Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27

Ing To Mount vernon, took no haSty step, but
calmly deliberated Then, as throughout his
Cal GER, he illustrated the old saying attributed
To Lord Halifax: The man who is master of
patience is master of everything
He conferred with the citizens of the county
ana most closely with his neighbor and friend,
George Mason of GunSton Hall. and brought
about at Alexandria, then a small but flourish
ing town. on July ID. 1774, what was styled a
general meeting of the freeholders and in
habitants of the County of Fairfax The meet
ing, over which Washington presided adopted
the Fairfax resolves. They were drawn by
Mason, who spent the afternoon and night
before the meeting at Mount Vernon and they
expressed WashingtonS views They were from
the pen OF thu remarkable man who soon
TO prepare the Virginia constitution with a
bill OF rights at its front, the first constitution
ever written containing a complete system of
government; the man whose thought and words
run like a golden thread through the Federal
Constitution and the constitutions of all the
states of the Union. and it is not too much
to say through the Declaration of Independence.
The Fairfax resolves became the basis of the
action of the Virginia convention in August,
OF which Washington was a member, and they
likewise became, to a large extent, the basis
of the action of the first Continental Congress,
OF which he was also q member
One more thing of supreme interest: 1t is
not inaccurate to say that the Federal Constitu-
ton had its origin at Mount Vernon The
agony and bloody sweat of the Revolution had
passed, but discord among the Is States threat
ened to turn into ashes the fruits of the sue
cessful struggle. No one was more solicitous
than Washington. At Mount Vernon he con-
ferred with leading statesmen and from there
his influence swept into every quarter.
Il have referred to Mason. At nearly every
step he and Washington were together They
were together during the long stretch of years
marked by
Many a grim and haggard day,
Many a night of starless skies
IN which the very souls of men were tried.
They were never apart except on the question
as to whether the Constitution should be ratified
without change On that question Mason and
Patrick Henry were, rs we now clearly perceive
unwiseiy at variance with Washington. But
there was no bitterness He and Mason re-
manned friends while they both lived and to
Henry as President he offered the position Of
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court"
THE Fairfax County resolves. as they are gen.
orally called, make q long document. con-
sisting of &c separate resolutions. of which the
preamble and the first resolution are here
given:
AT general meeting of the freeholders and
other inhabitants Of the County of Fairfax at
the court house, in the town of Alexandria, on
Monday, the 18th day OF July, 1774
Ron, TT Harrison, gentleman, clerk:
y. Resolved That this colony and Dominion
OF virginia cannot be considered as q conquered
country, and, If it was that the present in
naoltants are not OF the conquered, but of
the conquerors- That the same was not settled
at the national expense of England but at
the private expense of the adventurers our
ancestors by solemn compact with and under
the auspices and protection of the British
crown upon which we are in every respect as
dependent as the people Of Great Britain and
In tine same manner subject to all his majestv,s
Just, legal and constitutional prerogat:ves that
our ancestors, when they left their native land
and settled in America, brought with them even
II the same had not been confirmed by char
terS the civil constitution and form of gov
eminent of the country they came from and
were by the laws of nature and nations en-
titled to all its privileges, immunfties and adj
vantageS, which have descended to us. their
pos6erity, and ought of right to be as fully
enjoyed as If we had still continued within the
realm of England"
Who were the "freeholders and other in
haoItantS of the County of Fairfax" who met in
Alexandria on Monday July II, I774? This is
indeed question the writer would like to be
able to answer, especially for the benefit of the
descendants of those sturdy patriots who now
live within the boundaries of what was
then Fairfax County. But the only names
forming part of this famous document are
those appearing in resolution No. 25 and they
are: George Washington, John West, George
Mason William Ramsay, William Rumney,
George Gilpin, Rob. Hanson Harrison John
Carlyle, Robert Adam, John Dalton Phillip
Alexander, James Kirk, William Brown Charles
Broadwater, William Payne Martin Cockburn,
Lee Massey, William Hartshorne Thomas Trip
let, Charles Alexander, Thomas Pollard Towns
bend Dade. jr, Edward Payne Henry Gunnen
and Thomas Lewis"
The nearest published list of the inhabitants
of Fairfax County to lT74 the date of the