The Washington herald., 1913-01-27

a name through the coiOhi's-Iot as the
Burgesses had adopted them. but as,
Henry had drawn them. with their ex-
press threat Of disobedience.
Nor was that all. October, 1865, saw
delegates from nine colonies come to-
gether In New York. at the call Of Mas
sachusetts, to take counsel what should
be done.
Every one knew that Virginia. North
Carolina. and Georgia, the only colonies
absent from the congress. would have
sent delegates, too. had their Governors
not prevented them by the dissolution Of
their assemblies before they could act
on the call.
Excitement In the Colonies.
deep excitement and concern had
spread everywhere throughout the set
Elements. Not only did the impending
enforcement of the act engross the con-
versation of the speculative part of the
colonists.' as Washington wrote to
Francis Dandridge in London: 1t prom
ised TO engross also the energies of very
active, and it might be very violent, men
in many quarters. and II began to grow
evident that some part of government
itself would be brought TO a standstill by
its processes.
Our courts of ju1icature.' declared
Washington. must inevitably be shut
up; for it is impossible COr next OF kin
to it, under our present circumstances,
piled with 80 and II a stop be put to
our judicial proceedings, fancy the
merchants of Great Britain trading to
the colonies viii not be among the last
TO wish for a repeal Of it,"
Bill of Rights.
The congress at New York drew up
nothing less than a bill of rights and i'm
munities. and sent resolutions over sea
which arrested the attention Of the
world. The Virginian assembly dis
patched like papers for itself; and
Richard Henry Lee, when he had assist
ed TO draw its memorials, hastened home
to form in his own Cavalier county a
''westmorelsnd Association. whose
members -four Washingtons among the
resD bound themselves by solemn
covenant to exert every faculty to pre-
vent the execution of the said stamp
act in any instance whatsoever within
this colony" The ministry could not
stand the pressure. They gave way to
Lord Rockingham. and the act was re-
pealed.
Washington Takes IL Calmly.
Meanwhile Washington. his calm tenn
per unshaken, was slowly coming TO
clear vision Of affairs in all their sig
nificance. Fox-hunting did not cease. lie
was much in the saddle and at table
with the FairfaNes. whom nothing could
shake from their allegiance, and who
looked with sad forebOdings upon the
temper the colony was in.
1t was proper they should speak SO il
they deemed it just. and Washington
had no intolerance for what they urged.
But George Mason. the neighbor whom
he most trusted. was # very different
mind. and strengthened and confirmed
him in other counseIs. Mason was six
years his senior: a man. too. cast ny
nature to understand men and events
how they must go and how be guided.
They conferred constantly. at every turn
Of their intimate life. in the field or in
the liberary. mounted or afOOt in the for
ests. and came very deliberately ana
soberlv to their statesman's view.
Randolph and PendletOn and Wythe
and Bland had themselves turned. after
the first hesitate to act with ardent
men like Lee in framing the memorials
to king. lords. and commons which
were to go from the Burgesses along
with the resolutions Of the stamp act
Congress in New York: and Washington,
who had never hesitated. but had only
gone slowly and with his eyes open, with
that self-poise men had found so strik-
ing in him from the first. came steadily
with the rest to the at last common pur-
pose of resoIute opposition.
RercaI of the Act.
The repeal of the act came to all like
n great deliveranCe.
Gov Fauquier had deemed it his duty
to dissolve the Assembly upon the pas
sage Of Henry's resolutions. but he had
acted without passion in the matter. and
had kept the respect OF the men he dealt
with. He was not a man. indeed. TO
take public business very seriously, haV-
ing been bred a man OF fashion and a
courtier rather than a master OF affairs.
He loved gay company and the deep eN-
element of the gaming table, not the
round of official routine. Affable. Sener-
Gus, elegant a scholar and real lover OF
letters he vastly preferred the talk OF
yiyacious women and accomplished men
10 the business of the General Court, and
was a man to be liked rather than con-
suited.
RoyaIist Governor.
Washington, always admitted to the
intimacy of official circles at Williams
burg. very likely relished the gallant
Fauauier better than the too officious
IL
tent to see a man still devoted to dissi-
patton at sixty-two, even though ne
were Governor of one of his majesty S
colonies and a trusted servant OF the
crown: and Fauquier's gifts as a man
Of wit and of instructed tastes made his
ompanionship no less acceptable TO
washington than to the other men or
discernment who freQuented the pail
rooms and receptions, ate formal am
ners and played quiet games OF cards
during the brief season at the little cap
ital.
1t did not seriously disturb life there
that the Governor upheld the power OF
Parliament to tax. while the Burgesses
strenuously opposed ID. Washington, for
one, did not hesitate on that account TO
be seen often in friendly talk with the
Governor. or to accept frequent invita-
tions to the palace" He was OF the
temper which has so distinguished the
nobler sort of Englishmen in politics.
he might regard opposition as public
duty. but he never made 1t ground OF
personal feeling or private spite.
4 Man of Influence.
In a sense, indeed, he had long been
regarded as belonging to official circles
in the colony, more intimately than any
other man who did not hold Office. He
had been put forward by the Fairraxes
in his youth; men in the Council and at
the head of affairs had been his sponsors
and friends from the first. he had been
always like his brother before him,
member of one of the chief groups in the
colony for influence and a confidential
connection with the public business 1t
was even understood that he was him