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<56 e Life and Times
I of
| Thomas Jefferson
* Being the First Part of a History of the United States
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CHAPTER V.
The spirit of antagonism which was
growing between royal officers and the
people of the colonies led to a blood crisis
in North Carolina. On the one side was :
the ruling class which scented disposed to j
make the most of the opportunity to |
plunder the tax payers; on the other were I
the masses who w- re disposed to resist |
the local wrongs with the same courage I
which had been shown in opposition to the
stamp act. The governor of North Caro
lina at this time was Tryon, a bold. able,
unscrupulous man. Me was at this time
squandering seventy odd thousand dollars
In building for himself a splendid palace,
and taxes were increased to meet the
heavy drains. I.ike master, like man; the
spirit of extortion beginning with the
governor ran along down the line to the
lowest bailiff. Promis, .- of redress of I
grievances had been made but had not j
been kept. Things were going from bad |
to worse. The discontented held meetings
to "inquire whether the freemen of the
country labored under any abuse of pow- j
er. ami. If so, what measures should be
taken." The r ulators sprang into ex
istence. This v. s th. list organized re
sistance to British tyranny since Bacon s i
glorious rebellion in Virginia. These free-
N t Carolii
tn pay only s i. h tax. s :•< were agr* < v >
to law and applied to th" purp > es tin rein j
named; and to pay no officer more than ■
his legal fees.”
The North Carolii.a patrot- w--e I'd by
Herman :;mls. a it.rce 11 ■ -wr.er of I
Quaker ancestry, related to I ;■ nj.imln |
Franklin Th. -re was ; . '•■: :lsh up a his ‘
character, and b's motiv. - at this crisis]
were ; ■ ■
spired Patrick 11. :. and Adams
Mis pen wrote the r. < ..—.ions already
mentioned, r • ■•■o' C <. whi.-h • ■ just gov
ernment would 1 d.
Cover;, ~r 'fry. •• H’s et’ds under ar- ■
rest, and dragged I:.- t>> Hillsborough.
The people rose to his v-soue and set him .
ft
of troop; ■ s, r ■■ so r IB:- .and.',
seined ' nn and flung 1 fin into .; .11. The :
regulators ran to arm-■ iMc.y, 17iF>. but i
I lush tnds had n reh 1 n 1 nd. On
May 21. I? -. il I gme r il !
»n. . t f1 •••.•• r .:•:• ••. •'’ t l'"ir num- i
rto pr '■■.l n:i nl’: ■ ••••. ’!i Ir .ippcal for |
,’|O .alleg. 1 •’”' . li ' ■■■•! •' X ’ISO th" eon- i
-
bn; : y I;, arts . ;i: ■ . . .... soothe 1 '
would I >m> of his
■■■roil • ■ offi. • ’ ..I d in,- ■:.• ■ tH'tit !
w- , g! T 1-.. f :’"d to turn ■
■ • . thi wrath of our •• -: rs. They
V "no Tl r up. tors ntinm ..1 to ns- I
- r rnP a and to train I
, u....- >o?? 11. ordered j
. . y.. nds I
• i s-• a ’ t: ' .' ■: *l’ ■ a.' s' ages w. re
’ .. . imbty. !
''l:- ■ him nnd the now 1
.. .... :■ • at .."si p,.l and would
imprisoned
The • ' ' 'val < ffi- .
• .■••? <■>.'. 110-nn' 1 Fanninng. was
trM nt the term • f court on six
cistir, t it.tm. ■■’ i cing him witn
extortion. He t ..- f :nd guilty In each
case. Wil it pm: -hr t wis 1: fl: fed
upon this c’im:::a’ w’ o w's using his
position to tl: ■ ' ’ HE MAs
FINED ONE BENNY IN EM'if CASE'
Is it
wrought up to r ci'.-- S i "
■wrongs whi'h tl'. y ■ I " 1 in ■ ■
way to p ■ ey lost
. ■
low-, and determined to do tn.-m- . <
that justice whi h wee ~i ■ ’ i -l -'m ' '
their rulers Cour-.- w - br d;en t: •
prlsoners t
hand
yers, and some of ’■ k g's irn- l it
tome;
vulgarly b> c H1 a ' t. ; t n• ■ g wa
not only a«sa- 'to.] a l ’ . '■■■; ...<
house, demolished
Why, why wore grievan-'-'s not re- ,
those in authority n ver pour that kind
of oil on the tro ; cd w..- : -?
At the close of H'O the general assem
bly met at Newbern. Tiie governor's!
magnificent palace had just b- cri com- ]
pleted. and he receive 1 th 9 members ;
therein: • 1 he I nme’: dam nd • 1
the raising of an army ’ • •-.» down t: ..■ ;
regulators.
Horman Husbands had been elected, f
to this assembly; they • xre". 1 him. He |
had written for The Gazette an article I
which did not please, and this pretense ,
served as an excuse for getting rid of '
him.
Thia legislature i e <-J an art making |
It a crime for more than ten citizens to
hold a public meeting "ftr the disturb- ]
ance fff the peace"; Orange county, ,
which hud elected Husbands, was cut ,
Into three new count! ■ an ia pt
tion was issued prohibiting Hie sale of :
powder shot or lead.
