the manufacture of arms, which had, of late, been languishing; and, at the same time, to provide proper magazines for warlike stores. To meet the pecuniary exi gencies of the times, paper emissions were necessarily multiplied; and new taxes were devised.

These defensive arrangements were scarcely enacted, when their execution was suddenly suspended, by the appearance in the Chesapeake, of a strong British armament, under the command of General Leslie. Resistance by maritime means, being unavailable at this juncture, the Governor immediately collected as large a body of militia as he could equip, to prevent the debarkation of the enemy; but the alarm of the inhabitants, whose first 'care was to secure their wives, children, and movable property, together with the insufficiency of arms, rendered his exertions ineffectual. It was to him a source of anguish and mortification, to think, that a people able and zealous to repel the invader, should be reduced to impotency, by the want of defensive weapons. The enemy landed at different points, but soon concentrated their forces in Portsmouth, fortified themselves, and remained in close quarters, until they retreated on board their ships. It appears this force had been detached by Cornwallis, to invade Virginia by water, occupy Portsmouth for the purposes of support and safe rendezvous, and join the main army under his command, on its entrance, by land, into the southern borders of the State. But the precipitate retreat of Cornwallis into South Carolina, in consequence of serious reverses in that quarter, defeated Leslie's anticipated junction with the main army, and compelled his sudden departure from the State, leaving his works unfinished and undestroyed. The principal injury resulting from this invasion, was the loss of a quantity of cattle, collected for the use of the southern army, and seized by the enemy immediately after disembarking. Indeed, the conduct of this detachment, whilst in Vir

ginia, was an honorable exception, in all respects, to that savage and predatory system, which had hitherto marked the footsteps of British conquest. "I must," writes the Governor to General Washington, "do their General and Commander the justice to observe, that in every case, which their attention and influence could reach, as far as I have been informed, their conduct was such as does them the greatest honor. In the few instances of wanton and unnecessary devastation, they punished the aggressors." To the firmness of Mr. Jefferson, in the case of Hamilton, history ascribes in great part, this reputable deviation from a mode of warfare, which all mankind must abhor.*

This hostile armament had scarcely left the coast, when Virginia was surprised by another invasion, of a more formidable character, from an unexpected quarter. The parricide Arnold, apprised of the vulnerable condition of Virginia, on the sea board, projected the plan of a second attack by a naval force. He embarked from New York, at the instance of Sir Henry Clinton, and on the 30th of December, 1780, was seen entering the Capes of Virginia, with twentyseven sail of vessels. He ascended James river, and landed about fifteen miles below Richmond. On the approach of a hostile force into the heart of the State, the inhabitants were thrown into con sternation. The Governor made every effort for calling in a sufficient body of militia to resist the incursion; but, being dispersed over a large tract of country, they could be collected but slowly. Richmond being evidently the object of their attack, every effort was necessary for immediately securing the arms, military stores, records, &c. from the ravages of the profligate invader. He hastily embodied about two hundred half armed militia, for the purpose of protecting the removal of the records, military stores, &c. to the opposite side of James river. He superintended their movements in person; and was seen urging, by his presence, the business of transportation, and coolly issuing his orders, until the enemy had actually entered the lower part of the town, preceded by a body of light horse. Soon the whole regiment poured into Richmond, and commenced the work of pillage and conflagration. They burnt the foundary, the boring mill, the magazine, a number of dwelling houses, the books and papers of the Auditor's and the Council office, and retired

* History of Virginia, vol. 4, p. 421.

the next day. Within less than forty-eight hours, they had penetrated thirty-three miles into the country, committed the whole injury, and retreated down the river. The Governor himself narrowly escaped being taken, owing to the suddenness of the attack, and his continuance on the scene of danger, at an unreasonable hour, for the purpose of securing the public property. He had previously sent off his family to Tuckahoe, eight miles above Richmond, on the same side of the river; but did not join them himself until 1 o'clock in the night He returned the next morning, and continued his personal attendance in the vicinity of the metropolis, during the whole invasion, to the imminent exposure of his life; and yet, the virulence of party spirit has imputed to him not only flagrant remissness, but a want of common courage on this occasion!

Arnold shortly after encamped at Portsmouth, where he remained for a long time, in close quarters, panic struck with guilt, and harrowed by the tortures of the lowest hell. The capture of this execrable traitor had, from the moment of his perfidy, been an object of eager pursuit with all the patriots. Mr. Jefferson was induced to consider the plan practicable, while in his present situation.

The following letter to General Muhlenburgh, dated Richmond, January 31, '81, developes the scheme which he laid for the accomplishment of so desirable an object.

Sir,-Acquainted as you are with the treasons of Arnold, I need say nothing for your information, or to give you a proper sentiment of them. You will readily suppose, that it is above all things desirable to drag him from those, under whose wing he is now sheltered. On his march to and from this place, I am certain it might have been done with facility, by men of enterprise and firmness. I think it may still be done, though perhaps, not quite so easily. Having peculiar confidence in the men from the western side of the mountains, I meant, as soon as they should come down, to get the enterprise proposed to a chosen number of them, such, whose courage and whose fidelity would be above all doubt. Your perfect knowledge of those men personally, and my confidence in your discretion, induce me to ask you to pick from among them, proper characters, in such numbers as you think best; to reveal to them our desire; and engage them to undertake to seize and bring off this greatest of all traitors. Whether this may be best effected by their going in as friends, and awaiting their opportunity, or otherwise, is left to themselves. The smaller the number, the better, so that they may be sufficient to manage him. Every necessary caution must be used on their part, to prevent a discovery of their design by the enemy.

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LIFE, WRITINGS, AND OPINIONS

I will undertake, if they are successful in bringing him off alive, that they shall receive five thousand guineas reward among them; and to men formed for such an enterprise, it must be a great incitement to know, that their names will be recorded with glory in history, with those of Vanwert, Paulding and Williams."

Bold and adventurous spirits were found in Muhlenburg's corps, who panted to undertake the daring enterprise; but Arnold had become cautious and circumspect, beyond the reach of stratagem; he lay buried in close confinement at Portsmouth, suffered no stranger to approach him, and never afterwards unguardedly exposed his person. The project, therefore, was rendered abortive.

summer.

The real situation of Virginia, at this period, is forcibly depicted in the letters and dispatches of the Governor. "The fatal want of arms," he wrote on the 8th of February, "puts it out of our power to bring a greater force into the field than will barely suffice to restrain the adventures of the pitiful body of men the enemy have at Portsmouth. Should they be reinforced, the country will be perfectly open to them by land as well as by water." "I have been knocking at the door of Congress," he again wrote on the 17th, "for aids of all kinds, but especially of arms, ever since the middle of The speaker, Harrison, is gone to be heard on that subject. Justice, indeed, requires that we should be aided powerfully. Yet, if they would only repay us the arms we have lent them, we should give the enemy trouble, though abandoned to ourselves." On the same day, he addressed the Commander in Chief, as follows: "Arms and a naval force, are the only means of salvation for Virginia. Two days ago, I received information of the arrival of a sixty-four gun ship and two frigates, in our Bay, being part of the fleet of our good Ally, at Rhode-Island. Could they get at the British ships, they are sufficient to destroy them, but these are drawn up into Elizabeth river, into which the sixty-four cannot enter. I apprehend they could do nothing more than block up the river. This, indeed, would reduce the enemy, as we could cut off their supplies by land; but the operation requiring much time, would probably be too dangerous for the auxiliary force. Not having yet had any particular information of the designs of the French commander, I cannot pretend to say what measures this will lead to."

This desperate situation of affairs was aggravated by the arrival in the Bay, of two thousand additional British troops, under the