Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1872-04-24

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wrote his celebrated five resolutions
of this purport We Englishmen liv.
ing in America, have all the rights Of
Englisbmen living in England; the
chief Of which is, that we could only
be taxed by our representatives, and
any attempt 10 tax US other wise men.
aces British liberty on both CONT
nonts. In all probability, Jefferson
knew that something Of the kind was
intended on that memorable day, for
he was present in the House. There
was no gallery then, nor any other
provision for spectators but thcre
could be no objection to the friend and
lrelativo of SO many members standing
in the doorway bot~een tho lobby
and the chamber; and there he took
his stand. He saw his tall gaunt
coarsely ly. attrcd guest arise, in bis
awkward way, and break with stam-
mering tongue the silence which had
brooded over the loudest debates, as
week after week OF the season had
passed. Ho observed and felt, too,
the thrill which ran through the
House at the mere introduction Of o
subject with which every mind was
surcharged, and marked tho rising
tide Of feeling as the reading of the
resolutions went on, until the climax of
audacity was reached the last clause in
Of the last. How moderate, how tame,
the words seem to US! "Evcry at
tempt to invest such power (of taxa
tion) in any person or persons what.
socver, other than the general assem-
bly, aforesaid, has a manifest tendency
to destroy British and American
freedom" Ravishing words to the
whig members from Albemarle and
the other western counties Sound as
old Coke himself, in tho judgment of
our spellbound listener in the door.
way. Words of fearful import to the
tory lords of the eastern counties.
Not approved as yet by George
Wythe, nor Payton Randolph, whom
the student held in SO much honor.
When the reading was finished he
heard his friend utter the opening sen.
tences of his speech, with faltering
tongue, as usual, and giving little
promise of the strains that were TO
follow. But it was the nature of this
great genius, as of all genius, TO rise
TO occasions Soon Jefferson saw him
stand erect, and swinging FREQ of all
impediments, launch into tho tide OF
his oration, every eye captivatcd by
the large and sweeping grace Of his
gesticulation every ear charmed with
the swelling music OF his voice every
mind thrilled or stung by the vivid
epigrams into which he condensed his
opinions. He never had listener 30
formed to be held captive by him as
the student at the lobby door, who, as
Indidd cuIcI SO IMPRESSIVE, ana couIu
not now resist a slurring translation
of Ossian's majestic phrase. After
the lapse of fifty-nine years, he still
spoke Of the great day with enthusi.
asm, and described anew the closing
moment Of Henry's speech, when the
orator, interrupted by cries of treason,
uttered the weli.known words of de-
fiance, If this bo treason, make the
most oft"
The debate which followed Mr.
Henry's opening speech was, as JEFF
ferson has recorded, "most bloody"
1t is impossible for a reader of this
generation TO conceive the mixture of
fondness, pride, and veneration with
which these colonists regarded the
mother country, its parliament and
king, its church and its literature, and
all the glorious names and events Of
its history. Wing as Jefferson was
by nature and conviction, he could
not give up England as long as there
was any hope Of just union with her.
What, then, must have been the feel
ings of the tories Of the Housc--tories
by nature and by party--upon hear.
ing this ycoman from the west speak
of the natural rights of man in the
spirit Of a Sidney, and use language in
reference TO the king which sounded
to them like the prelude to an assas.
sins stab (? They had to make stand,
too, for their position as leaders of the
House, unquestioncd for century.
To the matter of the resolutions no
one objected. All that Wytbe, Pen
dleton, Bland and Peyton Randolph
could urge against thcm was, that
they were unbccoming and unneces
sarys Tho House had already remon
strated without effect, and it became
n loyal people to submit "Torronts of
sublime eloquencc" from Patrick Hen
ry, as Jefferson observes, swept away
their arguments, and the resolutions
were carried the last one, however,
by only single voice. Standing in
tho doorway, the student watched the
taking Of the vote on tho last resolu
ton upon which the contest had been
hottest. When the result had been
declared, Peyton Randolph, the kings
attorney. general, brushed past him,
saying, us he entered the lobby,
"By Cd, would have given FIVE
hundred guincas for single vote"
Doubtless, tho young gentleman
went homo exulting. Patrick ilenry,
unused to the artiiiccs Of legislation,
and always impatient of detail, sup
posing now that tho work for which
10 had come to Williamsburg, was
done, mounted that very evening and
rode away Jefferson, perhaps, was
not so suro OF this; for the next
morning. sometime before tho hour of
meeting, ho was again at the capitol
and 10 the burgesses' chamber. His
uncle, Colonel Peter Randolph, one of
tho tory members, camo in, and sit.
ting down at the clerks table, began
TO turn over the journals of the
House. lie had q dim recollection, he
said of resolution in the House,
many years ago, having been erpung.
ed! He was trying to find the record
Of tho transaction. He wanted pro.
cedent. The student of law looked
over bis shoulder, as he turned the
leaves a group Of members standing
near, in tropidation at tho thought Of
Yesterdays doings. The House bell