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FRONTISPIECE

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON

A VIRGINIAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL:
HIS LIFE, TIMES AND CONTEMPORARIES

(1787-1858)

By
ARMISTEAD C. GORDON
Author of "Robin Aroon," "The Ivory Gate," etc.

New York and Washington
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1909

Copyright, 1909, by
The Neale Publishing Company

"Let the banks facilitate the exchanges of commerce and further
the interests of trade; but let them, I pray you, have nothing to do
with the Government." — Gordon's Speech on proposing the Inde
pendent Treasury in 183s.

To
MASON GORDON,
himself "a Virginian of the Old School,"
THIS Biography of his Father is inscribed
with gratitude and affection.

CONTENTS
Introduction,  13
Chapter I,  18
Ancestry,
Chapter II,  34
Parents,
Chapter III,  48
Early Life.
Chapter IV,  64
"The Red Hills of Piedmont,"
Chapter V,  76
In the War of 18 12.
Chapter VI,  89
In the General Assembly — The University
of Virginia,
Chapter VII,  107
In the General Assembly — Some of Its
Members — The Office of Governor,
Chapter VIII,  122
In the General Assembly — Politics and
Politicians^ — W^illiam B. Giles,
Chapter IX,  140
In the General Assembly — Lafayette's
Visit — Jefferson's Lottery.
Chapter X,  152
In the Constitutional Convention of
Twenty-Nine-Thirty — The Distinction
of Its Membership,
Chapter XI,  170
In the Constitutional Convention of
Twenty-nine-Thirty — Advocacy of the
White Basis — Randolph of Roanoke,

IG WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Chapter XII,  182
Elected to Congress — Personnel of the Vir
ginia Members — The Whig Party — The
Jefferson Birthday Dinner.
Chapter XIII,  197
In Congress — The Nullifiers — Nullifica
tion and Secession,
Chapter XIV,  209
In Congress — The Bank Controversy —
The Removal of the Deposits — The Vir
ginia Resolutions,
Chapter XV,  226
In Congress — Originates the Independent
Treasury.
Chapter XVI,  241
Gordon's Speech in 1835 on Again Propos
ing the Independent Treasury.
Chapter XVII,  257
The Independent Treasury,
Chapter XVIII,  266
Contemporaries in Congress — 1 829-1 835.
Chapter XIX,  281
Speeches and Debates in Congress — The
Judiciary Act — The Bill to Remove
Washington's Body — Address to Con
stituents — Tyler's Letter.
Chapter XX,  297
Defeated for Congress — Calhoun's Letter
on Jackson's Dictation of a Successor — ¦
Barnwell on the Whigs — Tyler and the
Expunging Resolution.
Chapter XXI,  309
Slavery on its Domestic Side — Nat's Insur
rection — The Tragedy at Germanna,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON ii
Chapter XXII,  319
The Slavery Petitions — Slavery and Seces
sion — The Compromise of 1850,
Chapter XXIII,  333
The Nashville Convention of 1850 — The
Cradle of the Southern Confederacy,
Chapter XXIV,  348
Manners and Customs of Congressmen —
Houston's Assault on Stanbery — The
Newspapers,
Chapter XXV,  363
Returns to the Bar — On the Circuit — The
Albemarle Lawyers — Letters on the In
fluences of Slavery,
Chapter XXVI,  373
Letters to His Wife — Anecdotes — Death.
Chapter XXVII,  386
Conclusion.
Bibliography,  395

INTRODUCTION
In his "Life of James Monroe," In the "Ameri
can Statesmen" series of biographies. Dr. Daniel C,
Gilman, in allusion to the unwritten story of many
"illustrious Virginians whose memory it is well to
revive," quotes St. George Tucker's letter to William
Wirt, in which he says "in a half-playful, half-earnest
tone, that Socrates himself would pass unnoticed
and forgotten in Virginia, if he were not a public
character, and some of his speeches preserved in a
newspaper." "Who knows anything," queries Tucker, "of
Peyton Randolph, one of the most popular men in
Virginia? Who remembers Thompson Mason, es
teemed the foremost lawyer at the bar ; or his brother
George Mason, of whom I have heard Mr, Madi
son say that he possessed the greatest talents for
debate of any man he had ever heard speak? What
is known of Dabney Carr, but that he made the mo
tion for appointing committees of correspondence in
1773? Virginia has produced few men of finer
talents, as I have repeatedly heard. I might name a
number of others, highly respected and influential
men — yet how little is known of one half of them
at the present day?"
Even those who were public characters, and had
their speeches preserved in newspapers, have not all
escaped the corroding tooth of time; and there are
many men named in this volume, of whom no biog
raphy has yet been written, who were well worthy
to adorn the annals of any period of any people,
A valid reason which may be alleged for this neg
lect is that for a long time, both in the Colony and
the Commonwealth, the ablest men in Virginia were
more interested in making history than in keeping
a record of it; and that consequently there was as

14 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
little consideration of preserving original sources as
of reducing them to literary form. And so it has
happened, with respect to the period of which this
biography treats, that the Jeffersonlan view of the
Federal Constitution, which flourished In Gordon's
time as one of its chief political Influences, has been
far less widely advertised or adequately presented in
written substance than has been that of the Hamll-
tonlan school; and the State-Rights construction has
for the later generations lost much cf Its prestige and
influence through Its failure to secure a more general
and permanent hearing from the public.
The Southern participants in political affairs who
succeeded the men of the Revolutionary epoch, and
whose careers extended over the first half of the
nineteenth century, were temporarily neglected or
forgotten in the stress of arms and In the ensuing
social cataclysm which accompanied the War between
the States In 1861-1865 ; and the events of that migh
ty struggle served too often to obscure even the most
significant occurrences which preceded and led up to
it. In the devastation and ruin of the South which
the war left In Its' wake, no small part of the material
out of which that earlier history might have been
fashioned, also perished; and It has only been In
recent years that the serious gathering together of
such material as was left from the wreck, and Its
painstaking reduction Into permanent form, have
had an inception and awakened an Interest among the
Southern people.
Of the subject of this volume, though belonging
to a later generation than any of the four men
named by Tucker In his letter to Wirt, comparatively
little is now generally remembered even In the State
in whose public affairs he filled for a while no In
considerable space, and where he was known as one
of the most eloquent popular orators of his day; while
even the writers who have undertaken to deal learn
edly with the great financial device of the national

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 15
Sub-Treasury, of which he was the originator, make
mention of him only In the most cursory manner.
Thousands of Virginians, for whom the story of Jef
ferson's great nursery of Intellectual achievement,
the University of Virginia, possesses an abiding in
terest, have little or no knowledge of the persistent
and Important part that was played by Gordon, In
the General Assembly of the Commonwealth, In ac
complishing Its final and practical creation, organi
zation, and location; while even less known to them
Is the story of his successful settlement, in the Con
stitutional Convention of 1 829-1 830, of the basis
of representation which had caused the convocation
of the convention, and whose adjustment by him
probably deferred for more than three decades the
political separation of what Is now West Virginia
from the mother State, And of the unnumbered
throng that daily passes the Sub-Treasury building in
Wall street, In the city of New York, where the statue
of Washington marks the spot on which Randolph of
Roanoke saw him take the oath to support the Fed
eral Constitution, and saw too, "the poison under its
wings," perhaps not one in a million knows that the
Sub-Treasury of the National Government emanated
from the brain of Gordon and was formulated by his
pen. He was a typical representative of the school of
political thought that had Its origins In the teachings
of Mr. Jefferson and Its apotheosis in the unsuccess
ful but none the less brilliant and logical statesman
ship of John C. Calhoun; and he was the trusted
personal and political friend and associate of each
of these great Americans, In his generation the pub
lic career occupied and Illustrated the ablest Intel
lects of the South, Letters and science and art and
the commercialism of money-making were all sub
ordinated to the study and practice of government;
and amid the social and political conditions which
prevailed statesmanship became a second nature to

1 6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the able, the patriotic and the ambitious Southerners
who pursued it.
Under the contemporary and early posthumous in
fluence of Mr, Jefferson, a large part of the political
life and thought of the first half of the nineteenth
century was permeated with his opinions and teach
ings; and Gordon, who had come early and Inti
mately within the sphere of that influence, continued
throughout his life a devout adherent of Jeffersonian
republicanism. A passionate devotion to Virginia as
the Commonwealth, under whose protecting aegis
liberty should always find her place of refuge and
home, was the motive of his political direction and
the guide of his public career; while only second to
this devotion to his State was his attachment to the
Union of confederated States according to his Inter
pretation of the Federal Constitution.
To his Intense loyalty to these Ideals he gave the
service of his energies and talents, with little of the
arnbitlon that Is most careful of self, and with the
spirit of patriotism set high above that of partisan
ship. He left his party in the high tide of its success
for what he regarded the good of his country; and
surrendered a career that stretched fair and far be
fore him for the sake of political principle.
The delineation of him that has been attempted
here has contemplated also some depiction of the
atmosphere in which he moved, and the environment
which surrounded him. It Is to be regretted that the
larger part of his correspondence was destroyed by
an accident in the time of the War between the
States, Except his letters to his wife, many of which
however, are fortunately more or less political In a
narrative and descriptive way, little of an epistolary
character, either written to him or from his hand
survives. Yet enough remains in the letters from
Mr, Jefferson, Mr, Calhoun, President Tyler and
others, here reproduced, and in most instances for
the first time published, to indicate a measure of the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 17
esteem In which he was held by many of the wise
and virtuous spirits of his age.
In the attempted picture of any public man's
career the background must necessarily hold more or
less of the contemporary movement of the period.
The account here sought to be given of Gordon's
times does not purport, however, to contain more
than some detail of the events with which he was
most closely associated, or which bulked so large as
to compel observance of them. His adult life, ex
tending as It did from Jefferson's second administra
tion to that of Buchanan, covered a space that was
crowded thick with historic happenings; and for a
narrative of even the fewest of these there Is but
little room here.
So, too, of the men of his day mention has only
been made of those of his own vicinage, or of his
personal and political acquaintance and fellowship.
If these shall seem unduly to throng the canvas, it
may be pleaded In extenuation that the masters of
history have set an example in illuminating their
pages with the portrayal of contemporary figures of
distinction; and that even In the limited space per
mitted to those here mentioned some memories
worthy of preservation may be revived which have
already grown faded, or become in degree forgotten ;
or some strong figure, well-known and yet remem
bered, may stand forth again In renewed, if brief,
distinctness.

CHAPTER I
Ancestry
From the time of the Cromwellian settlement of
Ireland, when "the baronies were assigned In Con
naught for the new settlements of the ancient no
bility, gentry and farmers of the Irish nation, cor
responding in character to their old habitations in the
three other provinces from whence they were trans
planted," down to the present day, Ulster, the north
ernmost and nearest to Scotland of these three prov
inces, has been essentially Scotch, Separated from
the Galloway county of Wigtonshire by a stretch of
water only thirty miles wide, for the distance is no
more than that by steamer to-day from Larne to Port-
patrick, Ulster afforded an inviting field of enter
prise to the venturous and canny Inhabitants of Cale
donia; who, as soon as they discovered room and
opportunity, poured into northern Ireland In a steady
stream of such numbers, that Scottish names are as
frequent now throughout the whole province as In
the country of their origin; while the cold religion
of Knox has thenceforward so continued to flourish
there as to cause those of a different faith elsewhere
in Ireland, where politics and religion go hand In
hand, to speak of the region as "Black Ulster," But
under the thrifty and self-contained influences of the
Scotchmen, prosperity has accompanied the Scotch
blood and the Scotch burr In their adopted home;
and no one of the Ulster counties has proven more
fertile, more thrifty and more fortunate than the
County Down, which is the most eastern county of
Ireland lying upon the Irish Sea, Its most considera
ble place is the ancient town of Newry, seated on the
Narrow Water, at the head of Carlingford Loch,
and almost surrounded by mountains and rocky hills,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 19
except to the north and northwest, where a prospect
opens Into a good country, through which the canal
Is carried that runs to Lough Neagh, famed In
Moore's song as holding beneath Its waters the
"Round Towers of other days," In 1689 the Duke
of Berwick burned the town of Newry to secure
his retreat to Dundalk from the English under
Schomberg. "It has been greatly Improved since the
settlement in 1691," says Its Ingenuous chronicler,
"and is now one of the largest and most commercial
towns in the country,"
In II 75 a Cistercian Abbey was founded at Newry
by Maurice McLaughlin, King of all Ireland, which
possessed extensive endowments and privileges, and
large areas of adjacent land. In 1543 the Abbey
was converted Into a collegiate church for secular
priests, and was finally dissolved by King Edward
VI of England, who granted It and Its possessions to
Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Marshal of Ireland, Sir
Nicholas made the Abbey his private residence, and
under his auspices Newry entered upon Its career of
growth and prosperity. The Bagenal family con
tinued to possess some portions at least of the Abbey
properties down to the period of the Revolution of
1688; for in the "Charter Abbatlae," of the old
Cistercians of St. Benedict, which was granted them
by the Irish King Maurice, we find Included, among
other lands and territories conferred upon the Abbey,
"the land of Enacratha," which Is now Carnmeen,
"with Its woods and waters," and "the land of LIs-
dorca," now LIsduff; and in 1692 the public records
show portions of the townlands of Carnmeen and
Lisduff, situated In the vicinity of the Sheepbridge,
about three miles north of the town of Newry, to
have been the property of Nicholas Bagenal, es
quire, namesake and descendant of the marshal.
On the 28th of November, 1692, James Gordon,
"of Sheepbridge in the Barony of Newry, gentle
man," as he Is described In the old conveyances, was

20 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
granted a lease held in fee farm of the half town-
land of Cloughenramer and the half town-land of
Derraboy by this Nicholas Bagenal, esquire; and on
the 2 2d of March, 1731, the lease, which was In
effect a fee simple tenure, subject to an annuity, was
confirmed to the three sons of James Gordon, with
the addition of the half town-land of Lisduff and the
quarter town-land of Carnmeen, including an almost
baronial tract, which comprised what was thence
forth known as the Sheepbridge estates. This prop
erty, which continued to remain In the possession of
the Gordon family, though with steady diminutions
from generation to generation, due to the hospitality,
the free-living and the sporting proclivities of Its
successive owners, until the mansion house and a
remnant of something more than one hundred acres
were left, was ?>old In 1902, the last male Gordon
owner of Sheepbridge having died as a youth of nine
teen years, in 1891,
A careful examination of all the documentary evi
dence, In the shape of public records and contem
poraneous writings that have proven accessible, tend
to show that the first James Gordon of Sheepbridge,
was a son of the Reverend James Gordon, of Com
ber, also a town in county Down, This reverend
gentleman was a Scotch chaplain In the regiment of
Lord Montgomery, a constituent part of Crom
well's Invading army, and seems to have been
under the especial patronage of Lady Montgomery,
v/ho was "the daughter of an Alexander of Aber
deenshire, Scotland, and a rigid Presbyterian," This
lady Is said to have been a personage of high social
importance and distinction In her day; and became,
after the Cromwellian invasion, the Viscountess
Mount Alexander. After her husband's death she
married the famous Scotch General, Robert Munro.
In the Commissary records of the town of Elgin,
in Morayshire, Scotland, we find that in 1649 this
"Mr, James Gordoune, minister at Comber, In Ire-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 21
land, sone lauchfull to umquhlle Alexander Gordoune
of Satterhill," executed a certain instrument of gift to
his brother, "Alexander Gordoune," and "umquhlle
Alexander," the father, Is indicated by the records
to have descended from one of the most ancient of
the Gordon families of the north of Scotland,
The grandsons of the first James Gordon of Vir
ginia, brought with them to the Colony, in 1738, the
crest of the Lesmoir Gordons, described in heraldic
phrase as "a hart's head proper," and their motto
"Bydand," engraven on some pieces of silver plate;
but neither for pedigree nor crest did their demo
cratic descendant, whose life is sought to be depicted
In these pages, care anything. He was a disciple
and friend of Thomas Jefferson, and growing up in
the aftermath of democratic revolutions, eschewed
the assumptions of aristocracy. He was satisfied
to think and to say that It "took three generations
to make a gentleman," and that he was assured of
his right to the title, and looked no further,
James Gordon the first, of Sheepbridge, In the
barony of Newry, whose will Is dated July 7, 1707,
married Jane Campbell, a merchant of Newry, by
his wife, Jane Wallace, of Ravarra, near Belfast,
of the ancient house of Wallace of Elderslle, It was
the custom of the Scotch in Ulster to intermarry
among themselves; and only in most exceptional in
stances do we find this custom violated by marriage
with the native Irish. This persistent tendency has
been the chief factor In preserving their racial in
tegrity in their local environment, Jane Wallace,
the mother of Gordon's wife, was a character of
celebrity in the history of the town of Newry. In
1689, when the town was burned by King James'
army, she fled with her younger children to the Isle of
Man, whose outlines, and those of the farther hills
of England, are visible on a clear day from the
Mourne mountains near Newry. As soon as King
William restored peace to Ulster, she returned and

2 2 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
re-established her family In their former home,
"having," as her family chronicler naively relates, "a
strength of mind superior to difficulties," Besides
her daughter Jane, who married James Gordon, she
had a number of children, whose families became
so important and influential in the vicinage that they
were locally known as "The Grand Alliance." Mrs.
Campbell lived to a green old age; and It Is further
chronicled concerning her that she "had great au
thority and commanded great respect," She sur
vived the death of her husband forty-three years, and,
surrounded by a great number of descendants, "saw
the fifth generation, a child brought from Scotland
to be presented to her with much filial respect,"
James Gordon the first, of Sheepbridge, and his
wife, Jane Campbell, had Issue three sons, James,
Robert and George. James inherited the Sheep
bridge estates, and married Sarah Greenway, the
daughter of a prominent merchant of Newry; and
of their marriage were born four sons and three
daughters. Two of these sons, the first and third,
who were James and John, emigrated to Virginia in
the early part of the eighteenth century, and were
respectively the maternal and paternal grandfathers
of William FItzhugh Gordon, his father having been
the son of John Gordon, and his mother the daughter
of the elder emigrant, James,
The second son, Samuel Gordon, under his father's
will, and by subsequent purchase from his brothers
In Virginia, became the owner of the larger portion
of the Sheepbridge lands, and of the mansion-house,
an imposing stuccoed edifice of three stories, sit
uated on a hill on the road leading northward to
Rathfriland, which was built by the first James. The
fourth brother, George, likewise came to Virginia,
where he resided for a brief period, and returned to
Ireland, Of his descendants are the present Gor
dons of Maryvale, near Newry, who are a prominent
family In the County Down,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 23
In the Sheepbridge descent were several men of
the name who took a conspicuous part In the Irish
Rebellion of 1798, and In what was known as the
"Volunteer Movement," preceding It, One of these
was John Gordon of Templegowran, eldest son of
Samuel of Sheepbridge, of whose rescue from prison
by his wife, after his arrest and transportation to
Belfast by the English soldiery, a romantic story
Is told in the local chronicles. This John of Tem
plegowran was of patriotic spirit, for we find him
again, though a zealous Presbyterian and church-
builder, espousing the movement In April, 18 12, In
favor of Catholic Emancipation,
Another of the family, who took part in the "Vol
unteer Movement," and the Rebellion of 1798, was
Captain William Gordon, of Sheepbridge, younger
brother of John, of Templegowran, who Is said by
Macnevin, In his "History of the Volunteer Move
ment of 1782 In Ireland," to have raised and
equipped at his own expense a company, known as
"The Sheepbridge Volunteers," for service In the
Rebellion, Colonel James Gordon, the eldest son of James
Gordon, the second, of Sheepbridge, and his wife,
Sarah Greenway, was born at Sheepbridge In 17 14,
Before 1738 he emigrated to Virginia and settled In
Lancaster county, on the north side of the Rappa
hannock River, In what Is known as the Northern
Neck, Here, at Merry Point, on the Corotoman
River he built his mansion-house, which is still stand
ing, and engaged in the exportation of tobacco from
Virginia to Whitehaven in England. He amassed
a fortune In the tobacco trade, and was a personage
of Importance and Influence In his county; and In
spite of his Presbyterianism, a member of the parish
vestry, which under the union of church and state,
constituted the local political governing body. He
is represented as a man of great personal piety by
Foote, In his "Sketches of Virginia," and It is certain

24 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
that he was one of the founders and chief supporters
of the Presbyterian Church In a section of country
dominated by the established Church of England.
Yet for all his devoutness he was an owner of slaves,
a number of whom he bought from slave-ships com
ing Into the Rappahannock; he operated a distillery
on one of his plantations and manufactured ardent
spirits; and he conducted a lottery for the benefit of
a Presbyterian meeting-house, which was built chiefly
through his efforts. All these things he tells of In
a "Journal" which he kept for many years, in which
he recorded not only his business transactions but
all the local happenings, including an occasional
serious matter of neighborhood scandal; and in it he
also kept a record, which was a voluminous one, of
the persons who visited at his house. This journal
affords a pleasing insight Into the dally domestic life
of a colonial merchant and planter of the period;
and is full of entertaining Incidents of the visitors
who thronged his hospitable home. Whitefield, the
great English evangelist, came on one occasion, and
was received with enthusiasm and a lavish welcome;
and when he departed "to the Northward," In the
quaint phraseology of the journal, took with him
as the gift of his generous host a new chaise and a
pair of handsome horses.
Colonel James Gordon died at his house In Lan
caster, in 1758, leaving behind him, in his obituary
In the Virginia Gazette, of January 14, 1768, the
story of having been one of the most accomplished
and admirable men of his times. He married first,
on March 28, 1742, Mllicent Conway, youngest
daughter of Colonel Edwin Conway, of Lancaster,
whose first wife was Ann Ball, half-sister of the
mother of Washington, Gordon's second wife,
whom he married on November 12, 1748, was Mary
Harrison, youngest daughter of Colonel Nathaniel
Harrison, of Wakefield, Surry county, a younger
brother of that Benjamin Harrison, of Berkeley, on

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 25
James River, whose grandson, Benjamin, was a signer
of the Declaration of Independence, and father of
General William Henry Harrison, President of the
United States,
It Is interesting to note that Colonel Nathaniel
Harrison, of Wakefield, was the first Harrison
owner of Brandon, the famous colonial mansion on
James River, of which Tyler in "The Cradle of the
Republic," says: "Brandon and Merchant's Hope,
or Powell Brook, became the joint property of
Richard Quiney and his brother-in-law, John Sadler,
The Quineys were from Stratford on Avon, Thomas
Quiney married Judith, the daughter of William
Shakespeare. Richard Quiney's wife, Ellen Sadler,
daughter of John Sadler, was aunt of Ann Sadler,
the wife of John Harvard, founder of Harvard Col
lege, Richard Quiney's moiety In Brandon as well
as in Powell Brook, descended to his son Thomas,
who In his will left the same to his great-nephew,
Robert Richardson; and he in 1720 conveyed the
same to Nathaniel Harrison, to whom the other
moiety doubtless had, not long before, passed from
the Sadlers."
The issue of the marriage of Colonel James Gor
don and his wife Mary Harrison were four sons and
five daughters, whose descendants are to be found in
many states of the American Union, the men of
whom In all the generations have upborne the sol
dierly qualities of their Cromwellian progenitor, and
frequently, though not so persistently, the religious
characteristics which are supposed to belong to a
puritan chaplain.
The eldest daughter of Colonel Gordon's second
marriage became at the early age of thirteen years
the wife of the Reverend James Waddell, whose
parents emigrated to Pennsylvania from the County
Down, and who was born on the Atlantic Ocean
during their voyage over. The Imaginative sailors
dubbed him "the child of the ship and star;" and

26 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
he became in time one of the most eloquent and dis
tinguished ministers of his generation In America.
William Wirt, In the "British Spy," gives a graphic
account of his physical appearance, and of his won
derful gift of speech — an account which superseded
the sailor's appellation with the more famous one of
"the Blind Preacher," In his old age Mr. Waddell
lived in Louisa County; and his wife's nephew, Wil
liam FItzhugh Gordon, resided temporarily In his
family when a lad, and went to school to his son,
James Gordon Waddell, His association with "the
Blind Preacher" made a lasting Impression upon
Gordon's plastic mind; and he was fond of nar
rating how the old gentleman would say to him,
"William, popularity Is a phantom that flees as you
pursue It, — let It follow you" ; or express to him the
wish that when his time came to depart, he might
"steal away from earth,"
Another daughter, Elizabeth, married her first
cousin, James Gordon, of Orange, or James Gordon,
junior, as he was Indifferently called, who was the
oldest son of the Immigrant, John Gordon, of Sheep
bridge; and the second son of this marriage was
William FItzhugh Gordon,
Colonel James Gordon, of Lancaster, left a will,
which was proved February i8, 1768; in which he
made disposition of a large estate, consisting of
lands, negro slaves and personal property. Nothing
however, which remained of his possessions is now
as Interesting as his "Journal," the portion of which
that survives, covering a period of five or six years,
has been published In "The William and Mary Col
lege Quarterly," and furnishes very entertaining
reading. Among Its various Items is one reciting
that on a day named, the ship Friendship, out of
Whitehaven, was anchored in the river near his
house. The date and the name of the vessel indicate
that upon it at that time. In the capacity of cabin boy,
or occupying some other Insignificant subordinate

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 27
position, was the lad John Paul, son of the Kirkcud
brightshire gardener, who later became Commodore
John Paul Jones of the American Navy, and burnt
the town of Whitehaven, out of which the Friend
ship sailed.
About 1750, John Hesselius, a distinguished por
trait painter of his day, visited Lancaster, and
painted the portraits of James Gordon and his
brother John, Both pictures are delineated in the
ornate costume of the period, belaced and bewigged.
Colonel James Gordon appears as a florid and some
what corpulent personage, wearing a flaxen periwig of
flowing curls; while his brother John, of a more
bilious tinge of complexion, Is represented as a young
gentleman of fashion, with a black peruke of cava
lier-like locks, and is armed with a great walking-
staff. Of John Gordon, the younger of the two brothers,
who came to Virginia, much less Is known than of his
brother James. He was probably not so systematic,
for we find Colonel James forgiving him a consider
able debt in his will; and It Is pretty certain that he
was by no means so religious, or If so his piety must
have been very strongly militant. For his elder
brother records In the "Journal" an account of a
visit paid by him to his brother John at Urbanna, in
Middlesex County, across the river, where he then
lived, on the occasion of which he found him suffer
ing from a wound In his head, encountered In a fight,
Mr, Philip Vickers FIthlan, a Jersey youth then
teaching In the family of Councillor Robert Carter,
of Nomini Hall, In Westmoreland, who was first
cousin of John Gordon's wife, Lucy Churchill, adds
in his "Diary" under date of November 30, 1773,
the no less convincing statement, — unless indeed
horse-racing was as consistent with religion at that
time as brandy-making and lotteries seemed to be, —
that he had been solicited "at the Race" by Mr. Gor
don "to take and Instruct two of his sons."

2 8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
John, however, in spite of these possible failings,
possessed also the Scotch thrift and canniness of his
eldest brother, and accumulated enough gear to serve
sufficiently his needs in life. The date of his birth at
Sheepbridge is not known, he not having taken the
precaution to record it in a family Bible, as did his
brother James in his own case. But he was probably
five or six years younger than Colonel James, He
was in Virginia prior to 1756; and settled at Ur
banna, then a port of entry, where his mansion-house
and brick store-house, In which he housed his export
tobacco, were still standing a few years ago. He
was a merchant there, and a planter In Middlesex
County, as was his brother across the river in Lan
caster. He owned several Important tracts of land
In Middlesex, and engaged extensively In the tobacco
trade with England. In 1762 he sold his estates In
Middlesex County, and moved to Richmond County,
on the north side of the Rappahannock, where he
continued to reside until his death. The exact date
of this occurrence is as obscure as that of his birth.
He was living September 17, 1779, the date of his
conveyance of his Interest In the Sheepbridge estate
In Ireland to his nephew, George Gordon; and he
was dead before the 6th day of November, 1780,
when it appears that at a county court held for Rich
mond County, his son James Gordon, junior, quali
fied as his administrator. There remains no other
record of his personality or of his domestic life; but
he appears to have been an Individual of influence
and property in both counties of Middlesex and Rich
mond; and in the latter he was a member of the
county bench of magistrates, a position of con
spicuous local honor and dignity under the colonial
court system.
John Gordon married on December 15, 1756,
Lucy Churchill, daughter of Colonel Armistead
Churchill, of Bushy Park, in Middlesex County, and
his wife, Hannah Harrison, who was a daughter of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 29
Nathaniel Harrison, of Wakefield, and an elder
sister of Colonel James Gordon's second wife.
There were no better families In the Colony, where
birth and breeding counted for much, than these
of the river-barons Into which the two young Gor
dons entered by virtue of their matrimonial alliances ;
and It Is said, on contemporary authority, that no
handsomer couple ever walked down the aisle of
Wicomico Church than John Gordon and his bride
on the December day of their wedding. Lucy
Churchill's father, Colonel Armistead Churchill, was
the only son, by her second marriage, of Elizabeth
Armistead, daughter of John Armistead, of "Hesse,"
the councillor. Her first husband had been Ralph
Wormeley, of "RoseglU" In Middlesex, who was sec
retary of the Colony, and of that union were born a
son, John Wormeley, who was father of Ralph, of
the Council, and grandfather of Admiral Ralph
Randolph Wormeley of the British Navy, Of this
descent, also, were the writers, Miss Katherlne Pres-
cott Wormeley and her sister Mrs, Elizabeth
Wormeley Latimer, From the marriage of Eliza
beth Armistead and Ralph Wormeley, the secretary,
came a daughter, who was the first wife of Mann
Page; and his daughter, by her, married William
Randolph, of Tuckahoe, An aunt of Colonel
Armistead Churchill's on the maternal side was
Judith Armistead, wife of "King" Carter, of whom
Moncure D, Conway has written in "Barons
of Potowmack and Rappahannock." Colonel
Churchill's sister, PriscIUa, married "King" Carter's
son of a second marriage, Robert of Nomini Hall;
and this Robert's fame has come down to us, in and
out of the pages of Fithian's gossiping "Diary," as
that not only of one of the greatest of colonial land
owners, but of a musical virtuoso, accomplished man
of the world, and polished and cultivated scholar.
Upon the death of Secretary Wormeley his hand
some and wealthy widow, residing In her dower

30 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
demesne of "Rosegill," was "wooed and married
and a' " by William Churchill, a young Englishman,
who had well-seated himself in the Colony, coming
out of North Aston In Oxfordshire, where the
Churchills had long flourished, William Churchill
was clerk of the county, an honorable and much
coveted office both for the sake of Its dignity and
influence and for its valuable emoluments and per
quisites; and later he became a member of the coun
cil. After his marriage to "Madam Wormeley," as
she was called in her vicinage, he resided at Rosegill,
an ancient colonial mansion situated near Urbanna
on a lofty eminence overlooking the Rappahannock
River, that had been even then the seat of a refined
and elegant hospitality for half a century; that had
sheltered a royal governor; and had given welcome
to King Charles's emissaries from beyond seas, when
Virginia alone of all his dominions rem.ained loyal.
Bruce, in his "Social Life of Virginia In the
Seventeenth Century," has pictured Rosegill as "con
taining a large withdrawing room, in addition to
numerous sleeping-chambers. There was perhaps no
other residence in Virginia more admirably appointed
for the entertainment of guests. It was situated
directly on the banks of the Rappahannock River, in
one of its widest and noblest reaches, which thus
afforded extraordinary facilities for boating and sail
ing. The library was, perhaps, the choicest and
largest in the Colony, while the house Itself was un
usually spacious,"
Here Armistead Churchill was born; and here he
lived until he established himself In his own house of
"Bushy Park," farther down the river, from which
his daughter, Lucy Churchill, married John Gordon,
It was significant of the personal charm and at
traction of the two young Gordons that they should
have thus entered an "Alliance" in Virginia which
far_ exceeded in wealth and power and Importance that
which their ancestor, Jane Campbell, had estabUshed

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 3 1
at Newry; for these Armisteads and Harrisons and
Carters and Churchills and Conways and Wormeleys
represented whatever was best In the social and
political life of the Colony, The river-barons of
that day were what would be now denominated "a
close corporation," They Intermarried with each
other, and they stood by each other, socially and
politically. Thus, these Virginia relatives of the
Gordons were of such a like singular interweaving by
consanguinity and affinity with the Burwells and the
Bassetts and the Berkeleys — other river barons, —
as had led Governor Spotswood at an earlier day to
complain that the King's Council in Virginia con
tained too many of one family: "He says," observes
Keith, in his "Ancestry of Benjamin Harrison," "In
one of his published Letters, that six out of the ten
members were related to Ludwell, who as has been
shown above was step-uncle of the Burwells; and
on March 9, 17 13, probably having in mind some
persons like Nathaniel Harrison, whose brother had
married a Burwell, declares: 'The greater part of
the present council are related to the Family of the
Burwells * * * If Mr, Bassett and Mr,
Berkeley should take their places, there will be no
less than seven so near related that they will go off
the Bench, whenever a Cause of the Burwells come
to be tryed.' "
At this period there had grown up in the river-
valleys of Virginia, where the lands were fertile and
the means of travel and communication by water
easy, a wealthy and prosperous class of planters,
whose seats of wealth and luxury were made possible
by the existence of negro slavery, and by the tre
mendous development of the tobacco trade with Eng
land and Scotland. The riches and power of these
people were more than baronial; and are illustrated
in the histories of their families. They constituted
a social and political society in the Province that was
as preeminent as It was exclusive.

