against each other; not nation against nation, but father against son, children against parents, and brothers against brothers, whereby parental, filial, and fraternal duty is terribly violated; that by war, stealth, or surprise, we Christians may be furnished with our fellow-creatures, who are no longer to be considered as created in the image of God as well as ourselves, and equally entitled to liberty and freedom by the great law of nature, but they are to be deprived, for ever deprived, of all the comforts of life, and to be made the most wretched of the human kind. I have seen it observed by a great writer, that Christianity, by introducing into Europe the truest principles of humanity, universal benevolence, and brotherly love, had happily abolished civil slavery. Let us, who profess the same religion, practise its precepts; and by agreeing to this duty, convince the world that we know and practise our true interests, and that we pay a proper regard to the dictates of justice and humanity!"

This speech gained for Mr. Lee some applause; but it did not procure for him that decided reputation and popularity, which he soon afterwards enjoyed. An occasion at length occurred, which related more immediately to the politics of the house, and on which the feelings of a brother had been, as Mr. Lee thought, unjustifiably wounded. Affection for his brother, and indignation at the unworthy conduct and unfair treatment which he had received, fired Mr. Lee; and calling forth, into vigorous exercise, the latent powers of his intellect, discovered to his fellow citizens, inexhaustible sources of a rich, brilliant and energetic eloquence.

To enable the reader to catch something of the spirit of the transaction about to be recorded, a short account of the parties of that time, may be necessary. Two parties divided the House of Burgesses. These were strongly marked; and the spirit of their politics was widely different. Although they could not be correctly called "whig and tory," they might be termed aristocratic and republican. The society of Virginia was then generally and obviously divided into two classes; the one

was constituted of men who owned large landed estates, cultivated by bodies of slaves; the other, of the solid and independent yeomanry. They were equally distinct from each other in their manners and customs. The former lived in great splendour and luxury, and imitating in their mode of life, the nobility of England, they possessed, no doubt, much of the spirit of aristocracy. Between this and the latter class, there was little or no intercourse. The members of the assembly carried into that body, the manners and feelings of the class, in which their birth or their wealth, had placed them. The aristocratic members looked down upon those, who came from the lower orders, as they termed them, while these looked upon the others with jealousy and dislike. The more intelligent members of the republican party, viewed the aristocrats" with a sort of political abhorrence, as enemies to the popular features of the constitution. Mr. Lee, from the convictions of reason, and from the bias of education and reading, was a firm and ardent member of the republican party. He was an admirer, and called himself a disciple of Hampden, and Sydney, and Pelham.

In this state of the two parties in the legislature, the republican members determined to bring forward a measure, for the success of which they felt great anxiety. Mr. Thomas Lee, an elder brother of Mr. Lee, who was also a member of the house, and attached to the popular party, was selected to introduce a resolution on the subject. This gentleman, though accustomed to speak, was still oppressed by that diffidence and embarrassment, which had hitherto repressed the genius of his brother. Urged however, by the zeal of his party, and probably by the intrinsic merit of the measure he was about to propose, his introductory speech was one of great strength. But he had forgotten, that the rules

*See Life of P. Henry, p. 33, &c.

†The word "republican," is here used in the sense in which it might be applied to Cimon, or to Cato.

of the house required, that every motion should be reduced to writing, before it could be put from the chair. The speaker of the house, who was the head of the opposite party, availed himself of this oversight, and reminded Mr. Lee, with great asperity, of the rule, and the violation of it, of which he had been guilty. Mr. Lee was so confounded by the manner of the speaker, that he was utterly unable to retrieve the consequences of his mistake, or to take advantage of the impression which his speech had evidently made. The hopes of the opposition, who perceived the confusion of their champion began to fall, and despair, at length, was spreading among them, when, to their surprise, R. H. Lee, stung with resentment at the manner in which his brother had been treated, arose with a written motion, and prefaced it with a bold and brilliant speech. His political friends exhibited at once astonishment and delight, while his adversaries were confounded-he became from that time the darling of his party. His knowledge of business and application to it, his information on all subjects before the house, and his conciliating manners, now speedily constituted him the leader of his party, and a prominent and useful member of the legislature. Mr. Thomas Lee could never afterwards be prevailed on to speak. Hence, it was remarked at the time, that the incident which had destroyed one orator, had raised up another.

The next occasion upon which Mr. Lee distinguished himself as an useful, intrepid and patriotic member, was one of real importance to the colony. Mr. Robinson, who, from his family and wealth, was at the head of the aristocratic party, united in his person the offices of speaker of the House of Burgesses, and treasurer of the colony. The latter office was in the gift of the crown, and those who held it had always been obsequious to the court. Such was the case with Mr. Robinson. Possessed of great wealth, and high in official dignity, and being besides a person of an unassuming air, and politeness of manners, and of a great amiableness of na

ture, he was the most popular man of his party, and was personally much beloved. As a politician and legislator, he was a known "aristocrat"-yet many members of the republican party were in habits of friendly intercourse with him, and esteemed him as a man while they opposed him, and the measures of his political friends.

The colony of Virginia had contracted large debts, by its exertions in the French and Indian wars, which had desolated its western frontiers. It had been compelled to anticipate its revenue, and to borrow considerable sums of money. To repay these loans, it had issued government paper, redeemable, in each year, to a certain amount, by taxes pledged for the purpose. It was made the duty of the treasurer, to burn the bills which should be annually called in. The treasurer had been liberal of his private funds to his friends, whose style of living required larger expenditures, than their estates yielded. When these were exhausted, he had been induced to lend to many members of the House of Burgesses, the government bills which had been redeemed, and ought to have been destroyed. It is said, that he relied on his own means to prevent any ultimate injury to the state, and upon the security he had taken. The fact, that the treasurer had made an improper use of the money of the public, became known; or, at least, strong suspicions, were entertained on the subject. These suspicions gave rise to conversations among the opposition party; and, it was in agitation, to move an inquiry into the grounds of them. The considerations, that the speaker was individually concerned in the inquiry contemplated; that the interests of the colony were involved in it; that some of the ablest and most influential men in the house, were the intimate friends of the speaker, and that a failure to prove his defalcation, no matter from what cause, would be represented as the just result of a malignant attack on him, made it a delicate and fearful task, to move the inquiry. Great indecision and backwardness were evinced. Mr. Lee, as soon as he had satisfied his mind that there were grounds upon

which to rest the suspicions, determined to brave every risk, and to assert the justice and necessity, of bringing delinquents to punishment. To his mind, their exaltation and influence, offered no just exception to the rigid application of these principles. The difficulties he would have to encounter, in the present cause, served only to stimulate his firm and adventurous spirit. Accordingly, he moved "that a committee be appointed to inquire into the state of the treasury." As soon as the government partly perceived what subject Mr. Lee was about to agitate, they discovered symptoms of alarm, and prepared for a strenuous resistance. The speaker fixt his eyes with a dark and terrible frown upon Mr. Lee. The members opposed to his motion, turned their faces from him, with haughty and disdainful airs: but, these things had no other effect, than to animate Mr. Lee to strains of indignant eloquence. The most able and influential members of the house, opposed his motion, yet, he refuted with great force, all objections to the inquiry, and seemed to gain strength and ardour, from the very means taken to defeat it. The resolution was finally adopted; then pursuing his success, he brought the business to a close, which promised to save the colony from great fiscal. embarrassment, and the people from additional burdens. This achievement of Mr. Lee, added greatly to his reputation throughout the colony. The author has found among the manuscripts of Mr. Lee, a letter from a gentleman of a distant county of the colony, and not personally acquainted with him, complimenting him on the part he had acted, and thanking him, for the good he had done to his fellow citizens.

A state of things was now commencing, which was to abolish all party distinctions in the colony of Virginia; to afford an occasion for the exercise of the highest talents, and the noblest virtues, and to lead to the independence of the United States.

England had just concluded the peace of Paris, which was preceded by one of the most extensive and bloody wars, that had ever desolated civilized Europe. She