The house in Fredericksburg which was occupied after 1775 by Mrs. Washington, is now the property of the Association for the Preservation of Virginian Antiquities.

LVI

GREENWAY AND SHERWOOD FOREST,
VIRGINIA

TWO OF THE HOMES OF JOHN TYLER

A little girl was responsible for the fact that John Tyler, who became the tenth president of the United States, was born, not at Marlie, but at Greenway. Marlie was the name chosen by Judge John Tyler for his James River estate, but his young daughter, Anne Contesse, as soon as she began to talk, insisted on calling it "Greenway," "because the grass grows so green there."

The fact that Anne's name displaced that chosen by her father is an indication of his great love for children. Greenway was "a bird's nest full of young," but at various times he added to his own flock one or another of twenty-one children, of whom he was made guardian, all of whom he guided through childhood to earnest manhood and womanhood.

These children must have enjoyed roaming about the estate, for, according to Judge Tyler's description, it was a delightful place. He said of it:

"Greenway contains five hundred acres, well improved. On it is a genteel, well-furnished dwelling-house, containing six rooms, all wainscoted, chair-board high, with fine dry cellars the full length of the house, which is 56 feet; also every other building which a reasonable person could wish or desire, to wit: a handsome study, storehouse, kitchen, laundry, dairy, meat-house, spring-house, and an ice-house within the curtelage; a barn 40 by 34 feet, two granaries, two carriage houses, 20 stalls for horses, a quarter for house servants; a handsome pigeon-house, well stocked; and several other houses for slaves; a well of water (so excellent that I can drink with delight after returning from a mountain circuit), a large, fertile garden, abounding with a great variety of shrubs, herbs, and beautiful flowers, well enclosed. The buildings new and well covered with shingles."

On this attractive estate John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790. He was a slender, delicate-looking lad, but he was not afraid to stand up for himself when he felt he was being abused. His first schoolmaster, a Mr. McMurdo, who taught across the road from Greenway, thought that it was impossible to teach well unless the rod was in daily use. "It was a wonder that he did not whip all the sense out of his scholars," John said once, years later. But one day the boys rebelled. "John and some of the larger boys tripped him up, and began to tie his hands and feet," the Tyler family biographer tells the story. "McMurdo scuffled bravely, but upon little William Tyler, the smallest boy in school, throwing himself upon him, he exclaimed, in imitation of the great Roman, 'Et tu, Brute!' and ceased to resist. The boys firmly secured him, locked him up in the schoolhouse, and left with cheers of triumph and derision."

Hours later the schoolmaster was released by a passing traveller, who heard his cries. At once the enraged man hastened to Judge Tyler and told his story. "But the Judge, born and bred in the Revolutionary school, hated tyranny in any shape, and as he drew himself up to his full stature, he ... replied, in the language of Virginia's motto, 'Sic Semper Tyrannis.'"

At the age of twelve John entered the grammar school of William and Mary College at Williamsburg. There he had a good time, and he made a creditable showing in his classes. Yet that he did not advance in at least one study is evident from a letter written by his father in 1807. He said:

"I can't help telling you how much I am mortified to find no improvement in your handwriting; neither do you construct your lines straight, which makes your letters look too abominable. It is an easy thing to correct this fault, and unless you do so, how can you be fit for law business?"

Some years later, when Judge Tyler was Governor of Virginia, he announced impressively to John that Thomas Jefferson would be among the dinner guests on a certain day. "Be sure you have a good dinner," the Governor added; for John was at the time in charge of the establishment. The future President asked himself, "What is the best thing for dinner?" "Plum pudding!" was the answer.

The appointed time came. The company was seated at table. The first course was served. Then came a long wait.

"Suddenly a door flew open, and a negro servant appeared, bearing, with both hands raised high above his head, a smoking dish of plum pudding. Making a grand flourish, the servant deposited it before Governor Tyler. Scarcely had he withdrawn before another door flew open, and an attendant, dressed exactly like the first, was seen bringing another plum pudding, equally hot, which at a grave nod from John, he placed before Mr. Jefferson. The Governor, who expected a little more variety, turned to his son, who sat surveying the puddings with tender interest, and exclaimed, in accents of astonishment, 'Two plum puddings, John, two plum puddings! Why, this is rather extraordinary!' 'Yes, sir,' said the enterprising major domo, 'it is extraordinary; but' (and here he rose and bowed deferentially to Mr. Jefferson) 'it is an extraordinary occasion.'"

