The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-04-15
OUR CARY OF AMPTHILL
COMPARED WITH HIM eRUTUs WAS
A VAlNcLORlOUS WEAKLlNC.
A Famous virgInian's Method Of Check
lag an Attempt 20 Make Patrick Henry
Dictator-A Threat to stick Dagger
I'm the Orators Heart.

occasion to mention Cary of Ampthill.
in connection with his remarkable mes
sage to Patrick Henry concerning a
dictatorship. AS this historical Incl
dent is probably unknown to many of
our readers. and attention. so far rs
we know, has never been called TO it's
historical significance. we may be par
doned for unfolding somewhat our re-
cent allusion 10 it.
The period was ono of extreme de
preston in the affairs of the colonies
perhaps the most depressing in the war
of the Revolution. 4 writer. sketching
the situation, says:
THE British held the city of New
York. Fort Washington mad fallen.
The American Commander-in-Chief
pressed by overwhelming numbers.
was flying through the Jerseys"
The moral situation, If anything. was
more deplorablc than the military. In
these circumstances, the question up
permost in the minds of patriots was:
What shall we do TO be savedT" to
which it is not surprising that some
answers were given less adapted TO
save us than 10 complete our ruin. Of
these the most dangerous was the
scheme of dictatorship. That fl
was proposed i'm the House of Dele
gates of Virginia we have Jef'erson's
authority. That ii was strongly sup
ported may be inferred from the fact.
also authenticated 10y jefferson that
renewal of the proposition few years
later, under conditions less critical.
and when (the tide having been in
gloriously omitted" at the tiood) its
voyage was bound in shadows"
wanted nevertheless "A few votes only
of being passed" Jeffersons bogra-
pher tells us that for some cause not
explained Jefferson preserved an al
most impenetrable reserve" i'm regard
TO this project of a dictatorship in all
its stages. Apparently the motive was
more formidable, and it's supporters
of greater name, than loyal Vrginians
have cared to admit. When originally
proposed, Patrick Henry was Gov
ernor of the Commonwealth, and no
body has ever disputed that he was
the dictator contemplated 10y the adj
vocates of the measure. though he him
self made no sign, il would appear.
The feeling excited by the proposition
ran high. The members who favored
it. and those who opposed it," accord
ing to one authority. walked the
streets on different sides" At this
crisis Colonel Archibald Cary. the
Speaker of the Senate. and "A Virgin
ian of note in every relation. meeting
in the lobby of the Senate Colonel
Syme. Henry's step-brother, accosted
him in these terms:
Sir, l am told your brother wishes
to be dictator; tell him from me that
the day of his appointment shall be the
day of his death, for he shall find my
dagger in his heart before the sunset
of that day
Colonel Syme is represented as hav-
ing replied in great agitation to the
effect that if such project existed
his brother had no hand i'm it,. for
nothing could he more foreign to him
than to countenance any office which
could endanger, in the most distant
manner the liberties of his country.
This in itself signified little or moth
ing since those who espoused die
tatorship, though misguided. were pa
trlots, looking upon the Office as not
endangering the liberties of the coun-
try, but as the only means of prescrv-
ing them. In Notes on Virginia" JEFF
fersOn declares that most of these
men none Of whom he namesJ meant
WELL avowing that ae knew them
personally, had been their fellow-la-
borer i'm the cause, and had often
proved the purity Of their principles"
The excited protest of Colonel Syme.
however, though itself irrelevant. was
Followed by an express disclaimer
from Patrick Henry. supported by the
uniform declarations of his friends.
and opposed by no evidence that has
reached the public His disclaimer ap.
pears TO have been accepted by his
tory; which no doubt is as it should be.
BE this as it may. it is certain that a
dictatorship was proposed i'm tn, Vir-
ginia House of Delegates: that il was
advocated, I'm ana out Of that body
by some Of the purest and most infiu-
entail patriots Of Virginia. ana that
Patrick Henry, the most popular man
in the Commonwealth. was the dictator
upon whom the friends OF the scheme
had fixed i'm their conclaves. The gray
ity Of this state of things it is not easy
to Overestimate. Had the movement
thus begun, and growing stronger
daily. been allowed to run it's course
unchecked, il IS impossible to say who
would or who would not have been
drawn into IL. Patrick Henry. yield
ing 20 the despair and dclusion of the
juncture. might actually have placed
himself at IT'S head. Jefferson ana Mad
ison themselves Influenced by like mo.
tiyes deeply as both abhorred the prin-
ciplc involved. might have lent ~ their
support, actively or passiycly Nor Us
it possible TO say That if Virginia had
formally proposed the measure the
other States would not have followed
her lead. as they had done iu other
measures of moment Gin establishing
representative Legislatures. forming
the Revolutionary Government NOV
Ing for independence. coding vacant
lands. etc, and as they were destined
TO do thereafter notably in breaking
ground for the Constitution. which
banks and buttresses au the rest IL
is not too much to- say chat thc fate of
America 0t that pass rcmblcd iu thc
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