32 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In his "Bristol Parish" Dr, Slaughter gives a vivid
account of the Virginia tobacco trade, which most
began to flourish In the early half of the eighteenth
century, and was carried on by the colonial planters
and merchants with London and Whitehaven and
Glasgow. "It was the tobacco trade," writes Dr. Slaughter,
"which gave such impulse to Blandford; and Vir
ginia's chief market was Glasgow, so soon as the
American trade was thrown open to Scotland by her
union with England (1707). From this era dates
the prosperity of Glasgow Itself. Up to the middle
of the last (i8th) century the foreign trade of Glas-
go was conducted by joint-stock companies, A
Glasgow vessel of sixty tons first crossed the Atlantic
In 1718. The first adventure to Virginia, (says
Dugald Valentine's Diary), was under the sole
charge of the captain acting as supercargo. When
he was asked on his return for a statement of his
accounts, he replied that he had no statement; but
here were the proceeds, throwing upon the table a
large hoggar (stocking) stuffed to the top with coin.
As an unlettered man had been so successful, they
thought a trained accountant would do better; and
so they sent one; and he came back with a beautiful
statement, but no hoggar.
"The trade so Increased that about 1735 the
Scotch merchants sent factors to live in Virginia and
buy tobacco to the best advantage. Hence Scotch
merchants poured Into Dumfries on the Potomac,
Falmouth on the Rappahannock, and many other
towns including Blandford, In 1772, out of ninety
thousand hogsheads of tobacco Imported into Britain,
Glasgow imported forty-nine thousand; and one of
her merchants (Glassford) owned twenty-five ships
In the trade. The tobacco-lords were the magnates
(great folks) of Glasgow, They promenaded the
Trongate In long scarlet robes and bushy wigs, and
other men gave way as they passed, Virginia Street

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 33
and Jamaica Street in Glasgow still perpetuate the
memory of the trade which enriched her merchants,
and gave such great Impulse to her prosperity, and
changed her social physiognomy,"
As the tobacco trade enriched the merchants of
Glasgow, so the cultivation and exportation of the
weed enriched the river-barons of Colonial Virginia
who "raised" It with their hordes of negro slaves
upon fertile and teeming low-ground plantations.
But tobacco in this first decade of the twentieth cen
tury Is now only a memory along the Rappahannock
River, having vanished therefrom as a staple crop
as entirely as the social life that grew out of It and
was organized upon It has utterly disappeared.

CHAPTER II
parents
A characteristic of the families of the river-
planters In colonial days was the large number of
children. The complex civilization of to-day which
tends to minimize the size of the average well-to-do
family In America was unknown to the wealthy colo
nists, who led the simple life of their period In a
luxury that seemed to deny the existence of sim
plicity. After the fashion of their neighbors John
Gordon and his wife, Lucy Churchill, had a large
family. Their children were twelve In number, and
of these the oldest was James, called "junior," and
"of Orange," to distinguish him from his first cousin,
James Gordon, of Lancaster, oldest son of Colonel
James, the Immigrant,
James Gordon, of Orange, was born at Urbanna
In 1759; and was therefore but a child when his
father moved to Richmond County, higher up the
river, to live. At the age of twenty-two he was
elected to represent that county in the House of
Delegates of the General Assembly of Virginia, his
colleague being Robert W. Carter, of the stock of
the "King," In the same session the adjacent county
of Lancaster was represented by his cousin James
Gordon, about nine years his senior; and these two
cousins, who were also brothers-in-law, were mem
bers together of the Virginia Convention of 1788,
that ratified the Federal Constitution, In spite of
the spread of democratic Ideas In the new Republic,
the old families still continued powerful both in the
social and political life; and the rosters of General
Assemblies and conventions In Virginia, after it had
become a Commonwealth, were for a long period

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 35
alike made up of the surnames that had appeared
upon the legislative records of the colony.
James Gordon, of Orange, married his first cousin,
Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel James Gordon, of
Lancaster, and his wife, Mary Harrison, in August,
1777; and before his father's death removed from
Richmond County to "Germanna" In Orange
County, where he spent the remainder of his life as a
planter and country gentleman — a career that was
only briefly interrupted by his service as a delegate
in the State Convention of 1788.
"The ancient town of Germanna, founded by Gov
ernor Spotswood," and the original county-seat of
Spottsylvania, is described by Hugh Jones, in his
"Present State of Virginia," published in 1724,
"Beyond Colonel Spotswood's furnace," he writes,
"above the Falls of Rappahannock River, within
view of the vast mountains, he has founded a town
called Germanna, from some Germans sent over by
Queen Anne, who are now removed up further.
Here he has servants and workmen of most handi
craft trades ; and he Is building a church, court-house
and dwelling-house for himself; and with his ser
vants and negroes he has cleared plantations about It,
proposing great encouragement for people to come
and settle in that uninhabited part of the world,
lately divided Into a county,"
Some years after Hugh Jones's book was pub
lished, that colonial litterateur and society magnate,
Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, visited Ger
manna, and gave In his account of "A Progress to
the Mines" a vivid and picturesque description of
"this famous town," which, he says, "consists of
Colonel Spotswood's enchanted castle on one side of
the street, and a baker's dozen of ruinous tenements
on the other, where so many German families had
dwelt some years ago ; but are now removed ten miles
higher, in the fork of the Rappahannock to land of
their own"; and where, too, "there had also been

36 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
a chapel about a bowshot from the Colonel's house,
at the end of an avenue of cherry trees, but some
pious people had lately burnt It down, with Intent to
get another built nearer to their own homes,"
By the time that James Gordon moved from Rich
mond County to settle at Germanna, the tide of
population, which had at first been almost altogether
along the river-ways, was flowing out into those
"uninhabited parts of the world" that were primarily
Orange and Augusta counties, a vast territory ex
panding indefinitely to the west and northwest, which
later became, at the generous gift of Virginia to the
Union, many great and populous commonwealths.
Here, in the vicinity of a barren stretch of inhos
pitable territory, a border line between Spottsylvania
and Orange, described as "of melancholy, forbidding
exterior," and known as "The Wilderness," where
nearly a century after his coming some of the most
sanguinary battles of the fiercest war of modern his
tory were fought, James Gordon builded his house,
and acquired acres of fertile river lands, and reared
his children; and here he throve apace and pros
pered In worldly gear, until in his later years the
prodigal hospitality which characterized many Vir
ginia homes of tbe period brought him finallv to
modest circumstances, though not to poverty. Here,
too, he grew and advanced in the good opinion of
his neighbors and the community, as a man of cour
age, of probity and of intelligence, until when the
time came In 1788 for the people of Virginia to
determine the momentous question of their future
relations to the other sovereign States of the Con
federation, the people of Orange elected him, along
with James Madison, as their representative In the
convention called to pass upon the question of the
adoption or rejection of the new Federal Constitu
tion. James Gordon was a strong advocate of adop
tion ; and entertaining a warm personal and poUtical
friendship for Mr. Madison, was eager to see him

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 37
elected as a delegate. On the 17th of February,
1788, we find him writing from Germanna to the
latter, then In New York, as follows :
"Dear Sir: Being favored by Colonel Monroe
with a sight of your letter of the 27th of January,
and finding no mention therein of your being in our
country in a short time, I take the liberty as your
friend to solicit your attendance at March Orange
court. I am induced to make such a request as I
believe it will give the country in general great satis
faction to hear your sentiments on the new Consti
tution. Your friends are very solicitous for your ap
pointment In the convention to meet in June next, I
trust, were it not practicable for you to attend, your
election will be secured; but your being present
would not admit a doubt. Colonel Thomas Barbour,
Mr, Charles Porter, and myself enter the list with
you. The two former gentlemen are exceedingly
averse to the adoption of the constitution in this
State; and, being acquainted with them, you will
readily determine no means in their power will be
wanting to procure a seat in convention. The senti
ments of the people of Orange are much divided.
The best men, In my judgment, are for the constitu
tion; but several of those who have much weight
with the people are opposed, — Parson Bledsoe and
Leeland, and Colonel Z, Burnley, Upon the whole,
sir, I think It Is incumbent on you without delay to re
pair to this State; as the loss of the constitution In
this State may involve consequences the most alarm
ing to every citizen of America.
"I am, Dear Sir, Your most obedient servant,
"James Gordon."
General Washington had written to Mr. Madison
two weeks earlier, urging him to offer himself as a
candidate for the convention; and other friends and
supporters Insisted, as James Gordon had done, that
he should return and conduct his canvass In person.

38 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Madison wrote that he was reluctant in the rnatter,
"I can say, with great truth," he said, "that in this
overture I sacrifice every private Inclination to con
siderations not of a selfish nature, I foresee that the
undertaking will Involve me In very laborious and
Irksome discussions; that public opposition to sev
eral very respectable characters, who^e esteem and
friendship I greatly prize, may unintentionally en
danger the existing connection; and that disagree
able misconstructions, of which samples have been
already given, may be the fruit of those exertions
which fidelity will impose,"
In response, however, to the summons of his
friends he left New York, where he was In attend
ance on the session of Congress as a delegate from
Virginia, and stopping on his way at Mount Vernon
to see General Washington, arrived In Orange on the
day before the election.
Colonel Frank Taylor, of Orange, in his "Diary,"
a portion of which is published In Slaughter's "St,
Mark's Parish," says under date of 1788, "March
24th, Election, for Convention, James Madison
202 votes, James Gordon 187, C, Porter 34." Mr.
Barbour's vote does not appear, although he seems
to have remained In the field.
It was no Inconsiderable distinction for James
Gordon, at the age of twenty-nine, to have been se
lected for so Important and responsible an office;
and the significance of his election was emphasized In
the fact that his colleague was a man whose fame as
a statesman was already spread over all the States,
and who later became the expounder and interpreter
of the Constitution on which they were to pass, and
a chief executive officer of its administration. The
Hon. William C. Rives, in his "Life and Times of
Madison," adds to the candidates named by Colonel
Taylor, and as stated by James Gordon In his letter
to Mr. Madison, the name of "Colonel Thomas
Barbour, father of Mr. James and Mr. Philip Bar-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 39
hour, each of whom rose to great future eminence In
the public service of the country"; and with each of
whom James Gordon's son, William FItzhugh Gor
don, maintained a personal friendship that was inti
mate and a political sympathy that was unwavering
and lasting.
The convention, which assembled in Richmond on
the 2nd day of June, 1788, continued Its session for
nearly a month. "On Wednesday,' the 4th day of
June," says Mr. Rives, "the convention resolved
Itself into a committee of the whole, Mr. Wythe in
the chair, to take into consideration the proposed plan
of government. In the lists, on the side of the Con
stitution, appeared as the principal combatants, Mr,
Pendleton, Mr, Madison, Governor Randolph, Mr.
George Nicholas, Mr, John Marshall, Mr, Innes,
Colonel Henry Lee and Mr, Corbin; In opposition
to it, Mr, Henry, Colonel Mason, Mr, Monroe, Mr,
Grayson, Colonel Benjamin Harrison, former Gov
ernor, and Mr. Tyler."
Patrick Henry, with fiery Impetuosity, proclaimed
the issue In his opening speech,
"Give me leave," he said, "to demand what right
had they to say, 'We the people,' Instead of 'We the
States?'" James Gordon's attitude In the convention was one
of modesty and self-effacement. His political views
and principles were those of Mr. Madison; and
while we find him vigorously espousing what was
then the Federalist cause, his Federalism was never
of the Hamiltonian type, which sought to exalt the
central government at the expense of the sovereignty
of the States. His anxiety was to see the adoption of
a form of government that should prove more cohe
sive and vigorous than that under the Articles of
Confederation; but he was In other respects as con
servative as was his great colleague, of whom Hamil
ton, In factious anger, said, when he found Madison
opposing the assumption of the debts of the States

40 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
by the General Government, "I cannot persuade
myself that Mr. Madison and I, whose politics had
formerly so much the same point of departure,
should now diverge so widely In our opinions of the
measures which are proper to be pursued,"
Being a simple planter and country gentleman,
James Gordon entertained no political ambitions.
He was a delegate Inspired with a patriotic desire to
serve his people according to his best lights; and
while he does not figure conspicuously in the de
bates of the convention, yet it may well be imagined
that possessing strong convictions, endowed with
health and energy, and wielding the persuasive in
fluences of a magnetic and pleasing personality, he
illustrated by his services in the committee-room
those qualities which had made him the choice of his
constituency at home.
The Federal Constitution was adopted by Vir
ginia ; and James Gordon retired finally from public
life to the more pleasing duties and occupations of a
domestic and social career. Yet with his retirement
he did not cease to maintain an earnest Interest In
politics, and in the successful administration of gov
ernment under its new instrumentalities. On the
31st of August, 1788, still absorbed with the public
questions of the day, he wrote to Mr, Madison,
again in New York in attendance on the Congress :
"My dear Sir: Your several letters of the 25th
and 27th of July I have received; and should have
answered them ere this, but they did not come to
hand until a few days since at Orange Court House,
"I am pleased to find the ratification of the consti
tution by New York was unconditional; but I fear
from the circular letter therefrom much disquietude
may succeed in those States where the majorities are
not large, I expect that letter will be eagerly caught
by Mr, P, Henry, who in our next assembly will be
greatly an overmatch for any Federalist that I know

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 41
In the same. I trust there are a majority of Feder
alists in the House, who I hope will firmly withstand
the artful Intrigues of designing men; but there are
Instances of the most heroic conduct being defeated
for want of a competent commander. Such an one I
fear we have not in our House of Delegates,
"I have carefully perused the numbers of the
Federalist, and am happy to say the arguments
therein contained are sufficiently satisfactory to my
mind, and must carry conviction to every candid
reader. We are all in quiet at present; there ap
pears to be little or no opposition from the Antis,
I have been Informed they are generally pretty well
satisfied, but I rather think their conduct Is Intended
to lull the friends to the new government Into a state
of security, and then In the fall to make a violent
attack, I am sorry to find New York is, as the Vir
ginia Convention, against the power of direct taxa
tion, without which I fear, nay, I am certain, the
most apparent evils will ensue. To form a govern
ment without such a necessary power would be nearly
as ridiculous as for such a government to send per
sons to transact business of Importance, far distant,
without the sufficient sum of money to enable such
persons to make good their journey, and thereby to
obtain requisitions from those who were not com
pelled to assist. Should such an amendment take
place, the long and glorious endeavors of our patriots
will be of little or far less beneficial consequences,
than their unwearied attention for the Interests of
America merited,
"The conduct of North Carolina you have seen.
Should they be fortunate enough to be seconded by
Rhode Island, from their local situation, their knowl
edge In political science, and numbers, the eleven
Confederate States have everything to fear. Good
God! What can they promise themselves? Being
the consumers of two Importing States, and so unable
to stand upon their own ground, I should have

42 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
thought they would have greedily caught the Union,
It Is reported that Mr, Henry has Influenced their
councils considerably since the rising of our conven
tion, of the truth of which I have not sufficient
knowledge. "I had the pleasure of seeing your Father and
most of your friends the last week, who are all well,
"It will be a matter of satisfaction to your friends
in this State to know whether you wish to be In the
Senate or In the House of Representatives In Con
gress so soon as the districts are laid out. I hope
there will be care taken not to send to Congress those
who are inimical to the Constitution. I shall ever
esteem It a singular favor to receive any intelligence
from you, and your advice upon any subject will be
an additional obligation on, dear sir, your sincere
friend and affectionate humble servant,
James Gordon, Junr."
The writer's apprehension of Patrick Henry's
influence In the General Assembly of Virginia, which
met in the following October, was justified by events.
Two-thirds of Its members were "Antis," opposed to
the new Constitution, The election of Senators from
Virginia was one of the duties of this Assembly; and
Henry's efforts to defeat Madison for the Senator-
ship were successful, William Grayson and Richard
Henry Lee were elected Virginia's first Senators
under the new Federal Constitution, upon the nomi
nation of Henry; although Mr, Madison was the
sole candidate presented by those on the side of the
Constitution, The result of the Senatorial election in the General
Assembly failed to disturb Madison, His original
preference had been for a seat in the House of Rep
resentatives; and he became a candidate in a district
composed of the counties of Amherst, Albemarle,
Louisa, Orange, Culpeper, Spottsylvania, Gooch
land and Fluvanna, Madison charged in a letter to

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 43
Mr, Jefferson that this district had been "gerry
mandered," as such a process is now known, in that
only one of the seven counties composing the district,
besides his own, had given an undivided vote in the
convention for the Constitution, Madison said in
this letter to Jefferson, that Henry, after compassing
his defeat for the Senate, had "taken equal pains, in
forming the counties into districts for the election of
representatives, to associate with Orange such as are
most devoted to his politics, and most likely to be
swayed by the prejudices excited against me."
"The device of gerrymandering," comments Madi
son's biographer, Mr, Rives, "would thus seem not
to have the origin its name Imports, and which com
mon fame assigns It, but to have been first put in
practice, though Ineffectually, by the great Virginia
orator and tribune, against Mr, Madison in the first
election of representatives under the Constitution,"
After casting about and considering Mr, Strother
and Mr, William CabeU, the elder, the "Antis"
finally settled on James Monroe as the opposing can
didate, Mr, Madison arrived in Virginia from New
York about the close of December, and the election
took place on the following 2d of February; and a
number of political discussions, a divertisement which
to the present day has been the delight of the Vir
ginia voters, ensued between the candidates. The
election resulted in the choice of Mr. Madison by a
decided majority,
Mr. Rives says: "Mr, Madison often gave a
graphic and amusing account of a discussion which
took place between him and Mr, Monroe, In the
open air, on a cold January day, amid the bleak hills
of Culpeper, They addressed the people in the face
of a keen northeasterly wind, from the portico of a
Lutheran meeting-house, after the close of the reli
gious services of the day; with which the grave and
solemn Import of the question discussed to the future
destinies of the country was supposed to be not out of

44 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
keeping. Such was the extremity of the cold, that
Mr. Madison's ear was slightly frost-bitten while
speaking. Some traces of the injury always re
mained ; and he would playfully point to them as the
honorable scars he had borne from the battlefield.
It is gratifying to know, that this brief political cam
paign was not attended with any Interruption of the
personal cordiality of the parties. In writing a few
weeks afterwards to Mr, Jefferson, the common
friend of both, Mr. Madison says : 'It gives me
great pleasure to inform you, that the friendship of
Monroe and myself has not been affected In any de
gree, by our late political opposition,' "
In "The Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia,
1792," written by Miss Lucy Lee, which preserves
a very sprightly and vivid picture of the social life of
the period in the new Commonwealth, frequent m.en-
tlon Is made of the Gordons of Germanna, in whose
hospitable home the writer appears to have been a
welcome guest,
"Mr. James Gordon," says the fair diarist, "Is
come from Chatham. Mrs. FItzhugh has sent me a
very pressing invitation to go there this evening, and
to-morrow to the races ; but I have not the smallest
inclination, and shall not go. This Mr, Gordon Is a
mighty clever man, — I wish you could see him."
This vivacious journal was composed for the
benefit of a young girl friend of the author's; and
contains in its many passages concerning Germanna
and its residents a number of interesting references to
"old Mrs. Gordon," widow of John of Richmond,
who had come to Orange to reside with her son
James, after his father's death, and to the other
members of the family. At the time of Miss Lee's
Inscription In her diary of the arrival of "Mr. James
Gordon" from Chatham, that well-known seat of the
Fitzhughs in Virginia was the residence of William
FItzhugh, grandfather of the wife of General Robert
E, Lee, William FItzhugh at a later date removed

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 45
to Ravensworth, In Fairfax County, which after
wards became the home of General William Henry
FItzhugh Lee, the second son of General Robert E,
Lee, William FItzhugh, of Chatham-, and of
Ravensworth, was a man of singular nobility of char
acter and fine sense ; and was so greatly admired and
beloved by James Gordon that the latter named for
him the subject of this biography, his second son,
William FItzhugh Gordon. The latter was accus
tomed to say that he had once asked his father, when
he was a lad, why it was that he had named each of
his three brothers after the Churchills, — -John
Churchill, Armistead Churchill, and Thomas
Churchill, — and had named him FItzhugh; and that
his father had replied to him with an appearance of
deep feeling, v/hich left its lasting Impression: "My
son, if you shall emulate the virtues and the life of
the man for whom I have named you, there will
never be need for you to regret that you failed to
have a different name."
James Gordon, of Orange, appears from the re
cords of Orange, Spottsylvania and Culpeper coun
ties, to have been a large landed proprietor, owning
\'arious tracts In those counties, aggregating several
thousand acres. Among them in described "a cer
tain tract or parcel of land lying in the lower end of
Orange County, being a part of the tract of land
originally sold by General Alexander Spotswood to
Mr. Peter Conway, containing by State survey 652
acres"; and another tract in Spottsylvania, which is
described, in a deed from General Henry Lee
("Lighthorse Harry"), and Ann Lee his wife to
James Gordon, named therein as "of Culpeper," as
"531 acres, with all Houses, Buildings, Gardens,
Orchards, Woods, underwoods, ways, waterways,
profits, easements, advantages, hereditaments and
appurtenances whatsoever to the said land belong
ing" — a description which would seem to character
ize the leisure, the perspicuity and the picturesque-

46 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ness of the times, when compared with the usual de
scription in the average conveyance of lands in this
more prosaic and hurrying day.
James Gordon died intestate In the prime of life,
aged forty, at his home at Germanna, on Saturday,
December 14, 1799 — a day piously and patriotically
remembered and commemorated by his children and
descendants as that on which also occurred the death
of the Father of his Country, General George Wash
ington, His public career consisted solely, as has
been stated, in his service in the General Assembly
of Virginia and in the Convention of 1788; but it is
interesting to observe that his descendants and those
of his uncle, Colonel James Gordon, of Lancaster,
have been prominent members of, or connected in an
official capacity with every constitutional convention,
save one, which has ever sat In Virginia. His first
cousin and brother-in-law, James Gordon the second,
of Lancaster, was a member of the Convention of
1776, which framed Virginia's first written constitu
tion; and also represented that county in the Con
vention of 1788, where he advocated the cause of
Henry and the "Antis," William FItzhugh Gordon
was a member of the Constitutional Convention of
1829-30; and his son and namesake W^illiam FItz
hugh Gordon, Jr,, was one of the secretaries of the
Constitutional Convention held in the city of Rich
mond In 1 86 1, which adopted the Ordinance of
Secession, and was the special emissary of the conven
tion who conveyed the official copy of that tre
mendous document to Jefferson Davis, President of
the Confederate States, at Montgomery, Alabama.
Again, In 1868, when the carpetbaggers and scala
wags in Virginia gathered at Richmond, after the
close of the War between the States, to reconstruct
what had been the Commonwealth, and was then
"Military District Number One," by framing a new
constitution that would be acceptable to the powers
at Washington, a great grandson of Colonel James

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 47
Gordon, of Lancaster, the honorable Joseph Addison
Waddell, of Augusta County, was one of a small but
devoted band of patriots in the "Black and Tan"
Convention, who sought to stem the tide of Ignorance
and hatred. In the restored and revitalized State,
Its latest Constitutional Convention assembled in
Richmond in 1901 to amend and alter the constitu
tion of the "Black and Tan" gathering; and In that
body's one hundred members were numbered three
descendants of the two emigrant brothers from
Newry — one of them, James Gordon Waddell, a
great-great-grandson of Colonel James Gordon, of
Lancaster, representing the city of Richmond, and the
other two, great grandsons of James Gordon, of
Orange, namely, Reuben Lindsay Gordon, represent
ing the county of Louisa, and William Gordon Rob
ertson, representing the city and county of Roanoke.
In the county of his adoption the memory of
James Gordon, of Orange, Is preserved in the desig
nation of one of its four magisterial districts, the
other three of which bear the historic names of Madi
son, of Barbour, and of Taylor.

CHAPTER III
early life
Soon after the death of his father, William FItz
hugh Gordon, who was born at Germanna, January
13, 1787, and was the second son of his parents, was
sent to the neighboring town of Fredericksburg to
learn the mercantile business In the store of a thrifty
Scotch merchant there. He was then in his thir
teenth year. His father, notwithstanding his large
landed possessions, had died, as has been stated, leav
ing his estate more or less embarassed; and there
was no ready money available for a college education
of the lad, besides whom there were three other boys
and two girls in the family. He had attended a
neighborhood "old-field school" In his father's life
time, where "reading, writing and arithmetic" were
taught; and of these elementary branches he had
acquired a very good knowledge. His lines fell in
profitable, if not pleasant places, however, in his
association with the Fredericksburg Scotchman, who
was a man of intelligence and education; and form
ing an attachment for his young clerk, In whom he
perceived the promise of capacity and industry, this
gentleman himself directed, as best he could, the
boy's education during the time that he remained
with him. After several years thus spent In Freder
icksburg, during which he applied himself closely
both to his business and his books, young Gordon se
cured a position as a school teacher, and conducted a
school for one or more sessions, until he could make
and save enough money to pay his way in a good
classical academy. At this time his cousin, James
Gordon Waddell, son of "the Blind Preacher," was
conducting a school for boys and young men at
Spring Hill, just across the road from Hopewell, the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 49
residence of the "old Inan eloquent," near the town
of GordonsvIUe. Gordon entered his cousin's school,
and lived in the meantime In the house of Dr, Wad
dell, paying his board and tuition with the money
which he had earned for the purpose. For the mem
bers of this family he always afterwards cherished
and manifested a devoted affection; and his admira
tion for the goodness of "the Blind Preacher" was
as lively as that which he entertained for his ora
torical ability. He was accustomed in after years to
speak of the time which he spent at Hopewell as one
of the most valuable, as it was one of the pleasantest
periods of his life; and to say that he cared for none
of his relatives more than he did for his Waddell
kin. After attending the Spring Hill academy for two
sessions, he left It with a knowledge of the Greek and
Latin classics that was unexcelled by that of any
youth In the school — an accomplishment which was
doubtless due no less to the fine classical acquirements
and skillful instruction of his preceptor, who was a
cultured and highly educated man, than to the boy's
own natural aptitude and industry as a student.
When he was in his twentieth year he returned to
Fredericksburg; and having determined to pursue
the profession of the law, he obtained a position as
law-clerk in the office of General Benjamin Botts,
who not only paid him for the services which he
rendered, but directed and assisted him in his legal
studies. This method of combining the study of law
with the acquisition of a practical knowledge of the
profession was a favorite one with those young men
of the day who proposed to become lawyers; and
many of the ablest attorneys in Virginia of Gordon's
generation never crossed the threshold of any regu
larly constituted law-school. He could have had no
more efficient or interested counsellor and friend than
General Botts, who was himself one of the leading

50 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
lawyers of his day in the Commonwealth, and whom
the attractive personality and evident ability and
purpose of his young clerk impressed, as they had at
an earlier date impressed the Scotch merchant, Gor
don during this period attended the sessions of the
courts which met in Fredericksburg, and saw cases
tried and heard arguments presented by many dis
tinguished members of the Virginia bar, which in
that day had on Its roster the names of men who were
famous the country over for legal knowledge and
forensic talents.
It was during his stay In General Botts's office that
the celebrated trial of Aaron Burr for treason took
place in Richmond, The preliminary examination
of Burr was had before Chief Justice Marshall, and
was conducted by Caesar Rodney, the Attorney-Gen
eral of the United States, and George Hay, the
United States attorney for the Federal District of
Virginia, John WIckham and Edmund Randolph ap
pearing as counsel for Burr. Burr was sent on to the
Federal grand jury, of which John Randolph, of
Roanoke, was foreman, and was admitted to bail.
When the case came on for trial on the indictment
found, Rodney had withdrawn as counsel for the
prosecution, and William Wirt and Mr, McCrae as
sisted Mr, Hay; while General Botts and Mr, Baker
appeared with Messrs, Wickham and Randolph for
the prisoner. Both prosecution and defense were
conducted In a manner noteworthy not only in politi
cal history but In the history of legal trials, as one of
the most famous that has ever occurred In America,
The verdict of the jury was: "We of the jury say
that Aaron Burr Is not proved to be guilty under this
Indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We
therefore find him not guilty,"
Gordon remained in General Botts' office about
two years, making the most of his time in study and
observation, but not neglecting in the meanwhile the
acquisition of another branch of knowledge, which

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 51
was as essential to the success of the young practi
tioner in Virginia as that of Coke on Littleton, Lie
mingled with the society of the able men and accom
plished wornen for which the town of Fredericksburg
at that time was especially noted, and while studying
human nature, at the same time enhanced those at
tractions of manner and bearing, and developed the
natural powers of conversation which throughout his
subsequent career made his society eagerly courted by
all with whom he became acquainted. He possessed
a natural gift of oratory, which he cultivated by ex
ercise as occasion presented itself; and having at
length been licensed to practice law, he was admitted
to the bar in 1808, and opened an office at Orange
Court House, where he at once took a prominent
position among the members of the junior bar. In
1809, regarding Charlottesville, the county-seat of
the adjoining county of Albemarle, as a more advan
tageous location, and one affording a larger field of
opportunity, he removed thither ; and from that time
up to his retirement from practice, was one of the
most prominent of the members of his profession in
the county. His taste for speaking soon attracted to
him the attention of those who were interested In
local politics ; and within three years after he settled
In Charlottesville, while yet in his twenty-fifth year,
he was made Commonwealth's Attorney for the
county. The bar of Albemarle at that time was
especially strong in the ability and acquirements of
the lawyers who constituted it. Among them were
Dabney Carr, a nephew of Jefferson, who later be
came chancellor, and a distinguished Judge of the
Supreme Court of the State; Joseph J, Monroe, a
brother of the President, who was Dabney Carr's
successor, and Gordon's immediate predecessor, In
the office of Commonwealth's Attorney; John S.
Barbour, later legislator, congressman, member of
the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-30,
and able exponent of the State-Rights republicanism

52 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of the period in the halls of the Federal Congress;
Valentine W. Southall and Richard H. Field, who
are remembered as among the great Virginia lawyers
of the past. It was a notable honor thus conferred
upon so youthful and recent a comer; for the office,
highly responsible and dignified always in Itself
throughout Virginia, has been, from the very founda
tion of the county, down to the present time, espec
ially esteemed by the people of Albemarle, who have
been proud to see among the fourteen lawyers who
have held it since 1783, In addition to Carr, Monroe
and Gordon, men so eminent in the profession In
their generations as Valentine W, Southall, William
J. Robertson, R. T. W, Duke, Egbert R. Watson
and Micajah Woods, The prosecution of criminal
cases, however, did not appeal to Gordon's tastes or
inclinations; and he resigned the office before he had
served out his first term. From that time on, during
a period of several years, and until he became en
grossed in the active pursuit of politics, he devoted
himself assiduously to the general practice; and his
services were especially sought after for the defence
of criminal cases, where his combination of legal
knowledge with ability as an advocate made him
unusually strong. During this period of his life he
was a diligent student of his profession as a science,
and laid the foundations of a broad acquaintance
with the principles of jurisprudence and the methods
of procedure which made him an almost invincible
opponent in the trial of a litigated law case ; and gave
him at once, both upon his entering the Virginia
House of Delegates, and the United States House
of Representatives, positions upon their respective
Judiciary Committees. In these positions, as herein
after detailed, he left the permanent impress of his
knowledge and his ability upon the legislation both
of the Commonv/ealth and of the Republic,
A close personal friendship had long existed
between Gordon and James Barbour, later highly

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 53
distinguished as Secretary of War In the Cabinet of
President John Quiney Adams, and as Minister to the
Court of St. James. He was a son of Colonel
Thomas Barbour, who had been one of the "AntI"
candidates for the convention of 1788 against Mr.
Madison and James Gordon; and acquired a knowl
edge of law while serving as deputy-sheriff. He was
admitted to the bar at the age of nineteen ; and two
years later was elected to the House of Delegates,
where he served sixteen years, when he was chosen
Governor, After a term as Governor he was elected
to the United States Senate; and in 1837 presided
over the Whig Convention at Harrisburg, which
nominated General Harrison for the Presidency,
Although Barbour was twelve years Gordon's senior,
a strong personal intimacy existed between them,
which despite their political separation some years
prior to the former's death in 1842, remained unin
terrupted to the end.
On January 21, 18 12, we find Barbour, who had a
few days before entered upon his term as Governor,
v/rlting from Richmond the following intimate and
ingenuous letter to his friend Gordon :
"Dear Gordon: I received your letter of this
month some days past, and In the cant of public men
must tell you that I should forthwith have answered
It but for the pressure of Important business. Be
lieve me, my good friend, the sentiments of affection
It breathed were precious to my soul. What in this
life can equal that pleasure which arises from the
communion of friendly souls? If it gives new and
vivid coloring to prosperity, it also blunts the arrow
of misfortune, VV^hether then my doom shall be one
or the other, let me always have this solace. And I
feel an Indescribable evidence that the cord of sym
pathy and affection between you and me will not
easily be severed,
"I have entered upon a new and untried path.