In 1813, John Tyler married Letitia Christian. They did not make their home at Greenway, however. On the death of Judge Tyler the old house was sold, but it became the property of John Tyler in 1821. There he retired for the season of rest which he sorely needed after his strenuous years as a member of the House of Delegates, and Representative in Congress. During the intervals of his service as Governor and United States Senator he resided at the old home, but in 1829 he sold the property, and removed to Gloucester County, to an estate which he took for debt. Eighteen years later, at the close of his presidential term, he returned, with his bride, the second Mrs. Tyler, to the county where he was born, having bought an estate of twelve hundred acres, three miles from Greenway, on the north side of the James, opposite Brandon. He tore down the old house on the estate, and built a house on the same plan, which, with its connected out-buildings, was more than two hundred feet long. He called his place "Sherwood Forest," with grim humor; for was he not an outlaw, in the opinion of the Whigs, just as really as was Robin Hood?

Not long after the beginning of life at Sherwood Forest he was appointed overseer of the road on which his estate was located. Some claimed that this appointment was secured by the Whigs to humiliate him. But he refused to be humiliated. Instead he determined to be a good overseer and make the road the best in the State. All the men in the township were called, and they were kept at work day after day, as, according to law, he had a right to keep them. But it was harvest time, and the wheat was dead ripe. "The smiles that lately illuminated the countenances of the Whigs turned to dismay. The august justice who had made the appointment repaired to Mr. Tyler's house, and represented to him the state of things. Mr. Tyler replied that the law made it his duty to put the road in good order, and to keep it so. The Whigs expostulated. Mr. Tyler was firm. Then the justice begged him to resign, and let the hands go home. The ex-President said, 'Offices are hard to obtain in these times, and having no assurance that I can ever get another, I cannot think, under the circumstances, of resigning.'"

One of the statesman's valued companions during these early years at Sherwood Forest was "General," the old horse which he had owned for many years. At length the horse died, and was buried in the grave at Sherwood Forest. On a wooden slab at the head of the grave the owner wrote:

"Here lieth the bones of my old horse, General, who served his master faithfully for twenty-seven years, and never blundered but once—would that his master could say the same!"

The last years of John Tyler's life witnessed the return of his popularity. Enemies became friends, and all rejoiced to do him honor. He was called to a number of honorable posts, and he was about to take his seat as a member of the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress when he died, in Richmond, on January 18, 1862.

A momentous announcement appeared in the Williamsburg, Virginia, Gazette on March 16, 1769:

"The Common Hall having this day determined to build a commodious brick court-house in this city and having appointed us to agree with and undertake to build the same, we do hereby give notice that we shall meet at Mr. Hay's (the Raleigh Tavern) on Tuesday, the 4th of April, to let the building thereof; we are also appointed to dispose of the present court-house, and the ground on which the same stands. James Cock, John Carter, James Carter, John Tazewell."

The building displaced by the new structure was erected in 1716 by William Levington, and was given to the city in 1745 by "the Gentlemen subscribers for the Play House."

The stone steps on the new building, which are still in use, were brought from England in 1772. A copy of the letter in which William Wilson acknowledged their receipt is in a letter book preserved in the library of the Episcopal Seminary, near Alexandria.

During the Revolution, the patriots were called together, from time to time, by the bell in the picturesque tower. It was fitting, then, that when American independence was celebrated at Williamsburg, on May 1, 1783, the Courthouse was made the rallying place for the people. On receipt of official notice from Governor Benjamin Harrison that the treaty of peace had been signed, the mayor of Williamsburg prepared an "Order of the Procession on the Great Day," which closed with the following direction:

A frequent visitor to the Williamsburg Courthouse was the brilliant lawyer Patrick Henry, whose reputation as an orator was made long before he delivered his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech at St. John's Church, Richmond.

Some years before the Williamsburg Courthouse was erected, this orator made his first public speech, at Hanover Courthouse, a building that dates from 1735, in the celebrated suit of the clergy demanding the payment of their stipends in tobacco, according to law. In consequence of a short crop the price had increased, and they insisted that it was their right to have the advantage of the increase. Their case had been tried once and won. The attorney of the people thereupon withdrew, and Henry was engaged to appear for them in court.

