The Madisonian., July 08, 1913, Image 8

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(CONTINUED.)
Suapfcloua of New Enfllanderm.
There had been more than a totich
of Tiolence, more than a little turbu
lence, and a vast deal of .radical and
reTolutionary talk In all that they lad
done; and the colonies were full yet
of men who had no tolerance for any
thing that, transgressed, were It never
so little, the moderate limits of con
stitutional, agitation.
"Them Is an opinion which does In
some degree obtain in the other colo
nies that the Massachusetts gentle
men, and - especially of the town of
Boston, do affect to dictate and take
the lead in continental measures, that
we are apt, from an Inward vanity and
self-conceit, to assume big and
j haughty airs," said Joseph Hawley,
who. for all he had grown old as a
quiet Massachusetts lawyer among his
neighbors, had kept his shrewd eves
abroad. ''It is highly probable." he
told John 'Adams, with a wholesome
. bluntness, "that you will meet genr,e
men from several of the other colo
nies fully equal to yourselves or any
of you in their knowledge of Great
Britain, the colonies, law, Mstory. gov
ernment, commerce. ... By what Trs
from time to time see in the public
papers, and what our assembly and
committees havei received from the
assemblies and committees of the
more southern colonies we must be
satisfied that they have men of ' as
- much sense and literature as any we
can, or ever could, boast of."
Advised to Be Prudent
It was mere counsel of prudence
that they should play their part in the
congress with modesty and discretion.
Not Cushing and Paine, but the
Adamses, carried the' strength of the
Massachusetts delegation; and it was
Samuel Adams, rather than John, who
was just now the effective master in
the great Bay Colony "master of
puppets." his enemies called him.
Hale, bluff, adroit, plain, a man of
the people, he had grown old in the
business of agitation. Fifty-two years
he had lived, planning always for
others, never for himself. He had
"never looked forward in his life." he
frankly said: "never planned, laid a
scheme, or framed a design of laying
up anything for himself or others aft
er him;" had let all his private busi
ness go neglected, and lived upon the
petty salary of a small public office,
the indulgence of fortune, and the
good offices of the friends and neigh
bors who loved him.
The "Master of Puppets.
He , was in Philadelphia now Wear
In or the rtlaln emit nnrl nncmHn iha
O "A'-"0
modest purse with which his friends
and partisans had fitted him out the
very impersonation of the. revolution
men were beginning so to fear.
No man had ever daunted him;
neither could any corrupt him. He
was possessed with the Instinct of agi
tation; led the people, not the lead
ers; cared not for place, but only for
power; showed a mastery , of means,
a self-containment, a capacity for
timely, and . telling speech, that mark
ed him a statesman, though he loved
the rough ways of a people's govern
ment, and preferred the fierce derno
cracy of the town meeting to the
sober dignity of senates. Like , an
eagle in his high building and strength
of audacious flight, but in. instinct and
ihabit a bird of the storm. Not over
nice what he did, not too scrupulous
what he devised, he was yet not self
ish, loved the principles he had given
his life to, and spent himself without
.limit to see them triumph.
Another Kind of Adams.
John Adams, his cousin, was of a
"very different mould; a younger man'
Iby thirteen years; no man of the peo
sple, but with a taste rather for the ex-
elusive claims of education and breed
ing; self-regardful; a thought too cal-
dilating;- too , quick-witted to be pa-
tient with dull men. too self-conscious
ito be at ease with great ones; and
-yet public-spirited withal, and gener
ous In action if not in judgment; of
sreat powers, if only he could maiu.ge
tto'Use them without jealousy.
-Samuel Adams thought only of Ms
rend, not of himself; seldom spoke of
himself, indeed; seemed a sort of
fsubtle engine for the people's busi
ness. John Adams thought of himself
; always, and yet mastered himself to
;play a great part with the nobility of
. a man of genius, if not with the grace
of a man of modesty and self-forgetful
devotion. For the time he could even
; hold back with his wily cousin, res:gn
leadership in the congress toVirginia.
and act in all things the wise part of
thqse who follow.
t A Situation Full of Peril.
