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admirable address, with which he baffled the diplomacy of the British minister, and unmasked the beauties of his vaunted' Proposition,' has been the theme of the historian, and the statesman, from that day to the present. The original draught was so strong, that even the Committee were in doubt; and although they consented to report it, they attacked it with severity, in the House. But with the aid of Randolph,' says Mr. Jefferson, I carried it through; with long and doubtful scruples from Mr. Nicholas and James Mercer, and a dash of cold water on it here and there, enfeebling it somewhat, but finally with unanimity, or a vote approaching it.' In his answer, the author did not scruple to intimate to the Minister, that his proposition was perfectly understood on this side of the water. That its real object was to produce a division among the Colonies, some of which, it was supposed, would accept it, and forsake the rest; or in failure of that, to afford a pretext to the people of England, for justifying the Government in the adoption of the most coercive measures. He declared, moreover, that having examined it in the most favorable point of view, he was still compelled, with pain and disappointment, to conclude, that it only changed the form of oppression, without lightening its burden; and that therefore, he must meet it by a firm and unqualified rejection of its terms. He said, that the proposal then made to them, involved the interests of all the Colonies, and should have been addressed to them in their collective capacity. They were then represented in a General Congress, composed of Deputies from all the States, whose union, he trusted, had been so strongly cemented, that no partial application could produce the slightest departure from the common cause. They considered themselves as bound in honor, as well as interest, to share one general fate with their sister Colonies: and should hold themselves as base deserters of the Union to which they had acceded, were they to agree to any measures of a separate accommodation. This celebrated paper concludes, it appears, with a religious ejaculation; the want of which, in some of the documents drawn by Mr. Jefferson, has afforded a theme of unjust animadversion upon his views of the Divine superintendence.

"These, my Lord, are our sentiments, on this important subject, which we offer only as an individual part of the whole empire. Final determination we leave to the General Congress, now sitting, before whom we shall lay the papers your lordship has communi

S*

cated to us. For ourselves, we have exhausted every mode of application, which our invention could suggest, as proper and promising. We have decently remonstrated with Parliament-they have added new injuries to the old; we have wearied our King with supplications he has not deigned to answer us; we have appealed to the native honor and justice of the British nation-their efforts in our favor have hitherto been ineffectual. What then remains to be done? That we commit our injuries to the even-handed justice of that Being, who doeth no wrong, earnestly beseeching Him to illuminate the councils, and prosper the endeavors of those to whom America hath confided her hopes; that through their wise directions, we may again see re-united the blessings of liberty, prosperity, and harmony with Great Britain."

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It may be considered fortunate, that Virginia took the precedence of the other Colonies, perhaps even of Congress, in replying to this deceptive overture; and no less fortunate, that the business of preparing the answer, devolved on Mr. Jefferson. A less decisive and unequivocal stand, at the outset, would have admitted the entering wedge, and perhaps ended in utter disorganization. It is not among the least of the merits of this performance, that the Union' is kept in uppermost view throughout, and the word 'Congress' sounded in the ears of his lordship, at every step, telling him, that that is the door at which he must knock with all his messages of negociation. Better evidence, however, of the high character of this production, could not be given, than that, on Mr. Jefferson's repairing to Philadelphia, and conveying the first notice of it to Congress, that enlightened body were so impressed with the ground. taken, that they very soon adopted it, upon a slight revision by the author, as the concurrent voice of the Nation. This circumstance accounts for the similarity of feature in the two instruments. 'The one adopted by Congress will be given entire, in its proper place. Viewed in a political light, the present essay, like his 'Rights of British America,' proves the author's mind to have been indoctrinated in the great principles of the Revolution, long before he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Its effect upon Lord Dunmore, may be inferred from his answer, a few days after its presentation to His Excellency. It was sufficiently laconic. "Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses-It is with real concern I can discover nothing in your address, that I think manifests the smallest inclination to, or will be productive of, a reconciliation with the another country."

This was the last regal Assembly that ever met in Virginia. They adjourned on the 24th of June, '75, and the Governor could never afterwards collect a quorum. Himself, in a paroxysm of terror and despair, had some days before abandoned the palace, fled for refuge on board one of the British ships of war, and declared he would never return, unless they closed in with the conciliatory proposition of the Prime Minister. But the fearless and irrevocable sentence of a Jefferson was soon passed upon that; and although His Excellency returned, the people would never afterwards receive him, or reverence his authority.

Thus crumbled to the dust, after having stood two centuries and a half, the baseless fabric of the monarchical power, in Virginia; and with it," the wide arch of the raised empire fell."