When the case was called, Rev. Patrick Henry was present, to the regret of his nephew. The lawyer sought his uncle and said that he feared he would be too much overawed by his presence to do his duty to his clients, and added that he would be compelled to say some "very hard things of the clergy." The minister thereupon entered his carriage, and drove away.

William Wirt describes the scene at the opening of the case:

The case was won. As soon as the verdict was announced the people seized the orator at the bar and bore him out of the courthouse. Then, raising him on their shoulders, they carried him about the yard.

The written records of Henrico parish begin with 1730. At that time the principal church of the parish was on Curle's plantation, on the north side of the James, some miles below the present city of Richmond. Curle's church disappeared during the Civil War. The bowl of the baptismal font in St. John's Church, Richmond, is a relic of the old church. This was removed from the cellar of a house where it had been in use for beating hominy.

Steps were taken in 1737 to build the present St. John's Church, because of the increase of population in Richmond. The first action was recorded as follows:

At a later meeting the location and the dimensions of the church were changed. Richmond was decided on, and it was stated that "Richard Randolph Gent undertakes the Said Building and engages to finish the Same by the Tenth day of June, which Shall be in the year of our Lord 1741; for which the Vestry agrees to pay him the Sum of £317 10s. Current Money to be paid by the amount of the Sale of Twenty thousand pounds of Tob'o Annually to be Levyd on the parish and Sold here for Money till the whole payment be compleat."

There is no record of the completion of the building, but probably it was finished at the appointed time. Since that date various additions have been made, yet it is possible to trace the lines of the original structure. The original pews are still in use, though they have been lowered. The hinges of the pew doors are handwrought. The wainscoting and the window sashes are those first put in. The original weather-boarding is still in place. It is fastened by nails whose heads are half an inch broad.

For the new church there were imported from England:

An entry in the vestry book on December 17, 1773, shows that the rector, Mr. Selden, received as salary 17,150 pounds of tobacco, worth £125. The clerk of the parish received 1,789 pounds of tobacco, or £13 10s., the sexton had 536 pounds, or £3.10s.7d.

Selden was chaplain of the Virginia Convention which met in the church March 20, 1775. At the closing session of this convention Patrick Henry "flashed the electric spark, which exploded the country in revolution," as Burton says in his history of Henrico Parish. This was the speech that closed:

Dr. Burton says that the orator "stood, according to tradition, near the present corner of the east transept and the nave, or more exactly, in pew 47, in the east aisle of the nave.... He faced the eastern wall of the transept, where were the two windows. In the more northern of these stood Colonel Edward Carrington. He broke the silence that followed the orator's burning words with the exclamation, 'Right here I wish to be buried!'"

When the British took possession of Richmond in 1781, St. John's Church became a barracks for Arnold's men. And some of them stood on the spot where Patrick Henry spoke the words that had such large part in stirring up the people to drive all British soldiers from the Colonies.

After the close of the war the diocese of Virginia was reorganized in the building, and plans were laid to overcome the difficulties that would soon come through the loss of the property of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which led Edmund Randolph, later Governor of Virginia and Secretary of State in Washington's Cabinet, to speak the famous words:

That the affections of the people are a better dependence than rich endowments in money has been shown by the later history of the church, the parish, and the diocese.

LIX

THE NELSON HOUSE AND THE MOORE HOUSE,
YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA

MADE MEMORABLE BY THE BATTLE OF YORKTOWN AND THE
SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS

One day in 1740 a baby a little more than one year old, whose name was Thomas Nelson, stood by the side of his father, William Nelson, as the father was about to lay the foundation of his new home in York, Virginia. The babe had been stationed there that the brick for the corner might be placed in the little hands; then it could be said in later years that the babe had helped in the exercises of the day. The little fellow became a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, a General in the Revolutionary War, and Governor of Virginia.

William Nelson was a merchant, who had invested his savings in land and had become quite wealthy. When his son was fourteen years old he was able to send him to Cambridge, England, to be educated. Nine years later the young man married Lucy Grymes of Brandon, and took up his residence in the house whose foundation he had helped to lay.

For many years the home of the young people was noted for the hospitality shown there. Whenever the owner could leave his guests, he rode to his plantation near town. He kept a pack of hounds, which were frequently employed in fox hunting.