54 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
What may be the result Is left to all-trying time.
My eye Is steadfastly fixed upon the prosperity of my
country, for which I may say to my friends no man
has a more ardent attachment. My errors, as I ap
prehend there will be many, by all who know me will
be placed to their true cause, in which they know my
heart will have no share.
"I rejoice that there is a fair field presented to you
for reaping profit and renown In your professional
career. I do not mean to flatter when I tell you that
you have the seeds of success. They only want culti
vation, and I pray God that you may not thwart the
bounty of nature. And I must tell you, not to puff
you, that this opinion Is not the partiality of a friend,
but I have heard It from those who are capable of
judging, and who towards you are impartial,
"I had indulged a hope when I retired from the
bar that I should have been able to give you a sub
stantial evidence of my friendship by inviting you to
take under your care all my business. But I have
just been advised by my pupil, John S. Barbour, of
his determination to commence practice in the courts
of Albemarle and Orange, From circumstances
which a feeling heart can at once recognize, his
claims are paramount to any other; and I am sure
that you will at once duly appreciate the motives that
Influence me, and the frankness of this information,
"The House of Delegates have to-day passed a
law dividing the transmontane district Into four, a
new judge to be appointed, and one to attend two dis
tricts. What will be its fate is uncertain, as great
doubts are entertained In the Senate. An Increase of
the banking capital In this State, to the amount of
three million dollars in the aggregate, is likely also
to pass the same body, and the result of the question
is equally uncertain, as It has to pass the Senate also,
"No doubt seems to be entertained here but that
war is Inevitable. The late Presidential message

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 55
seems to indicate a determined spirit of hostility on
the part of Great Britain,
"As to the question you propound of the legal rep
resentative of the much lamented Botts, you have no
doubt seen the advertisement of G, Minor, which
has already advised you that he is to transact his
business, "I am, with sentiments of friendship, yours,
"James Barbour,
"Mr, D. Carr has been excluded to-day by P,
Randolph by a majority of 22, — J. B."
On the 26th of the month preceding the date of
Governor Barbour's letter to Gordon a public
calamity of extraordinary character took place In
Richmond. The Richmond Theatre, at which were
assembled an audience of six hundred persons to
witness a new drama, for the benefit of Placide, a
favorite actor, which was to be succeeded by the
pantomime of "The Bleeding Nun," was burned
with great loss of life. "The wild legend," says Mr.
Howison, in his "History of Virginia," "on which
this spectacle was founded, had lost none of Its
power under the pen of Monk Lewis, and even In
pantomime It had awakened great Interest, The
regular piece had been played; the pantomime had
commenced; already the curtain had risen upon Its
second act, when sparks of fire were seen to fall from
the scenery on the back part of the stage, A moment
after, Mr, Robertson, one of the actors, ran for
ward, and waving his hand towards the ceiling,
called aloud 'The house Is on fire!' " In the tumult
that ensued the flames spread with great rapidity,
and the loss of life was appalling. Many sought to
save themselves by leaping from windows and thus
perished; while a larger number were lost in the
flames. Among the dead, who aggregated nearly a
hundred, were George W, Smith, the Governor of
Virginia, and General Benjamin Botts, Gordon's

56 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
friend and law preceptor, who, having escaped from
the burning building, re-entered it to rescue his wife
and niece, both of whom perished with him.
Soon after Gordon's admission to the bar, and
while residing In Orange, he married, on the 21st day
of December, 1809, Mary Robinson Rootes, of
"Federal Hill," Fredericksburg, a daughter of
Thomas Reade Rootes, in whose hospitable mansion,
which still remains one of the "show-places" of the
old town, he had been a frequent and welcome guest
during the period of his legal apprenticeship In Gen
eral Botts' office. With every prospect of a life of
happiness in her union to one of sympathy and de
votion, whose abilities, associations and energies even
then gave promise of his subsequent distinguished
career, she survived the marriage but little more than
a year, and died in January, 181 1, in the bloom of
lovely young womanhood. Her younger sister,
Sarah Robinson Rootes, married John Addison
Cobb, who moved to Georgia, and was the mother of
Howell Cobb and Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb ; the
former of whom was Speaker of the United States
House of Representatives, Governor of Georgia,
Secretary of the Treasury under President Buchanan,
and Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederacy,
and a major-general in the Confederate States Army
In the War between the States ; and the latter, one of
the most brilliant and distinguished lawyers of the
Georgia bar, and a brigadier-general In the Confed
erate Army, who was killed in battle, in 1862, at
Fredericksburg, in sight of the old house of "Federal
Hill," In which his mother had been born and reared.
In January, 18 13, and while living in Charlottes
ville, Gordon married his second wife, who was
thenceforward the companion of his own long life,
and who survived him many years, dying In the latter
part of the nineteenth century at the advanced age of
ninety-five. She was Elizabeth Lindsay, the daughter
of Colonel Reuben Lindsay, a wealthy merchant

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 57
and planter of Albemarle, a colonel in the ser
vice of the colonies during the period of the Revolu
tion, and a personal friend and Intimate of Mr, Jef
ferson, Mr. Madison and Mr, Monroe. This inti
macy and friendship was a long-continued and lasting
one; and we find in the first letter written by Gor
don to his wife from the Constitutional Convention
of 1829-30, of which the two last named venerable
ex-Presidents were members, that he conveys from
them to Colonel Lindsay a message of esteem. "Tell
your father," he writes, "that Mr. Madison and Mr,
Monroe both inquired after his health; and that
theirs Is improving,"
Mrs, Gordon was a woman of great force of char
acter, of unusual Intelligence, of marked cultivation
and literary acquirements, and of devoted though
unostentatious piety. At the time of their marriage
Gordon had already attracted the attention of Mr.
Jefferson, who had then retired to private life at
Monticello, after a nearly continuous public service
of forty-four years; and this union of the youthful
lawyer with the daughter of one of his valued friends
served to bring the younger man and the older into
those closer relations of admiration and veneration
on the one hand, and of confidence and esteem on
the other, which contributed in no small degree to
inducing Gordon at a later period to become a candi
date for the General Assembly, when Mr. Jefferson
was most actively urging before the legislature the
creation of one of the noblest monuments of his
genius, the University of Virginia, Elizabeth Lind
say, In her girlhood and young womanhood, had
formed such an association and companionship with
Mr, Jefferson's daughters, who later became Mrs.
Randolph and Mrs. J, W. Eppes, as often grows up
between young women of sympathetic feelings and
congenial tastes; and she frequently visited the
family at Monticello. Among the many Interesting
reminiscences which brightened her later years was

58 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
one which she regarded as very Illustrative of the
systematic utilization of time by Mr, Jefferson, She
said she had observed that there was always a vol
ume of some sort on the mantel-shelf of the dining-
room at Monticello, from which, whenever she en
tered the room at meal times, she almost always
found him reading, while he stood near the fire-place,
waiting for family and guests to assemble. The cir
cumstance Interested her so much that she ventured
to inquire of him why he should read standing, and
at such brief and unusual moments. He replied that
he had always sought to cultivate punctuality, a vir
tue that did not consistently characterize so large a
household as his; and that by economizing the wait
ing moments, he had found leisure to read, as she
had seen him reading, a very large number of books,
the perusal of which he might otherwise have been
forced to torego.
Of Mrs, Gordon's unselfish devotion to her hus
band during their long union perhaps no more char
acteristic illustration can be given than In her con
duct at the time of the burning of their dwelling-
house In Albemarle, during his absence in Washlng-
tion In the session of the last Congress of which he
was a member. She was aware of the engrossing
attention which the public business demanded of him,
for he was then especially busy with his Sub-Treasury
plan; and she wished to convey to him with as little
shock as possible the news of the calamity which had
thus befallen them. She wrote February 15, 1835,
from her father's home at Springfield:
"We are all well, I heard from our dear little
boys since I wrote last to you. They were in fine
health and spirits. These are blessings to be thank
ful for; and now, my dear husband, when I tell you
your manuscript papers and books are safe, I hope
you will not suffer yourself to be much agitated,
when I add that our house Is burned. Most of the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 59
furniture of the lower rooms Is saved. The girls lost
all their clothing of every description, except a few
trifles and what they had on. The first feeling of
my heart was deep and fervent gratitude to God for
having preserved us from the accident happening in
the night, I shudder to think what sorrow we might
then have had; but all my children are now safe,
and I am perfectly resigned to any Inconveniences we
may have to encounter, I must mention to you that
we are Indebted to Mr, Provost, the young gentle
man who lives at Mr. Rives', for the saving of all
that was saved. He called at our house that day,
Maria Walker was with me. Dinner was ready soon
after. While at dinner In the cellar, a spark caught
the roof from the chimney. No one observed it,
until a large part of it was in a blaze, and the wind
blowing violently. All the servants except Harry
lost all presence of mind; and Mr, Provost and
himself got most of the things out, I asked him to
save your papers and books first; and went In myself
and seized your likeness, when I found Reuben pull
ing me out of the house. Reuben and William be
haved like heroes. They were quite collected and
helped to get out a great many things. All our neigh
bors crowded to our assistance, black and white, —
but before any men got there, It was Impossible to
enter the house,
"You know how often I have told you that my
courage always rises to meet the occasion, I am per
fectly composed. You must think of us as on a visit
to our dear affectionate mother and sister, happy to
know that we are all safe. If your public duties
make It Important for you to stay from us till the
close of the session, do so. I will write to you
every post. All I beg, my dear husband, Is that you
will not risk your health or safety In coming while
the ice Is on the river, I told Cousin Lewis last night
that I should write to cheer you, and beg you not to
forsake the standard of old Virginia's principles for

6o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
a paltry fire. There is not a man In the district that
can be elected to support them now, but yourself;
and perhaps it will be an effort congenial with your
spirit to rise above this misfortune. I have no doubt
or fear but we shall all be comfortable again. The
girls beg me to ask you, if the silks are not purchased,
not to get them, or anything for them but plain and
neat clothing, such as gingham, cambric, calico. If
you have bought plates and dishes, perhaps you
would better sell them again,
"Now again let me beg of you to take care of your
own health, and don't venture on the Ice, When I
see you and my children together again I shall be the
happiest woman in the world. All send love to you
more than I can express, and may God bless and pre
serve you,
"Ever your affectionate wife,
"E, L, Gordon,
"Don't think this blotted sheet the effect of agita
tion, I write with a bad pen and my hand very cold,"
His courage was as lofty as hers. He met her
message with a serene optimism that was the counter
part of her own :
"Washington, 17 February, 1835,
"My dear Wife: I have just received your letter,
communicating the loss of our dwelling-house. I
have felt a good deal in sympathy with you and my
dear children; but, thank God, you are all safe.
The inconvenience of our loss is more than Its value.
The house was an Indifferent one, and Intrinsically
worth but little, save as having been our habitation
through many years. Its destruction produces a
mournful feeling,
"I shall procure the girls some new clothing, I
have determined not to leave my post here, until just
before the adjournment. Perhaps I may be at March
Court, I do not know that I could render any

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 6i
peculiar service by coming sooner; and I do not wish
to_ give to my political adversaries any subject of
criticism, "I am pleased at your account of the bearing of
Reuben and William during the fire, I hope that
they will be brave and virtuous men,
"I communicated our misfortune to my friend,
Mr, Robertson. He says you ought to be pleased, as
I shall be compelled to build you a new house. You
must think of this. I am afraid that you wIU crowd
your mother very much, but I know it will afford her
pleasure to shelter you under the circumstances.
"I hope the overseer will not relax his efforts for a
crop ; and that you will compose yourself as much as
you can, I shall soon be with you; and perhaps our
accident will turn out a blessing. It will arouse me to
greater exertion and economy; but I feel it sensibly
to have a houseless family at so Inclement a season,
and to be absent from them.
"It is not in my nature to grieve at mere pecuniary
loss, and but for the sufferings of you and my dear
children I should be very composed. My health
never was better. The mess, and the family of Mrs,
McDaniel expressed great concern for our loss,
Mrs, McDaniel very generously offered to loan me
all her spare money to assist me In building. The
little kindness I have shown to her and her family,
In helping them to make and keep their mess, has
made them my very sincere friends. The girls send
their love and sympathy for you. I shall get them to
procure for M. and H. several new dresses, &c,
"Affectionately and sincerely yours,
"Wm, F, Gordon,"
The house thus destroyed In February, 1835, was
not without an Interesting history. When Gordon
married Mary Rootes, her father, who was a man
of wealth, had purchased for the young couple a farm
in the vicinity of Orange Court House, the village

62 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
where he first opened a law-office for practice; and
they lived on their farm for the short period of their
married life, during which he combined, after the
custom of the Virginia country lawyer of the period,
the avocation of the gentleman-farmer with the voca
tion of the practising lawyer. Upon the early death
of his first wife, with the highmindedness and fine
sense of right which always characterized him, he
re-conveyed to her relatives the farm which had thus
come to him from her father, although at the time
he was possessed of little worldly gear, and well un
derstood the value of Its possession In beginning the
battle of life. He left Orange about this time, and
settled at Charlottesville, Here for a long period,
interrupted after his second marriage by a tem
porary sojourn at Springfield, the home of his father-
in-law, Colonel Lindsay, he continued to reside, and
to practice his profession, meanwhile "riding the cir
cuit" In attendance on the courts held in Orange and
Louisa, as well as those of Albemarle, until in 1825,
when he purchased from Nathaniel Ragland the
property on the south side of the Southwest Moun
tains, near the town of GordonsvIUe, the destruction
of the dwelling-house on which has been described in
one of the foregoing letters.
The farm and dwelling had In colonial times con
stituted "The Glebe" of Fredericksville parish, in
Albemarle. Its first occupant as glebe property was
the Reverend James Maury, for whom, says Bishop
Meade in "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of
Virginia," "soon after he settled in the parish a good
glebe of four hundred acres was purchased, near
Captain Lindsay's, and a parsonage built, which with
the outhouses and other improvements, seem during
his life to have been well attended to by the vestry,"
It may be noted that in 1763, when the parish was
divided into Trinity in Louisa County, and Freder
icksville In Albemarle, by an act of Assembly, the
vestry of Fredericksville was ordered to pay two

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 63
hundred pounds — half the price of their glebe — to
the new vestry of Trinity for the purchase of a glebe.
Here the Reverend James Maury, who was both
rector and teacher of a small school, was succeeded by
his son, Mr, Mathew Maury, who continued rector
of Fredericksville parish until his death in 1808,
The Reverend Mathew Maury also supplemented
his meagre salary as an Episcopal minister by teaching
a boys' classical school at "The Glebe;" and educated
here a large number of the sons of prominent Vir
ginia families. Among his father's pupils was Mr,
Jefferson, who attended the school as a lad, prior to
entering the ancient college of William and Mary in
Virginia, at Williamsburg, In his venerable old age,
after the purchase by Gordon of "The Glebe," as a
place of residence, Mr. Jefferson said jestingly to Mrs,
Gordon, "My dear, do you know that you have got
the Old Boy's room in your house?" and in response
to her somewhat astonished quei-y of his meaning, in
formed her that it was the room dedicated to the oc
cupancy of the older lads of Parson Maury's school,
A nephew of the Reverend Machew, and grandson
of the Reverend James Maury, of "The Glebe," was
Commodore Mathew Fontaine Maury, of great fame
in the later history of the country for his scientific ca
reer, which earned for him the unique and Illustrious
title of "Pathfinder of the Seas,"
After the destruction of the old glebe house at
Edgeworth by fire in 1835, Gordon built the com
modious brick mansion now standing on the place,
which has been described by a local chronicler as a
"handsome brick structure, which is two stories in
height, with double rooms and a wide hall on each
floor, besides a large cellar;" and of which the fur
ther statement Is made that "it formed at that date
an imposing building, being much superior to those
of his neighbors, and Its spacious apartments became
the scene of a refined and elegant hospitality,"
Here he resided up to the time of his death.

CHAPTER IV >
"the red hills of piedmont"
Whatever may have been the relative architectural
merits of Gordon's new house at Edgeworth and
those of its owner's neighbors, it Is certain that at
no period In the history of Colony or Commonwealth,
and in no neighborhood characteristic of either, could
there be found in Virginia a society more cultivated,
refined and genteel than that composing the neigh
borhoods between the towns of GordonsvIUe and
Charlottesville, along the base of the Southwest
range of mountains. Beginning at the former place,
then but a small country village, where later a town
of some size grew up about the home of Nathaniel
Gordon, an uncle of William FItzhugh Gordon,
from whom it took Its name, situated upon a section
of the eighteen hundred acres of land which he
owned there, and traveling westward, one came
successively to "Hopewell," the home of Gordon's
uncle by marriage, "the Blind Preacher" Waddell,
near the church in the wilderness, where William
Wirt had seen him lift his sightless eyeballs to heaven,
and tell with words of Inspired eloquence how
"Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ
like a God." Near by were "Springfield" and "The
Meadows," the homes of the Lindsays, of which
family came Gordon's second wife; and In the Im
mediate neighborhood was "Logan," then occupied
by Captain Lewis Walker, of the distinguished
family whose founder In Albemarle County was Dr.
Thomas Walker, famous as a pioneer and explorer
in Kentucky, and a diplomat in dealing with the
Indian tribes of the western frontier. Dr, Walker
was commissary-general of the troops under Wash
ington, who accompanied Braddock on his Ill-fated

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 65
expedition, and was present at his defeat. He served
in the House of Burgesses and on the Committee of
Safety, and was President of the commission to fix
the boundary line between Virginia and North Caro
lina, He was Jefferson's guardian. By his mar
riage with the widow of Nicholas Meriwether he
acquired "Castle-Hill," the home, at a subsequent
date, of his relative, Mr, William C, Rives. One
of Dr, Walker's daughters, Betsy, married the Rev
erend Mathew Maury, who taught school in the old
Glebe house at Edgeworth. Another daughter,
Lucy, was the wife of Dr. George Gilmer, of "Pen
Park," and the mother of Mildred Gilmer, who mar
ried William Wirt, the author of "The British Spy,"
and Attorney-General of the United States. A
grandson of Dr, George Gilmer and Lucy Walker
was Governor Thomas Walker Gilmer, who was
Secretary of the Navy in President Tyler's adminis
tration, and was killed by the explosion of a cannon
on the steamer Princeton. During Gordon's life
"Logan" continued the home of Captain Lewis Wal
ker, who was Gordon's brother-in-law, he having mar
ried Maria Lindsay, the sister of Mrs. Gordon,
One of their sons was General Reuben Lindsay
Walker, of the Confederate States Army,
West of "Edgeworth" was "Keswick," the home
of the Pages, whose history from colonial days to
the present has adorned the annals of Virginia,
During the period of this biography Its owner was
Dr, Mann Page, a distinguished physician of his
day, who on his maternal side was a grandson of
that Archibald Cary, known as "Old Iron," of
whom It has been said by the historian of the Vir
ginia Convention of 1776, that when the scheme
of a dictator for Virginia was talked of in the As
sembly at Williamsburg, and it was alleged that
Patrick Henry's friends favored him for the office,
"Cary met Colonel Syme, the half-brother of Henry

66 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In the lobby of the house, and accosted him : Sir, I
am told that your brother wishes to be dictator.
Tell him from me, that the day of his appointment
shall be the day of his death; for he shall find my
dagger in his heart before the sunset of that day,"
Two of Dr, Page's grandsons, James Morris Page,
and Thomas Walker Page, are now prominent pro
fessors In the University of Virginia, the former
being Dean of the Collegiate Department, after hav
ing filled the position of Chairman of the Faculty,
West of Keswick and nearer the mountain was
"Castle Hill," during Gordon's life the home of
Mr, William Cabell Rives, Mr. Rives was one of
the most conspicuous figures In American politics in
the first half of the nineteenth century. He was
elected to Congress in 1822 as a Democrat, and
after serving three terms was sent to France as
Minister from the United States by President Jack
son, He succeeded Senator Tazewell In the Senate
in 1832, where he was known as a "Conservative,"
He resigned In 1834, and was again elected Senator
In 1835, holding the office till 1845, He was a
prominent figure In the debates on the expunging
resolutions and the Sub-Treasury scheme; and was
again Minister to France In 1849, He was a pub
lic speaker and debater of great ability, and a scholar
of varied culture. Among his other literary works
was an elaborate "Life of James Madison."
Mr, Rives, Dr. Page, and Gordon all had sons
in their families; and under an arrangement partici
pated In by the three houses, a teacher was employed
to whom these lads went to school ; and who taught,
generally In turn, at Edgeworth, Keswick or Castle
Hill. The annalist of the school states that Mr.
Provost, whose helpful conduct at the burning of
the Edgeworth house is described in Mrs. Gordon's
letter to her husband, taught at Castle Hill in
1835-36, and that he "was one of the best teachers,"
He naively adds that Mr, Provost "also courted all

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 67
the marriageable girls in the neighborhood," These
teachers were young men, who were graduates of
Princeton, of Yale, of Bowdoin, of Harvard, and
of the_ English Universities, George Jeffrey, of
Cambridge University, taught at Keswick In 1843-
1844, and at Edgeworth the following session, "It
was about this time," writes the annalist, "that F, W,
Meerbach, a famous German pianist, gave music-
lessons to young ladies In the neighborhood, Mr.
Jeffrey was a very eccentric man, and the two had
a quarrel, resulting in Mr, Jeffrey's going next ses
sion to Edgeworth," Among the last teachers of
the neighborhood, most of the boys having in the
mean time grown up, was Mr, Calvin S, Maupin, of
North Carolina, who taught at Edgeworth, Of him
the school-annalist writes: "Mr, Maupin was not a
very literary man, nor did he much enjoy conversa
tion at meals, being usually blessed with a ravenous
appetite. Thus, while General Gordon was telling
some anecdote about President Jackson, while a
member of Congress, Mr. Maupin Interrupted him
in the middle of the most Interesting part by remark
ing, 'General, you got my bread!' "
Next to Castle Hill, on the west, was "Kinloch,"
the home of the Meriwethers, a family which gave
to the country one of Its most famous explorers In
the person of Meriwether Lewis, the companion of
Clark on the great "Oregon Trail," Of him Mr.
Jefferson said: "He was courage undaunted, pos
sessing a firmness of purpose which nothing but im
possibilities could divert from Its direction, and was
Intimate with Indian character, customs and princi
ples," Other distinguished members of this family
were the two David Meriwethers, the elder of whom
went to Georgia, where he attained prominence as
a legislator and Congressman; and who was ap
pointed In 1804 by Mr. Jefferson a commissioner
to treat with the Creeks, and also served with An
drew Jackson in making a treaty with the Cherokees.

68 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
The younger David went to Kentucky, where he be
came a member of its Constitutional Convention of
1849, later Speaker of its House of Representatives,
and succeeding Henry Clay In the United States
Senate in 1852, was afterwards territorial Governor
of New Mexico.
The occupant of "Kinloch," In Gordon's time was
Dr. Thomas W. Meriwether, whose wife was a
granddaughter of Governor Thomas Nelson, of
Yorktown, and a daughter of Hugh Nelson, son of
Thomas, upon whose death, in 1836, Kinloch came
into the possession of Dr, Meriwether, Hugh Nel
son was among the most distinguished of the many
distinguished men of this Piedmont section. He
was Speaker of the House of Delegates In the Gen
eral Assembly of Virginia, and a judge of the Gen
eral Court. He was elected to Congress, where he
served twelve years, when he resigned; and was then
appointed United States Minister to Spain.
Nelson's residence, however, was not at Kinloch,
which was built by Dr. Meriwether, but at "Belvoir,"
near by. Nelson obtained the Belvoir estate by his
marriage with Eliza Kinloch, only granddaughter of
John Walker, the eldest son of Dr, Thomas Walker,
of Castle Hill. John Walker of Belvoir served as
"an extra-aide" on General Washington's staff dur
ing the Revolution; and in 1790 was a United States
Senator, by executive appointment, succeeding Wil
liam Grayson. Walker's wife was Elizabeth Moore,
granddaughter of Alexander Spotswood, Colonial
Governor of Virginia, and founder of the "town"
of Germanna, whose description by William Byrd,
of Westover, has been given in a former chapter.
Further west, in the direction of Charlottesville,
stood "Belmont," the home of the Everetts, whose
owner in the early decades of the nineteenth century
was Dr, Charles Everett, a graduate in 1796 of the
medical school of the University of Pennsylvania,
who was at one time Gordon's colleague in the House

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 69
of Delegates, later serving as private secretary to
President James Monroe,
Near Belmont was "Edgehlll," the residence of Jef
ferson's son-in-law, Governor Thomas Mann Ran
dolph, He was a descendant of William Randolph
of Turkey Island, the progenitor in Virginia of many
distinguished men of the name who have adorned
American history with the story of their civic
achievements ; and who was also the ancestor of Mr.
Jefferson himself, and of General Robert E. Lee,
Governor Randolph was educated at William and
Mary College, and at the University of Edinburgh,
He was a member of the Virginia Senate in 1793
;ind 1794, and a representative in Congress from
1803 to 1807. One of his biographers says of him:
"During the War of 18 12 Mr, Randolph's ardent
patriotism was conspicuous. He raised a command
and gallantly participated in the engagements of the
seaboard, and was soon promoted to lieutenant-
colonel, and placed in command of the First Light
Corps." He was Governor of Virginia from De
cember I, 1819, to December i, 1822.
Gordon served under Colonel Randolph In the
War of 1 8 12, first as a private, and then at head
quarters. His admiration for him was very
great; and we find that his letters of the period, writ
ten home to his wife, contain frequent allusions to
him. In 18 19 he was Gordon's colleague In the
House of Delegates,
"Colonel Randolph's election to be Governor of
the State," wrote Gordon from Richmond, under
date of December 16, 18 19, "has left me alone In
the House of Delegates, and nothing but your per
sonal Indisposition would justify my leaving the
county entirely unrepresented. Colonel Randolph
was elected with great honor to himself, as he had
two competitors who were respectable," And again,
December 23, 18 19: "The triumph of the friends
of Colonel Randolph over the detractions of his

70 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
enemies was Indeed pleasing." After having served
as Governor of the State, Colonel Randolph was
again returned to the House of Delegates as Gor
don's colleague from Albemarle County. On De
cember 7, 1823, the latter writes to Mrs. Gordon:
"I am boarding at the Eagle, where there are nearly
sixty members of the Assembly. Mr. and Mrs,
Loyall are near neighbors. Colonel Randolph
boards only a little distance from me. He has lately
returned from New York, and Is delighted with the
improvements of that great State, I am much pleased
that he Is In the Legislature. He is gaining friends
every day and making the true impression which his
science, Intelligence and patriotism should always
command; and but for that rash humor which his
mother gave him might now have stood foremost In
the ranks of those who, wanting nearly every quality
which he possesses, are aspiring to the highest honors
of the Confederacy, I feel proud that he is my
friend, and count myself the better for never for one
moment having neglected or abandoned him," An
historic Illustration of this fierce temper, to which
Gordon alludes, was Thomas Mann Randolph's at
tack on his kinsman, John Randolph of Roanoke, In
the closing scene of the Ninth Congress, when
Imagining that the latter had referred to him in
objectionable language, he made a most violent and
savage speech against John Randolph, that was only
prevented by the intervention of friends from re
sulting In a physical collision.
Hard by Edgehlll was "Shadwell," the home of
Peter Jefferson, surveyor and map-maker with
Joshua Fry, and the birthplace of his Illustrious son,
Thomas Jefferson; while across the river, and In
sight, stood "Monticello," on Its eminence overlook
ing the red-watered river of the RIvanna, Itself the
dwelling-place of the great political leader and
philosopher. These were the homes of Gordon's neighbors, and

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 71
perhaps all of them, his friends. Not far from
MontlceUo, northwestward. Is the town of Char
lottesville, near which lived James Monroe, fourth
President of the United States; and two miles fur
ther off was "Blenheim," the seat of Andrew Steven
son, Speaker of the United States House of Repre
sentatives during Gordon's membership of that body,
and Minister to the Court of St, James under the
administration of Jackson. A few miles away Is the
birthplace and burial-place of Thomas Walker Gil
mer, Gordon's contemporary and friend, Governor
of Virginia, Member of Congress, and Secretary of
the Navy, killed by the accident on the steamer
Princeton, before he had well passed his fortieth
year. "Within but a little distance," says a recent writer,
In a local article describing the distinguished homes
near the University of Virginia, "between the home
of Monroe and the burial-place of Gilmer still stands
the house in which lived Joshua Fry, the colonel of
Washington's regiment, above whose burial-place
that great man carved upon a tree, that beneath its
shelter lay 'the good, the just, the noble Fry,'
"A little further off to the west stands the stately
mansion in which was born Edward Coles, Terri
torial, and afterwards first Governor of Illinois, Go
directly south of the birth-place of Edward Coles,
and you come to the birth-place, now only a memory
of Wilson Cary Nicholas, member of Congress,
United States Senator from Virginia, and Governor
of Virginia,"
Turning eastward again, across the Southwest
Mountains from Gordon's house at Edgeworth, was
the mansion of James Barbour, Governor of Vir
ginia, United States Senator and Minister to the
Court of St, James ; while a mile away was the resi
dence of his brother, Philip Pendleton Barbour, mem
ber of Congress, Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives and Justice of the Supreme Court, both

72 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of whom were Gordon's warm personal and politi
cal friends, and the latter of whom he hoped and
endeavored in the Democratic National Convention
at Baltimore In 1835, to nominate for Vice-Presi
dent of the United States,
"Come back now to Monticello," continues the
writer above quoted, "and look across the river to
your left, and just beyond the bridge which spans Its
red waters. On the hillside sloping towards the river
was born George Rogers Clark, the Intrepid soldier,
and the great conquerer of the Northwest Territory.
Follow the river up towards Its source, and up one of
Its smaller northern tributaries a few miles, and in a
cabin of which no trace now remains, was born Gen
eral Sumter, the hero of the Revolution, member of
Congress and Senator from South Carolina.
"A few miles further north, and you come to
stately 'Montpeller,' the home and burial-place of
James Madison * * * Go up the railroad a few
miles towards Washington, and a monument marks
the spot where stood the cabin in which Zachary Tay
lor, hero of the Mexican War, and President of the
United States, was born,
"Come back again to Monticello, and stand on the
western slope of the little mountain, and look up the
meanders of the river. About four miles off you can
see a large white house In a grove, the home of Dr.
George Gilmer, Revolutionary patriot, where once
lived William Wirt, Attorney-General of the United
States, jurist, orator and author. But a few steps
back of the house sleeps his first wife — his earliest
love. "Look down Into Charlottesville, About the cen
tre of the town and near the City Hall, was born
Nicholas P, Trist, the distinguished statesman of
Kentucky, who together with Mr, Jefferson, drew
the celebrated resolutions of '98 and '99. Follow
the main street of the little city, by the rotunda of the
University, and passing the home of the present

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 73
Senator of Virginia, Thomas S. Martin, you come to
Ivy, a pleasant little hamlet seven miles away. Half
amile to the north of this village you come to the
birth-place of Meriwether Lewis, who with a brother
of George Rogers Clark, made his way to 'where
rolls the Oregon,' and opened the way of the world
to the great States of Washington and Oregon. Of
his birth-place and home only a chimney remains."
Here, too, amid the foothills of this Piedmont
region, that bear the peculiar physical characteristic
of a vivid red soil, lived Dabney Carr, patriot and
eloquent orator, who moved the resolutions in the
Virginia House of Burgesses In 1773 for the ap
pointment of the Committee of Correspondence, He
married Jefferson's sister; and their son, the younger
Dabney Carr, was chancellor of the Winchester Dis
trict of Virginia for thirteen years, and Judge of the
Supreme Court of Appeals of the State from 1824
to 1837.
The roster of these Pledmontese would lack com
pleteness if it failed to include the name of Francis
Walker Gilmer, of Albemarle, to whom was en
trusted by Mr. Jefferson in 1824 the important task
of going abroad and Inducing the acceptance by dis
tinguished foreign scholars of professorships In the
new University of Virginia, The correspondence of
Jefferson and Gilmer still exists In manuscript form,
bound In a thick volume, which also contains letters
of advice and assistance from Dugald Stewart, Ben
jamin Rush, Lord Brougham, Lord Telgnmouth,
Dr, Samuel Parr, Lord Forbes, Henry Drury of
Harrow, Prof, John Leslie of Edinburgh, George
Ticknor, Dupont de Nemours, William Wirt, and
many others, Gilmer was a man of unusual qualities
of mind, who died before the meridian of achieve
ment, but left upon his time the unmistakable mark
of his genius, "Among those who have shown me
favor," wrote of him John Randolph of Roanoke,

74 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"I set high value upon the attachment of Frank Gil
mer,"
In the town of Charlottesville, though of a younger
generation than Gordon, lived his son-in-law, Wil
liam J, Robertson, an eminent judge of the Supreme
Court of Appeals of Virginia, who was the recog
nized leader of the bar of the State In his generation
and who, among other notable cases in the United
States Supreme Court, was counsel In the famous
suit of General Robert E, Lee's children to recover
Arlington from the United States Government ; while
In the nearby Piedmont county of Culpeper resided
In the period of his earlier practice William Green,
believed by his American contemporaries and by
leading members of the English bar to be the most
learned lawyer of the Western world; and who,
though himself a slave-owner and regarding John
Brown as a malefactor and assassin, represented him
in his petition for a writ of error to the Supreme
Court of Appeals of Virginia In 1861, because he
thought that a knowledge of his client's guilt does
not warrant a lawyer to refuse his case. To this
petition, which was rejected. Green said In a letter
to Governor John A, Andrew of Massachusetts, that
he gave such ability and effort as he was able, "as if
he had believed Brown innocent;" and Mr, Randolph
Tucker has emphasized Green's statement by the as
sertion that the petition contained all the law of
treason known to the English-speaking world,
A large majority of these Pledmontese, whose
careers have been briefly summarized in this chapter,
were Gordon's contemporaries; and very many of
them were his personal friends and Intimates. They
all, whether of an earlier or later time, are illustra
tive of the character and kind of people who for so
long a period chose him as their representative In
the legislative halls of the commonwealth and nation.
It was no idle compliment which John Randolph
of Roanoke paid to PhiUp Pendleton Barbour, upon

