Part 28 (1/2)
4. Which had 'taken away their charters, abolished their most valuable laws and altered fundamentally the powers of their government';
5. Which had 'excited domestic insurrections among them and had endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of their frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, s.e.xes and conditions.'”
Mrs. An. Cotton, who wrote an account of this Bacon movement the year it occurred, and who did not fully endorse all that Bacon did, states that a large council was held on Bacon's premises in May, at which Bacon charged that the authorities were guilty of wrong in their eagerness to get rich; that some persons were rich who were guilty of unjust methods in obtaining their wealth; that the authorities were doing nothing to encourage the arts, sciences, schools of learning or manufactories; that the Governor approves the lawlessness of the Indians against the settlers, and declines to interfere because it might diminish his revenue in trading with them; that the Governor refuses to admit an Englishman's oath against an Indian, where he accepts the bare word of an Indian against an Englishman; that the Governor is monopolizing the beaver trade in violation of law; that the traders at the heads of the rivers, being the Governor's agents, buy and sell the blood of their brethren and countrymen by furnis.h.i.+ng the Indians with powder, shot and firearms contrary to the laws of the colony; and that Col. Cowells a.s.serted that the English were bound to protect the Indians, even if they had to shed their own blood.
At the conclusion of Bacon's address the Council agreed to three things: 1. To aid with their lives and estates General Bacon in the Indian war. 2.
To oppose the Governor's designs, if he had any, against the prosecution of the war. 3. To protect the General, the army and all who agreed to the arrangement against any power that should be sent out of England, until it was granted that the country's complaint might be heard against the Governor before the King and Parliament.
The premature death of Bacon occurring, and no competent person to take the lead being found, the movement soon ceased, the troops disbanded and went home, and many of those who aided Bacon in protecting the lives and property of the settlers were put to death by Governor Berkley on the charge of treason. Thomas Matthews, said to be a son of Gov. Matthews, and who at that time represented Stafford county in the House of Burgesses, was appointed by Bacon to the command of all the forces in this part of Virginia, but he probably had not the courage or means to carry out Bacon's plans.
Bacon died from a cold contracted in camp and was buried in Gloucester county, but for fear the authorities would exhume the body and subject it to indignities, the place of his burial was kept a secret. Bacon's effort for the people was just one hundred years before the great revolution, and when we are fully informed as to his cause of action we may debate in our minds as to whether Nathaniel Bacon was our first Thomas Jefferson or whether Thomas Jefferson was our second Nathaniel Bacon.
FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
It was in a public gathering in Fredericksburg on the 29th day of April, 1775, that resolutions were pa.s.sed, approaching in spirit a declaration of independence, which was twenty-one days before the resolutions of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, were adopted. The resolutions, adopted in North Carolina, found their way into print and into the histories, while those pa.s.sed in Fredericksburg did not; but they were the first adopted anywhere in the country, and more than six hundred men were ready to carry them into effect by marching to Williamsburg to redress wrongs which had been committed by Gov. Dunmore in removing the gun powder from the public magazine. Some regard this act as the beginning of the great revolution in the colonies. It was to prepare the people for any breach of the law or outrage upon the people's rights, which had been threatened by the authorities at Williamsburg, and commenced in the gunpowder act, that the Fredericksburg resolutions were adopted, and the great pity is they were not handed down to succeeding generations and preserved as the first Declaration of Independence since the days of Bacon. In referring to these resolutions, Dr. Howison, in his United States History, says, they were tantamount to a declaration of independence.
HENRY LEADS FOR LIBERTY.
It was Patrick Henry, of Hanover county, a Virginian, at the time living in and representing Louisa county, who fired the country with his matchless eloquence and set in motion forces that achieved liberty and independence to this country. It was this peerless son of Virginia, in the House of Burgesses, surrounded by such giant minds as Bland, Pendleton, Lee and Wythe, that the torch of liberty was set on fire that was never to be extinguished. We quote from Dr. Howison's United States History:
”He wrote on the blank leaf of an old law-book five resolutions which he offered to the House. They were a strong protest against the course of Parliament. The third declared that taxation by the people themselves, or their representatives duly chosen, was an essential characteristic of British freedom. The last resolution was in these words:
”'Resolved, therefore, that the General a.s.sembly of this colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the General a.s.sembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom.'
”A warm debate ensued. Pendleton, Bland, Wythe and Randolph all opposed the resolutions; but Henry was the master mind, and made an impression which is felt to this day. His words were pregnant with a nation's freedom. In the heat of the debate occurred a memorable scene. Patrick Henry reached a climax. 'Caesar,' he cried, 'had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell, and George the Third'--'Treason'! burst from the lips of the president. 'Treason,'
'Treason!' resounded through the house. The orator paused; then, raising himself to his full height, with eyes of fire and a voice which thrilled every soul, he concluded his sentence, 'and George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason make the most of it.'
”The resolutions were adopted by one vote, and that evening Patrick Henry left for his home. In March, 1775, the Virginia Convention met in St. John's church, Richmond. It was a body of the most distinguished men in Virginia, and among them was Patrick Henry. He was still far in advance of the leading men of the convention, who, although there were English fleets in the waters of Virginia and armed soldiers quartered within her towns, still hoped that the evils complained of could be remedied by compromise.
”Henry did not think so, and he was unwilling to sit down quietly until it would be too late to prepare for defense. He submitted a set of resolutions, calling attention to the presence of British armies and the dangers then threatening American freedom, and proposed that Virginia should be put in a state of defense, and that measures should at once be taken for embodying, arming and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose.”
The proposition was strongly opposed by such men as Bland, Nicholas, Pendleton and Harrison. Dr. Howison says: ”It was now that Patrick Henry appeared in power. Rising slowly from his seat, he made an appeal which in eloquence and strength, and in its effect upon the future of the world, went far beyond any effort of oratory ever previously made. It was the demonstration that the coming war was to be a war of ideas and principles, and not a mere war of brute force.” No perfect production of this speech has been preserved--perhaps none were possible; yet enough has been preserved to enable the thoughtful student to feel something of its inspiration:
”Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have pet.i.tioned--we have remonstrated--we have supplicated--we have prostrated ourselves before the throne and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the Ministry and Parliament. Our pet.i.tions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the n.o.ble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the G.o.d of hosts is all that is left us.
”There is a just G.o.d who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged; their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir, let it come!
”Gentlemen may cry, Peace! peace! but there is no peace. The war has already begun. The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty G.o.d! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
A dead silence followed this speech. The feelings it excited were too deep for applause; but there was no longer any hesitation or division of opinion. The proposal of Henry was adopted, and, in a short time, Virginia was alive with military preparation.
There are two prophesies in this eloquent speech which were fulfilled; one was that the clash of resounding arms would be heard by the next gale from the North--the battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th of April; and the other was that G.o.d would raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
Our independence could hardly have been secured without the aid of the French, whom Lafayette led, and who were the friends that were raised up for us by a kind Providence.
PENDLETON'S RESOLUTIONS.
It was Edmund Pendleton, of Sparta, in Caroline county, a Virginian, who prepared, and Cary presented, resolutions defining the position of the colonies and instructing the Virginia delegation to the General Congress to vote for a declaration of separation from Great Britain. These resolutions were heartily indorsed by the troops that had a.s.sembled at Williamsburg, and even by those leading Virginians who so strongly condemned Patrick Henry's first great speech.