When discontent against England became pronounced, he was a leader of the patriots. He was a member of the House of Burgesses of 1774 which was dissolved by Lord Dunmore because of the passage of a resolution against the Boston Port Bill, and he was one of the eighty-nine men who met next day at a tavern and took action that led to the first Continental Congress.

On July 17, when the Convention of Virginia delegates gathered in Richmond decided to raise three regiments for home defence, Patrick Henry was named as commander of the first while Nelson was put in charge of the second.

He was among the patriots who sat in the Continental Congress of 1775, 1776, and 1777, and his name was signed to the Declaration of Independence. On August 16, 1777, he retired from public service because of failing health, but when, a little later, the Governor of Virginia, fearing the approach of the British fleet, asked him to serve as brigadier general and commander-in-chief of the forces of the State, he agreed, on condition that he be excused from accepting payment for his services.

During the siege of Yorktown he was at the head of the militia. The sketch of his life as given by Sanderson in the "Biography of the Signers," says: "During the siege, observing his own house uninjured by the artillery of the American batteries he inquired the cause. A respect for his property, was assigned. Nelson ... requested that the artillerists would not spare his house more than any other, especially as he knew it to be occupied by the principal officers of the British Army. Two pieces were accordingly pointed against it. The first shot went through the house and killed two ... officers.... Other balls soon dislodged the hostile tenants." It is said that Nelson gave ten guineas reward to the man who fired the first shot.

Again Thomas Nelson responded to the call of his State when in June, 1781, he became Governor, succeeding Thomas Jefferson. Four months after the beginning of his term as chief executive of the State, George Washington, in general orders, said:

Nelson's term as Governor was shortened by ill health. In November, 1781, he was compelled to resign.

But he was not permitted to rest. Attacks were made on him for certain courses taken during his term as Governor. When he asked and was given permission to defend himself before the State delegates, he was triumphantly acquitted of all blame. On December 31, 1781, this action was recorded:

Nelson lived more than seven years after this act approving his emergency actions. But three years were spent in comparative poverty. Most of his property was sold to satisfy the debts incurred by paying two regiments out of his own pocket, and by going security, with the State, for two million dollars needed to carry on the war. Sanderson says of these acts of generosity:

On the simple gravestone in Yorktown, erected to the memory of the patriot, is this eloquent inscription:

Thomas Nelson,
Governor of Virginia.
He Gave All for Liberty.

Not far from the grave is another historic house that should be named with the Nelson house. This is the Moore house, on Temple farm, then less than a mile from Yorktown. In this house, which was built in 1713, the terms of the surrender of Cornwallis were drawn up. It was once the summer home of the colonial governor, Alexander Spottswood.

LX

THE JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE, RICHMOND,
VIRGINIA

WHERE THE CHIEF JUSTICE CARED FOR HIS WIFE AND
ENTERTAINED HIS FRIENDS

An old book, "Richmond in By Gone Days," says that John Marshall was noted in Richmond for his unpretending manner. "His dress was plain even to negligence. He marketed for himself and might be seen at an early hour returning home with a pair of fowls, or a basket of eggs in his hand, not with ostentatious humility, but for mere convenience."

It is related by Flanders that Marshall "was one morning strolling through the streets of Richmond, attired in a plain linen roundabout and shorts, with his hat under his arm, from which he was eating cherries, when he stopped in the porch of the Eagle Hotel, indulged in some little pleasantry with the landlord, and then passed on." Just then a man from the country, who wished a lawyer to appear for him in court, was referred by the landlord to Marshall, as the best advocate he could have, but the countryman declined to have anything to do with the careless young man. In court he asked the clerk for a lawyer, and was once more recommended to take John Marshall. Again he refused. Just then a dignified old man in powdered wig and black coat entered. He was at once engaged, on his appearance. After a time the inferiority of the black-coated lawyer was so apparent that the countryman sought Marshall, told him of the mistake he had made, said that he had left but five dollars of the one hundred dollars he had set aside for lawyers' fees, and asked Marshall if he would assist on the case. The lawyer laughingly agreed.

In 1781, when Marshall was twenty-five years old, he walked from Virginia to Philadelphia, to be inoculated for smallpox. "He walked at the rate of thirty-five miles a day. On his arrival, such was his shabby appearance, that he was refused admission into one of the hotels; his long beard, and worn-out garments, probably suggesting the idea that his purse was not adequate to his entertainment. And this in the city which had seen much of the young man's heroic services during the Revolution!"