It was a circumstance full of peril
that the delegates of he several colo
nies should at such a juncture be
strangers to one another, and provin
cials all, nowhere bred to continenial
SatFs. Only since the passage or the
stamp act had they taken any thought
for each other.- There was no assur
ance that v, v.,.- -
colony could
view and concert measures, to insure
the peace of an empire. Rising law-
yers like John Adams, brusque plant
era like Colonel Harrison. w.ell-tcdo
merchants like Thomas Mifflin, might
bring all honesty and good Intention
to the task and yet miserably fail. A
provincial law practice, the easy as-
BY TKg PRESIDENT, VC
cendency of a provincial country gen
tleman, the narrow round of provin
cial trade, might afford capable men,
opportunity to become enlightened
citizens, but hardly fitted them to.be
statesmen.
Delegates Become Acquainted.
The real first business of the dele
gates was to become acquainted, and
to learn how to live In the foreign
parts to which most of, them had
ccme. There was a continual round
of entertainment In the hospitable
town, therefore, a universal exchange
of courtesies, a rush of visiting and
dining, a flow of excellent wine, a rich
abundance of good cheer, such as for
a while made the occasion seem one
of festivity "rather than of anxious
counsel.
Many of the delegate had come to
town a week or more before the date
set for the congress, and had settled
to an acquaintance before it was time
to effect an organization; but the gen
tlemen from Maryland and Virginia,
more familiar with the Journey, ar
rived almost upon the day.
Make a Good Impression.
They made an instant impression
upon their new colleagues. John
Adams promptly declared them "the
most spirited and consistent of any,"
and deemed Mr. Lee particularly "a
masterly man." Joseph Hawley's pre
diction was fulfilled. "The Virginia
and indeed all the Southern delegates
rppear like men of importance," said
Silas Deane; "I never met, nor scarce
ly had an Idea of meeting, with men
of such firmness, sensibility, spirit,
and thorough knowledge of the inter
ests of America." Mr. Lynch of South
Carolina, though he wore "the manu
facture of this country." and was la
all things "plain, sensible, above cere
mony,'' seemed to Mr. Deane to carry
with him "more force In his very" ap
pearance than most powdered folks
In their conversation."
The high bearing and capacity of
the southern delegates came upon the
New England men like a great sur
prise: where they had expected to see
rustic squires they found men of ele
gance and learning.
But there was, itf fact, no good rea
son to wonder at the natural leader
ship of these men. Their life had
bred them more liberally than others.
It required a much more various ca
pacity and knowledge of the world to
administer a great property and liv?
the life of a local magnate in the
south. than sufficed to put a man at
the front of trade or of legal practice
In Boston or New York or Philadel
phia. The southern colonies, besides, had
lived more in sympathy with the life
of the empire than had their northern
neighbors. Their life had depended
directly upon that of England hitherto
and had partaken of it with a con
stant zest. They had no rival trade;
they had wanted no rival government.
The general air of the wide empire
had blown in all ordinary seasons
through their affairs, and they had cul
tivated none of that shrewd antago
nism toward the home government
which had so sharpened the wits and
narrowed the political interests of the
best men in New -England.
Reasons for Virginia's Primacy.
They had read law because they
were men of business, without caring
too much, about its niceties or mean
ing to practice.it in litigation. They
had read their English history with
out feeling that they were separate
from it. Their passion for freedom
was born not of local feeling so much
as of personal pride and the spirit of
those who love old practices and the
just exemptions of an ancient consti
tution. It was the life they had lived, and
the conceptions of personal dignity
and immemorial privilege that had
gone always with it, that gave them
so striking an air of mastery. It was
not simply because the Massachusetts
delegates kejt themselves, prudently
In the background and the rest yield
ed to her pretensions , that Virginia
was accorded primacy In the con
gress: It was also because her repre
sentatives were men to whom power
naturally fell, and because she had
won so honorable, a place of leader
ship already in the common affairs of
the continent '., :
Washington Not a Leader.