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 75
the occasion of the latter's maiden speech in Con
gress, when he said, "Sir, I have listened to you;
and I see that the Red Hills of Piedmont are still
producing great men,"

CHAPTER V
IN THE WAR OF I 8 12
Soon after Gordon moved from Orange County
to Charlottesville the difficulties with England grow
ing out of her claim to the right of search, during
her war with France, became acute. In 1809 Mr,
Jefferson had finished his second term as President,
and returned to Monticello, where his personal as
sociation with and Influence over the young men
in Charlottesville and Albemarle were dominating.
His neighbor and friend, Mr. Madison, was still
in the White House at Washington when war loomed
on the horizon. Jefferson himself saw it coming In
the spring of 18 12, as Governor Barbour had indi
cated It in his letter to Gordon of January 21st, of
that year. "No doubt seems to be entertained here,"
he wrote from Richmond, "but that war is inevi
table," Mr. Jefferson wrote to a friend In England:
"Our two countries are to be at war, but not you
and I. And why should our two countries be at
war, when by peace we can be so much more useful
to one another ? Surely the world will acquit our
government from having sought it. Never before
has there been an instance of a nation bearing so
much as we have borne."
Both Jefferson and Madison had carried endur
ance to the limit; but the Republican party to which
they belonged was so overwhelmingly in favor of
hostilities that the President was compelled to re
commend a declaration. In June, 18 12, Congress
passed an act declaring the existence of a state of
war between the United States and Great Britain,
and the President Issued his proclamation that war
had begun. New England opposed the war, and
threatened secession; and when the administration,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON

/ 1

in accordance with the provisions of the act of Con
gress, called for militia, the governors of Massachu
setts, Connecticut and Rhode Island refused to obey;
and the courts of their several States sustained them
on the ground that the act was unconstitutional.
Disasters to the American arms on land, and vic
tories at sea, were the earliest fruits of the struggle,
which until May, 1813, raged at a distance from
the territory and shores of Virginia. Early in that
month, however, Admiral Cockburn, with a British
fleet, entered Chesapeake Bay, and committed various
depredations in Maryland, In August of the fol
lowing year a detachment of four thousand British
soldiers under General Ross marched fifty miles
across country to Washington, from the fleet, and
captured the city. The President and his Cabinet
sought safety in flight, while the British soldiers ate
the dinner that had been prepared and drank "the
ale, cider and wine" that had been "placed in the
coolers" for the entertainment of the members of
"the Cabinet, military gentlemen and strangers"
whom the President had Invited to dine with him
that day. Admiral Cockburn entered the hall of the
House of Representatives at the Capitol, at the head
of a band of followers, and seating himself in the
Speaker's chair, put them the question: "Shall this
harbor of Yankee democracy be burned? All for
it will say 'Aye.' " The ayes had It; and the Capitol
and other public buildings in Washington were de
stroyed by incendiary fire.
In the mean time, and before the burning of the
Capitol, great excitement had been precipitated in
Virginia by the attack on Craney Island, near Nor
folk, by the British, and Its successful defense by the
Americans; and later the capture of the town of
Hampton, James Barbour, the Governor of Virginia, assem
bled the citizen soldiery in the field, Gordon, with
other kindred spirits, volunteered. On the 31st of

78 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
July, 1 8 14, he wrote to his wife, then at her father's
house, from Charlottesville :
"On my arrival here I was Informed that Colonel
Yancey, who will command us, was without a clerk,
and hearing he would not be here for a day or two,
I procured a furlough from my officer, and rode im
mediately to see the Colonel, who has appointed me
clerk to the regiment. I shall be a member of the
Colonel's family, along with Dabney Carr, Tucker
Coles, and several other genteel persons. The troops
will march from this place to-day,"
On the 30th of August he announced the arrival
of his regiment, under Colonel Charles Yancey, In
Richmond; and stated that he had reported to the
Governor, "who has taken the field, and pitched
his tent In camp" — a characteristic action on the part
of the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth, who,
In this contest, "is said to have pledged his personal
means to sustain the credit of his State, and by his
vigilant and able conduct of affairs nobly maintained
the honor of Virginia, who acted well her part in this
second struggle with Old England,"
"We were ordered to report ourselves," continued
Gordon In his letter, "to the adjutant-general this
morning, which we shall presently do. The imme
diate apprehension for this place will be lessened
by the arrival of a number of volunteer and other
troops, who are pouring Into the city from every
direction. We have heard that the enemy have
evacuated Washington, and there Is nothing but
vague rumor as to any other of their movements.
Great exertions are making to put Virginia in an
'armor of defence;' and I cannot suffer myself for
a moment to doubt the result and happy consequence
of such efforts. Our immediate destination we shall
know in a few hours, I am informed from good au
thority that I shall receive a very pretty appointment
on the general staff, which will enable me probably
to render more service to the republic, with more

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 79
advantage to myself, * * * Tell your father that
I believe all the property here, that can be transported
to places of safety, has been sent away,"
A few days thereafter, he writes from "Camp
Warronlgh" near West Point, on the York River:
"Colonel Randolph's detachment arrived at this
present encampment two days since. The corps are
all high In spirits, and anxious to encounter the
enemy. He has under his command the finest of the
youth of Virginia. Our wary enemy I hear will not
give us an opportunity of obliterating the disgrace
at Washington. He will probably wait until the
ardor of the moment shall have passed away before
any attempt Is made on Virginia, Our Colonel has
all his chivalry about him. Major David Watson
of Louisa is with us, I am In a very genteel mess,
and am as contented as I can be away from my
family, "There Is a novelty in a camp life which is not
unpleasant to me, though every moment of reflec
tion teaches me the value of the happiness I have
left behind me. But when I see thousands of others
who have made even greater sacrifices than myself,
I feel that I should be degraded In any other char
acter than that of a soldier for the term. I have
declined several little appointments which would
have lightened the burdens of my condition; but I
have refused to leave the ranks of my country, where
I can share the difficulties of the time. Our friend,
James Ragland, will be appointed adjutant to the
cavalry under Colonel Randolph; and he insists on
my aiding him, which I shall consent to do.
"There has been considerable difficulty in procur
ing provisions, &c,, for the numerous troops and
companies that are and will be In service. There are
many of my friends and acquaintances In camp.
Francis Gilmer Is with us, acting as secretary to
Major Watson. I have determined to ask for no

8o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
appointment whatever. If my merits do not point
me out, I shall continue a private,"
Early in September he wrote from Richmond that
he and his wife's kinsman, William Lindsay, had
joined Captain Carr's troop of cavalry, "which with
the Richmond Blues, and several other of the finest
companies here, will form an elite corps under the
immediate command of Colonel Randolph. * * *
There are a great quantity of troops from all parts
of the country, the choice spirits of Virginia, flock
ing to her standard. I have until this morning been
at Headquarters, writing constantly, I was much
solicited to remain in the department of the adju
tant-general, but I preferred the situation of a pri
vate with Colonel Randolph.
"I have not seen Mr, Rutherford's family, or him
self. Your father has no doubt heard of the dis
graceful capitulation of Alexandria. Thank God,
it is not a part of Virginia ! Mr, Rutherford has
moved all his tobacco up to his own lot. The troops
are in the finest spirits you can imagine. The spirit
of the people will erase the disgrace of the Govern
ment, We want talents everywhere, patriotism Is
general. Our patriotic Governor is using all his
exertions to sustain the high character of Virginia,
"I have just got a sword; and really I have
reminded myself of the humorous story in the 'Spec
tator' of the gentleman who could scarcely keep his
sword from between his legs, I shall be shortly a
more accomplished soldier."
Again, from Camp Warronlgh, he wrote, on Sep
tember 14, 1 8 14:
"I fear we shall have no opportunity of meeting
the enemy on our shores. This whole corps would
meet them with a firmness and enthusiasm Inspired
by the occasion, and by the devotion of every
man in it to our heroic commander. It Is
really enviable to see to what a degree of affection
and attachment he has already bound all to him.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 8i
"The only articles I purchased In Richmond were
a flannel coat and a pair of nankeen pantaloons. If
my Virginia cloth is ready, you would have an op
portunity in fifteen days from the present date of
sending me down any articles you may make by Mr.
Arthur Clayton of Louisa, who has a furlough, and
will return in that time, I am, however, not In want
of clothes, and do not affect any of the parade of
a soldier. If I had time and seclusion, I could
interest you somewhat with a description of this coun
try ; but the frequent interruptions of business forbid.
We have heard that some of the enemy's ships have
left the Bay, destination unknown,"
William Wirt was one of the officers at Camp
Warronlgh, and commanded an artillery company.
In a letter written by him in September, 1814, he
says, "Frank Gilmer, Jefferson Randolph, the Carrs
and others, have got tired waiting for the British,
and gone home,"
No other of Gordon's letters home during this
period have been preserved, until that of December
23, 1 8 14, written from Camp Carter, on the
Chickahomlny River, where the Virginia army,
theretofore commanded by Governor Barbour, in
person, had now gone Into winter quarters. The
State troops while at Camp Carter, and at Camp
Holly on the Chickahomlny, were commanded by
General John Hartwell Cocke, who was later a con-
splcuous.figure In the history of Virginia as a mem
ber of the first Board of Visitors of the University
of Virginia, and as Vice-President of the American
Colonization Society, formed for the purpose of
settling the slavery question by the colonization of
the negroes of the South in Africa,
"The day after I wrote to you," Gordon wrote,
under the foregoing date, to Mrs, Gordon, at Spring
field, "I was requested by General Cocke, through
6

82 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
his aide, Mr, Rives, to act as his Secretary, to which
I consented, as It would render my situation more
comfortable and pleasing, I have been at camp
several days waiting for the General, who is in the
neighborhood of Williamsburg, He is expected
here to-day.
"You will be quite at a loss to conceive how an
encampment, which a few weeks since was in wood,
furnishes accommodation for upwards of two thou
sand men, as warm as your mother's chamber, the
streets of which are as smooth and dry as the best
turnpike road. The cabins are all neat and warm.
In the absence of General Cocke, I have slept in the
quarters of Lieutenant Nicholas.
"I find General Cocke universally respected and
looked up to by the officers under his command — a
striking instance of the triumph of talents and per
severance In a cause of duty over the momentary
prejudices and disgusts of others,
"If Gilmer has returned, present my warm re
gards to him, and tell him to write to me, or come
down to see me, if he can spare time,"
In the Interval between the last letter, and that
which follows, the battle of New Orleans had been
fought. On the 8th of January, 1815, General An
drew Jackson, with seven thousand men, for the
most part raw militia brought hastily together, had
met and repulsed the attack of eight thousand ex
perienced and highly trained veterans, many of whom
had seen service in the European wars. The Ameri
can loss had been only seventy-one men. The
British loss was two thousand, Including their cour
ageous leader, General Pakenham. It was a glorious
triumph for the citizen soldiery, and afforded an
ample vindication of the views of the republicans of
Mr, Jefferson's school, who were opposed to a large
standing army, and believed that citizen troops
properly organized by the States constituted a suffi
cient defense in time of war.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 83
On February 2, 18 15, Gordon wrote from Rich
mond, whither he had accompanied General Cocke :
"The Intelligence that General Jackson had suc
cessfuUy resisted the enemy at New Orleans has
given great joy, which has been somewhat damped
by our loss of the President frigate, commanded by
the gallant Decatur. We are ignorant of the par
ticulars, but we know that she had to contend with
several vessels larger than she was, after having
been crippled In a previous action, so there is no honor
gone. We have heard nothing from our Commis
sioners and of the state of Europe,
"But I am writing to you a letter of politics. Gen
eral Cocke is so much pleased with my 'home-spun'
that he presents you with his compliments, and begs
you will accept as much merino wool as will make
a suit of clothes, I have just heard that the Presi
dent has returned the Bank-bill to the Senate with
objections. We have just learned that General Jack
son has killed and taken fifteen hundred of the enemy,
among whom are three of their generals. This is
glorious!" The battle of New Orleans had been fought and
won by the Americans after the official end of the
war. The Treaty of Ghent had been concluded, and
signed on Christmas day of 18 14, by the Commis
sioners of the United States, Albert Gallatin, Henry
Clay and John Quiney Adams on the one side, and
those of Great Britain on the other; but as at that
time It took six weeks or more for a sailing vessel
to cross the Atlantic, news of the peace did not reach
America until about the middle of February,
In the mean time, Gordon wrote to his wife from
Camp Carter on the loth day of February, 18 15:
"I hope you will not be unhappy at any of the
rumors of this epidemic which prevails In the coun-

84 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
try. I have no apprehension from it myself; and
indeed the cases which have occurred In this vici
nity are now of a moderate character and perfectly
manageable by physicians; add to which that few
or no persons are subject to It except those who
have been exposed to violent cold weather, and
those who are not clothed warmly. The physicans
say there is nothing contagious in It.
"In a few days I shall set out with General Cocke
for Williamsburg, and shall visit York, where I ex
pect to have many emotions awakened calculated to
make me more patriotic. If there is a post day, I
will write you from that place. From my retrospect
of an era in our revolutionary fortunes my mind
moves with rapidity towards the theatre of the glory
of General Jackson, The papers will tell you how
he has fought and how he has conquered; and you
will say with me that we are not a degenerate people,
when we see the conquerors of the Old World, of
disciplined valor and renown in arms, bowing before
the impetuous ardor of a free and unconquerable
militia. Old England will stand amazed, and the
European world will discredit the great defence
which our troops have made."
There were well-informed people in Great
Britain, however, in the time of this episode, as in
that of the Revolution, who had deprecated the war,
and to whom the news of the victory won by the
civilian soldiers of Jackson over Pakenham's trained
regulars did not come as a total surprise. The Lon
don Statesman of March 30, 18 13, had said:
"America must be excepted from the expression
'All our enemies,' She Is of us, and of us improved.
We are neither ashamed nor afraid to say so. We
knew it before, and knowing so much, we have uni
formly deprecated going to war with her. The
Americans will be the most terrible warriors we have

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 85
had to contend with. We have, like fools, despised
them as a power in arms."
On the 1 8th of February, 18 15, peace was pro
claimed by the President of the United States, and
was received throughout Virginia with manifesta
tions of joy. Through the country sections and the
towns alike the people exhibited their delight by
burning bonfires and illuminating their houses. They
were glad to be rid of what they regarded as In no
small measure the cause of the "hard times" that
existed; for the National Government had become
almost bankrupt, and outside of New England
nearly every bank had suspended specie payments,
and the circulating medium had become "script" is
sued by towns, notes of "wildcat" banks, and the
"paper" of private Individuals,
Gordon's last letter to his wife from camp was
written on the day after the President's proclama
tion of peace,
"I write by our friend, George Lindsay, from a
fear that I shall not be able to get off before he
reaches the neighborhood, being obliged to remain
with General Cocke a few days whilst his brigade Is
discharging. You will probably expect, in conse
quence of the peace to which our country is restored,
that I should be earlier at home than I can be con
sistently with my duty and station. It gives me great
joy to congratulate you on the return of peace to our
happy country,"
What Gordon called "a free and unconquerable
militia" was the reliance for defense In time of war
of the republicans of the strict-construction school.
As the French King denominated his cannon, on
which he had caused the legend to be inscribed
"Ultima ratio regiim," so the Jeffersonian demo
cracy of the period regarded standing armies and
military equipment, under the organization and con-

86 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
trol of the central government, as the final resort of
despotism. In the time of the Revolution the raw militia re
cruited from the Northern States had not been a
success, whether from natural Inaptitude to the use
of arms, or from lack of military skill; and this in
spite of the fact that they were "embattled farmers"
who at Lexington, Massachusetts, "fired the shot
heard 'round the world," It was only in the South
that soldiers, like Morgan's riflemen, who could put
a rifle bullet through a wild turkey's head at a dis
tance of a hundred yards, or Lee's legionaries, who
as the sons of planters had grown up on horseback,
with guns In their hands, and were soldiers by in
stinct and custom, redeemed the faults of the North
ern militia. The citizen soldiery have been sneered
at by Federalist writers from the foundation of the
Government; but throughout the story of the coun
try the militia of the South have shown themselves
adequate to its defense, from Saratoga, where Mor
gan's men won the battle, down through the Cow-
pens, the pivotal and "most astonishing battle of the
Revolution," to New Orleans, through Chapultepec
and Cherubusco and Monterey to the first Manas
sas in 1 86 1, and the earlier battles of the Con
federacy, Virginia, from the Revolutionary period, had
maintained an elaborate system of local militia — a
system in which many of her most distinguished
citizens took a practical and abiding interest; and
under which a host of the very flower of her youth
esteemed it an honor to serve as privates In the ranks.
This elaborate scheme of "a well-regulated militia,"
as it is named In the act of Assembly, was early
recognized by statute as constituting "the great de
fence of a free people;" and if the "Virginia colonel"
has been a perennial and lasting product of the soil
of the Commonwealth, he has been always a legiti
mate one, who in periods of necessity has not failed

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 87
to justify his existence to his country. Presidents,
Governors, Supreme Court Judges, Congressmjen',
leading lawyers and professional men, have, at
various periods in the history of the State, deemed
it honorable to serve and hold office In the State
military organization, A roll of the Virginians who,
since Yorktown, through the period ending with the
secession of the Commonwealth in 1861, have been
members of the militia, would contain the names
of a very large proportion of those whose histories
have adorned the civic life of the State and of the
nation. The counties of the State, under this military sys
tem, were divided by law Into twenty brigades and
four divisions, A brigadier-general was elected by
joint ballot of the two houses of the General As
sembly, for each brigade, who was required to reside
within the limits of his command. There was a
similar method of election of a major-general for
each of the four divisions, and these general officers
and their subordinate commissioned officers received
commissions at the hands of the Governor, who was
commander-in-chief by virtue of his office. The rank
and file were organized Into companies, regiments,
brigades and divisions, and were drilled at stated
intervals, and received instruction In military tactics.
But, doubtless, after all, the best results of the militia
system of the period came from the existence of an
organization, which became more or less effective
when necessity arose. The drill and military instruc
tion probably accomplished little more than to bring
the citizen soldiers together on occasion. The value
and efficiency of the Virginia militia of the first half
of the nineteenth century consisted in their natural
aptitude for military service, growing out of their
familiarity with fire-arms, their habitude of an out
door life, and that "free and unconquerable spirit"
which animated the people of the Commonwealth,
So It was that Gordon regarded It as no small

88 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
honor, after seeing service as a private in the field
in the War of 1812, to occupy at a later date the
office, and to discharge the duties, of both brigadier-
general and major-general, during the continuance
of his public career — to which miUtary positions he
was successively elected by the General Assembly of
the State.

CHAPTER VI
IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY — THE UNIVERSITY
OF VIRGINIA
Gordon returned home at the close of the War of
1 8 12 with Great Britain, and resumed the practice
of his profession, maintaining In the meanwhile an
active interest In the political occurrences of the
period. The Hartford Convention Illustrated the con
tinued opposition of New England to the war,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut sent
delegates to this convention, which assembled at
Hartford, Connecticut, on December 15, 18 14, in
response to an invitation of the first named State,
and continued In session until January 5, 18 15,
There were also delegates In attendance from some
of the communities of Vermont and New Hamp
shire, The sessions were secret; but the published
report of the convention illustrates the first overt
act of nullification by an assemblage of States in the
history of the Union, It justified secession as per
missible, but not to be resorted to save as an abso
lute necessity, and affirmed the doctrines of the Vir
ginia and Kentucky resolutions. It adjourned to meet
In June, If its demands on Congress were not com
plied with, or peace declared in the meantime. The
president's proclamation of February the i8th dealt
it Its death-blow; and It did not reassemble.
War with Algiers followed in 1815, in which De
catur added to the fame which he had achieved in
that of 1812. In 1816 Congress established a new
national bank, with a charter to continue twenty
years, the expiration of which gave rise to one of the
most tremendous political struggles in the history
of the country. Out of this struggle emerged the

90 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
great financial measure of the Independent Treasury,
with which Gordon's distinction as a statesman is
most closely associated. In that year Colonel James
Monroe was elected President of the United States,
In 1 8 1 6 a panic lasting for two years inaugurated the
first serious antagonism to the Bank of the United
States; and in that year also General Andrew Jack
son conducted to a successful termination the first
Seminole War in Florida,
In the last named year Gordon was elected, with
Samuel Carr, to represent Albemarle County In the
Virginia House of Delegates, Mr, Joseph C, Ca
bell had been since 1 8 1 1 the State Senator from the
district of which Albemarle formed a part; and, in
the session of the General Assembly preceding Gor
don's election, had been warmly enlisted and actively
engaged In forwarding Mr, Jefferson's cherished
scheme for the establishment of a State University.
Cabell was an earnest advocate of education; and
has been especially and deservedly distinguished as
Mr, Jefferson's earliest and most prominent coad
jutor in the great work of founding the University
of Virginia at Charlottesville, The memorials of
his relation to that noble undertaking and achieve
ment are preserved in a volume published after his
death, under the title, "Early History of the Univer
sity of Virginia, as contained in the letters of Thomas
Jefferson and Joseph C, Cabell," This volume con
tains a voluminous correspondence between these
two warm personal and political friends, dealing
with a vast number of interesting subjects, chief
among which are those of education In Virginia, and
the estabUshment of the University, During the
years 1817 and 18 18 the principal and absorbing
theme of this correspondence is "The Central Col
lege," and the University bill In the General As
sembly. When Gordon entered the lower house In the lat
ter year, Mr. Jefferson felt that with CabeU in the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 91
Senate embodying a wide public acquaintance, a
thorough familiarity with the subject, and a large
experience In legislation, and with Gordon In the
House of Delegates, active, energetic, magnetic and
full of enthusiasm, he had two able local representa
tives of his enterprise ; and the event justified the an
ticipation, though only after a long and often almost
desperate struggle.
Mr, CabeU resided at Union Hill, In Nelson
County, at some distance from Monticello, Gordon,
on the other hand, lived in the same county with the
sage of Monticello, and In the same neighborhood,
as the neighborhoods of that day were reckoned; and
saw him constantly In his visits to Charlottesville,
and to Mr, Jefferson's home. There was little need,
therefore, of personal correspondence between them,
during the vacations of the legislature; and during
its sessions the venerable ex-President, to whom
writing had become a physical burden, of which he
often complained, continued his correspondence upon
University matters with Mr, Cabell, as was most
natural, with the assurance that his views and wishes
would be communicated by him to Gordon and to
the other zealous friends of the measure. Thus
there was little written correspondence between the
two men ; but the value of Gordon's services In effect
ing the final establishment of the University, and
In subsequent legislation touching Its continued ex
istence, is attested by the frequency of mention made
of him and his work In the Jefferson-Cabell letters, no
less than by the record of his work In the House of
Delegates. The distinction which he had already achieved as
a lawyer won for him a position on the Committee
on Courts of Justice Immediately upon his becoming
a member of the House of Delegates; and he also
received appointment on the important Committee
of Finance, and, what he coveted still more, because
of the opportunity it gave him of accomplishing ef-

92 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
fectlve work for the University bill, a position on
the Committee of Schools and Colleges.
The naked skeleton of a University bill had passed
both houses of the General Assembly in the preced
ing February. This had been accomplished by the
grafting upon the school bill of a provision for a
University. The title of the act was, "An act ap
propriating part of the Revenue of the Literary
Fund, and for other purposes;" and the date of its
passage was February 21, 18 18, Gordon's friend,
James Barbour, when speaker of the House of Dele
gates In 1 8 10, had drawn a bill, which was enacted
into a law in February of that year, providing that
all escheats, confiscations, fines, penalties and for
feitures, and all rights In personal property found
derelict, should be appropriated to the encourage
ment of learning; and the Auditor of the State was
required to open an account with this fund, which
was designated as "The Literary Fund," It was
managed by a president and directors, who by act
of February 24, 18 15, were directed to elaborate a
scheme of public instruction. They made a report
on the 6th of December, 18 16, recommending the
establishment of three grades of educational insti
tutions, to wit : primary schools, academies, and a
University; and the act of February 21, 18 18, was
based upon this report.
The last named act provided generally for the es-
establlshment of "a University to be called the Uni
versity of Virginia, wherein all the branches of use
ful science shall be taught," and specifically for the
appointment of a Board of Commissioners, who
should report to the legislature, site, plan,
branches of learning, number and description
of professorships, and general provisions for
organization and government. The bill also
provided for the appropriation of the sum
of fifteen thousand dollars per annum out of the
revenue of the Literary Fund "for the purpose of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 93
defraying the expenses of procuring the land and
erecting the buildings, and for the permanent en
dowment of the said University" — a sum grossly in
adequate to make even a beginning of the great work
that Mr. Jefferson had so much In mind.
It was a case of stat nominis umbra. Unless addi
tional apppropriations could be had the warmest
friends of a University recognized that the scheme
was but the shadow of a name; and when the selec
tion of a site came to be considered by those who
hoped to obtain such increased appropriations, the
troubles of the project began. The rival claims of
Charlottesville, Staunton, Lexington and Williams
burg were insistent; and In each case were supported
by powerful local Influences, which threatened to
create dissensions and difficulties that would prove
to be insurmountable. The commissioners, con
sisting of a number of the ablest and most prominent
men In the State, met on August i, 18 18, at the
Rockfish Gap Tavern, in the Blue Ridge Mountains,
Mr, Jefferson, a member of the body, was elected
chairman; and, after a protracted discussion, the
site at Charlottesville, where the Central College
was located, of which he and Mr, Cabell were both
visitors, was chosen by a vote of fourteen therefor,
as against five for other places. An elaborate report,
setting forth in detail a scheme for the University,
was prepared and forwarded to the two Houses of
the General Assembly,
Under date of December 12, 18 18, Gordon wrote
from Richmond to his wife:
"The report of Mr. Jefferson and the commis
sioners was received with universal admiration; but
the friends of the University fear that there will be
some opposition to its being situated at the Central
College, which I trust may not succeed, and I believe
will not. I send your father a copy of the report
with my most affectionate regards."

94 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In the House of Delegates the report of the com
missioners was referred to a select committee, of
which Gordon was a member. Then the fight began,
Mr. Cabell wrote to Mr. Jefferson: "The prospect
is favorable; but the effect of Intrigue and manage
ment is beyond the reach of calculation," Cabell's
health was bad, and his friends were eager to have
him go to WllUamsburg, and remain there until its
recovery. But with Spartan fortitude he declined to
leave his post In the Senate while the University mat
ter was In jeopardy,
"At Bremo my fevers returned," he wrote to Mr,
Jefferson on December 8, the day of the appointment
of the select committee, "but since I left that place
my recovery has been advancing uninterruptedly. I
shall proceed to Williamsburg and stay a week or
two, so soon as the subject of the University shall be
put on a footing satisfactory to my mind."
Gordon on the select committee was bending every
energy to accomplish the adoption by it of the re
port; but the opposition In the House of Delegates
was, from the beginning, able, alert and resourceful.
The day after Christmas, 1818, he wrote to Mrs,
Gordon: "I had at one time indulged a vain hope
that I could have gone home about this time; but
the importance of our University bill is so great to
Virginia, and particularly to Albemarle, that I feared
to leave it, — especially as there is a very considerable
resistance to the whole plan of education In Virginia ;
and I believe an attempt will be made to destroy the
Fund by appropriating It to other purposes,"
On the 8th of January following, with the sub
ject of the University still haunting his thought, even
in moments of domestic correspondence, he wrote
to his wife: "I hope to return to you with a civic
wreath, if I can accomplish the great Interest in
which our county and country are concerned,"
At the third meeting of the committee the op
ponents of Charlottesville as the site of the Unlver-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 95
sity lost by only one vote, and that the casting vote
of the chairman, a motion to leave blank the location
— a movement, which had it been successful would
have easily resulted in an effective combination of
a majority against that feature of the report, and a
complete frustration of Mr, Jefferson's most cher
ished hopes. But the majority of one for Charlottes
ville was sufficient; and Immediately thereupon the
report was adopted, and the site of the institution
thus fixed as Its originator had planned.
The opposition In the legislature, however, and
especially In the House of Delegates, grew in in
tensity. The Tidewater country and the western sec
tion of the State were equally hostile, Cabell, in
spite of his delicate condition of health, continued at
his post In the Senate; and in the House Gordon
used all the persuasive arts of conciliation and of per
sonal appeal, which he subsequently demonstrated
were among his distinguishing political characteris
tics. The bill reported by the select committee was
debated in committee of the whole in the House of
Delegates on January 18, 18 19, and the vote was
taken on a motion to amend by striking out "the Cen
tral College In Albemarle," as "a convenient and
proper part of the State for the University of Vir
ginia," resulting In a decisive victory for the friends
of the Institution by a vote of one hundred and four
teen to sixty-nine. That night Gordon wrote to Mrs,
Gordon: "We have been engaged for upwards of
a week Incessantly In discussing the University bill,
and I think there Is now no doubt that It will be
located at the Central CoUege, as a vote was taken
In our house on yesterday decisive, I think, of the
final enactment of the bill."
The battle had been fought out to a finish and won
upon the field of Its fiercest conflict, in the House of
Delegates; and with the successful determination of
the fight in that body its passage through the Senate
seemed comparatively easy. The shadow had begun

96 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
to take a local habitation no less than a name; and
"An act for the establishment of an University" was
reported to the House from the Committee of the
Whole, and passed there on January 19, 18 19, by a
vote of one hundred and forty-three to twenty-eight.
It then went to the Senate, where Mr. Cabell's long
and able service and compelling Influence had at last
disarmed substantial opposition, and passed that
body on January 25, 18 19, by a vote of sixteen to
seven, and was signed by Governor James B. Pres
ton, thus becoming a law.
For its passage In the House of Delegates, where
the most determined and protracted opposition to
the measure was manifested, his colleagues gave no
small part of the credit to the zeal, the energy, the
tact and the eloquence of Gordon, of whom Mr.
Jefferson, In a similar connection at a later day, wrote
to Mr, Cabell, as being "the local representative of
the University, and among its most zealous friends,"
But the troubles of the infant Institution had not
ended with its legislative establishment and location.
The winter of 18 19-1820 was pregnant with signifi
cance to its future existence. The question of
financing the new educational enterprise was one of
great moment and of even greater delicacy. The
defeated opposition had not been conquered; and the
friends of the University in the legislature were
forced to feel their way continuously, step by step,
CabeU wrote to Mr. Jefferson under date of Febru
ary 24th, 1820: "The enclosed bill has this day
passed into a law. The House of Delegates having
first rejected the amendment of the Senate for
$80,000; and then that for $40,000, and having
postponed the whole bill on the 22nd, General
Breckinridge, Mr. Johnson and myself had a con
sultation, and agreed that the interests of the institu
tion would be promoted by the bill now enclosed.
Our friend, Mr. Gordon, had already moved for
leave to bring in a bill, and was in the midst of an

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 97
animated discussion, when Mr, Johnson and myself
got to the House, We prevailed on him to withdraw
his motion, to make way for the Introduction of the
subject by General Breckinridge, who, we supposed,
not being from the local district, would have more
influence with the House. The bill went through this
morning with but little opposition. We hope we
have taken the course which yourself and the other
visitors will approve, considering the circumstances
in which we were placed. The University is popular
in the Senate, and unpopular In the House of Dele
gates," It had been popular In the Senate and unpopular
In the House from the beginning; and it was always
In the latter body that the most persistent, steady and
strenuous effort in Its behalf was constantly required.
Whether through Its Introduction by General Breck
inridge, or through the activity and animated argu
ments of Gordon, the subject took shape on the 23d
day of February in the order by the House that a
committee, of which both Breckinridge and Gordon
were members, "do prepare and bring In a bill au
thorizing the Visitors of the University of Virginia
to borrow money for furnishing the buildings
thereof," The bill, which was the one enclosed by
CabeU to Jefferson, was "brought in," and went
through, as stated by the former, "with but little
opposition," The success of the measure In its apparently com
paratively easy passage through the hostile House
was not, however, a precursor of ever-continued
smooth sailing. Difficulties and antagonisms had
grown up between the friends of the State elementary
schools and those of the University In the Legisla
ture; and Mr, Jefferson wrote to Mr, CabeU under
date of November 28, 1820, suggesting means of a
reconciliation of the two antagonistic elements:

98 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"A wrist stiffened by an ancient accident, now
more so by the effect of age, renders writing a slow
and irksome operation with me. I cannot therefore
present these views by separate letters to each of our
coUeagues in the Legislature, but must pray you to
communicate them to Mr. Johnson and General
Breckinridge, and request them to consider them as
equally meant for them. Mr. Gordon being the
local representative of the University, and among Its
most zealous friends, would be a more useful second
to General Breckinridge in the House of Delegates
by a free communication of what concerns the Uni
versity, with which he (Breckinridge) has had little
opportunity of becoming acquainted,"
When the Christmas holidays of this year ap
proached, Gordon wrote to his wife from his place
In the legislature, that it made him melancholy to see
members going home, while he had to stay; but
added that "the University subject remains to be
disposed of," and that he could not leave it,
Mr, Cabell's reliance upon Gordon's influence in
the House appears In repeated comments In his letters
to Mr, Jefferson, "In the House of Delegates," he
writes under date of February 25, 1821, "Mr, Gor
don has shown himself an able, valuable and efficient
friend * * * j j^ppe Mr, Gordon will return.
The cordiality and generosity of his nature make
him the favorite of a large circle of friends,"
Gordon was again a candidate and again returned.
On September 23, 1822, we find Mr. Cabell sug
gesting to Jefferson a plan of operations for the
legislative session. The smouldering fires of opposi
tion were still burning; and It behooved the friends
of the University to keep constant watch and ward.
"Mr, Gordon and Mr, Rives left this for
Albemarle on yesterday," he wrote, "and will not
probably return for eight or ten days. The latter
went for his family, and the former to visit Mrs.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 99
Gordon in her distress for the loss of a child, I am
very sorry that they were obliged to leave town, as
we want the aid of all our friends at this time. Mr.
Gordon shewed me on Saturday a letter which he
had just received from Mr, DInsmore, stating that
the undertakers had ascertained that they would not
afford to build the library for less than $70,000, At
my Instance Mr. Gordon threw the letter in the fire.
My object was to prevent its being made an Im
proper use of, in the event of Its being seen by our
enemies, I have spoken with one or two friends con
fidentially on the subject, and we all agree that if the
price of the undertakers should rise above $50,000,
and more especially If it should reach $70,000, it
would be better to abandon the project of a condi
tional contract on their parts, and leave us at large,"
"DInsmore's $70,000," replied Mr, Jefferson on
December 28, "evidence only the greediness of an
undertaker"; and he went on to give estimates of
sections of the work which he had obtained, and
further to develop his plans about the building. "A
letter of a page or two," he continued, "costs me a
day of labor, I have few now to live ; should I con
sign them all to pain? I ought. If I could, to write
to yourself, to Mr, Johnson, Mr. Rives, Mr, Gor
don, and to Mr, Loyall, too, now one of our frater
nity. But what I say to one, you must all be so Indul
gent as to consider meant for the whole,"
"I am happy to inform you," Cabell wrote back
on December 30, "that Mr, Gordon and Mr, Rives
arrived In town last evening, and have attended the
House to-day, Mr, Gordon called on me this morn
ing, when I disclosed to him what I had done In his
absence, and my present views and prospects, Mr,
* * * has twice announced to Mr, Cary, on
being consulted by him, that he would oppose any
further buUdlng; yet Mr, Gordon thinks he may be
brought over,"
Under date of January 2, foUowing, Gordon

100 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
wrote to his wife: "The report of the Visitors of
the University has been with us for some time; but,
owing to the absence of Governor Pleasants with his
family, has not yet been presented to the legislature.
We hope to do something for It."
Again the antagonism of the primary schools was
cropping out. "Your favor of 13th instant," wrote
Cabell to Mr. Jefferson on January 23, 1823, "came
safely to hand by the mail. I have shown It to Mr,
Gordon and Mr, Rives * * * jj^ j-egard to the
academies and primary schools, I think our most
prudent course at this time, is neither to enter Into an
alliance with them, nor to make war upon them
* * * I have Imparted these views to Mr,
Rives, and left him to pursue his own course, Mr,
Gordon concurs with me,"
The Loan bill, authorizing the borrowing of
money for the buildings of the University, went
through the House of Delegates on February 3,
1823, The House journal of that date states:
"An engrossed bill 'concerning the University of Vir
ginia,' was read the third time; and the question
being put upon the passage thereof, was determined
In the affirmative. Ayes, 121; Noes, 66, Resolved:
That the bill do pass and (the title being amended
on Mr, Gordon's motion) that the title be 'An act
concerning the University of Virginia, and for other
purposes,' Ordered: That Mr, Gordon communi
cate the said bill to the Senate, and request their con
currence," The shadow of a name had at last grown Into the
substance of a fact. The recalcitrant House having
been finally brought around, the Senate, with ready
acquiescence, concurred, on February 5, by a vote of
nineteen to three; and on the same date Mr. CabeU
wrote a jubilant letter to Mr, Jefferson, extending
his congratulations, and adding in a postscript, "Mr,
Gordon distinguished himself in the discussion in the
House of Delegates,"

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON loi
Six days later, with ready generosity in accepting
his share of responsibility for the failure In the
House of Delegates of a bill to pay the debts of the
University, Mr, Cabell wrote his next letter to Jeffer
son, The House journal of February lo, 1823, re
cites that "a motion was made by Mr. Gordon that
this House do come to the following resolution :
Resolved, That the Committee of Finance be in
structed to inquire into the best means of providing
for the payment of the debts of the University of
Virginia; and make report thereof by bill or other
wise. And the question being put thereupon, was de
termined In the negative,"
Cabell wrote to Jefferson on the day following:
"Yesterday Mr, Gordon moved In the House of
Delegates the adoption of a resolution authorizing
the Committee of Finance to inquire and report to
the House the best means of paying the debts of the
University, It was rejected by an overwhelming ma
jority. To-day a similar resolution was moved by
Mr, Loyall, and supported by Mr, Baldwin. The
vote was seventy odd to ninety odd. The subject is
at rest for this session. Some of the friends of the
University were opposed to bringing forward the
motion at this session. However, Mr. Johnson, Mr,
LoyaU, Mr, Baldwin, Mr, Taylor (of Botetourt),
Mr, Bowyer, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Watklns (of Gooch
land) , General Tucker, &c, &c,, being of opinion that
the character of the present Legislature having
shown Itself to be very favorable, we should not lose
the opportunity it might afford for getting the debt
remitted; and the measure being right in itself, and
Important to the State, I entirely concurred In the
movement of the question, and wish to share with my
friend Gordon in the responsibility arising out of the
proceeding, I know our indulgent friends would
forgive us. If we had done wrong. But the failure
of the proposition does not demonstrate that we were

I02 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
wrong. We have broken the Ice, and prepared the
public mind for a future application. Besides, if
such men as I have named above, agreed with us, the
movement must have been justified by appearances.
We could not dive Into the hearts of members,"
In the session of 1823-24, Gordon was again a
member of the House from Albemarle, and his col
league was once more Jefferson's son-in-law, Colonel
Thomas Mann Randolph, who having served as a
member of the Senate in 1793-94, and as a represent
ative In Congress from 1803 to 1807, had exhibited
an ardent and conspicuous patriotism in the War of
1812, and In 18 19 had been elected Governor of Vir
ginia while a member of the House of Delegates,
Cabell was still in the Senate from the district, with
his thoughts fixed on the University, and continuing
his correspondence, which detailed on his part its
legislative progress, with Its great originator.
Money was yet the desideratum; and the Univer
sity's future was dependent upon the attitude of the
General Assembly towards it In the matter of finan
cial assistance. In his letter of January 29, 1824,
Cabell emphasized the value of that part of the
organic law of the University which provided that
"the University shall be at all times and in all things
subject to the control of the General Assembly."
"I have now the gratification to enclose to you by
our friend Mr, Garrett," he wrote to Jefferson, "a
copy of the University Act of the present session. It
passed the Senate unanimously. Attempts were
made to amend it; but we were determined to pass
the bill as It came to us, because our friends In the
other house warned us of the imminent danger of Its
return, I was ill in bed when the proviso to which
you so much object was added to the bill. It was
deemed perfectly harmless by our friends, and useful
as furnishing an excuse to join us. We are all con
cerned to find you so much opposed to it, and still

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 103
hope you wIU be reconciled. After it was proposed,
it would have been difficult to resist it ; and when en
grafted on the blU, an attempt to strike It from the
bill would have endangered our success. We had
always plumed ourselves on our democratic char
acter. We had fought the coUege party with that
clause in our charter which says 'the University shall
be at all times and in all things subject to the control
of the General Assembly.' We were seizing on all
occasions to engraft a similar provision on new char
ters. If on this we had shown a distrust Incom
patible with former professions, our good faith
would have been impeached, and we should have
alienated our most powerful friend, the General
Assembly of the State, The annuity cannot be with
drawn but by a concurrent vote of the two houses,
and I think the time will never come when such a
vote will be obtained. Such is the opinion of all the
four Visitors in town. We shall want further aid in
future, and it would be unfortunate to lose any por
tion of the favor we now possess. Col. Randolph
concurs in these views. So does Mr. Gordon."
Again Gordon was returned to the House for the
session of 1824-25, where we find him still standing
sentinel, with Mr. Cabell In the Senate, over the in
terests of the University. On February 18, 1825,
he wrote to Mrs. Gordon : "My anxiety to be with
my family Increases as the time draws near when I
am to meet them. I think we cannot sit longer than
another week. Indeed, except one, we have no im
portant question before us. The University appro
priation you will have seen from the papers was car
ried by a great vote. I had some hope that we could
have gotten the debt relinquished that they owe to
the Literary Fund; but that will come, of course,"
On March 7, 1825, Mr, Jefferson's cherished
dream was realized. The University opened with
sixty students, who by the following first of October
had grown in numbers to one hundred and sixteen.

104 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Gordon was again returned to the House of Dele
gates from Albemarle; where he remained in con
tinuous service till 1829, In which year he was again
elected to the House, and also to the House of Rep
resentatives of the United States Congress, and to
the Constitutional Convention of 1829-30, He de
clined further service In the House of Delegates, and
after serving in the convention throughout Its ses
sions, took his seat in Congress, Mr, Cabell's long
and uninterrupted service in the Senate of Virginia
terminated In the same year as that of Gordon in the
House of Delegates, He retired to private Ufe, con
tinuing, however, his association with the University
as one of its Visitors from 1819 to 1856, the date of
his death, during which period he was the Rector in
1 834-1 836, and again from 1845 to 1856,
The time between Gordon's entrance upon his leg
islative career in the General Assembly In 18 18 and
its termination in 1829 had been the crucial period
with the University of Virginia, During that period
his colleagues from Albemarle had been numerous.
They had come and gone, rendering what assistance
they could during their stay — assistance which was
very often valuable; yet lacking In the steady conti
nuity which characterized his eleven years of devo
tion, and Cabell's even larger number, to Mr, Jeffer
son's noble scheme. Early in that service Gordon
had come to be one of the most influential members
of the House of Delegates, His prominence Is illus
trated in his long and conspicuous occupancy of the
chairmanship of the Committee on Courts of Justice;
and his membership of the two important committees
of Finance and of Schools and Colleges gave oppor
tunity of rendering his labor in behalf of the Uni
versity effective.
In July, 1826, Mr. Jefferson was dead; but his
coadjutors in the legislature continued to cherish the
welfare of his great educational Institution, now
firmly established, as they cherished the memories of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORLON 105
their personal associations with him, and their ad
herence to his political principles. In his last letter
to Mr, Cabell, the venerable statesman, harassed and
burdened by debt, and troubled with many cares,
still evinced his abiding interest in the institution.
On April 21, 1826, he wrote from Monticello:
"We have now one hundred and sixty-six students;
and on the opening of the law-school, we expect to
have our dormitories filled. Order and industry
nearly complete, and sensibly improving every day,"
On January 8, 1827, the journal of the House of
Delegates testifies to Gordon's continued association
with the University as "Its local representative and
one of its most zealous friends," as Mr, Jefferson
had denominated him years before: "On motion of
Mr, Gordon, Resolved, That the Report of the
Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia be
referred to the Committee of Schools and Colleges,
with leave to report by bill or otherwise"; and on
January 27 the journal contains this entry:
"On motion of Mr, Gordon, ordered that two
hundred and fifty copies of the Governor's communi
cation, together with the accompanying documents,
relating to the University of Virginia, be printed for
the use of members of the General Assembly,"
Again, in 1827, we find him seeking to induce a
hostile House of Delegates to consent to pay the
debts of the University. An entry in the House
journal on the 23d of February of that year is: "A
motion was made by Mr, Gordon that the House
adopt the following resolution: Resolved, That
leave be given to bring in a bill 'to pay the debts and
finish the buildings of the University,' which was de
feated by a vote of sixty-six ayes to one hundred and
eighteen noes."
When, in 1829, he retired from the General
Assembly to enter upon the larger field of national

io6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
politics, It was with the consciousness that he had
rendered no insignificant service in aiding to fashion
into a reality the splendid dream which had Inspired
the declining years of Jefferson.

CHAPTER VII
IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY  SOME OF ITS MEMBERS
 THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR
During Gordon's membership In the House of
Delegates the General Assembly of Virginia was
rich In men of a high order of ability, many of whom
subsequently achieved great distinction for states
manship or judicial acquirements. His successive
colleagues in the House from Albemarle County con
tained In their number several figures of conspicuous
talents; and In more than one Instance they rose to
lofty public eminence. Any account of the times In
Virginia would be Inadequate which failed to contain
some mention of those citizens who illustrated the
character, the capacity and the qualifications of the
legislator of the period, In the legislative halls of the
Commonwealth. It was very often from the ranks
of the General Assembly that the Governors of the
State and Its United States Senators were chosen;
and these In turn, after having filled their high offices,
esteemed it no unworthy honor to return again to the
Capitol In Richmond as representatives of local con
stituencies. For the period of Gordon's service In the House
as a delegate, Its clerk and keeper of the rolls was
George Wythe Munford, who occupied the position
for a long series of years, and who has left In his
volume, "The Two Parsons," a notable account of
many of the prominent figures of his day and gener
ation in the Commonwealth, Munford himself was
a man of ability and of engaging personality; and
his wide acquaintance with his contemporaries of
public importance entitles him to a conspicuous posi
tion In any narrative of the legislative events of the
time. He was elected Clerk of the House of Dele-

io8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
gates In 1825, and continued in the office for twenty-
seven successive years by unanimous votes. He was
elected in 1829, upon its assembling In Richmond,
Clerk of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-30;
but resigned that office after two months, because It
conflicted with his duties as Clerk of the House of
Delegates. He was at a later period Secretary of
the Commonwealth; and in his long public career
gained perhaps a larger acquaintance than was pos
sessed by any other Individual of his generation with
the history and forms of state legislation, and with
the condition of the accounts and claims of the State,
Governor Henry A, Wise said of him in his later
years that he was "intus et in cute a Virginian, im
bued with their prejudices, their pride, their passions,
their grace and their glory!"
During his long tenure of the office of Clerk of the
House many notable Virginians filled the Speaker's
chair : James Barbour, Governor, Senator, Minister
to England; Andrew Stevenson, Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives; Robert
Stanard, Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of
Virginia ; Linn Banks, accomplished parliamentarian
and able debater, and United States Congressman;
Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor and Secretary of
War; William O, Goode, three times elected
Speaker, member of Congress, and a member of the
convention which made the Constitution of 1850;
and Valentine W, Southall, who was one of the ablest
lawyers of his day in the Commonwealth. Of these
Speakers of the House, Barbour, Stevenson, Stanard,
Banks, Gilmer and Southall, all came from Gordon's
section of the State, along the eastern base of the
Blue Ridge Mountains, which John Randolph had
called "The Red Hills of Piedmont," and hailed as
the home of greatness,
Munford, in addition to his clerical services, com
piled and published a revision of the Code of Vir
ginia in i860, and another edition In 1873; and

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 109
wrote "The Two Parsons" at a later date. He died
in January, 1882, aged seventy-nine years.
Another and more picturesque figure In the halls
of legislation during Gordon's stay in the House was
its Sergeant-at-Arms, Peter Francisco, the remark
able soldier of the Revolution, of whom it was said
that "he used a sword having a blade five feet in
length, which he could wield as a feather, and every
swordsman who came in contact with him paid the
forfeit of his life. His services were so distinguished
that he would have been promoted to an office had he
been enabled to write. His stature was six feet and
an Inch, and his weight two hundred and sixty pounds
* * * Such was his personal strength that he
could easily shoulder a cannon weighing eleven hun
dred pounds," He had engaged in the battles of
Brandywine and Monmouth in the North, and the
Cowpens, Camden and Guilford Court House In the
South; and was famous throughout the country for
having defeated In 178 1, single-handed, nine of
General Banastre Tarleton's dragoons. In sight of a
troop of four hundred of their comrades, Francisco
had obtained the position of sergeant-at-arms of the
House through the Influence of Colonel Charles
Yancey, Gordon's commander in the War of 181 2;
and at the time of Munford's election to the clerk
ship was a man well advanced in years. In spite of
his age, however, Munford writes of him : "In those
days I have seen old Peter Francisco, the giant ser
geant-at-arms, so renowned In Revolutionary times
for his herculean strength, grasp a stout man by the
collar with his left hand, and raising him from the
floor with perfect ease, walk with him out of the
house for having Improperly intruded within the
bar." Francisco died in 1836.
For the entire period of Gordon's service In the
Virginia House of Delegates the Speaker of that
body was Linn Banks, of the Piedmont county of
Madison, Mr, Banks had a peculiar experience, in

no WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
that "for twenty successive years he was Speaker of
the House of Delegates, an office for which he was
so peculiarly qualified that he was selected to fill It In
all the mutations of party," He was a warm friend
of Mr, Jefferson's project of establishing a State
University, Mr. Banks retired from the legislature
in 1838, and was elected to Congress in that year, to
complete the unexpired term of John Mercer Patton,
who resigned. He was re-elected for the two suc
ceeding terms. He retired to private life in 1841,
having been defeated for Congress In that year ; and
was found drowned in the February following In a
stream which he had to cross in going from Madison
Court House to his home In the country, Mr. Banks
was noted for his skill as a parliamentarian, his im
partiality of decision, and his urbanity of manner.
Gordon's first associate in the General Assembly
from Albemarle was Samuel Carr, He was the
second son of that Dabney Carr who had moved In
the House of Burgesses, in 1773, the resolution ap
pointing the Committee of Correspondence, and who
had married Mr, Jefferson's sister, Martha, Samuel
Carr was therefore Mr, Jefferson's nephew; and he
was a brother of the younger Dabney Carr, who is
frequently mentioned in Gordon's letters to his wife
during the War of 18 12, and who later became
Chancellor, and Judge of the Court of Appeals,
Samuel Carr lived at "Dunlora," a few miles north
of Charlottesville, He was a magistrate, and a colo
nel of State troops during the War of 18 12; and
served one term in the House of Delegates. Eight
years later he became a member of the State Senate
from the district composed of Albemarle and Nelson
counties, which was represented throughout Gordon's
stay In the General Assembly by Joseph C, CabeU,
Of his several other talented colleagues from the
county during his legislative career, the second in
point of time was Dr. Charles Everett, who lived at
Belmont, adjacent to the Edgehlll estate of Governor

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON in
Thomas Mann Randolph, unril 1821, and later at
EverettsvIUe, in the same neighborhood. A local his
torian says of Dr, Everett that "he was a man of
great talent in his profession, reserved In disposition,
and possessed of an Indomitable will. Rather sus
picious of men In general, he was yet warm-hearted
and liberal when their sincerity was proved, and con
sequently was slow in making friends, but very
tenacious In holding them. He was a keen observer
of human nature and its various workings, and often
used the knowledge thus gained to the surprise and
benefit of his many patients. Save in a few instances
he was a disbeliever In medicines, and held that the
physician's highest aim should be to assist nature,
rather than coerce her.
"He graduated in medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania In 1796, and with a short Interruption
continued the practice of his profession until his
death. The break in his medical career mentioned
occurred In 18 17, when he became the private secre
tary of President Monroe, and afterwards a repre
sentative In the State legislature from the county of
Albemarle, Soon quitting politics, he returned to
his profession, and In a short time became one of the
most famous physicians in the State, Besides Albe
marle, his practice extended over seven adjoining
counties, and at one time he was called to attend
Bishop Madison In Richmond, He was also one of
the consulting physicians In the last illness of Mr,
Jefferson, Though they were such close neighbors,
they were far from being close political friends ; and
even the little friendship they had nearly vanished
when Jefferson looked up, and seeing Dr. Everett
one of the three, said with a touch of grim humor :
'Whenever I see three doctors, I generally look out
for a turkey-buzzard,' And though Jefferson meant
it as one of his jokes, the sensitive doctor took It
seriously and withdrew."
Dr, Everett became the private secretary of

112 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
President Monroe during the latter's second term, In
1822, and not in 18 17, as above stated. He had
served a term in the House of Delegates, and been
a candidate for a later term, but was defeated in
1822 by Mr, Rives, Gordon wrote to Mrs, Gordon
from Richmond, December 15, 1822: "Doctor
Everett Is appointed Private Secretary to the Presi
dent, and has yielded the protracted but hopeless con
test for a seat in the legislature,"
The physician In politics appears to have been a
not unusual figure at that time In the public eye. Dr.
Everett was succeeded in the House of Delegates by
Dr, Charles Cocke as one of the two Albemarle
representatives, Dr, Cocke is said to have been
"distinguished in the State as one of the ablest of Its
political writers and debaters," He served one term
in the House; and after 1830 was for a number of
years State Senator from the district,
Dr, Cocke's successor in the House from Albe
marle was Mr, William Cabell Rives, Gordon's near
neighbor, who served with him for one term, in
1822-23, Mr, Rives is described by a contemporary
as " a small man, very much like his father, with a
fair complexion, chestnut hair, blue eyes, and hand
some features. He was a conspicuous figure in the
politics of his period, and achieved distinguished
position as representative in Congress, United States
Senator, and Minister to France. His career amply
justified the Inscription upon his tombstone at
Walker's Church, near Castle Hill, that he was a
statesman, a diplomatist and a historian,"
Upon Mr. Rives' election to Congress in 1823 he
was succeeded in the House of Delegates by Jeffer
son's son-in-law. Colonel Thomas Mann Randolph,
of whom sorr.'i account has been given in a preceding
chapter. After serving one term. Colonel Randolph
retired; and was followed In the office of delegate
by Rice W, Wood, a young lawyer of Albemarle, who
had only been admitted to the bar three years earlier.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 113
and who for three later terms was a member of the
House, dying while he was a delegate. In 1832, and
as has been pathetically said of him, "on the
threshold of a promising career," That he was a
man of ability and distinction in his community is
evidenced by his frequent election to this position
from a county whose representatives stood In the
very forefront of the talent of the State.
In 1827 and 1828 Dr, Cocke was again In the
House ; and Gordon's associate in the last year of his
service as delegate from Albemarle was Hugh Nel
son, of "Belvoir," then an elderly man, who had
already been a member of the House of Delegates
and its Speaker; and after having represented the
district in Congress by successive re-elections from
181 1 to 1823, when Mr, Rives succeeded him, had
been appointed in the last named year as United
States Minister to Spain,
It was an illustrious representation of the greatest
of the counties lying among the Red Hills of Pied
mont, which had carried on Its rolls, as members of
the House of Burgesses of the Colony, and of the
General Assembly of the Commonwealth, since Albe
marle had become a county In 1744, down to the
Constitutional Convention of 1829-30, the names of
Peter Jefferson, father of the President; Thomas
Jefferson, himself; William Cabell, and WiUiam Ca
beU, Jr, ; Thomas Walker of Castle Hill, John
Walker of Belvoir, Charles Lewis, Edward Carter,
George Gilmer, Wilson Cary Nicholas, Joshua Fry,
Walter Leake, William Waller Hening, Francis
Walker, James Monroe, Tucker Coles, Hugh Nelson,
William C. Rives, Thomas Mann Randolph, and
others, whose civic achievements were no less honor
able, and are less conspicuous only In degree.
The General Assembly of Virginia during the first
half of the nineteenth century was distinguished for
the high order of ability, the political knowledge and
8

114 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
acumen, and the lofty personal character of Its mem
bers. It was the training-school of a statesmanship
that not only made the Commonwealth notable In
her local administration and character among her as
sociate States, but that gave her an imposing and
commanding influence through a long period In the
larger affairs and the more expanded life of the na
tion. It was the theatre on which were discussed,
with an intelligence, an ability and an eloquence sel
dom excelled, the great questions of constitutional
interpretation and governmental administration ; and
which at times caused the local legislation of the
State to seem a secondary matter in comparison.
The Virginia Resolutions, the Kentucky Resolutions,
the Missouri Compromise, Nullification, the Bank of
the United States, the Removal of the Deposits,
Slavery — all these were issues which were regarded
as important for the consideration of the General
Assembly in their turn, and were debated and passed
upon by resolution with a larger zeal and enthusiasm
than characterized the discussion and enactment. In
most instances, of State legislation. It was the
forum where the Virginian aspirant for political dis
tinction learned the best lessons of his profession;
and where, no less, many who had realized high
honors In the larger life of the Union esteemed It
still a distinction to serve their country by serving
their State.
Space does not permit the introduction here of all
of Gordon's contemporaries in the General Assembly
who were prominent, or even of all of those who
were highly distinguished. But his association with
the legislation establishing and affecting the Uni
versity of Virginia was such that some account of
those who, with Mr. Cabell and himself, were most
conspicuous in advancing and maintaining the cause
of Mr. Jefferson's educational enterprise, seems not
only appropriate but necessary.
Of Mr, Cabell himself It needs only to be said

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 115
that he was a member of the General Assembly,
either as delegate or Senator, for about thirty years ;
that_ he was a Visitor and the Rector of the Uni
versity, which he did so much to create; that he was
"a man of national reputation," and that he is said to
have "declined Cabinet appointments under Mr,
Monroe, if not Mr. Madison." His greatest fame,
however, will continue to rest upon his connection
with the establishment of the University of Virginia,
as Illustrated in his correspondence with Mr. Jeffer
son. Conspicuous among the friends of the University
in the House was Briscoe G, Baldwin, of Augusta
County. In the debate on the University bill In the
House in January, 18 19, Mr, Baldwin, who had
made an earnest fight for Staunton as the site for the
University, now came forward "with a magnanimity
only equalled by his eloquence to invoke the house to
unite in support of the University," Of Baldwin's
part in this debate Cabell wrote to Jefferson on Jan
uary 18, 1819 :
"Having left the House before the critical vote on
the site, to avoid the shock of feeling which I should
have been compelled to sustain, I did not hear Mr,
Baldwin. But I am told the scene was truly affecting,
A great part of the House was In tears; and on the
rising of the House, the eastern members hovered
around Mr, Baldwin * * * Such magnanimity
in a defeated adversary excited universal applause."
Baldwin served In the legislature from 1818 to
1820; and was a member of the Convention of
1829-30. He was again elected to the General As
sembly from Augusta in 1841, and whUe a delegate
was chosen to fill a place on the bench of the Court
of Appeals of Virginia,
A later member from Augusta, who is mentioned
in the Jefferson-Cabell correspondence as Interested

ii6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
on behalf of University legislation, was Chapman
Johnson, who was in the House In the session of
1 822-1 823, His aspirations were legal rather than
political; and he had great and deserved reputation
as an able lawyer. He also was a member of the
Convention of 1829-30; and was a Visitor and sub
sequently the Rector of the University,
Another prominent friend of the University, fre
quently mentioned by Mr, Cabell in his letters to
Mr. Jefferson, was General James Breckinridge of
Botetourt County. General Breckinridge was for
several years, at a period prior to the agitation of the
University project, a member of the General As
sembly, and a Federalist leader in that body. He
represented the Botetourt district in Congress from
1809 to 18 17; and was a candidate of his party
against James Monroe for Governor of the State.
General Breckinridge was a brother of John Breck
inridge, of Kentucky, who had at one time practised
law In Albemarle County, and who introduced In the
Legislature of that State the famous "Kentucky Res
olutions of 1798," drawn by Mr. Jefferson, Nicholas
and himself. General Breckinridge was a member
of the first Board of Visitors of the University,
which consisted of Mr, Jefferson, who was the
Rector, Mr, Madison, Mr. Chapman Johnson, Gen
eral Breckinridge, Mr. Robert B, Taylor, General
John H. Cocke and Mr. Joseph C. Cabell, At the
time of his advocacy of the University's interests
General Breckinridge had returned to the General
Assembly as a member of the House from Botetourt,
Yet another member of the House of Delegates,
conspicuous for the zeal and ability with which he
supported the University measures, was Mr. George
Loyall, of Norfolk. Mr. Loyall was born at Nor
folk, September 11, 1789. He was wont to say of
himself that he "came in with the Constitution." He
was educated at WiUiam and Maiy College; and
afterwards went to England, and spent two years In

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 117
London. He began the practice of law in his native
town about 1823, and in 1825 was elected from Nor
folk to the House of Delegates. His talents were of
a commanding character, and he was in 1829-30 a
member of the Constitutional Convention; and In
1829 was a candidate for Congress from the Nor
folk District. The certificate of election was
awarded to his opponent, Mr. Thomas Newton;
but Mr. Loyall contested the election. On the mo
tion "that George Loyall is entitled to a seat in the
2 1st Congress of the United States, as the representa
tive from the district in Virginia composed of the
counties of Norfolk, Nansemond, Elizabeth City,
Princess Anne and the Borough of Norfolk," he was
awarded the seat by a substantial majority. This
victory was followed by his re-election to the 22nd
Congress, "badly defeating his opponent who had
been entrenched for a long period In that position,"
During his service In the General Assembly, the Con
vention, and these two sessions of Congress, a warm
friendship sprang up between Gordon and Mr,
Loyall, which was illustrated by the former's giving
one of his sons, born In 1829, the name of his friend.
Mr. Loyall was subsequently appointed Naval Agent
at Norfolk by President Jackson, and reappointed
by President Polk; and continued in the office until
the period of the War between the States. He was
for a number of years an Influential member of the
Board of Visitors of the University. Mr. Loyall
was a stalwart supporter of "the schools of Jeffer
sonian and Jacksonian democracy, and a strong ad
vocate of free trade," In the dissensions that arose
among the Democrats over the Bank Controversy,
Nullification, and other questions of the period, Gor
don, as hereafter narrated, antagonized the adminis
tration of Jackson; but his friendship and admira
tion for Mr, Loyall continued as long as he lived,
Mr, Loyall's death occurred in Norfolk in February,
1868.

ii8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Conspicuous among the younger members of the
House of Delegates in the later sessions of Gordon's
membership was James Murray Mason, grandson of
George Mason, of Gunston, the author of the "Bill
of Rights," himself destined to add lustre to a great
Virginia name as United States Senator, author of
the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and commissioner
to England, with John Slidell, in 1861 from the Con
federate States of America. He was a strict con
structionist of the State-Rights party, and during his
service in the Senate of the United States was in the
thick of the fray over slavery. For the Virginians of
the old school his name was Indelibly associated with
the pathetic scene In the Senate In 1850, when he
read to that august body, in the presence of its author,
ivho sat by him with the mark of death on his face,
the last speech of John C, Calhoun, whose theme was
the tremendous question, "How can the Union be
preserved?" Within the period of Gordon's activities in the
House of Delegates the Governors of the Common
wealth were James P. Preston, from December i,
18 16, to December i, 18 19; Thomas Mann Ran
dolph, from December i, 18 19, to December i,
1822; James Pleasants, Jr., from December i, 1822,
to December i, 1825 ; John Tyler from December i,
1825, to March, 1827; and WiUiam B, Giles from
March, 1827, to March, 1830,
The office of Governor, from 1776, was esteemed
by the earlier Virginians as the most exalted
and distinguished pubUc position in the gift of the
Virginia people; and it was no uncommon thing In
the later half of the eighteenth and the first half of
the nineteenth century for a United States Senator
to resign his seat In the Federal Senate to assume the
executive duties of Governor of Virginia, The roll
of those who have occupied the office from the begin
ning has been and continues a highly honorable one ;
but the earlier names of the Chief Magistrates of the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 119
State appear in the lapse of time to shine with an
ever-Increasing lustre. Beginning with Patrick
Henry, they embrace, among others less distin
guished only in degree, those of Thomas Jefferson,
Thomas Nelson, junior; Benjamin Harrison, Ed
mund Randolph, Beverly Randolph, Henry Lee,
Robert Brooke, James Monroe, John Page of "Rose-
well," William H. Cabell, John Tyler, Peyton Ran
dolph, James Barbour, and Wilson Cary Nicholas;
the last named being the Immediate predecessor of
Governor Preston. Under the Constitution of 1776,
and also under that of 1829-30, the Governor was
elected by the joint ballot of the two houses of the
General Assembly, as In the case of United States
Senators ; and this method of election continued until
the Constitution of 1850, when the office became
elective by the people.
Governor Preston was one of that distinguished
family, among whose members have been orators,
statesmen and soldiers, who have Illustrated In their
civic and military careers the virtues and talents of
the Scotch-Irishman in America. John Preston, the
grandfather of Governor James P. Preston, emi
grated to Pennsylvania from Londonderry, and came
thence with the tide of Scotch-Irish immigration
southward, which, settling the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia, passed onward into the Mecklenburg sec
tion of North Carolina, and spread Its children and
descendants throughout the Southwest and the West.
He served in the State Senate, and during the War of
1812 was a colonel in the United States Army, and
was wounded in the battle of Chrystler's Field. In
his administration the University of Virginia was
established, and a Revision of the Code of Virginia
was made.
Of Preston's successor in the Executive office, Col
onel Thomas Mann Randolph, some account has
been given in the preceding pages. He was followed
by Governor James Pleasants, junior, who had

I20 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
already had a large experience in public life. He
had represented the county of Goochland In the
House of Delegates, and In 1803 had been chosen
clerk of that body, which office he filled for seven
years. Subsequently he was elected to Congress,
where he remained until 18 19. In 18 19 he was
elected Senator from Virginia, and held that office
at the time he was elected Governor in 1822,
On December 15, 1822, Gordon wrote from
Richmond to Mrs, Gordon at Edgeworth, "We have
elected Mr, Pleasants of the Senate of the United
States our Governor; and Colonel John Taylor of
Caroline will most probably take his place," Later
he served in the Constitutional Convention of 1829-
30, It has been said of him that "although twice
appointed to judicial position, he declined the
honors offered him, and retired to Goochland Coun
ty, where on November 9, 1836, he closed a well-
spent life. He died universally regretted and
greatly esteemed for his many public and private
virtues." One of his great characteristics as a successful
politician was his ability to make and keep friends.
"James Pleasants never made an enemy nor lost a
friend," was the noble eulogium bestowed upon him
by John Randolph of Roanoke.
In a letter to his wife written soon after Gover
nor Pleasants' election by the legislature to the office
of Governor, Gordon gives the following graphic
and pleasing pen-picture of him :
"He is rather beyond the ordinary height, a Uttle
Inclined to corpulency, with a form apparently mus
cular, and Indicating more of strength than agiUty.
His countenance Is expressive of a composed good
ness of heart; and the plainness of his first manner
shows you at one glance how superior is the native
quakerism of his address to any affectation of dig
nity which his high station in life may be supposed

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 121
to require. His hair is red, his complexion san
guineous, the forehead not high or full, but
broader than usual, the eyebrows small and dispro
portionate to the face and forehead. His eyes are
full, large and blue, with an expression of softness
and sense. His mouth is large, and expresses, to
gether with the eyes, a natural willingness to smile.
His whole appearance and manner Indicate an
amiability of heart and a virtuous moderation, which,
while it seems to yield to the opinions and wishes of
others, excites In them a confidence that so much
goodness, patience and sense can be rarely wrong;
and you see at once that his influence, like oil,
smoothes the asperities and roughnesses of govern
ment and makes the whole machinery play cheerily
together." Of the two other Governors of Gordon's legisla
tive experience, Tyler and Giles, accounts are given
in subsequent pages.