Gathering a large force, Governor Try- ’
on marched into Orange county, and the ]
regulators, with their families, fled In
terror. Their crops were destroyed, their
homes burned, and they themselves de
glared outlaws. Their property- was con
fiscated and seized. The bolder spirits
finally mastered at Great Alamance creek
to aw'alt the governor's little army. They
had no artillery-, not much ammunition,
end many of them had no guns. It was
a” straggling, unorganized crow.!, not an
army. Again they prayed for the re- I
dress of their grievances, the righting of ,
their wrongs. The governor's reply was
that he had done all he Intended to do;
and that they must submit, pay taxes,
end return to their homes.
Tryon was a man of energy of char
acter. and his subsequent career in New
York' demonstrated It, and he felt that
wi th his artillery and superiority of ma
terial and equipment, his success was
certain. He gave the patriots one hour
to consider! There were two thousand
o' these regulators, and they had passed
beyond the stage of wisdom. For four
or five years the people had endured
tvrongs. had protested, had been promised
reforms, and had been deceived. Those
who oppressed them could neither be
checked nor punished. If convicted, the
evildoers were let go, unwhipped if jus-
tice. Headers of the people who rose
against law-breakers had languished in
prison, while the Uiw-L>reakers, duly con
victed in open court, escaped Justice by
| reason of Tryon's protection. And now
• after all these years of misrule came.
! the governor with arms in his hand.
I and a one hour limit on his tongue, say
i Ing to the freemen of North Carolina,
: disperse, submit, pay taxes, or he would
■ lire upon them. No wonder the hot blood
of these Anglo-Saxons boiled within
them; no wonder that their rash repl?
was. "EIRE AND BE DAMNED!'*
Not at once did the royal troops obey
Governor Trvon's order to begin battle.
They were North Carolinians also, and
they shrank from this brother-killing
strife. But no promptings of humanity
can resist miii\ry discipline, and when
Tryon, inflamed with anger, rose in his ,
i stirrups and shouted again:
I "FIRE! FIRE' on them or on me!' :
his troops opened fire upon the regu-
: lators.
I hardly be In serl
doubt. The regulators were broken, aijd
I they fled the livid, leaving twenty of
; their number dead, besides the wound' .1 >
and those captured. Tile royal forces 1 c-t
nine killed and sixty-one wounded. <ll
. t'apt.iin Few. one of the leaders of the ■
1 regulators, was strung up to the limb of .
I a tree next day, without trial, and stran- ]
I gled with a rope. Others were tried for I
I high treason, e iuvi-1 and pat to death. I
I'pon the head of Herman Husbands, a ]
was :■ ■ tnd acres 1
i of lard! A royal proclamation authoriz'd
I ,i:.\ citizen to shoot him on sig t. But he.
i escaped, and made his way to J’ennsyl-
■ vanla Tryon and his henchman. Fanning, ]
isoon went back to the north, their poek-
! its full; leaving one of tile fairest, portions :
i of North Carolina a picture of desola- ;
; tion, and leaving the taxpayers to groan
■ under a heavy load if illegally made p
1 llet debt.
! Fugitives fleeing from the misgovern- ,
i ment and the merciless persecution of
I this royal governor Tryon passed over
■ the mountains, and rested their tired feet |
lin th' pi'-asant valleys b. yond-in the ;
I future Tennessee
i iof all the coionial governors, Tryon is i
I said to have Ixien the most popular with
! tin- authorities in England; and yet Mr. ■
i Sydney George Fisher marvels at the
I lack ot love shown by the colonists fori
! their mother country.
Is i* true that the royal government w.is ;
...rrupu.oppressive? Is It true that Fan
ning wa? haughty, cruel, exhorbitant? Is
rue that he nd the got ern >r wet e but
.e••- mplic-'s in plundeting the people over 1
whom they had bci-u put'.'
Long after the butchery at Alaniam'.-
1 lite b’lrrp.rgs in Ciange. t i- official
report was made to Lord Dartmouth in
Tryon s sm ■ sor. Mai ti
"I ear assure your lordship that these
people were grievously oppressed.”
Try n and Fanning wore tnries. dost.is- j
f!:» North I' lr eina whirs 'Phey li’. I .
gon< down there to make money ; and |
' they made it.
When the revolutionary war broke out,'
; they fought the Americans as they had
] done in N rth I'arolina.
I'aening. tia- .-t eh--ipprew.,r, r:::-ed a
tore regiment in New York; and. after'
the war. became a general in th.. British
I army, and governor of I’rinoe Edward :
Tryon was the autlior of the New York
plot to kidnap Washington, and. if neees
ass.'issinate him. lie was - i'P.
of lory resistance in the north.
To what extent tm - insurgents
771 the I r •
I.ixington and Concord? Remember that
North Carolina had taken up arms to
opp..<e the landing of the stamps; remem
. l.er that tills insurre tion had been suc
cessful.
That was in 17C5. AV-ia can doubt that
t'm- example sunk .1- ep into the h.-arts ,
Theicfore, when Tryon taxed them to
build bls extravagant palace, when of-!
titers if the law practiced, extortion and
fra :.l, when money raised for one purpose
was r.se.l for another, is it any wonder
that the people should agitate the qiios-
■ tion. should assemble for discussion,
should pass resolutions, and should en- I
■ tleavor to bring popular pr. ssm e to bear
upon the governor?
Listen to the declaratl-n drawn up by'
! Heyman Husbands, and r.ad to the court
if Orange county at Its August session, ;
. 176 C—the year following the stamp act '
I tumults:
“While the sons of liberty- had with- '
i stood the lords of parliament in behalf i
i of true liberty, the officers under them |
light not to carry on unjust oppression :
i in the province; that in order thereto, as j
i there were many evils complained of in j
i the county of Orange, they ought to be !
] redressed. If there be none, jealousy |
! ought to be removed from the minds of
] the people.”
