of the course taken by Virginia, which met their entire approbation.

The committee appointed to inquire into the late disturbances, made their report on the 16th, and they shew, on the testimony of a great number of witnesses, many of them merchants and natives of Great Britain, that the colony was in a state of tranquillity before the removal of the gunpowder, but that the minds of the people were greatly inflamed by that event, and the reports that the Governor meant to give freedom to the slaves; that the suspension of civil suits since June of the preceding year was owing to the expiration of the fee bill; and that few or none wished to be independent of Great Britain.

In the resolutions passed by the Burgesses before they adjourned, they, with their wonted prudence, guarded both against alienating their friends and furnishing arguments to their enemies, either in England or Virginia. While, therefore, they indicate to their constituents the necessity of their preparing for the preservation of their property, "their inestimable rights and liberties," and regret that they had been deprived of the opportunity of providing for "the gallant officers and soldiers" who had lately defended the country on the frontier, they, in the most emphatic terms, assert their loyalty to the king, and their wish "to preserve and strengthen the bands of amity" with their fellow-subjects in Great Britain. Thus closed a session which, though it is not marked in the statute book by the passage of a single law, is, by its agency in severing the ties of colonial dependence, the most memorable of any under the regal government.

It was fortunate for the cause of independence in Virginia that the course pursued by the royal Governor, at this time, was so little likely to inspire esteem or respect. It no doubt contributed to sever the last ties of attachment to England, and to efface those sentiments of loyalty on which the people of this "colony and dominion" had always prided themselves. To this cause, too, may be ascribed, in part, the unanimity which prevailed here, perhaps to a greater extent than in any other state. A few of the Governor's acts may be mentioned as a specimen VOL. I.-10

of the rest, and as presenting no unapt sample of the style in which the royal dignity and authority were sometimes personated by the colonial Governors.

The day after the gunpowder was removed, adverting to the popular indignation it excited, he swore "by the living God, that if a grain of powder was burnt at Captains Joy or Collins, or if any injury or insult was offered to himself, he would declare freedom to the slaves, and reduce Williamsburg to ashes." Declarations of similar import he repeatedly made.

The first reason assigned by him for the seizure of the pow der, in answer to the corporation of Williamsburg, was, that he had heard of an insurrection in a neighbouring county. The reason he afterwards assigned to the House of Burgesses was, that "the magazine was an insecure depository;" but he added, as soon as it was made secure, the powder should be restored. And when he was subsequently informed by the House that the magazine had been put in repair, and was reminded of his promise, he replied, that, as he no longer resided in Williamsburg, he could not depend upon the security of the powder there, and that, moreover, as it had been received from the Rippon manof-war, he was accountable for it. By which flimsy and varying excuses, he plainly showed that, in his unwillingness to avow his real motive, he had no scruple about alleging a false one.

In one of his messages concerning the powder, by way of obtaining credit for the goodness of his motives, he told the House that "he had once ventured, and, if occasion offered, he would again venture, his life in the service of the country." The House, in reply, expressed its sense of his recent services; but the answer having been delayed, by his withdrawal from the seat of government, and the messages to which it gave rise, his lordship reminded them of the tardiness of their acknowledgments with as little reserve as he had proclaimed his own merits.

The committee appointed by the House to inspect the magazine, consisting of twenty-one members, called on him for the keys, and, "to avoid mistakes," left with him a written paper, respectfully explaining their object and motives. But because this paper, which purported to be from the committee, was

without date or signature, he affected not to understand it, and actually wrote to the House the next day to know whether it had authorized the application, and this, too, after he had promised the committee "to furnish the key as soon as he could procure it."

When the two Houses proposed, after he had left the palace, that the arms there deposited should be removed to the magazine, as in his absence they were "exposed to his servants and to every rude invader," he told them they were "interfering in a matter which did not belong to them," and asked them who they meant by the term "rude invaders?"

On the whole, the conduct of Lord Dunmore, after his real character began to develope itself, was one tissue of bullying and evasion, haughtiness and meanness. He often dealt out threats which it was undignified to utter, and would have been base to execute, but which, it too plainly appeared, were not executed, because his talents and courage was not equal to his vengeful malignity; and he failed in his promises yet more than in his threats. The vices of his character were the more striking from the contrast presented by the House of Burgesses. In language frank and manly, but at the same time temperate and decorous, they vindicated themselves and their constituents against all his injurious imputations; they exposed his subterfuges and inconsistencies, and proved his usurpations. The facts on which they relied were derived either from his own messages, or from testimony which could not be questioned. In argument, as in acts, their triumph was complete. The extraordinary moderation and forbearance they exhibited in this controversy, may in part be attributed to the habitual respect which was then paid to the representative of majesty, and partly to the supposed importance of putting their adversary in the wrong, and of securing the favour and sympathy of the world: but after making allowance for these considerations, the selfcommand with which the representatives of a free and proud people bore the insolent freaks and taunts of this lordly satrap, may well excite the wonder of their descendants.

The remainder of Dunmore's inglorious career may now be

told. After the adjournment of the House of Burgesses, he prepared to carry on offensive operations against the colonists by all the means he possessed, and in this purpose he seemed to be prompted more by a spirit of vengeance, that by any hope of reducing the country to submission. Having established his head-quarters at Norfolk, with the small naval force under his command he greatly annoyed the inhabitants who were settled on the bays and rivers, by a predatory warfare; and in November, he proclaimed martial law throughout the colony, and executed his long-threatened plan of giving freedom to all slaves who could bear arms and would flock to his standard. But these measures, though partially annoying, had the effect of irritating and rousing the people, rather than in breaking their spirit. The whole powers of legislation now devolved on the Convention, while the executive functions were performed by a "committee of safety:" and after many petty enterprises and skirmishes, attended with various success, and finally setting fire to Norfolk, he was compelled again to take refuge to his ships, and, ere the middle of the following year, the country was rid of him, together with such of the tories and negroes, who had resorted to his standard, as escaped the ravages of war and the small pox.

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CHAPTER IV.

Declaration by Congress of the causes of taking up arms. The manifestos of Congress. Mr. Jefferson's share in those papers. Is reelected to Congress. His previous views on Independence. Progress of Public Sentiment. Proceedings of the Virginia Convention. Declaration of Independence moved in Congress. Mr. Jefferson prepares the draught. When adopted and signed. Its character. He retires from Congress. Elected to the General Assembly of Virginia. Abolition of entails—Primogeniture. Their effects considered. Church establishment in Virginia. Its gradual abolition. Entire freedom of religion. Its consequences.

1775-1779.

It was on the twenty-first day of June, 1775, that Mr. Jefferson, then thirty-two years of age, took his seat in that august body, on whose prudence and firmness hung the political destinies of British America. They had been in session from the 10th of May preceding, in which time they had formed the plan of a confederacy, under the name of The United Colonies of North America, for their mutual defence and common welfare, to take effect, when ratified by the Provincial Assemblies, and to continue until their grievances were redressed. They had also decided on raising an army; on creating a paper currency; and had appointed Colonel George Washington Commander-inChief of the confederate forces.

Mr. Jefferson's reputation, as a writer, had already preceded him in this body, and, in five days after he had joined it, we find him one of an important committee appointed to prepare a declaration of the causes of taking up arms.

This committee was nominated on the 24th of June; and the first report they made not being approved, Mr. Jeffer

*See Appendix A.