JEFFERSON AND JOSEPH JONES. 55 "two great commanders" in the House, but he intimates that there is too much said and too little done. On the 21st of June he wrote: "We are now as usual putting to sleep many of the bills that have employed our time and attention for great part of this session. Among them two, one for the benefit of debtors, the other for regulating the proceedings in the county courts. These were thought to have some connection and ought to rest together. Mr. Mason introduced and patronized the debtors' bill. I was not in the House when it was read, but understand it allowed all creditors to obtain judgment, but suspended execution, rather permitted it for a fifth of the debt annually, for five years, comprehending as well foreign as domestic credits. I came into the House during the debate and from the observations of R. H. L [ee] and those who opposed the bill its principle was severely reprobated. Mr. Mason and C. M. T. [Charles Minn Thruston] warmly supported it and pronounced it indispensably necessary to preserve the people from ruin and the country independent. The disposition of the members, however, was so prevalent for lopping off all business not really necessary that the latter gentlemen were obliged to submit to its being referred to the next session. This bill, at least so far as respected British creditors, would have had more advocates but for the late period at which it was introduced, and because there already existed and will continue in force until the 1st of December a law that prohibits suits for or on account of British subjects." 99 1 A letter from Thomson Mason to John Francis Mercer, half-brother to George and James Mercer, and at this time in the Continental Congress, gives a graphic account of Virginia politics, and brings before us in lively colors the aspect of the Assembly which was just about to close its session. MY DEAR SIR: RICHMOND, 22d June, 1783. I must entreat your forgiveness in having so long neglected to answer your very obliging favor of April, but have really been so much engaged in the duties of my profession, and the business of 1 "Letters of Joseph Jones," p. 120. the public, that I have scarce had a moment's leisure. Add to this the very infirm state of my health, and at times the total disability of my better hand, and you will be convinced that iny silence proceeded not from any disrespect, for believe me, sir, I esteem you as I ought. I thank you most sincerely for the very interesting intelligence you gave me, of which I endeavoured to avail myself to promote the public good, though I am sorry to say to little purpose, as the Shelborne faction, as I have christened them, are yet very powerful though they lose ground. I never saw the provisional Treaty of Peace till I reached Garrard's, in my way to this place, and did not determine upon the part I afterwards took on that occasion, till I knew whether I could prevail on my son who was here to declare himself for Loudon, and till I had consulted your brother whether it might not interfere with your election. The result of these conferences ended in both my son and myself writing up to our respective counties, that we would serve if they chose us. In my letter to my son John which I desired him to make public, I expressed my wishes that all my friends would also be yours, and was not without hopes that we should both have been elected, and we certainly should have been so, but a particular party, having made several unsuccessful attempts to raise you up an opponent, had after I left the county, prevailed on young Col. Garrard to set up in professed opposition to you, in partnership with Col. Carter. He rode from house to house in the county, and supported by Col. Carter prevailed upon many to promise him, even before my intentions were known. Notwithstanding this, if our election had been managed properly you would have run Col. Carter hard; but instead of our staunch friends (which actually formed a majority of those present) pushing us both from the beginning, which they ought to have done, as both the other candidates were our professed enemies, they only pushed in such who were only for one of us, and they giving one vote, some to Garrard and some to Carter, added to those who were their staunch friends, run those gentlemen so far ahead that our friends began to be apprehensive we should both be dropped, and Garrard having declared that he would resign his pretensions if you were withdrawn, outwitted your friends so far as to withdraw you, expecting by so THOMSON MASON TO JOHN FRANCis mercer. 57 doing that I should then be certainly elected, as Garrard would then withdraw. But here they found themselves deceived; Garrard and Carter still continued to push their elections, and my friends threw their votes upon Carter till they got me about a dozen votes ahead of Garrard, who finding he had not another vote resigned, and upwards of thirty of my friends then thought it unnecessary to vote at all, not duly considering that this might possibly have overturned my election in case of a controversy. Your old friend Col. Mountjoy quarrelled with his brother-in-law on account of his conduct in setting up in opposition to you. Thus I have given you a particular account of the election as stated to me, for I was not there; if I had [been] I think you would have run my colleague hard; if not have turned him out, though many untruths, and the inconvenience of serving in Congress and Assembly, were I am told urged much to your prejudice. The Assembly have passed an act to render members of Congress ineligible in future for the Assembly. I fancy some maneuvering was intended to your prejudice in the ballot for members of Congress. It was the general sense of gentlemen without doors, that there would be no election till the November session; but upon my going up to defend Mr. Lawrence Washington of King George (who was discharged from further trial for the death of Mr. Alexander) the House in that week proceeded to ballot for members of Congress, and you were not even put in nomination for some time, which my son Stephens perceiving, got so far the better of his false modesty, as to propose you, and afterwards supported your interest warmly without doors. Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Hardy, yourself, Dr. Lee and Col. Monroe were elected. It was lucky for Dr. Lee that the election came on so soon, as I am told the part he took two days afterwards against a French ship, which having been seized through the ignorance of the captain, he petitioned for the interposition of the Assembly and obtained it, against the violent opposition of several who always have been staunch Whigs. Dr. Lee joined in this opposition, and by so doing gave great umbrage to many who had before voted for him, as a delegate to Congress, but declared they would never do so again. So much for private intelligence. I am really alarmed at the critical situation we stand in with Great Britain, and the more so from their refusal to deliver up to several of the citizens of this State their slaves, when demanded under the authority of the Executive, by their respective masters, in direct violation of the Treaty. I cannot entirely agree with you in your sentiments on the subject of British debts. The occlusion of the courts of justice by any law, would certainly be a legal impediment, but still I think that even this might be justly done without infringing the treaty, if we made no distinction between the British and domestic creditor, for every country has an inherent right of regulating her internal police, and surely where there is no discrimination, a British sovereign has no right by the law of nations, to expect, much less to demand greater privileges from us for his subjects than we grant to our own citizens. And the present situation of our country is such, that the justice we owe our citizens, renders it necessary to place them before they are called upon to pay their debts, in the same situation they were in when those debts were contracted. Under this idea I drew and introduced a bill for the relief of debtors, and another for the security of creditors. Under the last I placed our courts in such a situation as to enable the creditor in all cases where no defence could be made, to obtain a judgment in six months at the farthest, and in all other cases in fifteen months. By the first bill I enabled all debtors upon giving an additional security, who were also to be liable to execution upon the judgment against the principal, in case of non-payment, to pay off the judgments when obtained in five annual payments; the judgments to carry interest, and remain in force for six years without being revived by Sei: fa., and an execution to issue annually for one fifth of the judgment, and interest against principal and security, till the whole was discharged. All interest during the war was to cease, and no debts to be affected by this act contracted after the passing of it; with a proviso that it should not extend to any debts contracted with foreigners during the war by individuals. These laws being for the mutual advantage of debtor and creditor, and a mere regulation of our internal police, in which the British subject was placed on the same footing with our own citizens (indeed the word British was not even mentioned in the bill) nor any kind of distinction set up, I well hoped would have gone down; but the Shelborne faction were apprehensive it might possibly give umbrage to Britain, and induce them to infringe the BILL FOR THE RELIef of debtors. 59 treaty. They put off the consideration of the first bill to the next session of the Assembly, and I myself moved for putting off that for speedy trials to the same time, and after a pretty warm opposition succeeded. We have also been warmly engaged upon a bill to declare who should in future become citizens of this State. The bill as I had modelled it (for it was first brought in with great severity and too little discrimination) excluded all persons who being residents of the United States after the Declaration of Independence had aided and assisted the enemy, from ever becoming citizens or residing amongst us for any longer or other time than was or should be stipulated in the provisional articles or definitive treaty of peace; that all others who either left us or, remaining amongst us, had avowed principles inimical to the independence of America, should be incapable of holding any post, civil or military, of sitting in either House of Assembly, of voting at any election, or of participating in our councils for the preservation of that independence which they had endeavoured to prevent. Here again the Shelborne faction took the alarm, and the threat of being here a week longer when harvest was approaching, induced a majority to postpone the consideration of this also till the next session of Assembly, for which, as I had the yeas and nays taken, I fancy their constituents will not thank them much on their return. The plan proposed by Congress for placing in their hands a permanent fund for the discharge of the federal debt was rejected by a great majority as a precedent dangerous to liberty upon this principle, that as we had already entrusted them with the sword, if we were to give them the purse also, the control we should afterwards have over them would be but a feeble barrier against future encroachments; for such was the lust of power, that whoever was in possession of it would still endeavour to extend it, and though we should even change our members of Congress annually it would be immaterial to us whether we chose A. B. C. or X. Y. Z., since every letter of the alphabet, whilst they were members of any body, would endeavour to support and extend the power of that body, and I candidly confess, my friend, that I joined with the majority in this opinion. Yet sensible of the necessity of establishing funds, we have laid an impost of five per cent. ad valorem and the duties recommended by Congress ex |