( The paper went on to urge that public j
I meetings should be held, at places where I
, there should be no liquor, to take these '
I grave n/cters into consideration, to in- •
. quire what evils existed, and to adopt i
! methods of correcting them If any ex I
1 isted
■ Surely nothing could be more temperate
j than this. Here was no rash Incendiary’,
; drunk merely on his unruly passions.
■ Here was an appeal to reason, to common
' sense, to facts, to sane Judgment. The
I case wag not even prejudiced. It was
| not dogmatically stated that wrongs did
i exist. The wrong-doers were not ar
raigned by name. No! Herman Hus
bands merely declared that the people
I were complaining of wrongs, that there
ought not to be any unjust oppression, and
that if there were any it should be re
dressed. He did not seek to dictate meth
ods of redress. That was to be left to the
people In mass meeting.
When the meetings were held, and the
existence of grievances was established,
the resolutions set no jaw at defiance. On
the contrary, the regulators pledged them
; selves to pay lawful fees and lawful taxes,
I and Illegal fees they pledged themselves
■ not to pay. Bear in mind that the great
mass of the people in North Carolina
were poor.
Ready- money was extremely scarce.
The fewest number owned slaves. They
had no big cities flourishing on com
merce. They had no mines and manu
factures. They lived on small farms. In
small houses, doing their own work, dig
ging a hard living out of the ground, and
having no surplus crops to bring money
to their pockets. North Carolina, like
Georgia Connecticut, was almost a
pure demoSfccy.
Therefore, illegal taxes and exhorbit-
(II These figures are taken from Wheeler’s
History of North Curolina and Tryon s offi
cial report. I'pon what authority Professor
John Fiske puts the number of dead at 200,
Is not apparent. Bancroft follows MTieslar.
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA, GA. MONDAY, JULY 13, 1903.
iant fees and court costs were a real
hardship. A new seventy thousand dol
lar palace for the British governor
seemed a monstrous abuse—as, under all
■the circumstances, It was. And when
Edmund Fannning, a royalist carpet
bagger, cime down adventurously into
their state, became the governor's pet.
ran the fee for a marriage license up to
sls, and charged $1 for attesting a deed
officially—growing rapidly rich upon a
system ot plunder of which these two in
stances are but exv.imples—the people of
Nerth Carolina felt the situation to be
intolerable. Had there been one extor
tioner, had the abuse stopped at Tryon
and Fanning, the burden might have
been patiently borne -so vast is tile ca
pacity of the people to endure official
legalized spoliation. But when every of
i fleer set himself to imitate his chiefs. It
was as though a swarm of locusts had
been sent to devour the substance of
these poor pitiable people.
Their cause being just, wit. was their
failure si complete? They w re not
skilfully !• d. 'l'lie movement was not
made general. It contined itself too
closely to Orange county, it was not
widely organiz- d. The more violent
spirits committed too many ex ■ sses. The
rebellion put itself in rhe wrong by Ils
iu ’tons attacks upon individuals, and
private property It alarmed too manv
vested interests.
>u. !i men as John Ashe and Colonel
AVaddell went in arms to fight und> r the
royal banner, just .is the Randolphs, the
Lies, and Washington might have done
in Airgm:.i had the extremists there
taken up a-*ms too soon. It was one
thing to rise against Groat Britain's
stamp distributor; it was another to
make war upon the homo government.
Many and many a patriotic Virginian who
had gloried in Patrick Henry's speech, s.
disapproved his arm ,1 march upon Wil-
8 f1.,. 5 q
t 5 •
• . ... ■
I«!
a . o'. *
• *
", .ilonticello, the Home of Thomas J fferson. ®
; o
.a * fl »- « « 4* A • A■ • rt . • - t* ♦ - f. a f. a fl
• • ••• •« ? '• c ••• ••• c ••• • ■•• *
1 Ham--! .rj 1:: 17;.". when I m:.m- • -d r t
' m <>ved the powder. Prudent, slow-but- i
s-ure George Washington refused to hive
anything to do with it. although the men
of Albemarle assembled, an 1 called to
him *■> lead them. Prudent Pendleton and ,
e.mtiuus Randolph fr.iwm-d upon the
r-ekless audacity of Henr. and his men. .
Only when success hid crowned the ,
rash movement did Patrick win praise *
fr >m every tongue, ami become the un
crowned king <d Virginia.
li t .dtimngh the is pil.i-s im mig.-d .
badly and f iil» I. it must be owned that ■
limy v. re a.-tuat- d by tie- true spirit of '
liberty. Their s was tile divine iudigmi- •
tio:i vi uh h drives men to resist apples- ,
siom No private grudge inflamed them,
no sordid motive of any sort appears in
their sp< ■cl s, their resolutions, or their
eoiidm r. Tli.-y stood for principle, for ■
right, fur hom-st g r. •. rnment-that much, :
nothing m. Their cause was not the
qu.i.r- J of an hour -it was the struggle
< ’ tie ug. s, the effort of tlie weak and |
tile downtrodden to throw* off the yoke ■
ami break the chain.
Ail nni.itistran.-e proving null, all pe- i
titions for relief going to nought, they I
siou-1 al Alamance to light, as the Anglo- |
Sax m, lot ing j.i - : ti - itnn-nt, has a '.ways I
done as Hampden did, as Cromwell did.
"i’i.'-p.-rse, ye rebels!" cries Royal Os- .
licet* Pitcairn at Lexington; and because !
the brave militia of the north stood their j
ground history makes heroes of them— ;
most properly.