.Colonel Washington, striking and
forcible man though he was, did not
figure as a leader among the Virginian
delegates.
Peyton Randolph was elected presi
dent ol the congress; Richard Henry.
Lee and Patrick Henry stood forth as
the Virginian leaders on the" floor. .
"If you speak of solid information
and sound judgment, Colonel Washing
ton Is unquestionably the greatest man
on that; floor," was Henry's confident
and generous verdict; but Washington
was no politician, and did not stand in
exactly: the same class with the rest
He had headed committees and pre
sided over popular meetings among
his own neighbors izf Fairfax, and had
been prompt to join them in speaking
with high spirit against the course of
the ministry in England. He had been
forward In urging and punctiliously
careful , in practicing non-importation.
He had declared Gage's . conduct in
Boston "more becoming a Turkish ba
shaw than an English governor."
Deeds and Not Words.
But he was a man of action, -rather
than of parliament "I will raise one
thousand men, enlist them at my own
expense, and march myself at their
head for the relief of Boston," had
been bis impetuous utterance In the
Virginia convention ''the most elo
quent npeech that was ever made," Mr.
Lynch declared. "I have heard he
said," reported an admiring Philadel
phian "I have heard he said he
wished to God the liberties of Amer
ica were to be determined by a single
combat between himself and George!"
But his fellow Virginians understood
him better. They had chosen him for
force and sobriety; not as an orator,
but as the first soldier and one of the
first characters of the commonwealth;
and he had made the impression they
expected.
Not a Committee Man.
He had not been put upon their
committee of correspondence, or beer:
appointed with Nicholas and Pendle
ton and Lee and Henry to draw reso
lutions and remontrfuefs: bnt vv--it
cam s to choosing those who should
represent the Old Dominion in the con
gress, but two names stood before
his in the vote. Peyton Randolpn,
104; Richard Henry Lee, 100; George
Washington, 98;' Patrick Henry, 89;
Richard Bland, 79; Benjamin Harri
son, 66; Edmund Pendleton, 62 such
had been the preference of the con
vention. Admired by Northerners.
The northern delegates admired his
"easy, soldier-like air and gesture"
and his modest and "cool but deter
mined style and accent when he
spoke; and wondered to see him look
scarce forty, when they recalled how
his name had gone through the colo-
'nies twenty years ago, when he had
met the French so gallantly at Great
Meadows, and with Braddock at the
forks of the Ohio.
The yasscchusetts delegates had
reason to admire his manly openness,
too, and straightforward candor. An
old comrade in arms whom he es
teemed a Virginian now in regular
commission, and' stationed with the
troops in Boston had written him
very damaging things about the "pa
triot" leaders of the beset town; of
their "tyrannical oppression over one
another," and "their fixed aim at total
independence," and had charged them
roundly with' being no better than
demagogues and rebels.
Investigates for Himself.
Washington went at once to the men
accused, to learn from their own lips
their principles and Intentions, taking
Richard Henry Lee and discreet Dr.
Shippen along with him as his spoil-
sors and witnesses. "Spent the even
ing at home with Colonel Lee, Colonel
Washington and Dr. Shippen, who
came in to consult us," , was John
Adams' entry in his diary for Septem
ber 28th. "
No doubt Samuel Adams found the
interview a trying one, and winced a
little under the examination of tho
calm and steady soldier, going so
straight to the point, for all his Vir
ginian ceremony. -
There had been many , outward
signs of the demogogue In Adams' ca
reer. He had been consciously an
deliberately planning and scheming
for independence' ever since 1768, and
had made public avowal of his pur
pose no longer ago than last year. It
must have taxed even his adroit pow
ers to convince these frank Virginians
that his purpose was not rebellion.TTlt
liberty; that he venerated what they
venerated, and wished only what they
wished., 1
Find Massachusetts Men. Genuine.