CHAPTER VIII
IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY — POLITICS AND POLI
CIES — WILLIAM B, GILES.
Although the most noteworthy and important
work done by Gordon as a member of the General
Assembly was that In connection with the establish
ment of the University of Virginia, his life as a
legislator was a diligent and Industrious one; and he
left a marked Impress upon the legislation of the
period. The posthumous reputation of his oratorical
power, a gift with which he was unusually endowed,
even in that day of oratory and forensic expression,
has served to obscure the just proportions of his
eminence as a lawyer. In the earlier years of his
professional career he had been a diligent student
of law as a science; and his knowledge of the prin
ciples of the subject was substantial and accurate.
From the time of his first election to the House of
Delegates he was an Influential member of the Com
mittee on Courts of Justice, and during much the
larger part of his service Its chairman. It was no
inconspicious tribute to his legal ability to have held
this position in a body for the most part composed of
lawyers of ability, the strongest of whom were the
members of this committee.
When he entered Congress his legal acquirements
were at once recognized by the Speaker, Mr, An
drew Stevenson, himself a Virginian, and familiar
with Gordon's standing in his profession, In his ap
pointment to the much coveted position of a mem
ber of the Judiciary Committee of the House, In
1824, when chairman of the Committee of Courts
of Justice of the House of Delegates, he performed
a notable work In connection with the consolidation

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 123
for the first time Into one act of the several acts
fixing the fees of officers. In 1827 he reported from
the same committee, with amendments, "a bill to
prescribe the method of proceeding In suits or peti
tions for divorce," and "a bill providing for a re
vision of the laws concerning the judiciary, and judi
cial proceedings," both of which measures bear the
impress of his knowledge and labor; and these were
followed In the same year by "a bill to punish the
attempt to poison," "a bill for the further limitation
of real actions," and "a bill for changing the
punishment of free negroes and mulattoes In certain
cases," which were also in large measure the results
of his acquirements and industry. In 1828 he still
continued to occupy the chairmanship of this com
mittee, and reported the Important bill requiring all
clerks "to index deeds In the name of both grantor
and grantee," a requirement which previously had
not existed In the Commonwealth. At the same ses
sion he reported various bills, "concerning pleas,"
"concerning the statute of descents and distributions,"
"concerning the limitations of actions," and "con
cerning motions against sheriffs." Where he was
not himself the author and draftsman of these sev
eral measures, which formulated much of the statute
law of the period, he always supervised and directed
them with such a knowledge of their scope and sig
nificance as enabled him to discuss them In debate
Intelligently, and generally with success. In an epoch
when the journals of the legislature disclose that the
enactment of innumerable laws was not the prevail
ing conception of legislative duty, and when the dis
cussion of great governmental principles was re
garded as of no less importance than the making of
statutes, Gordon appears to have been equally Indus
trious, energetic and forceful In either direction.
In a letter to his wife In December, 18 18, during
the first session of his legislative service he gives the
following account of the routine life of a delegate:

124 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"I have not read as much as I expected I should,
although I have found some time to occupy in that
way. I go on committee directly after breakfast,
where I remain till the House meets, and there until
three o'clock; after which I have to get dinner, and
then It is night. So that the life of a Virginian law
maker Is one of no ordinary toil. If he does his duty."
Of the politics of the period he possessed a kno\v
ledge, founded upon extensive reading and a culti
vated familiarity with passing public events, which
gave him great influence in his application of It, in
discussion and debate, to the principles which were
profoundly rooted In his conception of republican
government. The Jeffersonian ideas of individualism,
of economy and simplicity in the affairs of adminis
tration, of antagonism to the centralizing tenden
cies of the Hamiltonian Federalists, and of the basic
right of the people to local self-government, were
fixed principles with him, "Freedom of religion,
freedom of the press, freedom of commerce, no sus
pension of habeas corpus, and no standing army". —
this formulation by Jefferson of the underlying
meaning of constitutional democracy contained for
Gordon the very essence of liberty. For the sage
of Monticello himself he entertained a reverence
and respect that were founded upon his political
opinions and emphasized by an intimate and per
sonal affection. The feeling was one which charac
terized all the younger men of the Jeffersonian school
who came within the sphere of Mr, Jefferson's per
sonal influence and charm. After the war between
the States was ended, and Gordon had long since
passed from the field of action, this attitude to
wards their great leader was aptly expressed In con
versation by one of them then surviving, Mr. Hugh
Blair Grigsby, In the observation, "It Is hard for
those of a later generation to realize how we young
Republicans loved Mr. Jefferson."

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 125
It was no Insignificant quality of the man who
could inspire the wrath of Federalists, like Luther
Martin, to exhaust their expletives In denouncing
their enemies as being "as great scoundrels as Tom
Jefferson," that he was enabled to win to himself
not only the intellects but the ardent affections of his
political followers.
Virginia, during the period of Gordon's service
in the legislature, was strongly under the spell of
Mr, Jefferson's dominating influence and opinion;
and the General Assembly of the State took no small
part in impressing that influence on the country at
large by the frequent discussion of governmental
principles and the official adoption of political re
solves. So we find Gordon, in 1820, advocating and
supporting the resolutions offered and adopted
in regard to the Missouri Compromise — a state
paper so striking In its enunciation of the tenets of
Jeffersonian republicanism as to warrant Its repro
duction here in full. It was one of the early bugle-
blasts from the South which sounded the alarm of
a later and tremendous tragic conflict over State-
Rights and Slavery. Missouri was seeking admis
sion to the Union; and the General Assembly of
Virginia in these resolutions expressed to the Con
gress of the United States the opinion of the people
of Virginia upon the question of the terms of her
admission. "i. That the Congress of the United States have
no power under the Federal Constitution to dictate
to the people of the Missouri territory what prin
ciples shall govern them in the formation of their
constitution or system of government or in the adop
tion of regulations respecting their property, but
are simply bound to guarantee to them (in common
with the other States) a republican form of govern
ment, "2, That the Congress of the United States are

126 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
bound in good faith by the treaty of cession of 1805
to admit the good people of the Missouri Territory
into the Union upon equal terms with the existing
States. "3. That the General Assembly of Virginia will
support the good people of Missouri In their just
rights to admission into the Union, and will co
operate with them In resisting with manly fortitude
any attempt which Congress may make to Impose
restraints or restrictions, as the price of their admis
sion, not authorized by the great principles of the
Constitution, and in violation of their rights, liberty
and happiness,
"4. That the Senators from this State In the Con
gress of the United States be Instructed, and the rep
resentatives requested, to use their best efforts in
procuring the admission of the State of Missouri
into the Union, upon the principles contained in the
foregoing resolutions, and in resisting any attempt
which shall be made in Congress to impose condi
tions upon the people of Missouri not warranted by
the treaty of cession and the Constitution of the
United States,"
These resolutions, adopted by her legislature on
January 11, 1820, constituted Virginia's defiance to
the attempt that had been made In the preceding
session of Congress to forbid slavery or Involuntary
servitude in Missouri except as a punishment for
crime, when the Territory had applied for admission
as a State — an appearance of the slavery question
so surprising and so sudden and so anxious, that Mr,
Jefferson was moved to say of it, that it startled
him "like a fire-bell In the night," The Missouri
bill had failed, after an acrimonious and stubborn
struggle, which, then begun, was renewed with un
abated stubbornness and acrimony in the next ses
sion of Congress. Then the deft and guiding hand
of Henry Clay formulated the Missouri Compromise

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 127
Act of 1820, prohibiting slavery thenceforward
north of the line of 36°3o'; and "the moderates"
of South and North alike supported and enacted
it, John Randolph of Roanoke with picturesque
vituperation denounced the Compromise Act as "a
dirty bargain" and those who voted for it as "dough
faces," Jefferson wrote of It afterwards that he
considered it " at once as the kneU of the Union.
It Is hushed indeed for the moment. But this Is a
reprieve only, not a final sentence," He continued:
"The coincidence of a marked principle, moral and
political, with a geographical line, once conceived,
I feared would never more be obliterated from the
mind; that it would be recurring on every occasion,
and renewing irritations, until it would kindle such
mutual and mortal hatred as to render separation
preferable to eternal discord,"
The period was one of tremendous political sig
nificance In Its formulation of great questions of
grave moment; and the legislature of Virginia, in
which were gathered many of the finest intellects of
the Commonwealth and of the country, spoke upon
all of these, as occasion arose, with no uncertain
sound. On February 12, 1820, Gordon voted with the
majority in the House of Delegates In favor of a
resolution declaring It to be "the opinion of the Gen
eral Assembly of Virginia that the law of Congress
establishing the Bank of the United States is not
authorized by the Constitution;" thus taking position
upon a question which later gave rise to great dis
sension In the Republican party, growing out of the
removal of the deposits, the senatorial censure of
the President of the United States, the bitterly con
tested "expunging resolution" of Benton, the fight
over the "pet banks," and the final establishment of
Gordon's great scheme of the Independent Treasury.
The legislature's resolution opposing the establish
ment of the bank on the ground of its unconstitu-

128 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
tionality was not inconsistent with its later resolu
tions, reported to the House of Representatives by
Gordon, when a member of that body as hereafter
narrated; for the last-named resolves were also based
upon what the General Assembly of Virginia re
garded as an unconstitutional usurpation of authority
by the Federal Executive.
In the following session of 1820-21 Gordon voted
In the House of Delegates with a majority of one
hundred and thirty-eight against eighteen in favor
of a vigorous declaration of the doctrine of State
sovereignty, and a protest against the assumption
of jurisdiction by the Federal Supreme Court in the
case of Cohens vs. Virginia:
"Resolved, That the Supreme Court of the United
States have no rightful authority, under the Constitu
tion, to examine and correct the judgment for which
the Commonwealth of Virginia has been 'cited and
admonished to be and appear at the Supreme Court
of the United States,' and that the General Assembly
do hereby enter their most solemn protest against
the jurisdiction of that Court over the matter."
This pronunciamento declared the attitude of the
Commonwealth towards what it regarded as an un
warranted assumption of jurisdiction over a sovereign
State by the Supreme Court of the United States,
then presided over by Chief Justice Marshall. The
Cohens were Indicted by the State Court at Norfolk
for a violation of the State anti-lottery statute. The
defendants claimed the protection of an act of Con
gress relating to the District of Columbia. Judg
ment went against them ; and being without right of
appeal to any Virginia court, they appealed directly
to the Supreme Court of the United States,
In February, 1826, Gordon's name Is found among
the one hundred and thirty-three ayes recorded on
the journal of the House of Delegates as against

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 129
twenty-three noes, in favor of a resolution declaring
that "the imposition of taxes and duties by the Con
gress of the United States for the purpose of pro
tecting domestic manufactures is an unconstitutional
exercise of power, and is highly oppressive and par
tial In Its operation."
In February, 1829, he supported with voice and
vote a series of resolutions adopted by the House,
which were as significant in the doctrine they as
serted, though not in the remedy they proposed,
as was the nullification ordinance of South Carolina
adopted In 1832, By them it was resolved:
"i. That the Constitution of the United States,
being a federative compact between sovereign States
in construing which no common arbiter Is known,
each State has the right to construe the compact for
itself, "2 * * *
"3. That this General Assembly of Virginia,
actuated by the desire of guarding the Constitution
from all violation; anxious to preserve and per
petuate the Union, and to execute with fidelity the
trust reposed in It by the people as one of the high
contracting parties, feels itself bound to declare, and
It hereby most solemnly declares. Its deliberate con
viction that the acts of Congress, usually denominated
the Tariff laws, passed avowedly for the protection
of domestic manufactures, are not authorized by the
plain construction, true intent, and meaning of the
Constitution. Also, That the said acts are partial in
their operation, impolitic, and oppressive to a large
portion of the people of the Union, and ought to
be repealed."
The vote was one hundred and twenty-six to sev
enty-five in favor of the adoption of these resolves,
which embodied a legislative expression of the Jeffer-

I30 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
sonian republicanism of Virginia on the question of
a protective tariff. In December, 1825, Mr, Jeffer
son had written to William B, Giles, with an under
standing which penetrated to the core of the sub
ject: "Under the power to regulate commerce, the gov
ernment assumes Indefinitely that also over agricul
ture and manufactures ; and calls It regulation to take
the earnings of one of these branches of Industry,
and that, too, the most depressed, and put them Into
the pockets of the other, the most flourishing of all."
The whole doctrine of strict constitutional con
struction appeared at this period to the individuals
in the State-Rights party of Virginia, no less than
to Its General Assembly, to be threatened, Jeffer
son was In political retirement at Monticello, op
pressed with the physical infirmities of age, and
anxious for some portion of the peace of mind to
which he thought his services had entitled his later
years. But his followers still looked to him as to
an oracle. On December 10, 1825, Gordon wrote
to him from Richmond as follows :
"I am reluctant to intrude on your retirement, and
certainly not disposed to involve you In the strife
of politics. Yet a crisis In our public affairs, which
seems to threaten all the principles of the Federal
Constitution, emboldens me to address you. You
see by Governor Pleasants' communication to the
legislature that he recommends an Instruction to our
Senators, on the subjects of the tariff and roads and
canals; whilst the sweeping message of President
Adams leaves little room to hope that we shall be
able to save even a vestige of the Constitution, Our
brethren of the western part of Virginia are most
of them friendly to the power usurped by the Gen
eral Government on the subject of internal improve
ment, their interest luring them from an Impartial
judgment. They have more than once evidenced

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 131
In the legislature of this State their sentiment on that
subject by voting for, as Senator, a gentleman known
to be latitudinary In the construction of the Consti
tution in that particular; whilst the General Govern
ment at the same time holds out Inducements, which
may fairly be called bribes to the States, and par
ticularly to Virginia, on this great subject,
"What then can we do, and to whom can we look
but to the Fathers of the Republic to aid us by their
counsel and wisdom in sustaining the principles of
the Government, which they have taught us to be
lieve were those only by which the safety of the
States and the bonds of union could be maintained?
Shall the authorities of the States 'fold their arms
In inglorious Indolence,' whilst we hear proclaimed
from the President of the United States sentiments
subversive of every principle of a limited govern
ment — indeed, reviving the antiquated doctrine of
the divine right of power; spurning the opinion of
'constituents,' lest rulers should be palsied; proclaim
ing that 'Liberty Is Power, and that the tenure by
which power is held Is the moral purpose of the
Creator to exercise it for ends of beneficence,' etc?
Is this the language of an American President acting
under a written Constitution of defined and specified
grants of power, or of a European despot who rules
by the grace of God?
"But, sir, I will not fatigue you with comments
on this extraordinary State paper. Should you deem
It wise that the legislature of Virginia should move
at this time In relation to any of the subjects in which
the rights of the States and the true interpretation
of the Constitution are Involved, any communica
tion you think proper to make will be treated with
all the delicacy, which an entire confidence In your
wisdom and a profound personal respect can in
spire. "No Inducement could have tempted me to tres
pass on your time but where the safety and happiness

132 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of the community are concerned; and I have ap
pealed with confidence to one whose life has been
devoted to the service of his country and of man
kind, "We have as yet taken no step relating to the
University, Mr, Cabell is absent from some family
misfortune, and will be so until after Christmas,
The sentiments towards the University, so far as I
can learn, are of the most friendly kind; and I sin
cerely hope that we shall hereafter have little diffi
culty in completing the institution in a way that will
fulfill the expectations of its friends and of the world.
If Mr, Adams' University succeeds, we may have
a fearful rival. With sentiments of the most per
fect and entire respect. Your obedient servant."
Jefferson's reply written from Monticello on Jan
uary I, 1826, just six months prior to his death,
while exhibiting some of the Impatience which char
acterized much of his later correspondence, evinced
no diminution of his Intellectual powers, or of his
fixed views upon the political questions of the period.
"I cannot blame you," he wrote to Gordon, "if
you have been thinking hardly of my long delay in
answering your favor of loth ult,, but knowing the
state of my health these thoughts will vanish from
your mind. It is now three weeks since a re-ascer-
bation of my painful complaint has confined me to
the house and Indeed to my couch. Required to
be constantly recumbent I write slowly and with
difficulty. Yesterday for the first time I was able
to leave the house and to resume a posture which
enables me to begin to answer the letters which have
been accumulating, and I take up yours first,
"Weakened in body by Infirmities and In mind by
age, now far gone in my eighty-third year, reading
one newspaper only and forgetting Immediately what
I read in that, I am unable to give counsel in cases
of difficulty, and our present one Is truly a case of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 133
difficulty. It is but too evident that the branches
of our foreign department of government, executive,
judiciary, and legislative, are In combination to usurp
the powers of the domestic branch also reserved to
the States, and consolidate themselves Into a single
government without limitation of powers. I will
not trouble you with details of the instances, which
are threadbare and unheeded. The only question
is, what is to be done? Shall we give up the ship?
No, by heavens, while a hand remains able to keep
the deck! Shall we, with the hotheaded Georgian,
stand at once to our arms? Not yet, nor until the
evil, the only greater one than separation, shall be
all but upon us, that of living under a government
of discretion. Between these alternatives there can
be no hesitation. But again, what are we to do?
I am glad I did not answer earlier, for a fortnight
ago might have called for a different answer. Since
that the South Carolina resolutions are become
known. Van Buren's motion, and Baylie's proposi
tion to yield the power of roads and canals, provided
It be regularly by an amendment of the Constitution,
and guarded against abusive practices under It, We
had better at present rest awhile on our oars, and
see which way the tide will set in Congress and In
the State legislatures. Perhaps it will be better for
Virginia to follow than to take the lead In whatever
is to be done, A majority of the people are against
us on this question. The western States have
especially been bribed by local considerations to aban
don their antient brethren, and enlist under banners
alien to them In principles and Interest, If In this
state of things we can make such a compromise as
Baylie proposes, we shall save, and at the same time
Improve our Constitution, for I think that with suffi
cient guards it will be a wholesome amendment.
And not doubting but that it comes from the Presi
dent himself, we may hope Its success under such
auspices. If I had an opinion therefore, it would

134 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
be for lying still awhile. But I have none. I have
neither matter nor mind to form one. And I pray
that what I have now hazarded to you as a friend
may be sacredly locked up In your own breast. For
abandoning, as it is time, all intermeddling to the
generation now on the stage — the entire manage
ment of their own affairs, I should deem it the
greatest of all calamities to be inflicted at this period
of life in embroilment of which I wish never to
think again.
"Yesterday, the last of the year, closed the sixty-
first of my continued service to the public. I came
into it as soon as of age, which was in 1764, begin
ning with the court of my county; then their repre
sentative; next, Congress; the revised Code; Gov
ernor; Congress; Minister Plenipotentiary; Sec
retary of State; Vice-President; President; Albe
marle and Central College; and on my return from
Washington, the University, and I may — [illegi
ble]. "Is It not time then, dear sir, to turn me loose?
Ever aff'y yours, Thomas Jefferson."
"The hot-headed Georgian" to whom Mr, Jeffer
son alludes in this letter was Governor George M,
Troup of Georgia, who a short time before had un
dertaken to remove from that State the Creek In
dians, These Indians had made a treaty with the
United States by which they agreed to surrender
their lands; but repudiated the treaty. The State
of Georgia proceeded to have the lands surveyed,
with a view to causing the speedy removal of the
Indians, The Federal Government called on Troup
to suspend the survey until further notice; and sent
United States troops to Georgia under General
Gaines. Gaines and Troup were on the point of
hostilities. There was great excitement throughout
the State, and Troup called on the people to "stand

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 135
to their arms;" but at last agreed to await the nego
tiation of a new treaty, under which the Creeks were
finally removed to territory beyond the Mississippi,
The episode was a notable one In the political his
tory of the period.
In spite of Mr, Jefferson's diplomatic attitude on
the subject of Mr, Baylie's proposed amendment,
opposition to internal improvements by the General
Government continued to be one of the cardinal
political tenets of Virginia republicanism; and on
February 28, 1826, Gordon voted in the affirmative
on the following resolution on that subject, which
was adopted by the House of Delegates :
"That the Congress of the United States does not
possess the power, under the Constitution, to adopt
a general system of internal Improvements In the
States, as a national measure;" and "that the ap
propriation by the Congress of the United States to
construct roads and canals in the States is a viola
tion of the Constitution,"
'On the 22nd of February, 1827, on Gordon's
motion, the report of a committee "Upon certain
points of fundamental law and certain differing
claims of jurisdiction between this State and the
Government of the United States," was taken up;
and after discussion and debate, In which he took
a conspicious part, it was adopted on the 2d day of
March following, upon his motion for a recorded
vote, by the significant majority of one hundred and
thirty-five ayes to forty-seven noes. The report is
a masterly state paper of the period, and was penned
by William B, Giles, who had already represented
Virginia in the Senate of the United States, and
shortly after its composition entered upon his first
term as Governor of the State. The preamble and
resolutions embodied in this report of Mr. Giles
seem to constitute so perspicuous and powerful a

136 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
presentation of the democratic doctrine of State
sovereignty In its ultimate significance, that they are
given here in their entirety.
"The General Assembly of Virginia, actuated as
it always has been by the most sincere disposition for
the preservation of the Union of these States, be
lieving that the Union can only be preserved by
keeping the General and State governments within
their respective spheres of action as marked out by
the Constitution of the United States; being also
sincerely desirous that the General Government
should be protected in the full and free exercise of
all the specified powers granted to It by the Con
stitution of the United States, and being at the same
time deeply impressed with a sense of its own duty
to preserve unimpaired all the rights of the people
and government of this State conferred upon It by
the Constitution of the State and of the United
States, finds itself reluctantly constrained to enter
its most solemn protest against the usurpations of the
General Government, as described In the Report of
the Committee,
"Therefore, Resolved that the General Assembly
in behalf of the people and government of this State,
does hereby most solemnly protest against the claim
or exercise of any power whatever on the part of
the General Government to make internal Improve
ments within the limits and jurisdiction of the sev
eral States, and particularly within the limits of the
State of Virginia — and also against the claim or ex
ercise of any power whatever asserting or Involving
a jurisdiction over any part of the territory within
the limits of this State, except over the objects and
in the mode specified In the Constitution of the Uni
ted States,
"Resolved, In like manner that this General As
sembly does most solemnly protest against the claim
or exercise of any power whatever on the part of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 137
the General Government to protect domestic manu
factures, the protection of manufactures not being
among the grants of power to the government speci
fied In the Constitution of the United States; and
also against the operation of the Act of Congress,
passed May 2 2d, 1824, entitled 'An Act to amend
the several acts imposing duties or imports,' gener
ally called the Tariff law, which vary the distribu
tions of the proceeds of the labor of the community
in such a manner as to transfer property from one
portion of the United States to another, and to take
private property from the owner for the benefit of
another person not rendering public service — as un
constitutional, unwise, unjust, unequal and oppres
sive." Of the men of his generation in Virginia there
was none who possessed a more brilliant contem
porary reputation for skill in debate, for eloquence
and logic, and for ability as a party leader, than the
author of these resolutions. It has been said of Mr,
Giles that he was "considered by John Randolph
to be in the House of Representatives what Charles
James Fox was admitted to be in the British House
of Commons — the most accomplished debater that
his country had ever seen," No one came within
the radius of his Influence without being impressed
by him. His earliest appearance to Gordon is
described in a letter written by the latter in 1822 : —
"I have seen Mr. Giles, and was astonished at his
power of conversation, and the rich and varied fund
of political knowledge which he seemed to have on
every public subject." At the time of these resolu
tions Giles had already been a member of the United
States House of Representatives, and had won a
national distinction, and the undying hatred of the
Federalists, by his attack upon Alexander Hamil
ton, then Secretary of the Treasury, In which he
charged him with corruption and peculation. He

138 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
had co-operated with Madison in the Virginia Gen
eral Assembly In procuring the passage of the fa
mous resolutions of 1798; and had later been a Sen
ator from Virginia from 1804 to 18 15 in the United
States Senate, where he held during a large part of
that period the recognized and undisputed position
of leader of the Republican party. Yet, like many
others of his Virginia compatriots who had not dis
dained, after serving their State in high position,
to continue In her service wherever called, he had
returned in 1826 to the House of Delegates of her
General Assembly, from which he emerged, during
Its session, by the votes of his colleagues, as Gover
nor of the Commonwealth, an office esteemed by him
the loftiest in her gift.
He was a State-Rights Jeffersonian of the strictest
sect; and though the difference in their years was
more than a quarter of a century, and Giles at this
time belonged to the coterie of political patriarchs
who still continued on the scene of events, the simi
larity of their political views made a strong friend
ship between himself and Gordon, which survived
until Giles' death.
Giles walked with a crutch, which seemed to lend
grace and dignity to his movements; and a writer
of the period, describing him In the Convention of
1829-30, said: "His style of delivery was perfectly
conversational — no gesture, no effort; but In ease,
fluency and tact surely he had not there his equal;
his words were like honey pouring from an eastern
rock." He died in 1830 at an advanced age.
His ability as a forceful and vigorous polemical
writer was scarcely less than that which he possessed
as a debater. He published a speech on the embargo
laws in 1808; political letters to the people of Vir
ginia In 1 8 13; a series of letters signed "A Consti
tuent" in the Richmond Enquirer of January, 18 18,
against the plan for a general education; In April,
1824, a letter of invective against President Mon-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 139
roe and Henry Clay, for their "hobbles," the South
American cause, the Greek cause. Internal Improve
ments and the Tariff; and he also addressed a letter
to Judge Marshall, disclaiming the expressions, but
not the general sentiments. In regard to Washington,
which are ascribed to him in the Chief Justice's
"Life" of the first President,

CHAPTER IX
in the general assembly — Lafayette's visit —
Jefferson's lottery
In 1824 the Congress of the United States adopted
by unanimous vote a resolution requesting President
James Monroe to Invite the Marquis Lafayette,
whose presence in the dark days of the Revolution
had inspired and aided the struggling colonists, and
the memory of whose achievements was still cher
ished by the young republic, .to revisit the country
whose independence he had done so much to secure.
The invitation was accordingly extended; and La
fayette, then an old man, accepted it, and sailed
from Havre, July 12, 1824, in an American mer
chant vessel, arriving in New York after a voyage of
a month and two days. His reception in America
was one continuous series of festivities, in all of
which he was, of course, the central figure; and he
was met everywhere with such evidences of admira
tion and affection as are seldom bestov/ed
upon those who have long retired from the
field of their activities. He remained In the
United States for fourteen months, traveling
over a large part of the country, and visit
ing each of the twenty-four States that then com
posed the Union. Congress voted him a money
grant of $200,000 for his services In the War of the
Revolution, and a land-grant of 24,000 acres out
of the public lands.
Nowhere was his reception more In the nature
of a continuous ovation than In Virginia, the scene
of some of his most brilliant military triumphs and
the home of his devoted personal and political friend,
Thomas Jefferson. In November, 1824, he visited
Jefferson at Monticello. A contemporary record,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 141
written by an eye-witness of much that occurred upon
the occasion of this visit, thus describes it:
"General Lafayette reached Albemarle from
Richmond early In the month of November, 1824.
He passed through Goochland and Fluvanna on his
way, and was received In each county with the live
liest demonstrations of respect and gratitude. He
was escorted to the Albemarle line by the Fluvanna
troop. At Boyd's Tavern, on the line, he was re
ceived by the Committee of Arrangements from Al
bemarle, and a large deputation of citizens from that
county, Mr. William C, Rives, acting as their
spokesman, addressed General Lafayette in a felici
tous speech of some length, to which the General
replied in a very feeling manner,
"After partaking of refreshments at Boyd's
Tavern, the party set out for Monticello. The
landau of Mr. Jefferson was allotted to General La
fayette by the Committee of Arrangements. The
General ascended the landau, attended by Mr, Rives
and Thomas Jefferson Randolph, the chairman of
the Committee of Arrangements, Then followed
'The Guards,' and next a large body of citizens
marshalled Into order by Major Clark, In this man
ner they proceeded to Monticello, At two o'clock
in the afternoon the approach of the procession upon
the mountain was announced by the bugle, and when
the echo of its note was heard, those persons who
had assembled at an early hour to witness the Gen
eral's arrival, formed themselves Into a line on the
northern margin of the circular yard, in front of
the house. The cavalry by a sudden and almost In
stantaneous movement ranged themselves on the op
posite side of the yard, A deep silence prevailed,
while every eye turned with eagerness to the point
where the General's presence was expected. The next
moment the carriage drew up in front of the build
ing.