"Disperse, or I'll lire." shouts royal ■
Tryon at Alamance lour years prior to
Lexington.
"l ire and b- damn. I. the rebels an
swer back.
Was nut tlie spirit ttie same? Should
not the historian immortalize these men
also? Would lie be much in error if he
declared the patriots who were shot down j
there, and those who were hanged on
trees and gibbets there, were the first i
hero-martyrs ot American independence. ■
"Surrender! brave men, surrender!" .
' cried the English to the old guard at i
l Waterloo.
•'Go to hell!" (or words mure unprint
: able) shouts tlie dauntless Cambronne,
’ wlille the old guard draws back its iron
squares, muskets blazing along its every
side as night falls upon them, and upon
France.
And history says ■'sublime!" And it
was sublime, memorable to the end of the
world.
But in what essential respect were these ,
men of Alamance less brave when they :
looked into the muzzle of the guns, and j
sternly shouted back to Tryon's chai- 1
lenge, "Fire and be damned"?
CHAPTER VI.
The navigation acts by means of which
Great Britain had been trying to "pro
tect" her infant industries at the expense
of the American colonies were so intoler
ably unjust that they had systematically
been disobeyed. In one way or another,
New England had outwitted her remote
mother-country, and had established a
thriving commerce with many foreign
marts. Ventures to the French West In
dies, ventures with the Dutch, ventures
with tlie far African coast went forward
briskly In spite of England's protective
laws. Perhaps there had never been a
time when molasses from the West In
dies was made into a larger supply of
New England rum, and when this Puri
tan rum yielded larger returns in negroes
from the jungles of Africa. In God's
own mysterious way these Yankee smug
glers were doing a great work. First of
all, they were feathering their nests In
bleak New England with soft layers of
Jason's Golden Fleece. Secondly, they
were lifting the savage black from his en
vironment of slavery, voodooism and can
nibalism, to put him in a state of bond
age tempered by humanity; putting him
whwi <M .*®iglit some day step within
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4- ' •
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the radiant gates of civilization, bearing
within him the new heart of a Christian.
Let no passionate lover of the black race
revile with reckless vehemence these
smugglers who in a round-a-bout way
swapped molasses f or negroes. The profits
of the white traders were but small and
per.shable; the benefits to the uncouth.
Jabbering, primitively savage negro were
as large as the opportunities of civiliza
tion ami as permanent as the Christian's
reward iji time and eternity. Great Brit
ain, noting the growth of tiie merchant
marine of her colonies and viewing with
gieat dissatisfaction her own loss of rev
< nues, determined to enforce the naviga
tion laws, Hithert she had not done so
because of the i i ■■ that her hands were
tied. Wars with Frunee, wars with Spain,
entanglements and complications
yonder hud eii rt q ]te r attention from
Hie American ■■.■■'■ ies. Besides, it would
have been unwise r her to embroil her
self with her uw , kith and kin. particu
larly as such a hostile movement against
the colonies migir, have thrown them into
the open arms France. Iler ancient
enemy would h.-i . o been but too glad to
give a vigorous push to that thorn in
Engiard s side - she did at the very
earliest Opportunity.
But in 1772 our mother country had no
war upon her h. :.is. And now was her
time to deal will; tho.-'e smugglers. Noth
ing wa.~ to lie from Frame which
lay shamed, oxi. listed and inert under
the fi i t of a ii .H ’i rul' d Bourbon king.
Hi had lost to England an empire in
11 ino st an. an . . j n Canada. His Eu
ro; can influence was gone, his vasi Louis
i': a territory w ■. gone, his courtier-led,
ill-provided armi> ■ had been stupidly get -
er.iied and ingiaia <l/ H.iten by every
body ovorywher. .
In 1772 the <;.■ of c-tht guns, with
Li'iitenant. Di::::. iu fir commander,
was policing N igai:-'’t bay to en
ter, e the Brit - ivig.i: 'm laws. Dud-
iiigt.ui v i: om th conscientious
e » o o-.-e . o *
r »■<>■. « * . e : ♦ , O • 6 J C-*-*'* S
t olil lais wh ■ make th--:,.-- I. . s unpopular
wifi; i.i-.v break. rs. lie was likewise one
of those martinets wl are not loved
i oven by the law-abiding. He stopped all
: sorts of vessels at all sorts of times,
i ,i*. l with an exasp.■■.*.■l ■:g impartiality,
mixing ami mingling t! guilty ami tlie
inno ent in a manner which nobody
liked. Jt being his duty search vessels
for contraband goods, :. searched them
al!: for lie was- :..>t <■ if thm-- gifted
. mortals who could t< il a criminal by
; looking at his face. If Dudingston
I boarded a vessel am! : * I contraband.
I the smuggler was a ng. ■ if contraband
; was nut found, tlie 1: -t trader was
wroth. Dudingston, th.: 'fore, became a
most mipopuiar man, t through any
fault of his own. bn: -cause of the
: ■ '■ tive system v :i lie was mere-
i ly th.- ,-xe utive -.fll■■■ When one of
i our custom house peo. .pens a lady's
trunk and rummages .it among her
. rm< nt - ng them
up to irreverent vi-w . . uttering them
! around in disorder, it :: ■ system, not
I the man. whom all d* .1 folks loathe
: ami detest.
: Wh-n a French tti- ..f the customs
I ever so firmly requires t';.- Frenchwoman
■to raise her skirts am. .-how* her stuck
’ Ings, tlie search bem; *.* contraband
I which may be eon-.eakJ in those stock
j ings, it is not the offit r himself who is
>m all
| should despise are the in-ly protection
ists who demand the l;.w and the row-
i ardly politician who giv’s it to them.