-But the truth somehow lay open be
fore the evening was gone. There was
frank cordiality in the parting: Wash
ington, was convinced of their genuine
ness and sobriety. "Though you are
led to believe by venal "men," he re
plied to Captain. Mackenzie, "that ths
people of Massachusetts are rebel
lious, setting up for the independency,
and what not give me' leave, my good
friend, to tell you that you are abused,
grossly abused. This I advance with
a degree of confidence and boldness
which may claim your belief, having
better opportunities for knowing the
real sentiments of the people you are
among,' from the leaders of them. In
opposition to the present measures of
the administration, than you have
from, those whose business it-Is not
to disclose truth, but to misrepresent
facts in order to justify as much as
possible to the world their own conduct"-
The Massachusetts men had come
to a better understanding of the game
began to see how cautiously It must
be played, how Blowly and how wisely.
A Critical Business.
It was a critical business, this of
drawing "all the colonies into a com
mon congress, as if to create a di
recting body for the continent with
out constitution or warrant The es
tablishment of committees of corre
spondence had seemed little short of
seditious, for It was notorious the com
mittees were formed to concert action
.against the government at home; but
this "congress of committees" was an
even more serious matter.
Would the colonies venture a con
tinental organization to defy parlia
ment? Dangerous differences of opin
ion were blown hot between neighbors
by such measures.
Some of the best men in America
were opposed to the course which was
now evidently to be taken.
So long as it was merely a matter
of protest by the colonies severally,
they had no criticism to make except
perhaps that Mr. Otis and Mr. Henry
had held unnecessarily high language,
and had been bold and defiant beyond
measure; but when they saw how the
opposition gathered head, hastened
from protest to concerted resistance,
put popular convections Into the place
of lawful legislative assemblies, and
advanced at length to a continental
organization, they deemed it high time
v- ;.stir themselves, vindicate their
loyalty to his majesty's government
and avert a revolution.
Opposed to Rash Measures.
They were not men to be trifled
with. Had they been able to unit;
upon active measures, had thev ad
vanced from defence to aggressive ac
tion, they might have rendered" hem
selves formidable beyond possibility
of defeat. -
Everywhere men of substance and
of influence were to be found, by the
score who were opposed to a revolu
tionary agitation, such as this that
now seemed to be gathering head.
Even in Massachusetts men who bore
the best and oldest names of the com
monwealth were of this number; in
New York and Pennsylvania, at tfc
very heart of the continent, they
could, it was believed, b'oast a ma
jority, as well as . to the far south
ward, in the low country of South
Carolina and Georgia. -
Without Hurt to the Empire.
No one, they declared, but designing
politicians and men without prop
erty, those who had much to gain and
nothing to lese by the upsetting of
law and ordered government wished
to see this contest with the ministry .
pushed to extremes.
They wished no less than others to
see the colonies keep their lawful and
chartered liberties, but the thing man
be accomplished soberly, and without
loss of things equally dear of honor,
and the maintenance of an unbroken
English empire.
The nice balance of the parties was
disclosed In the" congress itself.
The Pennsylvania- delegation was
led by Joseph Galloway, a man in tho
prime of life, full of force and learn
ing, who had been speaker of the
provincial house these eight years by
the almost unanimous choice of h's
colleagues, and who now stood forth
to utter the real voice of his colony
In proposing measures of accommoda
tion. v
The Speaker's Proposition.
He proposed that the home govern
ment be asked to sanction the estab
lishment of a confederate parliament
for America,-composed of delegates to
be chosen - every third year by the
legislatures of the several colonies,
and acting under a governor-general
to be appointed by the crown.
Edward Rutl'edge. of South Caro
lina, hot orator for liberty though he
was," declared In an "almost perfect
plan," and was eager to see It adopt
ed; influential members from almost
every quarter gave it their hearty
support, Mr. John Jay, of New York,
among the rest; and it was defeated
only by the narrow majority of a sin
gle colony's vote."
Chatham's Opinion of Congress.