Before the close of the war, while visiting his father, Colonel Marshall, who was the commanding officer at Yorktown, Virginia, he met Mary Willis Ambler, a daughter of Jacqueline Ambler, the treasurer of Virginia. "She was just fourteen years of age at the time, and it is stated to have been a case of love at first sight." Even when Marshall called to see her he was not prepossessing in appearance, yet he was well received, "notwithstanding his slouched hat, and negligent and awkward dress," for his amiable manners, fine talents, and especially his love for poetry, which he read to them with deep pathos, led them to forget his dress.

The young people were married on January 3, 1783. After paying the fee of the minister, the groom's sole remaining fortune was a guinea!

Mrs. Marshall was for many years a nervous invalid. Bishop Meade says, "The least noise was sometimes agony to her whole frame, and his perpetual endeavor was to keep the house and yard and out-houses from the slightest cause of distressing her; walking himself at times about the house and yard without shoes." The attitude of the people of Richmond to the husband and wife is shown by the fact that "on one occasion, when she was in her most distressing state, the town authorities manifested their great respect for him and sympathy for her, by having either the town clock or town bell muffled."

On his marriage John Marshall took his wife to one of the best houses then available in the village of Richmond, a two-room frame building. In 1789 he bought two acres of ground on Shockoe Hill, and here, in 1793, he built a nine-room brick house. One of the rooms was a large apartment, in which he gave his famous "lawyer dinners."

When Marshall was not in Washington, he lived in this comfortable house, which was near the home of his father-in-law. He had also a farm a few miles from Richmond. Bishop Meade says that one morning, between daybreak and sunrise, he met Marshall on horseback. He had a bag of clover seed lying before him, which he was carrying to his farm.

An English traveller who spent a week in Richmond in 1835 gave his impression of the Richmond home:

Chief Justice Marshall frequently attended the Monumental Church. The narrow pews troubled him, for he was quite tall. "Not finding room enough for his whole body within the pew, he used to take his seat nearest the door of his pew, and, throwing it open, let his legs stretch a little into the aisle."

The death of his wife was a great grief to him. "Never can I cease to feel the loss and to deplore it," he wrote on December 25, 1832, the anniversary of her death. "Grief for her is too sacred ever to be profaned on this day, which shall be, during my existence, marked by a recollection of her virtues."

He survived Mrs. Marshall less than five years. In June, 1835, he went to Dr. Physic in Philadelphia, seeking relief for a disability that had been aggravated by the road accident of which the English visitor wrote, as already quoted. There he died, July 6, 1835. On July 4 he wrote the inscription which he wished placed above his grave:

The Marshall house is now in possession of the Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, having been purchased a few years ago from the Misses Harvie, the granddaughters of Chief Justice Marshall. They had lived in the house until they sold it to the city of Richmond.

Until his death in 1778 he was a recognized leader in both Church and State. Robert A. Lancaster quotes an unnamed writer who says that he was "a high-minded public servant and a finished scholar, indulging a taste for science and a love for letters," and was considered "one of the most notable of the pre-Revolutionary statesmen of the Colony," and was "looked up to by the younger generation as a Nestor among his compatriots." He was a friend of Washington, and received many letters from him, some of which have been preserved.

Landon Carter's second wife was Maria Byrd, of Westover. Her portrait, as well as those of the other two wives, the husband and "King" Carter, are hanging to-day on the walls of Sabine Hall. The estate of four thousand acres descended to his son by his third marriage with Elizabeth Beale, Robert Wormeley Carter, who was a member of the Virginia Assembly. The property is still in the possession of the descendants of the original owner.

Westover, where Landon Carter courted Maria Byrd, is on the James in Charles City County, not far south of Sabine Hall. The mansion was built in the same year as Sabine Hall, 1730, by William Byrd, II, whose father came from England about 1674.

William Byrd, of Westover, was famous as a literary man and as a statesman. At one time he was President of His Majesty's Council. But perhaps his greatest fame came to him because he was the father of Evelyn Byrd, who was a reigning belle. When, at the age of eighteen, she was presented at Court, it was reported that the king of England complimented her by saying he was glad Virginia could produce such "beautiful Byrds."

Evelyn's brother, William Byrd, III, was the heir of the estate. He married Elizabeth Hill Carter, of Shirley, a neighboring estate. He was a member of the Virginia Council and attained distinction by his service as a colonel in the French and Indian War.