142 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"As soon as the General drove up, Mr, Jefferson
advanced to meet him with feeble steps; but as he
approached his feelings seemed to triumph over the
Infirmities of age, and as the General descended, they
hastened into each other's arms. They embraced
again and again; tears were shed by both, and the
broken expressions of 'God bless you. General,' and
'Bless you, my dear Jefferson,' was all that Inter
rupted the silence of the scene, except the audible sobs
of many whose emotions could not be suppressed,
"On the next day the Deputation Committee and
the Guards proceeded to Monticello to escort the
General to Charlottesville, General Lafayette, Mr.
Jefferson and Mr, Madison in the landau proceeded
to Charlottesville, where hundreds were drawn up
in order, awaiting their arrival. At the steps of the
Central Hotel the General alighted, and was re
ceived In a handsome manner by the chairman of
the Committee, Mr, Randolph, who addressed him
as follows :
" 'General: In the name and on behalf of the
citizens of Albemarle, I tender to you our most af
fectionate greeting and cordial welcome. Our
fathers, whom you see around us, have taught us,
their children, from our earliest youth a grateful
respect and an affectionate veneration for you. They
have often told us how, in the distressful hour of
their affliction and despair, you came to them and
cheered them by your presence and your counsels.
They have often recounted to us how In the toilsome
march, in the Inclement night, in the stubborn action,
you were at their sides, sharing their fatigues and
sufferings and mingling your blood with theirs.
These things have sunk deep in our hearts. We look
around us, and see that we are free, that we are
happy. We recollect that it is partly by your aid
that we are so,
" 'We have hailed you In your native land as the
friend to the Rights of Man; we have seen you the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 143
victirn of your patriotism and of your disinterested
principles; we have seen with pleasure your tri
umphant march through our country — a triumph
such as has never been decreed to man — not to an
imperial Caesar, or to an Eastern Tamerlane, The
homage of ten millions of freemen to virtue and to
merit, the unbought applause of a proud and free
people, who have scorned alike the despotism of a
mob or of a monarch — who have never bent the
knee in abject adulation to sceptered power or here
ditary honors — who have never bowed but in adora
tion of their God — are yours. This, General, is the
people, who In the exalting swell of their hearts, now
greet you as their guest and benefactor.'
"To which the General replied: 'Amidst the
patriotic and affectionate enjoyments of this visit to
my beloved and venerated friend, I find a high ad
ditional gratification In the welcome I receive from
the citizens of Albemarle, The recollections you are
pleased to allude to are on your part very kind, sir —
I may add, they are very generous, I still with re
gret remember that owing to the necessity of our
operating a junction which an active enemy en
deavored to prevent, the town of Charlottesville
was exposed to momentary Invasion, Yet that very
circumstance has given fresh proof of the patriotism
of the citizens of this and the neighboring counties,
as to their spirited assistance we were in a great part
indebted for the happy return of our military opera
tions. Now, sir, I rejoice to see you In the full en
joyment of peace and happiness, and of the rising
prospects which are before you. Receive, gentle
men, with my congratulations, my respectful and
affectionate acknowledgments.'
"The General was then introduced to a large
crowd in the reception-room. He was evidently
grateful at the glow of feeling. It was not con
strained respect to renown or power; It was love.
It was deep and grateful affection. It was the mem-

144 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ory of his services and sacrifices for us that swelled
the hearts and glistened in the eyes of the people,
¦'The procession was formed at twelve o'clock,
and marched to the University, the chief marshal
with two aids and the President of the day preced
ing the General, Mr, Jefferson and Mr, Madison In
a landau drawn by four grays. After the landau
followed the General's son and suite in a carriage
drawn by two horses; then the Visitors of the Uni
versity, standing committees, magistrates, cavalry,
junior officers, and citizens on horseback and on foot.
The procession moved slowly to the University,
Each man from the accuracy of his movements
seemed to have been drilled for his duty. As the
University came suddenly into view, a thousand of
the daughters of the mountains, ranged aloft on the
terraces, waved their white kerchiefs In the air. It
was beautiful; his escort, the country's chivalry;
his reception, its loveliness. They crowded around
the eastern stretch of the University, and came to
the bottom of the lawn. The procession dismounted,
and was formed on foot. The first objects that
struck the view were three flags floating on the Ro
tunda. On the largest In broad letters were the words :
'Welcome, our country's Guest.' There was a moral
sublimity In the scene. On the very spot where now
walked, arm in arm, a hero of the Revolution with
two of Its sages — a spot where the youngest scion
of science had been planted by the patriarchal hand
of Jefferson, his last public care — were now assem
bled all the beauty and chivalry of the country to
bid the fathers of their country hail,
"The procession moved slowly up the Lawn to
the steps of the Rotunda, the General gracefully
bowing to the ladles as he passed, where Mr, Wil
liam F, Gordon stood ready to receive him. As the
General advanced Mr, Gordon descended the steps
of the portico, and thus addressed him :
"'General Lafayette: The citizens of Albe-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 145
marie County again greet you as their friend and
benefactor. They tender you assurances of their
gratitude and veneration. They contemplate with
affection the moral sublimity of the scene of your
return to our country. Throughout our associated
republics to you there Is no enemy. We refute the
calumny that men have more respect for their de
stroyers than for their benefactors, while with spon
taneous gratitude millions of freemen resound to
heaven the praises of liberty and Lafayette,
" 'The citizens of Virginia hail with a peculiar
enthusiasm your arrival at this spot. It Is their uni
versity, their future temple of literature and science,
erected beyond the point where the flag of the In
vader has ever floated, a fruit of our glorious Revo
lution, an emanation from that mind which first de
clared that we were free, sovereign and independent.
" 'We associate with your being here. General, the
augury of its success. We look back on the troubled
night of our Revolutionary War, and thence to this
institution of liberty with grateful recollections of
your gallant toils in that, and with bright anticipa
tions of your benedictions on this,
" 'Here the sons of Virginia, whilst drinking from
the untroubled fountain of science, will contemplate
with indescribable emotion the beauty and stability
of that Corinthian pillar of reputation which you
have erected. It charms the more from the solitary
grandeur which it exhibits, and the waste and de
struction of the social and political elements with
which it has elsewhere been surrounded. For the
future generations of our country we know, General,
that you will unite with us in the fervent invocation
that this University, erected on the hills of liberty
which you have defended from the tread of the in
vader, may be an everlasting fire to which her vo
taries may look; that here may continue to blaze that
bright constellation of principles which guided our

146 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
steps through an age of revolution and reformation,
to which the wisdom of our sages and the blood of
our heroes, mingled with that of our Illustrious
guest, have been devoted,
" 'For yourself, General, we sincerely pray that a
life which has been so gloriouslj directed to the ser
vice and happiness of mankind, whose morning beam
lighted the darkness of our fortunes, may be long
protracted; that its evening ray may shine across
the gloom and oppression of other nations, and illu
mine their way to liberty and safety,'
"To which the General replied:
" 'I am happy, sir, once more to receive the kind
welcome of the citizens of Albemarle, and this day
to receive it under the beautiful pantheon of this ris
ing University, the advantage of which not only to
this part of the United States but to the cause of
mankind, so eloquently expressed by you, I rejoice
to acknowledge. Nor do I in anything more cor
dially sympathize than In the mention you have made
of the venerable friend, whom, if there were but one
University in the world, the enlightened men of both
hemispheres would In common elect to preside over
universal information,'
" 'Be pleased, sir, to accept the tribute of my
respectful gratitude to you; and to you, fellow-
citizens of Albemarle,'
"The dinner that took place In the upper room of
the Rotunda was attended by many hundreds of
persons. Including several of the most Illustrious
citizens of the Republic, Mr, Valentine W, Southall
presided, with the General first on his right, the Mr,
Jefferson and Mr. Madison; and on his left G. W.
Lafayette and suite,"
Toasts were given, and responded to by Lafayette,
Madison and Jefferson, the last named of whom,
too weak to reply In person, handed to the presiding

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 147
officer, Mr, Southall, some written remarks which
he read to the company.
In the following January General Lafayette re
turned to Richmond, where it was designed to ex
tend him a reception commensurate with the dignity
of the occasion of his visit to the capital of the Com
monwealth. The plans were carried out in all their
detall,_ and were characterized by a lavishness of
municipal display and a sincerity of affection that
were unexcelled, and perhaps seldom equalled, by
any welcome extended him elsewhere. The streets
and the public and private buildings were decorated
In his honor; and his way was adorned with tri
umphal arches, as to a Roman conqueror.
On the 23d of January, 1825, the House of Dele
gates, then In annual session appointed a committee
to act jointly with one of a like character from the
Senate, for the purpose of taking appropriate legis
lative action in connection with Lafayette's visit;
and Gordon was made a member of this joint com
mittee. On the 24th of January the committee, hav
ing waited on General Lafayette at his tavern, at ele
ven o'clock, and delivered to him a formal address of
welcome on behalf of the legislature, to which he
appropriately replied, returned and reported to the
the General Assembly that it would be agreeable
to their distinguished visitor to be introduced to the
two Houses at any hour that might be convenient
to them to receive him. There can be no more
graphic narrative of the deep feeling of gratitude
and reverence, and of the unfeigned desire to mani
fest these emotions, than is Illustrated in the simple
and poignant record of the proceedings of this com
mittee, as detailed on the pages of the House Jour
nal, The committee after reciting a preamble, say :
"The Committee recommend therefore the fol
lowing resolution :
"Resolved, That General Lafayette will be re-

148 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ceived by the House of Delegates on this day at two
o'clock." The Journal thereupon continues: "The said reso
lution being twice read was, on the question put
thereon, agreed to by the House,
"On the motion of Mr. Gordon, the following
preamble and resolution being twice read, were
agreed to unanimously.
" 'The General Assembly of Virginia entertaining
an exalted sense of the generous devotion of General
Lafayette to the freedom and happiness of mankind,
and conscious that their love of liberty must ever
be identified with their affection towards so distin
guished a benefactor, as a testimonial of their grati
tude for his gallant services and ennobUng sacrifices
in the cause of American liberty. Have, therefore.
Resolved: That the Executive of this State cause
to be prepared and presented to General Lafayette,
In the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
in the manner which they may deem most appro
priate, copies of the Declaration of Independence, of
the Declaration or Bill of Rights, and the Act for
establishing Religious Freedom, together with the
Farewell Address of General Washington to the
People of the United States.' "
In the presence of the two Houses Lafayette was
addressed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates
in words of welcome; and it is recorded that the
distinguished visitor "made an eloquent reply," The
House Journal concludes with the recitation : "The
General took the seat prepared for him in the
House," Other tokens of welcome and affection followed,
amid scenes of festivity and rejoicing in Richmond;
and when the venerable Frenchman returned to his
native land It was with a vivid and grateful sense
of the generosity and hospitality with which he had

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 149
been everywhere received In the new Republic which
a half century before he had helped to create.
Mr, Jefferson's Lottery Bill was an interesting
feature of the legislative session following General
Lafayette's visit. The often shifting and conven
tional significance of the moral code In the view of
civilized mankind is Illustrated in the different regard
with which the best and wisest men then viewed
many things now tabooed and prohibited. Jefferson
in his old age had become impoverished, and sought
the relief of the General Assembly of the State in
disposing of what remained of a considerable for
tune to the best advantage. He had been the pos
sessor of two hundred thousand dollars worth of
property when he left the Presidency, but the cease
less hospitality which characterized his home-keeping
at Monticello, the payment of an ante-bellum British
debt, and the loss of twenty thousand dollars by en
dorsement for one of his friends, ruined him finan
cially. He sold his library to Congress for $23,950,
but this only served to defer for a while the final
reckoning. The time was unfavorable for convert
ing his large landed estates Into money by sale; and
even if this were done, an ordinary sale would have
left him without property and a debtor.
He petitioned the legislature for leave to dispose
of his property by lottery. By this means, he said,
"I can save the house of Monticello, and a farm
adjoining, to end my days In, and bury my bones.
If not, I must seU house and all here, and carry my
family to Bedford, where I have not even a log
hut to put my head into,"
The author of the "Life of Jefferson" in the
"American Statesmen" series, says:
"When the proposition was^ broached, some oppo
sition was threatened, and its success was not cer
tain, Jefferson wrote, with evident humiliation: 'I
perceive there are greater doubts than I appre-

I50 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
bended, whether the legislature will indulge my re
quest to them. It is a part of my mortification to
perceive that I had so far over-valued myself as to
have counted on it with too much confidence. 'I see,'
he sadly adds, ' in the failure of this hope a deadly
blast of all my peace of mind during my remaining
days,' "But," continues Mr, Morse, his biographer,
"he was spared a disappointment so severe. The
opposition was feeble, and the authorizing bill passed
both houses by very gratifying majorities."
As a matter of fact the opposition was aggressive,
strong and relentless, and was based solely upon polit
ical considerations. The Federalists fought the
measure with the same vindictive spirit that they
manifested towards everything Jeffersonian, and as
though It involved some great principle of govern
ment, Gordon, who was actively Interested In Its
success, wrote to Mr, Jefferson on the 17th of
February, 1826, from Richmond, as follows:
"Friday, 17 February, 1826,
"Dear Sir:
"I have the pleasure to inform you that the Bill
in your behalf was today ordered to be engrossed
by a large majority,
"It is calculated by your friends that it will pass
to-morrow by a decided majority,
"The objects of the application were not at first
understood by many members voting against leave
to bring in the bill; and I fear the Federalists were
active In preventing them,
"I believe that few will now vote against the bill
except the Federal delegates, of whom there are too
many. Their opposition is more than compensated
by the zeal and devotion of your friends, among
whom I am proud to subscribe myself as your affec
tionate and devoted servant,
William F, Gordon."

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 151
On the foUowing day the biU passed the House of
Delegates under the title of "An Act authorizing
Thomas Jefferson to dispose of his property by lot
tery," by a vote of one hundred and twenty-five to
sixty-two. Immediately after its passage, proffers
of assistance came from all parts of the United
States ; and a little more than four months later Mr,
Jefferson was dead, departing under the Illusion that
his home and hearthstone would be saved to his
children by the citizens of a grateful country.
In the next December Gordon presented in the
House of Delegates the petition of Colonel Thomas
Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's grandson and exe
cutor, on behalf of several slaves who had been
liberated by the latter's will, that they might be per
mitted to remain In the State of Virginia, the law of
the Commonwealth at that time providing that
manumitted slaves should be removed beyond the
borders of the State; and In January thereafter the
House Journal recites that "on motion of Mr. Gor
don, the committee of Schools and Colleges were
discharged from consideration of the petition of
sundry citizens of Albemarle relative to the Bust
of Thomas Jefferson, and the said petition was or
dered to be referred to the select committee ap
pointed to enquire into the propriety of erecting a
monument to Thomas Jefferson, that they examine
the matter thereof, and report their opinion there
upon to the House. Ordered that Mr. Gordon be
added to the said committee."
These were his last tributes In the House of Dele
gates to the memory of the greatest of all Virginia
statesmen, whose principles of government he
cherished, with whose personal friendship and esteem
he was honored, and with whom he co-operated
modestly and unobtrusively, but none the less really
and effectively, in establishing a great educational in
stitution, the name of which, as the offspring of his
genius, Jefferson provided should be Inscribed upon
his tombstone.

CHAPTER X
IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF TWENTY-
NINE-THIRTY^ — THE DISTINCTION OF
ITS MEMBERSHIP
In December, 1828, the movement in behalf of a
Constitutional Convention in Virginia for the pur
pose of changing the basis of representation began
to assume definite shape. Gordon was the chairman
of the House Committee on Courts of Justice, and
took a leading part in the discussions In the House of
Delegates over the various amendments to the Con
stitution that were proposed for a partition of the
State In order to assure a proper distribution of the
delegates and senators upon a fair representative
basis. But early in the session it was developed that
the question had become so exciting a one as to be
insusceptible of settlement by amendment; and in
the latter part of January, 1829, we find him sup
porting and voting for a bill "to organize a conven
tion," The proposition was submitted to the free
hold electorate of the State ; and' the convention was
called by a vote of 21,896 In Its favor to 16,637
against It In the whole Commonwealth, In Albe
marle the measure was hardly popular; and in a
poll of 329 votes the convention was defeated by
three majority,
"Andrew Jackson was inaugurated in the month
of March," says Tyler, in his "Letters and Times
of the Tylers," "and the next month elections oc
curred In Virginia for a State Convention to amend
the constitution of 1776, This was, therefore, a
most momentous year in the annals of Virginia. The
subject of a constitution had been mooted In Vir
ginia ever since the Revolution, but the conservatism
of the State had steadily defeated the project for a

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 153
continuous period of forty-six years. The jealousies
of the west, and the discontent expressed by the dis
franchised non-freeholders, forced the Legislature
in 1828 at length to submit the call of a convention to
the people. The fact was that the changed state of
society required a change in the fundamental laws.
The eastern counties, whose white population con
sisted principally of freeholders, voted heavily
against the proposition, pregnant as It was with In
jury to their present political Influence, by threaten
ing to Increase the voting power of the West, and
to abrogate the equality of the counties — each county
under the old constitution, being entitled to two rep
resentatives Irrespective of population,"
It was a situation not unlike that which arose in
England over the Reform Bill; and it is interesting
to note that in the attitude of the western and moun
tainous part of the State, where there were few
slaves, and whose inhabitants were generaUy men
who tolled with their own hands, was visible for the
first time the line of political and social demarca
tion, which resulted three decades later, amid the
throes of war. In the dismemberment from the
mother State of the present State of West Virginia.
To the thoughtful observer of the period was visi
ble in the smouldering fire of the approaching con
flict a spark of local peril; for the lurid light of the
slavery agitation was kindling the horizon, and the
vision at home, though of a different character, was
none the less ominous than that abroad. The wrong
of slavery to the non-slave owning white man of the
South, so powerfully appealed to In the dramatic
presentation of HInton R, Helper's "Impending
Crisis" in the fifties, first showed itself in the consti
tutional convention movement in Virginia In 1828,
The convention contained ninety-six delegates,
distributed among twenty-four districts, as indicated
in the legislative act of Its establishment. Each con
vention district chose four delegates. When the

154 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
elections were had, and the convention assembled,
it appeared that the people had chosen as their rep
resentatives for the reconstruction of the basic law
a body of men who were the peers of those who
more than fifty years before had made the first con
stitution ever written on American soil, or of that
later gathering of Virginians who had ratified the
Federal Constitution,
"Some have held it equal to the celebrated con
vention which met in Virginia in the year 1788 to
pass upon the Federal Constitution," wrote Mr.
Ritchie in his preface to the Debates, "Much of
what was venerable for years and long service ; many
of those who were most respected for their wisdom
and their eloquence; two of the ex-Presidents of the
United States ; the Chief Justice of the United States ;
several of those who had been most distinguished in
Congress or the State legislature, on the bench or at
the bar, were brought together for the momentous
purpose of laying anew the fundamental law of the
land." Ritchie's eulogium, pronounced In the summer
following the convention's adjournment, has been
more than justified by the judgment of posterity;
and the veracious historian must hesitate to prefer
to this organization of illustrious men even that first
Continental Congress, of whose personnel Lord
Chatham said "that for solidarity of reasoning, force
of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under such a
complication of difficult circumstances, no nation or
body of men can stand in preference to the general
Congress at Philadelphia,"
The age was peculiarly one of oratory, in which
the Virginians excelled; and In this amazing body
were very many who In the exercise of this particular
gift might rank with that galaxy of the House of
Commons which, beyond the water, gathered In 1788
in the great hall of William Rufus, at Westminster,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 155
to impeach the Governor of India at the bar of the
British Peers,
The very opening scene of the convention was In
the highest degree impressive, James Madison, the
only survivor of that earlier convention which had
formed the first constitution of the State, and one of
the two living members of the convention which had
formed the Constitution of the United States, now
an ex-President of the Union, arose and addressed
the Convention, He stated the propriety of organ
izing the body by the appointment of a President,
and nominated his old antagonist, James Monroe, as
qualified to fill the chair, Mr, Monroe, another
ex-President of the United States, was unanimously
elected ; and was escorted to the chair by Mr, Madi
son and Chief Justice Marshall.
About them were gathered John Tyler, Governor,
Senator and President; Littleton Waller Tazewell,
one of the greatest of the Virginians of his genera
tion, who was Governor of the Commonwealth and
United States Senator; Abel P. Upshur, jurist and
powerful debater, and the successor of Daniel Web
ster as Secretary of State; John Randolph, of Roa
noke, illustrating in his extraordinary appearance
and marvellous oratory the gall of genius. United
States Congressman, Senator and Minister to Russia ;
William Branch Giles, whom Randolph likened to
Charles James Fox, In the British Commons, "the
most accomplished debater his country had ever
seen," leader of the Republican party on the floor of
the United States Senate, bitterly hated of the Feder
alists, and now the Governor of the Commonwealth ;
Philip Pendleton Barbour, Speaker of the United
States House of Representatives, later president of
the convention, statesman and jurist, and Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States;
Benjamin Watklns Leigh, orator of the highest rank,
whose English diction was said to be "so clear, cor
rect and elegant, that it might be safely committed

156 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
to print just as spoken," Doctor of Laws of WilUam
and Mary College, Reporter of the State Court of
Appeals, and United States Senator; James Pleas
ants, Congressman, United States Senator, and Gov
ernor of the Commonwealth; Chapman Johnson,
eminent lawyer and leader of the bar, the successor
of Jefferson and Madison as Rector of the Uni
versity of Virginia; John W, Green, distinguished
jurist and Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals
of Virginia; John Y. Mason, chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee in the United States
House of Representatives, United States District
and Circuit Judge, Secretary of the Navy under
Tyler, and Attorney-General of the United States
under Polk, President of the Virginia Constitutional
Convention of 1850, and United States Minister to
France; Mark Alexander, for many years a notable
party leader in Southside Virginia, and a representa
tive in Congress from John Randolph's old district;
William Leigh, Randolph's friend and executor,
whom he esteemed in the category of those that he
trusted along with Nathaniel Macon and John Wick
ham ; William O, Goode, legislator and statesman,
Speaker of the House of Delegates, Congressman,
member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850,
democratic exponent of the doctrine of gradual
emancipation; Charles Fenton Mercer, soldier and
statesman, president of the Chesapeake & Ohio
Canal, Federalist Congressman during an unex
ampled period of service among his contemporaries,
the earnest advocative of a protective tariff, and an
opponent of slavery; John S, Barbour, able debater,
eloquent defender of freehold suffrage in the conven-
¦tion, four times elected Congressman, and a distin
guished member of the family of which James Bar
bour and Philip Pendleton Barbour were then the
most illustrious representatives; Alexander Camp
bell, scholar and theologian, and one of the most In
tellectual and forceful leaders of men in his day;

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 157
George LoyaU, zealous anti-tariff man and party
leader, and prominent in Congress during Jackson's
administration; and others, who If less widely
know^n then or subsequently In the field of national
politics and statesmanship, stood for aU that was
loftiest and best In the contemporary life of the Com
monwealth, and included on their bede-roU such well-
remembered names as those of Briscoe G. Baldwin,
Richard N, Venable, David Watson, Robert Stanard,
William Henry FItzhugh, John Roane, Richard
Morris, Lewis Summers, John Scott, George C,
Dromgoole, Joseph Prentis, Archibald Stuart,
Thomas R. Joynes and Thomas M. Bayley, With
scarcely an exception those of this remarkable aggre
gation of ninety-six Virginians who had not
already, or did not later achieve a civic reputation,
were distinguished and highly esteemed both in their
own communities, and In the State at large for their
virtue and wisdom as citizens and forceful men of
affairs. The convention constituted a galaxy of statesman
ship, of oratorical and forensic ability and display,
of judicial learning and of experienced political train
ing, that Is worthy of the pen of the most gifted his
torian; — the detailed circumstance of which in this
narrative would be, even otherwise, rendered super
fluous by the noble story of the convention by one of
its youngest, though not least talented members, the
scholarly and accomplished Hugh Blair Grigsby, his
torian of the two earlier conventions of Virginia, and
Chancellor of the ancient and venerable college of
William and Mary,
The delegates from the district composed of the
counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Nelson, Fluvanna
and Goochland were William FItzhugh Gordon of
Albemarle, James Pleasants of Goochland, Lucas P,
Thompson of Amherst, and Thomas Massie, Jr,, of
Nelson, Governor Pleasants was a man of eminent ability

158 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
and of large political experience and distinction.
His career has been sketched in a former chapter,
Lucas P, Thompson, one of the younger men of
the convention, achieved later a position second to
that of none of the many great nisl-prlus judges of
his generation in the State, by his administration
through a long series of years of the duties of a judge
of the Circuit Court; and though the fame of even
the most prominent and the ablest judges of the
lower courts Is apt to fade from the memories of the
succeeding generations, Judge Thompson's person
ality was so distinctively marked that the story of
his wisdom and justice still lingers even among the
laymen of the circuit over which he so long and ably
presided, Thomas Massie, Jr,, the fourth member from the
Albemarle district, had the local reputation for
ability and high character which adorned all the
members of the convention whose civic achievements
were less conspicuous than those of Its leaders ; and
was a member of a family that has long been influ
ential and prominent In the Piedmont section of the
State, The convention met in the hall of the House of
Delegates in Richmond, In the northern end of the
beautiful and symmetrical State Capitol, which, like
so much else of value and charm In Virginia, was the
product of Jefferson's genius. The building was the
reproduction of the classic Cathedral at Nismes in
France, which had caught his eye and delighted his
cultivated taste during his residence abroad; and of
which, with a persistent view to the application of
Old World ideals to the conditions of his developing
young republic, he had brought home with him the
architectural scheme and plan.
The first session of the Convention of 1829-30
occurred on the 5th day of October, 1829. Its
meeting-place had been the scene of the most of
Gordon's public labors, and of no few of his forensic

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 159
triumphs; and with that sense of accustomedness
which makes men put forth their best efforts amid
familiar scenes, he felt himself ready, upon occasion,
to do battle, even with the intellectual giants about
him, upon the great question which the body had
been convened to determine. But nearly a month of
Its session elapsed before he entered the debate. In
an Impressive argument in behalf of the white basis.
The representatives from the western part of the
State, where, as has been related, the slave population
was sparse, and the aristocratic influence descending
from a colonial line of river-barons did not prevail,
maintained the proposition that all representation
should be based on the white population. The con
tention of the members from the eastern and older
section of the State was that representation In the two
houses of the General Assembly should be fixed with
reference to the property of the people of Virginia in
slaves. Randolph of Roanoke, who had bitterly
opposed the calling of the convention, saw In its
assembling and In the proposition of the white basis
an approaching evolution of social chaos. There
was no man of the earlier generation, save Mr,
Jefferson, for whose patriotic and Intelligent con
ception of the organization, under the F'ederal Con
stitution, of our dual form of government, Gordon
had a higher admiration than for Randolph's; and
when he entered the convention as an advocate of the
white basis, it was not without grave apprehension
that he might, sooner or later, become the target of
Randolph's attack. He was accustomed, however,
to say In later life, with much pleasure, that Ran
dolph's attitude toward him was one, not only of
unvarying courtesy and kindness, but even of prof
fered friendship ; and that the poisoned tongue which
lashed Alexander Campbell and Chapman Johnson,
and others in the excited sessions, had always gener
ously spared him.

i6o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Niles, in his Register, under date of October 24,
1829, said:
"There are 95,593 persons charged with State tax
on movable property in the State of Virginia, all of
whom have been taxed, without being represented
because of such taxation. The Inequality of the
present mode of electing delegates to the General
Assembly may be well esteemed from the table
showing the taxables In each county. Many of the
counties, and especially those In the Valley, or west
ward, contain 500 to 2,000 taxables whUe many In
the eastern part of the State, having the same power
of representation, have less than 400 taxables; — one,
Warwick, only 126. We have mentioned that the
business of the convention was parcelled out to dif
ferent committees. That on the legislative department
decided on the i6th Inst, that white population was
the proper basis for representation In the House of
Delegates, The vote In the committee stood thus :
For the resolution, Wm, Anderson, Chapman John
son, Andrew Bierne, James Madison, Charles Fenton
Mercer, John R, Cooke, Philip C. Pendleton, John
B. George, Henley Chapman, Lewis Summers,
Philip Doddridge, Wm, Campbell of Bedford, and
James Pleasants, 13. ''^Against it, Benjamin Wat
klns Leigh, Wm, H, Broadnax, John Tyler, John
Y, Mason, John Randolph, John Roane, John W,
Green, Littleton Waller Tazewell, George Townes,
John TaUaferro, Thos, R, Joynes, 11,
"The vote In committee, however, was 12 against
12, on the proposition to make the white population
the basis also of representation in the Senate, Mr,
Madison voting with the minority on the other
question. It is intimated that the proposition to
elect the Senate according to federal numbers (by
which 5 slaves are counted as 3 white persons) will
be offered by way of compromise between the parties
in the convention, which already begin to show a
great deal of feeling, — the west not yet disposed to

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON i6i
concede as to the Senate, and the east resisting the
proposition even as to the House of Delegates,
"It is stated that 48 of the members may be
counted as firm friends of representation according
to white population."
"A. P, Upshur," says Tyler, "was the Ajax
Telamon of the principle favored by the eastern
people, that property should be made one of the
factors In the constitution of the two houses. His
speech Is certainly one of the most singular specimens
of ingenuity and reason ever put together, A mere
majority rule, he said, was based on no a-priori prin
ciple, but the expediency of society was the single crit
erion. A system of checks and balances had been
found necessary in all civilized communities, and
while the equality of county representation could not
be maintained, due regard should be had to the slave
interest of the east."
The feeling indicated by Niles, In his Register,
between the representatives of the two sections, was
strong from the beginning; but the fires of discord
did not blaze out until some time after the convention
had met, Gordon was an optimist, ever buoyant and
hopeful; and dreamed that the question of the basis
might be settled amicably. On the 26th of October
he said In a letter to his wife : "Our convention
matters have hitherto progressed with as much tem-
perateness and good humor as the nature of our dis
cussions would admit; and I hope we shall have no
disagreeable excitement," But the excitement came.
Randolph of Roanoke discussed "ghosts" with Chap
man Johnson ; and spoke of the seat filled by another
advocate of the white basis who on the day before
had been sworn In as the successor of a member who
had died, as "a seat now vacant." The situation
grew tenser, as the debate on the basis continued.
The populace and the newspapers vied with each
other in assuming partisan attitudes, Niles, in his

1 62 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Register of October 31, advocating the white basis
with the sneering and characteristic contempt of an
incipient abolitionist, said that if it should be adopted
"the old families, as they were called, — persons much
partaking of the character of the old nobility of
France, imbecile and incorrigible, will pass away; —
and a healthful and happy, bold and inteUIgent
middle class rise up, to sweeten and Invigorate
society, by rendering labor honorable; and 'Rich
mond' will not any longer be all Virginia, as a dis
tinguished gentleman used to proclaim that it was in
matters of politics or policy. The moral effects of
these things over the slave population of Virginia,
and In the adjacent States, are hardly to be calculated.
The presence of numerous slaves is incompatible with
that of a numerous free population; and it Is shown
that the labor of the latter in all the Important opera
tions of agriculture or the arts, except the cultivation
of cotton, sugar, tobacco and rice (as at present car
ried on) is the cheapest and the best. And In truth,
It would not be straining the facts too far to express
an opinion, that the greatest question before the Vir
ginia Convention is the perpetual duration of negro
slavery, or the increase of a generous and free white
population." Like Banquo's ghost, the slavery spectre was be
ginning to haunt the premises of the minds of men,
and would not down. Its appearance in the debates
of the convention, by the very terms of the situation,
was inevitable; but the members put away from
themselves, with general accord, the vision of "the
greatest question," suggested by the outsider, Niles.
Gordon, himself a large slave-holder, and an aris
tocrat by descent as by family ties and social associa
tions, was nevertheless profoundly antagonistic to
that view of republican government which consid
ered property as one of Its corner-stones. He pre
sented with great force and steady persistence the
white basis as the true and phIlc>sophic solution of the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 163
vexed question, until he discovered that the differ
ences of the two parties had become embittered and
their antagonisms relentless; and that unless they
were reconciled the convention would be disrupted In
a cataclysm of final disagreement. He thereupon set
himself to work, with an Industry and an absence of
personal prejudice which were essential to the ac
complishment of his purpose, to the task of devising
a practical compromise scheme which should so
evenly adjust and balance the representative power
of the two factions as to Induce its ultimate accept
ance by both.
The task was a most difficult one. The situation,
in all its grave significance, had already attracted the
attention of the whole country; and the partisans of
the two factions came from other States to listen to
the great debates, and to applaud the one side or the
other, where the convention was almost exactly
divided, and a vote or two might mean victory or
defeat, "If it be settled on the basis of white population
only," wrote a South Carolinian correspondent, from
Richmond, to one of the Charleston papers, under
date of November 21, "Virginia will proclaim to the
Union tnat slavery ought to be expelled as one of the
elements of the basis of representation; that accord
ing to the principles of her constitution It ought to be
expelled as an element in the basis of representation
In the Federal Government, Are not the Southern
States Interested In this proclamation? Does it not
deeply affect them ?
"The great matters In agitation here," continued
this writer, "make me forget the talent and elo
quence displayed on the arena. They are extraordi
nary. From all parts of this State, and from many
of the other States, people are daily flocking here in
vast multitudes. Men and women crowd the hall
and gallery of the convention, as at some vast show
or theatre. All feel a deep interest In the matters of

1 64 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
debate; and the discussions are not only in the con
vention, but in the boarding-houses, taverns, shops,
public streets and market-places,
"Northern doctrines are working here more than
is seen or acknowledged. Vehement and eloquent
harangues are daily delivered in the convention.
Temper has heretofore maintained her uncertain em
pire, but many symptoms portend stormy debates.
What will be the Issue no one can tell, I fear the
worst, and hardly permit myself to hope for the best.
I cannot tire you with portraits of splendid and great
individuals, I merely drop you a hint of some views
of a general nature as they have struck me, and as
they affect our beloved South Carolina,"
The two factions were so equally matched in num
bers, that for a long time it seemed difficult, if not
impossible, to get a majority for any scheme of set
tlement. Neither was disposed to yield to the other
on any point; and the good temper which Gordon
had chronicled in the earUer days of the convention
was beginning to disappear as the question of "the
basis" continued to be discussed. Five propositions
for a compromise between those supporting the white
basis, and those who maintained the representation
of the slave-interests, were brought forward. They
were formulated and offered respectively by Mr.
John R, Cooke of Frederick County, Mr, Abel P,
Upshur of Northampton County, Chief Justice Mar
shall, Mr. Benjamin Watklns Leigh, and William
FItzhugh Gordon. Each of these plans of compro
mise was organized on the theory of the provision In
the United States Constitution with reference to
slave-representation, namely a three-fifths representa
tion for the slave population; but this theory of the
application of the Federal numbers occurred only in
respect to the House of Delegates, The representa
tion In the State Senate was left In each instance to
be determined on the basis of the white population.
The distribution of representatives in House and