! Dudlngston’s career n the bay was
brief and not glorious, ih- se> ms to have
been elaborately • ntr.ijq* I- At any rate,
he received a sort of i dare from the
little, swift-sailing p.’-.'.it* which plied
between Newport ami Providence, and
he save chase The picket led him 23
miles, ran In close on Ntrragnnsett Point,
where the water was shadow, and the
guileless Dudingston. let in pursuit, ran
ills heavier vessel agrj .!■ There he
■ stuck, hard and fast. The packet tin- '
\ Ished the remaining ; mies to Providence
safely, and at sunset wrs in her berth.
The-captain of the pa.k- : was thought-
A voluminous “Histoiy of the American
People” has recently ben published, con
sisting of a serried stray of pictures,
maps, i>lans, fac-similer, rare prints, pho
tographs of old docunents, hand bills,
scraps of ancient new'papers, and quite
a lot of other things rated out of plunder
rooms, museums and tri -sity shops. In-
■ cidentally there is coisidei able reading
i matter, whose author is Dr. Woodrow
j "Wilson. There are five bulky volumes of
i this stuff, and page iG-tof volume 11, the
learned president of Prnceton finds space
for one sentence on the rebellion in North
Carolina. Think of it! Nearly two thou
sand pages of alleged history, and Just
one short sentence to tie tragic chapter in
the story of the smith: And what is that
one sentence?
“In North Carolina iierc was next year
a sudden blaze or op-n rebellion against
the extravagant excel lons of William
Tryon, the adv.-ntutr who was royal
governor there; ar.. I ody blood extinguish
ed it."
Cold, cold. Is tl. - p. . which thus traces
‘.lie heart-breaking struggles of a gallant
people toward their iberties.
Tlie “sudden” blaz- had lasted more
than three years; the Open rebellion" was
resistance to armed nvaders who were
laying waste to the crips and burning the
homes of the people.
'The battle of Alai.ance, where three
j thousand men fought and artillery was
used, is not so much s mentioned in Dr.
Woodrow Wilson's b<>k.
The Boston street r<W, where a handful
rioted and throe wee killed, not only
gets chronicled under ts historic name of
tlie "Boston massaeii” l ,ut occupies six
pages with illustrativ m atter and half a
page of Dr. Wilson's sxl!
ful enough to tell his news without delay.
In over so short a time all Providence
knew that the odious Dudingston was
aground 7 miles off. and that the rising
tide would not release him till 3 o'clock
next morning! Such luck was too good
to be thrown away.
The captain of the packet had no
sooner told the prominent merchant. Mr.
Brown, than the merchant told one of
the captains who was In his service; and
Mils captain was seen to hurry oft, wear
ing a pleasant expression of countenance.
Soon a drum was heard In the streets,
and the voice of proclaiming the for
lorn situation of the Gaspee. Cordial in
vitation was called out to all citizens
who would like to bear a hand in the
destruction of the Gaspee to meet at
Savage's tavern at first dark. The sum
mons was gratefully obeyed, and by 9
o'clock eight boats, manned by the rep
resentative citizens of the town, were
rowing toward the Gaspee.
At midnight they reached the British
vessel, sur. rlsed ‘the one sailor who wus
on the watch, shot the lieutenant who
■ tine hurrying to the deck in his night
shirt, boarded the ship, and easily mas
tered the leaderless, half-a-wake and
wholly unprepared British sailors.
landing tiie captives on shore, w'ncre
every care was taken of the wounded
Dudingston. the assailants set fire to the
Gaspee. and by sun up she was a smok
ing bulk, while the daring men who had
boarded her w ire rowing home to break
fast and congratulations.
The English government was deeply
stirred; for the burning of the Gaspee
was an overt act. flagrant and defiant
of premeditated high treason Mlm difl
ft'.’ That was the only question of doubt.
Proclamations, offering large rewards,
w. re issued without, results. Royal com
missioners were appointed to investigate,
and troops were put at their service to
assist them in bringing the culprits to
punishment. Again there were no re
sults; investigation failed to identify
the guilty. Parliament lost its head,
and passed an act to punish with the
death penalty any person who should
I d( stroy any object belonging to an Eng
' lish war vessel—an act so general in its
terms that it could have been held to
I embra ■■ tiie most trifling article of ship
f.irnli'iro, equipment, or naval uniform.
; Worst of all, the persons accused were
■ to be .‘" nt to England for trial I
M ■ Sydney G‘’orge Fisher says tl» 1
! “it Is difficult to see how the government
! i ’uld have been mure conciliatory ami
j forbearing."
When tiie Virginia assembly rm t in
the spring of I 77:- the Gaspee incident.
i the c nimission of Inquiry which had
I i.i-' n created, and tiie net of parliament
wliich tl.i" iii’iii’l the entire citizenship
I of America with loss of trial by Jury in
i the Amerii n courts, had rearoused the
of resistance to Great Bi taip.