During the siege of Yorktown some of the French officers made frequent visits to Westover. One of them, Marquis de Chastellux, said that this was the most beautiful place in America.

Two armies have halted at Westover. In April, 1781, Cornwallis passed that way, and, during the Civil War McClellan's army camped on the grounds. A war-time picture shows something of the havoc wrought by the soldiers.

When Elizabeth Hill Carter, of Shirley, came to Westover, she gave up one beautiful home for another. Her father's Charles City County mansion was probably built late in the seventeenth century, though the exact date is not known. One of the estate's claims to distinction is that it has never been offered for sale. Colonel Edward Hill, the builder, Colonel Edward Hill, II, his son, and Colonel Edward Hill, III, his grandson, were leaders in the life of the county. At the death of Colonel Hill, III, his sister, Elizabeth Hill, became heir to the estate. She married John Carter, of Corotoman, son of Robert ("King") Carter, who was Secretary of the Colony. It was his daughter who married William Byrd, III, of Westover. Her brother, Charles Carter, who was a patriot of prominence, was the father-in-law of Light Horse Harry Lee, and the grandfather of General Robert E. Lee.

Carter's Grove, another seat of the Carter family, is also on the James, in Charles City County, not far from Shirley. The builder was Carter Burwell, and the house dates from 1751. The work was done by slaves, under the direction of a foreman who received £140 for his work. In the construction of the house 25,000 feet of lumber, 40,000 shingles, 15,000 laths, and 460,000 bricks were used. The total cost was only £500.

Carter Burwell was the son of Elizabeth, daughter of Robert ("King") Carter, who married Colonel Nathaniel Burwell.

Across the James, in Prince George County, is Brandon, whose builder was Nathaniel Harrison. The house dates from early in the eighteenth century. His son, also Nathaniel Harrison, married, as his second wife, Lucy the daughter of Robert ("King") Carter of Corotoman. Benjamin Harrison, the son by the first wife, Mary Digges, married Evelyn Taylor Byrd, of Westover. When she went to Brandon she took with her the Byrd portraits, which are to-day one of the attractions of the mansion.

Brandon has always been in the possession of descendants of the original owner.

George Washington and George Mason were not only near neighbors, but they were warm friends. Frequently Washington drove to Gunston Hall for a talk with Mason; or sometimes he floated down the stream in his four-oared gig, manned by his own slaves. Sometimes the men roamed together through the woods or the fields; on one of these walks they sought to define the boundaries between their estates.

Gifts of various kinds passed back and forth between the two manors; one day in 1785, when Mason was driven from Mt. Vernon in Washington's carriage, he sent back by the driver some young shoots of the Persian jessamine and Guelder rose.

A few days later a hogshead of cider was broached at Gunston Hall, and a liberal sample was sent to Washington. A note dated "9th November, 1785," addressed to Washington, begins, "The bearer waits on you with a side of venison (the first we have killed this season), which I beg your acceptance of."

At one time both Washington and Mason were members of the vestry of Truro parish. Washington's list of the vestrymen shows that his friend was elected by two hundred and eighty-two votes, while he himself received but fifty-one votes.

Mason was as often at Mt. Vernon as Washington was at Gunston Hall. After a visit made on Christmas Day, 1783, one of the other guests, Miss Lewis, of Fredericksburg, wrote:

To the home of George Mason other men of note delighted to come. In the guest room Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, as well as Washington, slept more than once. Patrick Henry, too, was a welcome visitor at Gunston Hall. George Mason had as high an opinion of the orator as Patrick Henry had of the statesman. "He is by far the most powerful speaker I ever heard," Mason once said of Henry; "every word he says not only engages but commands the attention; and your passions are no longer your own when he addresses them. But his eloquence is the smallest part of his merit. He is in my opinion the first man upon this continent, as well in abilities as public virtues, and had he lived in Rome about the time of the first Punic War, when the Roman people had arrived at their meridian glory and their virtue not tarnished, Mr. Henry's talents must have put him at the head of that glorious commonwealth."

The orator returned the compliment by calling Mason one of the two greatest statesmen he ever knew.

George Mason's statesmanlike vision was seen in 1766, when he warned the British public of the results that would follow coercion. "Three millions of people driven to desperation are not an object of contempt," he wrote. Again he proved a good prophet when he wrote to George Washington, on April 2, 1776, after the General took possession of Boston: