HIS NOBLE EFFORTS FOR FREEDOM.

55

umphant vindication of religious freedom; for it was upon his motion, as we shall hereafter have occasion to point out, that the principle was asserted in its true breadth, and upon its legitimate grounds, in the Virginia Bill of Rights,-from him came the Memorial and Remonstrance of 1785, the decisive battle fought in the great contest, and by his able advocacy and exertions it was that, in the legislative session of the same year, the celebrated Declaratory Act, drawn by Mr. Jefferson, at last became a law.

NOTE. A question has been much mooted as to the relative number of churchmen and dissenters in Virginia, at the period of the Revolution. A loose conjecture of Mr. Jefferson, in the "Notes on Virginia," that the latter formed, at that time, two thirds of the population of the Colony, has been followed by several historical writers, native and European. [See How ison's History of Virginia, vol. II. p. 186, and Grahame's History of the United States, vol. I. p. 113.] Mr. Jefferson afterwards changed his estimate to a simple majority. [Jefferson's Writings, vol. I. p. 31.] But either estimate is obviously erroneous, and is so treated by his intelligent biographer, Professor Tucker. [See Life of Jefferson, vol. I. pp. 19 and 97.] It is shown by contemporary authorities of great respectability that, about the middle of the century, there were but few dissenters in Virginia.

Even as late as 1760, Burnaby, an
inquisitive and well informed Eng-
lish traveller, says: "There are
very few dissenters of
any denom-
ination in this province." [See
"Travels in the Middle Settle-
ments of North America in 1759
and 1760."] It is difficult to con-
ceive how, from such a limited
number at that time, they could
have risen in so short an interval,
and in the face of the strong dis-
couragements presented by the
laws of the Colony for the support
of the Established Church, to a
majority at the breaking out of the
Revolution. The opinion of Mr.
Madison, reported by Professor
Tucker, is doubtless more to be re-
lied on: "That the proportion of
dissenters in Virginia, at the break-
ing out of the Revolution, was con-
siderably less than one half of those
who professed themselves members
of any church."

CHAPTER III.

Proceedings in Virginia on receiving Intelligence of the Boston Port Bill-House of Burgesses dissolved by the Governor — War with the Indians - First Convention in Virginia - Continental Congress meets at Philadelphia-Mr. Madison's Account of the Military Preparations commenced in Virginia, in view of a possible Conflict with the Mother Country-How far Patrick Henry's Resolution for arming and disciplining the Militia influenced those Preparations Patriotism and Influence of the ancient Landed Interest in Virginia County Committees - Mr. Madison a Member of the one for his County - Nature and Extent of the Cavalier Element in the Population of Virginia - Character of the People of Virginia at the Era of the Revolution.

Ar the session of the legislature in May, 1774, which followed the date of the foregoing letter, the headlong course of political events, which were then rapidly verging to a perilous crisis, precluded the consideration of all other subjects. The news of the Boston Port Bill was received at Williamsburg very soon after the Assembly met. It made a profound and ominous impression; and the following day, the House of Burgesses passed a resolution setting apart the 1st of June, when this vindictive measure was to take effect, to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation,

FEELING IN VIRGINIA ON BOSTON PORT BILL. 57

and prayer to implore the Divine interposition for averting the calamity of civil war, and to give the people of America one heart and one mind firmly to oppose every invasion of their rights. This resolution was too significant in its language and spirit to be agreeable to the representative of royalty, and the House of Burgesses was immediately dissolved by the governor, Lord Dunmore.

The members, by common consent, reassembled in the long room of the Raleigh Tavern called the "Apollo," then the headquarters of patriotism, and formed themselves into an association to oppose the unconstitutional taxation of the British Parliament by discouraging the use of tea and of all commodities brought in by the East India Company,-denouncing the act lately passed for shutting up the harbour and commerce of Boston "in our sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay" as a "dangerous attempt to destroy the liberty and rights of all North America," declaring an attack made on one of the Colonies, to compel a submission to arbitrary taxes, an attack on all,-and finally recommending the appointment of deputies from the several Colonies, to meet annually in general Congress at such place as shall be thought most convenient, "there to deliberate on those general measures which the united interests of America may, from time to time, require." At a subsequent meeting of the members, a resolution was adopted

inviting a convention of delegates at Williamsburg on the 1st day of August next, to consider what further measures may be necessary for the protection of American liberty, and to appoint deputies to the proposed Continental Congress.

While these measures were taken by the patriots of Virginia against the oppressions of the mother country, a cruel and bloody war was waging upon her western frontiers by the red men of the forest. It was in the midst of these complicated troubles that Mr. Madison, having just returned from a visit to his friends in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, renewed his correspondence with his Philadelphia friend. On the first of July, 1774, he writes to him as follows:

"I am once more got into my native land, and into the possession of my customary employments, solitude and contemplation; though I must confess, not a little disturbed by the sound of war, bloodshed, and plunder on the one hand, and the threats of slavery and oppression on the other. From the best accounts I can obtain from our frontiers, the savages are determined on the extirpation of the inhabitants, and no longer leave them the alternative of death or captivity. The consternation and timidity of the white people, who abandon their possessions without making the least resistance, are as difficult to be accounted for, as they are encouraging to the enemy. Whether it be owing to the unusual cruelty of the Indians, the want of the

MEASURES OF RESISTANCE.

59

necessary implements and ammunition for war, or to the ignorance and inexperience of many who, since the establishment of peace, have ventured into those new settlements, I can neither learn, nor with any certainty conjecture. However, it is confidently asserted that there is not an inhabitant for some hundreds of miles back, (which have been settled for many years,) except those who are forted in or embodied by their military commanders. The state of things has induced Lord Dunmore, contrary to his intentions at the dissolution of the Assembly, to issue writs for a new election of members, whom he is to call together on the 11th of August.

"As to the sentiments of the people of this Colony with respect to the Bostonians, I can assure you I find them generally very warm in their favor. The natives are very numerous and resolute, are making resolves in almost every county, and I believe are willing to fall in with the other Colonies in any expedient measure, even if that should be universal prohibition of trade. It must not be denied, however, that the Europeans, especially the Scotch, and some interested merchants among the natives, discountenance such proceedings, as far as they dare, alleging the injustice and perfidy of refusing to pay our debts to our generous creditors at home. This consideration induces some honest, moderate folks to prefer a partial prohibition, extending only to the importation of goods."