The Feliciana Democrat., 1858-05-15
BANCROFTS HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES.

The seventh volume of Bancrofts History
OF the United States is shortly to he issued
and the Boston Post publishes extracts from
advanced sheets which have been exhibited 10
the editor The new volume contains histo-
ry Of the events Of the year I77l when the
British shut up the port of Boston and tried
to starvc its inhabitants into submission Mr..
Bancroft shows how the people Of that town
were sustained by the contributions and sym.
pathies Of every part Of the country lie thus
speaks Of the spirit that filled Virginia and
Washington
On the affairs Of Massachusetts the tenn
per Of the NirginauS ran exceedingly high
An innate spirit Of freedom. SUCH we're the
words Of Washington. tclls me that tile mca.
Sures which the Administration are most yio-
lcntIy pursuing, are opposed to every pneiplc
of natural Justice lie was certain that it VAS
neither the wish nor the interest of any GOV
crnmcnt on the continent separately or collcc
lively, to set up independence. but he rejected
indignantly the claim Of parliament, and saw
no reason to expect any thing from their jus
ticc. Tie crisis, he said, is arrived whoA we
must assert our rights, or submit to every i'm.
position that can be hcapcd upon rls, till Gus.
tom and use shall make us tame and abicct
slaves From the first he was convinced that
there was not anything 10 be expected from
petitions, Ought we not, then, h. exclaimed,
TO put our virtue and foritude to the Snycrcst
test Thus Washington reasoned privately
with his friends. In the Convention, Richard
Henry Lee and Patrick Henry were heard
with such delight that the one was compar d
to Cicero, the other to DcmoSthrnrsc But
Washington, who never was able 10 see dis
trrss without a desire to aSSnage it, made the
most effective speech when lie uttered thc wish
to raise one thousand men, subsist them nj his
own expense, and march ut their head for the
relief Of Boston.
Delaware was not SO much in earnest, that
i devised plans for sending relief annually HI
!. All Maryland and al Virginia were cOnttbu
thug literally and cheeriullY: being resolved
!, that the men Of Boston, who were deprived
Of their daily labor, should not lose their daily
bread, nor be compelled to change their resi-,
dcncc for want. liz Fairfax county, Washing
tom presided at II spirited meeting, and headed
a subscription paper with his own gift Of fifty
pounds, A special chronicle could hardly en-
umerate all the generous deeds. Beyond tho
Blue Ridge, the hardy emigrants on the banks
of the Shenandoah, many Of them Germans
, met at Woodstock, and with Muhlcnbnrg
! then n clergyman, soon to be a military chief
: devoted themselves to the cause Of liberty
; Higher up the Valley Of Virginia where til,
plough already We'd with the rifle, and th
hardy hunters, not always ranging the hill'
With thcr dogs for game, had also begun tt
Tin tie SOIL the summer of that year ripenec
the wheat fields Of the pioneers, not for them
selves alone. Whc. the sheavcs had beer
harvested, and the corn in.reshed and groun'
IN II country as yet poorly prov WIN par"
or mills. the backwoodsmen of Augusta coun
ty, without any pass through the mou"talh
+, that could be called a road, noiseessly and mo
dcstly delivered at Frederick, one hundre'
+ and thrtyseven barrels Of -four as their remit
tances to the poor Of Boston.