Chatham might very justly com
mend the congress of 1774 , as" con
spicuous among deliberative bodies for
its "decency, (firmness and wisdom,"
its "solidity of reasoning, force 'of
sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion,
under such a complication of circum
stances was. Buch as even he did not
fully comprehend.'
For seven weeks of almost contin
uous session did it hammer its stiJ
business into shape, never wearying
of deliberation or debate, till It could
put forth papers to the world an ad
dress to the king, memorials to the
people of Great Britain and , to the
people of British America, their fellow-subjects,
- and a solemn declara
tion of rights which "should mark it
no revolutionary body, bua congress
of just and thoughtful Englishmen, in
love, not with license or rebellion, but
with right and wholesome liberty. '
A Single Aggressive Act
Their only act of aggression was
the formation of an "American assc"
ciation" . pledged against trade with
Great Britain till the legislation' of
which they complained should be re
pealed. y Their only Intimation of in
tention for the future was. a resolu
tion to meet again the next spring.
rhould their prayers not meanwhile be
heeded. '. .
Washington turned homeward from
the. congress with thoughts and pur-
poses every way deepened and. ma
tured, '
it had been a mere seven weekn"
conference; no one had deemed the
congress a government or had spoken '
of any object save peace and accom
modation; but no one could foresee
the issue of what had been done.
A Vision of United America.
A spirit had run through those de-'
liberations which gave thoughtful men.
as they pondered it & new idea of the
colonies. , It needed no prophet to dis
cern beyond "all this sober and anx
ious business a vision of America
united, armed, belligerent 'for her
rights.
There was no telling what form of
scornful rejection awaited that declar
ation of rights or the grave pleading
of that urgent memorial to the crown.
It behooved every man to hold him
self In readiness for the worst; and.
Washington saw as clearly as any man
at how nice a hazard things stood.
' , (TO BE CONTINUED.)
oo
Picnic Fight
The glorious fourth was cele
brated ..at Mallory Springs in
ancient style. Several hundred
shots were ' fired m a general
drunken spree and Jlenry Lamb
lies dying, pierced by a 45 bullet
in the region of the heart He
was shot by (pistol) Joe Powell.
Dr. Botkih, of Berea, was sum
moned but little hope is entertain
ed of his recovery.
Old time fiddling and dancing
was in progress in the pavilion at
Merchant Gets Protection
IS this the Spencer National Bank? This
is Goodwin & Company, of Springfield,
Mr. Goodwin talking. A stranger has
just offered a check on your bank for $30
in payment for some goods. Says his name
is John Doe. Has he an account and is he
good for that amount?."
By telephoning to the bank, the mer
chant can always protect himself from loss
by worthless checks.
CUMBERLAND TELEPHONE
& TELEGRAPH COMPANY
INCORPORATED
Wheat Wanted!
I am going to buy Wheat again this season and
will appreciate it if my old friends will call to see
me before they sell. Will have sacks to furnish on
short notice. Respectfully,
WE HANDLE
Field and Garden Seeds
Chicken Feeds and Grits
STAPLE AND FANCY GROCERIES
D.
Two Phones 35 and 42
iiYt ft IV II F! II
nam :
Furniture and
Undertaking
DAY PHONE 76
Malory, but this was entirely too
tame for a youngster named Mc
Nally who sought to liven 'em up
a little with some gun music
Pulling his trusty, he proceeded to
stir 'em up by shooting close, to
the "light fantastic toes." The
crowd scattered "pell mell, helter
skelter" and- took to the hills and
woods. Young Lamb, who fled
to the top of a nearby hill, pulled
his 45 and was pointing it at the
crowd below. This was too
much for quiet Pistol Joe, who,
in order to stop any further ex
hibition of levity, "seed his duty
and done it" by piercing the
hilarious Lamb with a 45 ball.
Thus ended the Mallory
Springs 4th of July Ball.
OO '
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ii
ALL KINDS OF
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itflcKINWEY
WEST MAIN ST.
C II 11 .
a Ldicio
W.S.O.' R.O.L. HI
NIGHT 136 229 !i
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