As this was the last, so was it the most important Assembly that was held under the royal government. By its decisions, a long stride was taken in advancement of the general cause. The example was electric upon the other Provinces, and was felt with awe in the great American Council. The influence of its proceedings upon the final catastrophe, is well remembered by an historian.* "The constant gratitude," says he, "of the American people, will, through every succeeding generation, be due to this Assembly of enlightened patriots. Had they, upon this occasion, have accepted of any partial terms of accommodation, favorable to themselves alone, and in exclusion of the rights of the other Colonies, or had they been less firm in repelling the aggressions of the Governor, or less able in defending their own liberties, the cause of American Independence might probably have terminated very differently from what it actually did."

The fall of the regal power in Virginia, commenced the literal verification of that blasting prophecy of Wilkes, in the House of Commons, the February before. But the 'loss of the first Province of empire' was not followed, as he hoped, with the 'loss of the heads of the Ministers.' In the course of one of the most vehement and overwhelming onsets against Administration, and one of the most ardent and powerful discourses upon human liberty, every tittle of which was a prophecy, that intrepid defender of the rights of man uttered the following sentences. "In the great scale

* Girardin.

of empire, you will decline, I fear, from the decision of this day; and the Americans will rise to independence, to power, to all the greatness of the most renowned States; for they build on the solid basis of general public liberty." "If you persist in your resolution, all hope of reconciliation is extinct. The Americans will triumph--the whole continent of North America will be dismembered from Great Britain, and the wide arch of the raised empire fall. But I hope the just vengeance of the people will overtake the authors of these pernicious counsels, and the loss of the first Province of the empire, be speedily followed by the loss of the heads of those Ministers who first invented them."

CHAPTER IV.

On the 21st of June, 1775, Mr. Jefferson took his seat in the grand Council of select Arbiters, to whom America had committed the direction of her united destinies. In the origination of this Council, he had exercised a leading agency; and through the whole process of its establishment, he had persevered, with all that ardor, which the force of his opinions uniformly engendered in the pursuit of great public enterprises. The emotions with which he entered upon this new scene, the object of his steadfast devotion, and the subject of an early, fixed, and animating presentiment, may well be imagined. Here indeed, were centered all those expectations for his country, and for mankind, which had enabled him to surmount past emergencies with ease, and which braced him for a terrible futurity. His fame had preceded him. The novelty and extraordinary boldness of his revolutionary papers, had marked him as a prodigy in political ethics. He brought with him, also, a high reputation for literature, science, and a singular talent for composition. "Writings of his," says John Adams, "were handed about, remarkable for their peculiar felicity of expression." These circumstances made him an object of curiosity among the members. His presence was courted. Curiosity was soon changed into admiration; and admiration, in many instances, ripened into attachments,

which, cherished by his warm and tenacious sensibilities, the fiercest conflicts of opinion were never afterwards permitted to extinguish. In the language of the same distinguished cotemporary, and one who could feelingly attest the last observation, "he seized upon my heart."

The sentiment was reciprocal. He was now ushered upon a theatre, broad enough to match his own standard of thought, and desire of action. His patriotism had comprehended the whole territory of British America, and would stop at nothing short. The Union had had its birth place in his capacious mind. It had been first breathed from his lips. He had pointed to it, in all his propositions; and hurled it in defiance, at the British Premier. The consolidation of the moral and physical energies of the continent, was the first object of his ambition; and that object was now in a fair course of accomplishment.

taste.

The scene, moreover, was exquisitely adapted to his intellectual Here was the great arena for the attack and defence of principle. The cool champions of reason, and the lightning sons of eloquence were gathered to the combat ; and momentous questions of political law were required to be discussed. Now was the time, thought he, which should try the 'creeds' as well as the souls of men. On one side, was the full grown partisan of revolution; on the other, the lingering adherent of conciliation. Here, were the 'half-way guests' of John Dickinson-there, the whole length 'followers of their own reason;' the fervid impetuosity of youth, and the frigid caution of old age, were there; yet all assembled in solemn array, around a common altar, and ready to swear eternal cohesion upon one point, that of a common deliverance or a common ruin. The materials were worthy the occasion, and the results were pro portioned to both. The triumph of reason was signal and overwhelming. The decisions of that Assembly have long since passed into political axioms. They are revered as authority, at this day, and are dictating, in awful majesty, to the trembling autocrats of the earth.

Congress had been in session about six weeks when Mr. Jefferson arrived; yet an opportunity had been reserved, in anticipation, for impressing the tone of his sentiments upon the most important State-paper that had yet been meditated.

On the 24th of June, the committee which had been appointed

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