' The younger members of the house—
j Patrick Henry, the two Dees, Dabney
Carr, Thomas Jefferson and one or two
ke . . fron tin more ■ >n
i servative counsels of the older leaders,
, held private meetings apart and mapped
cut an io .•.■rossive policy. Richard Hen-
• ry Lee pri ■ 'Sed tiie creation of a com
l mittee of correspondence, and Jefferson
. reduced the plan to writing. Dabnej
’ Carr was made their spokesman to tiie
hi 'use, and on March 12, 1773. in a speech
1 of eloquen and power, the young trl
| bune moved tiie famous resolutions which
were adopted unanimously and which
j caused Governor Dunmore to dissolve
■ the house. These resolutions, citing what
i had taken place in Rhode island and in
] parliament, proposed a standing commit
. tee of correspondence and Inquiry to ob
■: tain Information of all proceedings of
I parliament in regard to the colonies, to
■ k<. p up and maintain a correspondence
and communication with the other colo-
i nil and to report, from time to time
ito tiie house. This committee consisted
. tiie speaker. Peyton Randolph, Rob
ert C Nicholas, Richard Henry Lee,
Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry. Dab
| r.'-y Carr, Archibald Cary and Thomas
Jefferson, x The dispute as to whether
Massachusetts or Virginia should have
j the credit of organizing the revolution
ary movement may be left where Ban
l croft put it:
»♦» “Virginia laid the foundation of our
I union. Massachusetts organized a prov
ince; Virginia promoted a confederacy.”
x Brilliant Dabney Carr! We see him
here at his best.at his highest. We see him
unfurl the flag of union, see him on a
pinnacle of patriotism from which he
surveys ev-ry colony, planning for all,
hoping for all, Inspiring and uniting all.
Tiie v. arm impulse pf brotiiterhood pj.ens
his arms to jhe north as well as to the
south; his rapt vision takes in the future
as well as the present mid the past. “The
cause of one. the cause of all." Js the
gist of his speech and the nith of his
plan; and, while Rhode Island ha-' touch' .1
the chord, the music Is that of union--
union of hearts and of hand.?. His last
speech and his best! His one great ap
pearance In a national role; his almost
unconscious placing of the corner-stone
"f the repubyc. We see him hero with
the radiance ot inspiration upon his hand
some face, the clqxi.on call of heroic pa
triotism on his lips; we shall see him no
more at all. It wa« only yesterday, as it
were, that Jefferson saw hjm in his “very
small house, with a table, half a dozen
: chairs, one or two servants, yet the hap
! piest man In the upiverse.” For Martha
I Jefferson, ills jjevoted young wife, was
I by ills side; and on his km e, his little
| bov. “He speaks, he thinks, he dreams
of nothing bqt this young son.. Every in
cident in life he so takes as if to render
it a source of pleasure.” Independent of
riches, contented in his poverty, happy in
his wife and child; studious, but no re
cluse; ambitious, but in no feverish haste
to rise; patriotic and earnest, but not
morbidly intense, r.ere h.e was in 1770, a
philosopher whose healthv enjoyment ot
life anijd comparative prjvatioug x ited
generous admiration in all who knew him.
Thirty-five days after lie lays the corner
stone of what was to be the greatest
of all r' yitblics. death darkened that small
house, where he had been so unenvlously
happy, draped tiie poor wife in the weeds
of spdowhood ami to the lips of his little
children taught the wall of orphanhood.
He was only 30 years old—died in Jhe very
glory of young manhood, died when his
readings and his studies, ffis hopes and his
plans and his dreams s emed just to be
leading forward to the harvests ot stead
ied efforts.
A lost leader! Yet It was his to speak
the word that lives, to do the work (hat
is imperishable, to get the example which
x "Tiie True Thomas Jefferson” represents
the secret meetings of the younger members
as being held in 1772: and George Washing
ton is named as one of the group. The meet
ings were not held In 1772. and AVashlngton
was not one of the group. Washington did not
get left by the procession, but he did not lead
It. Henrywastherealleader.
i
j * By * T
Thos. E. Watson, j
1 t
.Author of *
tStory of France,” •
"Napoleon, ” Etc. j
CopyHrM, 1903. by Thos. E. Watton—MU Rl Z ht, Reserved ‘;
,4..4.»-J-»4-»4-«4-»4-»'?»4-»4-»4-*'?«-!-« •4>»4-«4-»:-*4-»4-*4-«4-»t*’I'‘>'J' >4-*4-®4-*->*-i-
is an inspiration for all tiie years to
ccme
Tiie Virginia committed, of correspond-*,
ence met the day after the dissolution
of the house and began itg labors. They
dispatched a copy of their resolutions and
a circular letter to the other colonics,
requesting the appointment of persons to
communicate with tiie Virginia commit
tee. AVhen each colony should act upon
this appeal, and appojjrt its committee,
and these thirteen tomjnittees should be
gin to consult, mutally agree, and act 'n
concert, cyiifcjleration would have taken
place. It s’ould only remain for the com
mittee to meet in ,'">neraj conference for
a conisress to have been created.
That huge corpora Hop, tile British East
India Company, being in financial dis
tress, its tjjrectors cime to parliament
begging relief—it being a peculiarity ot
huge corporations V consider government
as having been InstitijJed for their own
special behoof. Parliament, as is usual
in such cases, gave the corporation what
it wanted, relieveing it ot tea duties in
order that it might, sell tea in America
cheaper than ev._j; the smuggl rs would
care to sell ,t. Behold then the ships ot
Great Britain bringing over the celebrated
tea.
Un December 2, 1773, the London appears
at Charleston, with two hundred and
fifty-seven chests of tea. Charleston be
came ex. ted.
A mass meeting was held; resolutions
were adopted; the consignees of the tea
were asked to resign. They did so amid
great applause. A committee was formed
to manage tlie opposition of tiie people to
Hie landing of the tea. No consignees
calling fur tiie London's tea. customs offi
cers seized and stored it in the cellar un
der the exchange, where it lay until 177 G,
when it w.is sold under legislative direc
tion and the proceeds applied to public
purposes. Tiie statement so often made,
by Bancroft and others, that the tea was
stored in damp cellars whore it rotted is
I not correct. Even Mr. Sydney George
■ Fisher, writing “The True History of the
i American Revolution” heedlessly follows
; the legend of the damp cellar. Dr. Wcod
; row Wilson, scenting danger, stops with
rare sagacity, at the word “stored”—
leaving the final fate of the luckless tea
to the imagination of the reader.
At Philadelphia a tea ship hove in sight,
a mass meeting was held, a committee
was appointed, and this committee man
I aged so well that the vessel sailed back to
i England.
The same thing happened In New York;
I and also at Poitsmouth. New Hampshire.
Ir Boston, however, the consignees of
t the tea refused to resign, and the town
I was soon rocking with excitement. Once
i more Sam Adams was in his element.
| On the night of the 16th of December.
! 1773, some foity or fifty patriots, prudent-
I ]y screening their patriotism behind the
war paint f Mohawk Indians, wearing
I blankets like Indians, carrying hatchets
' like Indians, boarded the unh slstlng tea
ships. Burst the helpless boxes and
j emptied the contents into the submissive
ocean.
The value of tim cargoes destroyed in
this manner was marly eighty thousand
dollars.
Great Britain's answer to the challenge
was prompt: she closed the port of Bos
ton. a step which meant ruin and almost
starvation to hundreds, perhaps thousand’
of innocent persons.
This measure of retaliation was to go
Into effect June 1. 1774. The spring session
of the Virginilia assembly convened while
the country was agitated bj- news of what
was happening in Boston. Messengers
r-.-nt by the Massachusetts committee
>ame riding into Williamsburg, bringing
full details from the north, and the two
great sections were now able to act in
concert.
Again the younger members of the Vir
ginia house took the lead. Henry, Jeffer
son. Richard Henry I.ee and Francis
Lightfoot Lee.
These ardent tribunes believ’d that
nothing would prove so effectual in arous
ing and uniting the people as the naming
of June 1 as a day for fasting and prayer.
I'sually it pleased Mr. Jefferson very
■nimh to draw up papers. He delight*;! in
it; he was proficient in it; he never tired ■
of it. J’.ut for once he was puzzled. The !
drawing up of devotional papers was not !
where his strength lay. His flowing i> n
and creative faculty failed him sadly. Be- :
■ hold him. therefore, rummaging an old
English book, full of Puritan forms, hunt
ing about for a style, pious, formal, scrip
tural—which would suit for June 1. 1774.
when Virginia was going to fast at,
preach against, and pr y for its king-
George HI.
After some difficulty Mr Jefferson
“cooked up” a resolution which he
thought would answer, put it into the
hands of the venerable and religious MT.
Nicholas, and that gentleman offered it
to the house. It passed, of course, ami
June 1 was appointed as tiie day upon
which Virginia should fast, pray ami
humiliate itself In tim hope that heaven
would turn the hearts of king and parlia
ment to moderation and justice.
Lord Dunmore knew well enough what
all this parade of piety meant. He recog
nized it as another method of agitating
and uniting the people against Great
Britain.
Hence he again dessolved the house, and
again the members assembled at the
Raleigh to consult, and to adopt meas
ures. Denouncing the aggressive methods
of Great Britain, and declaring that an
attack on one colony was an attack upon
all, they instructed their committee of
correspondence to confer with the other
colonies on the expediency of holding a
general annual congress. They further
agreed that a convention should be held
at Williamsburg on August 1. so that if
the other colonies agreed to the proposi
tion fora congress. Virginia could appoint
her delegates thereto.
Mr. Jefferson was chosen to the house
of burgesses, and also to the convention.
On his way to attend this he was stricken
down by a sudden and painful illness, bui
he forwarded a lengthy paper, which was
afterwards well known in England, as
well as !> America, under the name of
“A Summary View' of the Rights of Brit
ish America.”
In this paper, as in the Albemarle in
structions. Mr. Jefferson boldly advanced
to the proposition that the colonies were
not subject to any legislative power save
their own; that the British parliament lias
no right to exercise authority over us.”
This was going far beyond Otis. Hi nrv,
Washington and Lee. In fact it was
far in advance of any position Virginia
was yet ready to take; and Mr. Jeffer-
In ills live-volume “History of the American
People,” Dr. Woodtow Wilson finds space for
Dabney Carr's name—Just the bare mention of
Ills name. The leader is told absolutely noth
ing about him.
A
I son's paper had no immediate inflr • ■ '■
| upon current affairs. It is a very ■'' V'
_i paper; in tone and tenor verj m * h
"l the Declaration of Independence. 1 .
force, vigor, terseness, profound v
of thought, it fur surpasses the famo
Declaration. It has all the wisdom
the mature scholar, and all the force
the youthful tribune,
“From the very nature of things ever;
society must, at all times, posses.- wi’ i
itself the sovereign powers of legis
tion;” hence royal guvernois i- '
right to call legislatures together, and t
dissolve them at will.
' “Kings are the servants, not the P
i prletors of the people.” For writii g li
i less bold than this, Sydney lost his 'm ad.
I “The great principles of right
wrong are legible to every reader. ’
"The whole art of government consists
in being honest.”
“Only aim to do your duty, and ell man
kind will give you credit where j i
"Deal out to all equal and impart. I
right.”
“Let 'hose flatter who fear; it is m t
an American art."
