The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-04-19
OUR CARY OF AMPTHILL
COMPARED WITH HIM BRuTuS WAS
A vAINcLoRlous WEAKLINc.

A Famous virginian's Method of Check
ing an Attempt to Make Patrick Henry
Dictator-A Threat to Stick Dagger
In the Orators Heart.
In a late article the Record had
occasion to mention Cary Of Ampthiii'
in connection with his remarkable mes
sage to Patrick Henry concerning
dictatorship. AS this historical Incl
dent is probably unknown to many OF
orr readers, and attention, so far as
we know, has never been called to It's
historical significance. we may be par
doned for unfolding somewhat our re-
cent allusion to it.
The period was one OF extreme de-
nression in the affairs Of the colonies
perhaps the most depressing in the war
of the Revolution. A writer, sketchlng
the situation, says:
ssThe British held the city Of New
York. Fort Washington had fallen.
The American Commander-in-Chief,
pressed by overwhelming numbers,
was flying through the Jerseys"
The moral situation, If anything. was
more deplorable 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 to complete our ruin. OF
these the most dangerous was the
scheme of a dictatorship. That it
was proposed in the House of Dele
gates of Virginia We have Jeffersen's
authority. That 1t was strongly sup
ported may be inferred from the fact,
also authenticated by Jefferson, that a
renewal of the proposition few years
later, under conditions less critical,
and when (the tide having been In
gloriously omitted" at the food Its
VOYAGE was bound in shadows"
wanted nevertheless "a few votes only
Of being passed" Jefferson's biogra-
pher tells us that for some cause not
explained Jefferson preserved an al
most impenetrable reserve" in regard
to this project of a dictatorship in all
its stages. Apparently the motive was
more formidable, and its supporters
of greater name, than loyal Virginians
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 by the ad-
vocates of the measure, though he him.
self made no sign, it would appear
The feeling excited by the proposition
ran high. 1.-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 Colone
Syme. Henry's step-brother, accostet
him in these terms:
"Sir, am told your brother wishes
to be dictator; tell him from me thai
the day of his appointment shall be thu
day of his death, for he shall find my
dagger in his heart before the sunse
of that day"
Colonel Syme is represented as hav
ing replied in great agitation" to tn,
effect that if such a project existed
his brother had no hand in it, fol
nothing could be more foreign to hin
than to countenance any Office which
1 in, hn 6fcton
manner. the liberties of his country.
This in itself signified little or moth
ing, since those who espoused die
tatorship. though misguided, We're pa
| triots, looking upon the office as no
endangering the liberties of the coun
try, but as the only means of preserv
ing them. In "Notes on Virginia" JET
ferson declares that most of thes
men (none of whom he names) "mean
WELL" avowing that ne knew then
personally, had been their fellowla
borer In the cause, and had ofte
proved the purity Of their principles.
The excited protest of Colonel Symt
however, though itself Irrelevant, wa
| lOiIOWSu ny du CAplCco NiclAdiAiS
from Patrick Henry. supported by til
uniform declarations of his friend!
and opposed by no evidence that ha
reached the public. His disclaimer al
pears to have been accepted by hi:
tory; which no doubt is as 1t should b.
Be this as it may, 1t is certain that
dictatorship was proposed in the VII
ginia House of Delegates; that it wa
advocated, in and out of that bod
by some Of the purest and most infil
entail patriots of Virginia, and thu
Patrick Henry, the most popular ma
G in the Commonwealth. was the dictate
upon whom the friends Of the schem
, had fixed in their conclaves. The gra'
ity Of this state Of things it is not cas-
G to overestimate. Had the movemer
i thus begun. and growing strongt
daily, been allowed to run its cours
6 unchecked. 1t is impossible to say WI
c would or who would not have bee
\ drawn into it. Patrick Henry, yiel
|" ing to the despair and delusion of IL
juncture. might actually have place
Is himself at its head. Jefferson and Ma
e ison themselves, Influenced by like m
|! tives. deeply as both abhorred the pri
y ciple involved, might have lent it the
. support. actively or passively. Nor
u it possible to say that, If Virginia b,
formally proposed the measure, Il
other States would not have follow,
her lead, as they had done in 9th
:, measures Of moment lin establishil
: representative Legislatures. formil
= the Revolutionary Government, mo
:, ing for independence, ceding vaca
. lands, etc., and as they were destin
= to do thereafter. notably in breakil