“A free people, claiming their r:-:
as derived from the laws of natui •. ml
I not as tiie gift of their chief magl.-tr ;
The king “has no right to land a -i -
gle armed man on our shores-”
For the year 1774 this was daring c*
high degree; an ! we are not surprised t >
learn that on the black list of the Brit
ish cabinet Thomas Jessi ; sun's nun v. >
entered.
In “The True Thomas Jefferson” M
Curtis meekly follows the lead of Hie ■ ,d
federal! .t writers who used to try to c
odium upon the Jefferson principles by
saying that ho learned them in rev -
lutlonary France.
If the student cares enough about t .a
question to make it a matter of res ::
and will read Mr. Jefferson's "Siim
niary View,” his various letters, and s'.iA
! papers, previous to the French rev'-'iu-
■ tion, he will find every- principle Jes
ferson afterwards professed, every jr.:.-
ciple now classed as Jeffersonian.
CHAPTER VH.
Tiie day of fasting and prayer ha'-T r
been held, political sermons preached ' i
his majesty. King George IL, prayu l f :•
in a seditious, if not treasonable, m
ner—to the intense displeasure of Gov
ernor Dunmore—the cause of rebeili
was greatly advanced; and the d legal ?
to the convention carried with them m
Williamsburg the conviction that V -
glnia was about to back them up in
course, no matter how radical.”
This convention of August 1. 1774, v -
a purely voluntary and revoluti :
body, yet it merely repeated the old : :.
ctple that the rights an 1 p.-i’.l g >
their fellow-subjects In Great Bril ~ . .
longed also to the colonists. The cell
a general congress having been fa ■
ably received, by the other eoionie.?.
. convention proceeded to elect dele-;:.:
Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry .
George Washington, Patrick Henry . i.
ard Bia: i. Benjamin 11 ..
mund Pendleton.
During that summer of 1774 Bos:'
fereJ, and the heart of ail Ameri a.-
pathized with her. The port ch-1 ■
merce dead, thousands were sq
for the necessaries of life.
“The cause of Boston is the c i’:-" *
us all;” Boston must be fed. From e--
quarter aid is sent. Nev, England g. ■- -
New York and Pennsylvania gi-c,
south gives.
North Carolina sends food by '
■ •’ d; Ma.
bushels of corn, besides pork
ami flour; Virginia sends t n i. ■-■
bushels of grain and money by the th
sands; South Carolina and Georgia ; i
rice; verily there was brotherly love in
those days.
So powerful was the s< n’.lm. r.t of :
ty to the common cause that whin An
thony Stewart, of Baltimore, faith ess t '
his non-importation pledges, b.--c.;l:t ■ • '
on his brig, the Peggy Stewart,
■ casks of tea, the public feeling agar:
] those concerned ran s > hign that th
made humble apologies, renewed * : :r
boycott pledges, and as evidence of a l
! faith, burnt the tea. To set matters rigT
' beyond all peradventure. Stewart " :i the
advice, it is said, of Charles Carroll. T
Carrollton) set fire to his v ss' the
Peggy Stewart, and fl. st: •? -d it. -th
his own hands he applied the torch, an 1
tradition says that his daughter, I’-..:,',
sat tn tiie piazza of her father's ho: ? ’
.coking on while her namesake was I"' ■:<
offered as a voiuntar.v offering to disarm
tiie wrath of indignant patriotism.
‘'i J eggy Stewart Day,” the 19th daj
October, was made a 1( gal lio.i ~
Maryland and remains so to th" j : :.t
time.
'1 he professor of history in Harvard
versify, Edward Channing, has ; ib.'.-ii' 1
"A Student's History of the Un :
States.” his aim being, one would siipp
to attain especial and critical :i,
On page ISO of his book he class -s the
burning of the Peggy Stewart with ta
of tli" Gaspee, mentioning the tv.-. i
“deeds of daring." It is pains :1 to <•
learned professors who write stud'. i.:s'
histories going astray in this art - ■ - =:
Anthony Stewart burnt his littie ship b •
cause he was afraid of his neighbors, I
to class his act as a “deed of darirc. ’
comparable to the audacity of tl • b >
burnt tiie Gaspee, is not the e ■ ■ ■
and critically accurate nianm-r in v ': <
student's history should be ] ■. ; i.' 1 by a
Harvard professor of history.
Lord Dunmore, who succeed 1 Co,' r
Botetourt, was a member of the s.' .t< n
house of Murray, and while no t. ter ' '
is made to tiie facts in tl: !.. k<. . ■'■ v -
probably related to th ? Randol; ■:’
Virginia. At any rate tney s-:::- i ’■
him almost to tiie last, ami on • f : ■■
most prominent members of th ■ V;i ". . -t
family followed the Scotch ear! inv> ex.
I n 1774 Dunt
against the Indians into tim Ohio ■.■ov.ntrj',
where mutual outrages had at -mr’h
brought on a state of war. A pitched bat
tle was fought on the Great Kanawha
by the Americans under General Lewis
and the Confederated Indians under the
famous Chief Cornstalk. The red tm n
were repulsed, and. while their losses had
not been heavy, they lost heart and sued
for peace.
The Americans were eage r to pr--ss the
■advantage they had gained, but Lor 1
Dunmore, who had done no fighting, d. -
cided to put and end to the war.
To the conference which was held be
tween the governor and the Indian chiefs
one of tiie leading warriors refused to
come. This was Logan, a headman of
the Mingoes. At tiie commencement of
the trouble nine of the women and chil
dren of his family had been butchered in