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 165
Senate among the several sections of the State was
the crucial point about which discussion raged and
difficulty presented Itself, The white population of
one section feared the influence and power of the
slave-owners of the other section ; who, on their side,
demanded for property that consideration and place
in government which It has always finally succeeded
in obtaining for itself. The student of skilled dialec
tics and forensic debate can find nowhere a more
brilliant illustration of the power of the human mind
to conceive, and the capacity of language to present
the reasoning of intellect with intellect than in the
great debates over these several schemes upon the
floor of the convention.
The respective authors of the compromise plans
were all men of unusual individuality, and large
public experience. John Rogers Cooke, of a family
that on Its literary side has since been very promi
nent, was born In Bermuda In 1788, He had prac
tised law with distinction and success for many years,
and had been counsel In a number of important cases
In the higher courts of the Commonwealth, He had
served as a soldier and officer in the military com
mand that marched from the lower Shenandoah Val
ley In 1807, when the Chesapeake was fired on; and
he had legislative experience as a delegate In the Gen
eral Assembly of Virginia. He brought to the dis
charge of his duties In the convention a vigorous and
penetrating intellect, a wide and critical knowledge of
men, and a deportment of lofty and generous
courtesy that exalted his dignity and delighted his
acquaintances, A lasting popular reputation, how
ever. Is seldom the heritage left by the ablest lawyer
or legislator, unless accompanied by other achieve
ment; and that of John Rogers Cooke, as worthy as
It was to survive, has been largely forgotten by the
public In comparison with the fame which was won
for his son, Philip Pendleton Cooke, by his poems, or
for his other son, John Esten Cooke, by his stories

1 66 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
and romances of Virginia; and "Florence Vane" and
"Surry of Eagle's Nest" will be remembered long
after all others than the student and the historian
shall have ceased to read the great debates in the
Virginia Convention of 1829-30.
Of Abel P, Upshur it may be truthfully affirmed
that Tyler's characterization of him as the Ajax
Telamon of his side of the debate was well deserved.
He was endowed with a powerful mind, a large
measure of restless energy, a gift of speech which
was conspicuous even in that assembly, and a legal
training and experience that had brought him a judge
ship of the General Court three years prior to the as
sembling of the Convention — a position to which he
returned with the convention's close. He was an
ardent advocate of the slave-basis, and belonged to
the extreme pro-slavery and State-Rights school of
politics. The reputation which he made In the con
vention was but the precursor of that which came to
him later, when in 1843, upon the resignation of
Mr, Webster as Secretary of State, Upshur was
called by President Tyler to fill that office. He
perished In the vigor of intellectual power and
splendid manhood by the accident on the ill-fated
Princeton. Howe, In his "Virginia Historical Collections,"
says: "Judge Marshall, whenever he spoke, which
was seldom and for only a short time, attracted great
attention. His appearance was Revolutionary and
patriarchal. Tall, in a long surtout of blue, with a
face of genius and an eye of fire, his mind possessed
the rare faculty of condensation; he distilled his
argument down to Its essence,"
Marshall sympathized and acted with the up
holders of the property or slave-basis; but always in
the judicial spirit. It was in recognition and depreca
tion of the inharmonious drift of debate, and to allay
the ever-rising tide of passion, that he offered his
compromise measure. He was at this time seventy-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 167
five years old; and his participation in the sessions
of the convention constituted his last pubUc political
service. One of the five compromises offered was that by
Benjamin Watklns Leigh. Leigh was a lawyer of
great ability and a statesman of the first rank.
While a member of the General Assembly of Vir
ginia he had offered in that body a series of resolu
tions asserting the right of the legislature to Instruct
the Senators of Virginia in the United States Senate,
He was one of the commissioners who had prepared
the Revised Code of the State; and he had been Its
Supreme Court reporter. He became, after his ser
vice in the convention, the successor of Mr, Rives in
the Senate; and resigned after two years, because he
could not in conscience obey the Instructions given
him by the Virginia legislature, whose right to In
struct he recognized. Governor Henry A, Wise says
of Mr, Leigh, In his "Seven Decades of the Union,"
in describing his speech on Benton's expunging reso
lution In the United States Senate : ¦v ¦
"As a constitutional and civil lawyer, as a his
torian, as a logician, as a patriot jealous of power
and sensitive to any encroachment upon limitations
guarding the rights of legislation and the freedom of
resolutions and laws, as well as of debate, and as a
scholar and rhetorician no man compared with Mr,
Leigh in the argument on the topic of the expunctlon.
He was a purist in his Anglo-Saxon, and his speech
was In its style equal to that of the Elizabethan age
of English literature, not surpassed by the 'well of
English' of Dean Swift."
Gordon has left a vivid pen-picture of him In a
letter from Richmond written in 1823 :
"I heard Mr, Benjamin W, Leigh before the
senate yesterday on the subject of his mission to Ken-

1 68 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
tucky. He is one of the most impressive and sensible
public speakers I have heard, although he has not
fulfilled my expectation as an eloquent one. His
voice is very clear and distinct, but incapable of a
swelling note, if I may so say. His manner is natural
and ardent; his enunciation perfectly distinct, with
out the intonation of a pathetic speaker; and yet he
seems to feel sensibly himself everything he utters.
His person is a very fine one for a man below the ordi
nary size. Indeed the symmetry of his form indi
cates the agility and strength of his intellectual facul
ties, whilst his face Is a fine subject for Lavater's
most favorable speculations. The head Is large and
well shaped, the forehead high and full, though not
prominent, running almost to the top of his head;
his hair raven black, and curls in loose ringlets. The
eye, not indeed like that of Shakespeare's poet, 'In a
fine frenzy rolling,' but black, rather small, keen,
penetrating, emitting a sprightly and intellectual ray,
as it glances with rapidity at everything about him.
The nose, cheeks, mouth and chin all unite to form
a fine and handsome face. His manner in public in
dicates the confidence and composure of conscious
ability, without either arrogance or vanity,"
With the five plans of settlement on a compromise
basis before It, the debates in the convention con
tinued to rage with unabated vigor, and undimin
ished feeling,
"This convention question," wrote Gordon to his
wife on December i8, 1829, "has taken such a turn
from the commencement of our deliberations, — so
much bad temper has been exhibited, — that I have
felt unhappy since its beginning. My mind has been
absorbed. It seemed at one time that the safety of
the State was jeoparded by the bad temper of a few
individuals, I think now we shall make a constitu
tion. The proposition which I offered long since,
and which I then knew was the only one that could
combine a majority of the convention, passed yester-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 169
day evening by a small majority, but I think will ulti
mately get the vote of the whole convention. After
we shall be worried with several other propositions,
I think now ten days will close our labors."
On Saturday, December 19, 1829, tha record of
the Debates states: "The final question was now,
at length, put on agreeing to Mr, Gordon's compro
mise, and decided in the affirmative by ayes and noes
as follows"; and the names of those voting are
given, showing a majority of fourteen,
"The question as to the basis of representation,"
says Niles's Register of the week following, "seems
finally settled by the passage of the following reso
lutions, being Mr. Gordon's substitute for Mr.
Upshur's amendment: 'Resolved, that the represen
tation In the Senate and House of Delegates of Vir
ginia, shall be apportioned as follows: There shall
be 13 senators west of the Blue Ridge Mountains,
and 19 east of those mountains. There shall be In
the House of Delegates, 127 members, of whom 29
shall be elected from the district west of the Alle
gheny Mountains, 24 from the Valley between the
Allegheny and Blue Ridge, 40 from the Blue Ridge
to the head of tidewater, and 34 thence below,'
"Previous to the passage of Mr. Gordon's resolu
tions," continues Niles, 'Mr. Doddridge's amend
ment, offering to fix the white basis for the House
of Delegates, and the federal numbers for the Senate,
was lost by a tie, 48 to 48, Mr. Madison voting aye,
and Mr, Marshall no. Several of those who had
been calculated on as generally supporting the white
basis, assigned their reasons for supporting Mr,
Gordon's resolutions. Among these were Mr. Hen
derson from Loudoun and Mr. Cooke from
Frederick." A later paragraph vindicates the anticipation ex
pressed by Gordon in his letter above. "Mr.
Upshur's resolutions," says the Register, "were set
aside to make room for Mr, Gordon's by the unani
mous vote of the Convention, except Mr, Madison,"

CHAPTER XI
IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF TWENTY-
NINE-THIRTY^ — ^ADVOCACY OF THE WHITE
BASIS  RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE,
Gordon's attitude towards the question of the
basis was Illustrative of the temperament of the real
statesman. Although his county of Albemarle had
voted against the convention by a majority of three,
he had been pronounced in the canvass for election In
his advocacy of the white basis. He had supported
his views In the body itself with persistence and
courage in debate; and it was only when he per
ceived the growing danger of its disruption as the
differences of opinion grew wider, that he gave his
energies and abilities to discovering a solution of the
vexed question that should be at once equitable and
acceptable. His first speech in the debate, which had been par
ticipated In at length by Mr, Cooke, Mr, Green,
Judge Upshur, Mr, B, W, Leigh, Mr, Scott, of
Fauquier, Mr, Brooke, Mr. Doddridge, Mr. Philip
Pendleton Barbour, and others, was made after the
convention had been in session nearly a month. It
was a stalwart presentation of the claims of those
who advocated the white basis, and of opposition to
the view of those who supported the cause of a gov
ernment founded upon wealth.
"An attempt Is now made," he said, "in the modi
fication of this constitution to infuse Into it a new
principle, unheard of till now, (so far, at least, as
my knowledge extends), in any free government; a
principle which is at war with every notion we, as
Americans, have been taught to hold sacred, and
which goes to make the elective power quadrate with
wealth. The design is, In effect, either to make

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 171
slaves constituents to the legislature, or to make the
tax paid on them an ingredient in legislative power.
To both these propositions I have strong objections.
Sir, the plan will be utterly unavailing to the object
Its advocates seek to accomplish by it. If the conse
quences, which are to flow from granting us an
equality of rights, are really such as they apprehend,
this scheme will never operate to prevent the evil
* * * Property, sir, in any just scheme of
representation, Is not to be regarded but as claiming
the protection of the society. It is in aristocracy that
the argument is urged which insists on giving it a
political power as possessed by Individuals, When
you admit that, you make a House of Lords; you
give the rich man a power which he could not claim
in the government without the influence of his wealth.
But gentlemen propose to give this Influence to prop
erty, not as property in the hands of individuals, but
as lying In certain sections and subdivisions of the
State. And does this better the matter? Not in
principle, for the principle remains the same; not in
practice, for there its only effect can be, and Is, to
produce heart-burnings and jealousies of section
against section, which Is even worse than of man
against man. Because one portion of the State has
fewer slaves than the residue, will you make your
basis of representation rest upon that sort of prop
erty, of all others the most objectionable? What
must be the effect of such a policy? It must, it will
produce discontent everjrwhere, save only among the
slave-holders themselves,
"Sir, I thought it unwise, and I feel that it is most
unpleasant, to bring this subject Into the discussion,
I tried to prevent it last winter in the legislature ; but
It is forced upon us, and we must meet it; the gentle
men will not let us avoid It,
"I ask what good would it do to Virginia, were we
to admit representation on the basis of the whole
slave population?"

172 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In this speech, which, as reported In full, presents
an array of facts, figures and deductive arguments,
covering eight of the closely printed and fine-typed
pages of Ritchie's edition of the "Debates," he ranks
with the strongest of those who espoused the cause
of the white basis in the discussion. It was small
wonder, therefore that some of those, whose parti
sanship exceeded their patriotism, fiercely resented
his abandonment of the white basis, when he per
ceived the impossibility of its success; or that this
resentment should have burned brightest in the
breeze of his successful achievement of the compro
mise. Upon a motion made by Mr, Cooke, to pro
vide for a reapportionment of representation every
ten years after the adoption of Gordon's scheme of
"the mixed basis," one of these stalwarts flamed Into
anger at the latter's support of the motion. He rose,
he said, "to congratulate the gentlemen from Albe
marle on his happy disposition, which enabled him
with such perfect ease to change his sentiments to
suit every new posture of affairs. When that gentle
man had first appeared in the convention, nothing
would suit him but a basis of free white population;
the gentleman would not so much as Usten to any
thing but the white basis. Now he was most anx
iously engaged In guarding the slave-holding portion
of the State, The gentleman's one and only object
seemed to be to guard his own proposition; and he
turned for or against any measure proposed, just as it
threatened to affect that proposition. He had risen,"
he continued, "expressly with a view to congratulate
the gentleman, which he did most heartily, on this
happy disposition."
The member making this thrust was not one of
the more prominent men of the body, as may be
Imagined from the character of the taunt Itself. But
coming from any source, such a gibe was naturally
irritating to a man of Gordon's sensitiveness and
lofty ideals of honor and of character. He was a

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 173
large slave-owner, himself; and most of those, with
whom he came in closest personal and social contact,
were slave-owners, and believers In slavery as an insti
tution upon which society, by circumstance, had come
in Virginia to be cornered and established. Yet he
had not hesitated to espouse the cause of the white
basis as affording. In his belief, the truest foundation
for legislative representation In the Commonwealth,
Thoroughly Imbued with this sentiment, he had
nevertheless, without hesitation, pitched it overboard
in the passionate storm of protracted and violent de
bate, as unavailable; and conceived that in so doing
he was performing his highest duty to society and to
the State, His reply to the assault upon him was as
dignified and good-tempered, as it was conclusive.
He said "that he utterly denied and repudiated the
unfounded imputation of the gentleman from Taze
well. He had changed none of the opinions that he
had brought with him to that convention In relation
to the proper and just basis of representation. He
had contended from the first, and he had never re
tracted the position, that white population was the
true basis. He still held that sentiment. He wished
it had been in his power to congratulate the gentle
man from Tazewell on his disposition for concilia
tion and compromise. For his own part, he did not
profess or desire an incapacity to receive light from
argument, especially argument so able as was much
that had been heard in that assembly. He never had
considered wisdom to consist in a dogged obstinacy,
that persevered against every consideration of policy
and all the force of reason. The gentleman's charge
gave him little concern ; his 'withers were unwring' ;
nor should he have felt the gibe at all, save in the
unkind spirit which it betrayed."
"The wise and conciliatory terms for compromis
ing the formidable disputes which had grown out of
the basis question," says one of Chief Justice Mar
shall's biographers, in commenting upon the work of

174 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the convention, "led to a better temper in the con
vention, and powerfully conduced to the acceptance
of the form of settlement which was finally adopted,
and Incorporated into the new constitution."
Other questions than that of the basis of repre
sentation engaged the final days of the assemblage,
among them being those of the extension of the right
of suffrage, the eligibility of government officials by
popular vote, the reform of the judiciary system of
the State and the anti-duelling statute; and the re
ports of the debates show that Gordon took an inter
ested and more or less prominent part in the dis
cussion of all these important matters.
The debate, and final attitude of the body upon
the question of duelling is interesting, as tending to
show that In spite of the support which "the code"
then received at the hands of society, some of the
wisest and most conservative minds among the Vir
ginians of the period were opposed to it. The de
bate arose upon the motion to legitimize the already
existing act of the General Assembly, passed In 1810,
which provided for the disfranchisement and dis
qualification to hold office, of any citizen of the Com
monwealth participating in a duel, by conferring the
express power upon the legislature to enact such a
law under constitutional ordinance. The proposition
excited the wrath of John Randolph of Roanoke, ap
parently to as great an extent as had that of the white
basis, "Mr, Randolph," wrote a newspaper corre
spondent in the earlier days of the convention, "is
here as well as elsewhere, an object of great curiosity.
His health Is better than it has been or some time
past ; and amongst his friends he indulges, as hereto
fore. In a great deal of pleasantry and sarcasm. He
declares his determination to take no part In the pro
ceedings of the convention, and takes his seat every
day at the back of the president's chair, entirely out
of the range of the speakers; unable, however, to

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 175
contain himself entirely, he Is every now and then
heard In a shrill undertone, either prompting and
encouraging his friends, or criticizing his opponents.
He Is annoyed by the numberless visitors of both
sexes that crowd the lobby, the gallery and the vacant
seats of the hall; and no little merriment was excited
the other day, when his voice was heard amid the
crowd at the door, exclaiming: 'Mr. Sergeant, I'll
thank you to put me into the convention!' He Is
very violent on the subject now before the house, and
avows that if the white basis prevails, the State must
be severed, and the Southside have a government of
its own. And what he says, sometimes in jest and
sometimes In Irritation, others, I am sorry to say, too
often utter in a much less venial spirit,"
A curious instance of this "prompting and en
couraging his friends" by Mr. Randolph appears In
the report of the debates on the basis. During a
speech of Mr, Morris, of Hanover, against the white
basis, he said: "Suppose, to quiet our discontents.
Great Britain had offered to allow us to be repre
sented, to how many delegates should we have been
entitled? Let me see : There were the two Adamses
and Hancock and Franklin and Lee and Henry and
the Rutledges. Why, sir, upon the principle con
tended for by gentlemen, we could not have been
authorized to have more than twenty or twenty-five
of them; thirty perhaps," At this point the official
reporter interposes in parentheses the unexpected and
startling comment: "Here a shrill and very peculiar
voice was heard to say: 'Less than the county of
Wilts!'" It was John Randolph from his seat
behind the president's chair. He did not, however,
long confine himself to this attitude towards the con
vention, but was soon actively participating in the
debates. In the discussion of the antl-ducUing reso
lution, Mr, Randolph said that he verily believed the
anti-duelling act to be in utter subversion of every
fundamental principle of free gfovernment; and fol-

176 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
lowed up his proposition with an ingenious argument
that a recognition of the right of the legislature to
disfranchise for one description of offense, carried
with it the implication of a similar power to interpose
in the same manner on any other behalf ; and he ap
plied the practical use of the power to the anti-
slavery agitation then arising, that had lent no small
fuel to the smouldering fire of feeling in the debate
on the basis,
"Mr, President," he said, "It has been my misfor
tune to have lived in an age of fanaticism and cant.
And I would go to the uttermost ends of the earth
to find a refuge. If there be one, from this spirit of
fanaticism and the spirit of cant. Sir, why not at
once embody the entire decalogue? Aye, and the
whole Bible — old and new Testaments — and a sys
tem of philosophy Into the bargain, — and gulp down
the whole at one oath? The power is the same.
The principle is the same. Sir, do you not believe,
— nay, do you not know, — that there are persons In
this assembly who believe In their consciences that
to hold a human being In bondage is a crime of the
blackest dye, not a whit Inferior to murder itself?
This spirit of fanaticism is spreading, and It is one
of the strongest feelings that exists among men when
once It gets the upper hand. Suppose It should
choose to prescribe an oath that a man never had
held and never would hold a human being In bond
age, and this on pain of disqualification from all
offices under the Commonwealth? Is not that an
offence as much in the teeth of the Bill of Rights,
and of the great and sweeping principles It lays down
as to all men being by nature equally free? Then,
conceive to yourself a Wilberforce, or a Master
Stephen, setting forth before the House of Bur
gesses the horrors of this oppressive, this unjust, this
nefarious, this bloody, this cruel, this anti-Christian
practice of holding men and women in bondage. Sir,
no matter to what point it blows, this tornado of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 177
fanaticism sweeps all before It, Mr, President, was
there ever a constitution on earth that gave the
legislature power to punish particular offenses In a
particular manner? Is It not an anomaly? Was
such a thing ever heard of in any nation, civilized
or uncivilized? In Christendom or Heathenesse?
Leave this whole matter where it Is, Sir, I am not
so much surprised at seeing some men taking this
course. But when I see men for whose character I
feel the most profound respect, lending themselves
to a particular purpose, at the expense of the great
fundamental principles of free government, what am
I to think? Sir, the convention have no right to
put any such clause Into the constitution. As was
very truly observed, they have the power to do It;
but they have not the right nor the shadow of right.
The traitor, who has plotted the reintroductlon of the
Tarquins into the Capitol, — he is not pronounced
unpardonable; you do not offer to him an oath that
he has never plotted to overturn your government;
he is not to be put to the torture by an oath; but your
oath is in the very spirit of the Spanish Inquisition,- — •
it puts the man of virtue only to the torture, and
passes over the ruffian and assassin. It offers a prem
ium for cowardice — a premium for falsehood — a
premium for servility — a premium for slander — a
premium for all that Is base and abject in human
character, "Sir, I have no hesitation In saying with the gen
tlemen from Chesterfield (Mr, Benjamin Watklns
Leigh), that place a man's honor in one scale, and
all the offices in the gift of King or Kaiser In the
other, and a man of honor would spurn them all in
comparison with his violated feelings and his vio
lated reputation. Never was there such a test at
tempted under the sun — never, at least, in any gov
ernment that arrogated to itself the character of a
free republic. This is the entering wedge. Admit

178 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the principle, and you may go on allowing one party
to proscribe the other, until at length both the great
parties In your State will find themselves out of the
pale of the constitution. Sir, I have nothing more
to say. If the people are disposed to submit to ty
rannical laws Imposed on them by their own legis
lature, let them do it,"
Randolph had been the Republican leader In Con
gress, and chairman of the Ways and Means Com
mittee, three decades before. He had been elected
to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy; and
he was famous as an orator throughout the Eng
lish-speaking world. At the time of the convention,
whose calling he had opposed, he was Infirm of body,
and frail in health. But the fires of his genius
burned unabated; and his speeches in the debates
glowed and scintillated with the sarcasm and satire
and Invective which charmed his friends and paraly
zed his enemies, Mr. Grigsby, In his "Discourse on
Littleton Waller Tazewell," speaks of Randolph
as "that wonderful man whose train was always
tracked by fire;" and tells with keen zest of how
Tazewell, who greatly admired Randolph's style of
speaking, which was In such strong contrast to his
own, would "listen to his speeches with the relish
of a schoolboy, rubbing his hands and laughing
heartily as the orator went along,"
Randolph's hostility to the convention and its
work did not cease even with Its adjournment. He
went back to his district, and made a speech giving
an account of his stewardship, advising the people to
vote against the constitution as amended. He said
that it was a trick of the convention to submit Its
ratification or rejection to the vote of the people,
"Who called the convention?" he asked, "The
freeholders ! Who had the right to say whether
the work was done according to their wishes but
those who ordered it? No one! The non- free
holders, according to all the rules of legitimate in-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 179
duction, had no more right to vote on that question
than the people of Haytl,"
In the progress of the debate on the anti-duelling
oath Gordon observed that "during the time he had
been In the legislature, he had never heard the ques
tion started as to the constitutionality of the statute,
but only as to that part of It which applied to mem
bers of the assembly, and which went to add an
other qualification to membership beyond those
which the Constitution laid down,"
Philip Doddridge, one of the acutest and ablest
Intellects In the body, took Issue with the statement.
He said that "he had heard some of the ablest ar
guments he ever had heard In the Assembly in sup
port of the idea which the gentleman from Albe
marle said he had never heard broached there. He
had been present on two different occasions when an
application had been made for pardon, and he had
resisted both applications with a firm determina
tion, if possible, to cause the statute to re-act on
public opinion. He had voted with a heavy heart.
He had heard the argument the gentleman from
Albemarle said he had never heard, and that from
able lips in the case referred to by the gentleman
from Chesterfield, He should consider it a bless
ing to have all doubts of a constitutional kind re
moved from the act, and to see the law and public
opinion moving harmoniously together,"
Gordon reiterated his statement that he had never
heard the opinion advanced in the legislature that
the anti-duelling act was unconstitutional In its ap
plication to officers of the Commonwealth other than
members of the General Assembly; and was sus
tained in his proposition by Mr. Morris of Han
over and by Mr. Benjamin Watklns Leigh, who
had been his colleagues in the House of Delegates.
Mr. Stuart of Patrick, the mover of the resolu
tion in regard to the anti-duelling act, expressed his
opinion that duelling was a pernicious and barbar-

i8o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ous practice, and ought to be suppressed, Mr, Wil
son of Monongalia characterized it as an odious
practice that ought to be put down, Mr, McCoy
thought that the law of the land would never remedy
the evil unless public opinion went with the law.
Mr, Campbell of Brooke, denounced it as one of
the most barbarous crimes of the age; and so the
debate raged, with contrariety and diversity of opin
ion. But Randolph's characteristic speech failed of
its purpose; and the resolution was adopted by a
vote of 71 to 22, Gordon voting with the majority.
The statute, thus constitutionally legitimized, con
tinues to exist to the present day; but the fact that
It was not then founded upon public opinion pre
vailed to cause legislature after legislature to make
It a practical nullity through relieving of the dis
abilities imposed by It successive duellists, until pub
lic opinion itself changed, and the law became
finally as effective as unnecessary, because of the
sentiment against "the code," Its history affords
a striking Illustration of the truth of Randolph's
assertion that morality is not brought about by legis
lation, and that men cannot be made good by
statutes. The question of the judiciary engaged the ablest
talents of the body in its discussion ; and it was dur
ing this debate that Marshall declared: "I have al
ways thought, from my earliest youth until now,
that the greatest scourge an angry heaven ever in
flicted upon an ungrateful and sinning people was
an ignorant, a corrupt, or a dependent judiciary,"
Mr. Grigsby, In his "Discourse on Tazewell," speaks
of the pre-eminence of Mr, Tazewell in that debate,
even in comparison with the ablest lawyers of the
body, "But the occasion," he says, "which impressed
me most deeply with a sense of his abilities, was a
discussion on the tenure of the judicial office, in which
Chief Justice Marshall, Philip P, Barbour, Stanard,
Scott, Giles, and others, took part. Each speaker
was conscious of the powers of his opponent; pos-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON i8i
terlty, In the presence of the skilful reporter, as well
as the existing generation represented by some of
the ablest men, were the spectators of the combat;
and a visible air of solemnity pervaded the manner
of each. The question was precisely that which
sprung from the repeal of the judiciary act of 1800
by the Congress of 1802, and is the nicest of all our
party questions. It was a magnificent display of
parlimentary tact and intellectual vigor ; and I do not
think that an hour of my life ever glided so Insen
sibly away as whUe I listened to that debate. Blows
fell fast and heavy, I saw Judge Barbour, who
though president of the convention, as the house was
in committee, engaged in the debate, fairly reel in
his seat from one of Judge Marshall's massy blows,
which he returned presently with right good will ; but
Tazewell, If I may use a figure which presented the
pith of the argument of one side, and which was
frequently used by both, — Tazewell fairly 'sunk the
boat' under the Chief Justice, The views of Taze
well prevailed; and in such a contest, where all
were kingly, and in which the combatants were magis
pares quam similes — rather equals than alike — if the
victor's wreath could with propriety be awarded to
a single individual, I do not think I err in saying
that it would have been assigned by a majority of
the hearers to Tazewell, As an Illustration of the
effect of his manner and argument on the minds of
able men who were opposed to him In State politics,
which then raged fiercely, a gentleman from the
West, who held for several years a seat in the House
of Delegates and In the Council, speaking of the
debate to me on the day It occurred, said: 'Why,
Tazewell trod down those great men as If they had
been children,' "
The convention adjourned on the 15th day of Jan
uary, 1830; and the constitution, which was sub
mitted for adoption or rejection to a vote of the
people, was ratified and adopted by a conclusive ma
jority.

CHAPTER XII
ELECTED TO CONGRESS  PERSONNEL OF THE VIR
GINIA MEMBERS — THE WHIG PARTY 
THE JEFFERSON BIRTHDAY DINNER
Prior to his election to the Constitutional Con
vention of Virginia, which assembled In Richmond In
the autumn of 1829, Gordon, while still a member
of the House of Delegates, had been elected to the
2 1st Congress of the United States from the dis
trict composed of the counties of Albemarle, Am
herst, Nelson, Fluvanna and Goochland,
Among his colleagues from Virginia were the
Speaker, Andrew Stevenson, William S. Archer,
John S, Barbour, Philip Pendleton Barbour, and
Philip Doddridge, The Senators from Virginia were
worthy of their great predecessors and of the best
of those who came after them. They were John
Tyler and Littleton Waller Tazewell, Andrew
Jackson had just been elected President of the United
States by a vote of 178 to 83 in the electoral col
lege; and Calhoun, his later relentless political
enemy, was Vice-President, and presiding over the
deliberations of the Senate.
"Andrew Stevenson of Virginia," writes Benton
in his "Thirty Years' View," "was re-elected speaker
of the House, receiving 152 votes out of 191; and
he classing politically with General Jackson, this
large vote in his favor, and the small one against
him (and that scattered and thrown away on sev
eral different names not candidates), announced a
pervading sentiment among the people in harmony
with the Presidential election, and showing that poli
tical principles, and not military glare, had produced
the General's election."
Stevenson was one of the Pledmontese, He was

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 183
born In Culpeper County, and, though at this time
a resident of Richmond, and a representative from
the metropolitan district of the State, he came later
to claim Albemarle as his home, by virtue of his
ownership of the fine estate of "Blenheim" In that
county, whither he retired at the close of his poli
tical career, and where he died In 1857. He was dis
tinguished as a lawyer, and had served several terms
in the Virginia House of Delegates, of which body
he had been Speaker. From 1823 to 1834 he was
a member of Congress, resigning in the last-named
year, after having presided as Speaker over the de
liberations of the House of Representatives from
1824 to the year of his resignation. In 1836 he was
appointed Minister to Great Britain, which post he
filled until 1841. Upon his return to Virginia he
became Rector of the University of Virginia, and
is said to have "devoted the rest of his life to the
duties of that office, and to agricultural pursuits,"
Of Gordon's other colleagues from Virginia dur
ing his first session In Congress, the most prominent,
if not the ablest, was Philip Pendleton Barbour, of
the neighboring county of Orange, the represen
tative of Madison's old district, who had been the
leader of the war party In the Virginia legislature
of 18 12, and Speaker of the United States House
of Representatives In 1821. Barbour had resigned
from the House in 1825 to become a judge of the
General Court of Virginia; and was again returned
to Congress in 1827, resigning again In 1830 on
account of ill-health. Two years later, Gordon, who
admired him for his fine ability, his lofty character
and his qualities of statesmanship, attended the great
gathering of the Democracy at Baltimore, In Its first
National Convention, held on the 21st of May,
which adopted the celebrated two-thirds rule, drawn
by Mr, Saunders of North Carolina :
"Resolved: That each State be entitled, In the

1 84 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
nomination to be made of a candidate for the Vice-
Presidency, to a number of votes equal to the num
ber that they will be entitled to in the electoral col
lege, under the new apportionment in voting for
President and Vice-President, and that two-thirds of
the whole number of votes in the convention shall
be necessary to constitute a choice,"
Jackson had already been renominated for the
Presidency by his friends in the New York legisla
ture; and nothing remained for the Baltimore Con
vention to do except to ratify his nomination and
name a candidate for Vice-President, Gordon was
eager for the nomination of Judge Barbour — an ob
ject which he attempted, but In which he failed,
"When I arrived In Washington," he wrote to Mrs.
Gordon, under date of 27th May following, "I found
everything in motion preparatory to the Balti
more Convention, whither I went at the request of
many of my constituents and exerted myself to pro
cure a nomination of Judge Barbour, in which I think
I might have succeeded had his friends from Vir
ginia composed the delegation from Virginia," Van-
Buren received 203 of the 283 votes represented,
and Judge Barbour 49. Later President Jackson
appointed Barbour Judge of the United States Cir
cuit Court; and in 1836 he became an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,
in which high office he continued until his death in
1841, Judge Barbour's cousin, John S. Barbour, of Cul
peper, another colleague of Gordon's, has been dealt
with In an earlier chapter.
WiUiam S, Archer was another of Gordon's as
sociates from Virginia in the 21st Congress. He oc
cupied a leading place in the politics of the period.
His father had been a soldier of the Revolution on
the staff of "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and had dis
tinguished himself at the capture of Stony Point,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 185
The son was a member of the General Assembly for
a period continuing, with the exception of one year,
from 1812 to 1819; and a member of Congress
from 1820 to 1835, In this latter service Mr. Ar
cher was especially prominent in connection with the
debates over the Missouri Compromise Bill; and in
1 841 he became a member of the United States
Senate from Virginia, and was chairman of its Com
mittee on Foreign Relations,
Yet another Virginian representative of talents In
this Congress was Philip Doddridge, whose post
humous fame has not been commensurate with his
ability, and whose advocacy of the white-basis In the
Constitutional Convention of 1829-30 illustrated an
intellectual force, a gift of debate, and a brilliancy
of statesmanship that were not inferior to those of
the best minds in that assemblage of Illustrious
men, Doddridge was said to be scarcely less
celebrated, in his day. In the western part of the
State for his eloquence and splendid talents than was
Patrick Henry in his generation in the eastern por
tions of the Commonwealth. He was a native of
Wellsburg, In Brooke County and died at Wash
ington in 1832, while a member of Congress, In the
morning of his growing Influence and fame.
The biography of John Tyler, then one of the
Senators from Virginia, and later President of the
United States, has been written in a monumental
work by his youngest son, Dr, Lyon Gardiner Tyler,
the present distinguished president of the ancient
and venerable College of William and Mary, He
had represented Charles City County in the House
of Delegates from 1811 to 181 6, when he was
elected, and again twice re-elected, to the United
States House of Representatives. Once more. In
1826, he was a member of the House of Delegates
in the General Assembly of Virginia, and in 1825
he was elected Governor of the Commonwealth. On
the 1 8th of January, 1827, he was chosen by the

1 86 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
legislature a Senator of the United States to succeed
John Randolph of Roanoke, and resigned the Gov
ernorship to accept that office. During this term
of his senatorship he was a member of the great State
Constitutional Convention; and In 1833 he was re
elected to the Senate. In 1839 he was nominated
on the Whig ticket for Vice-President with General
William Henry Harrison; and was elected. Presi
dent Harrison died a month after his Inauguration;
and Vice-President Tyler became President, During
his administration Texas was annexed to the Union,
He presided in 1861 over the deliberations of the
Peace Conference, called by the Virginia Legislature
at his suggestion, which met at Washington; and
he died In the service of his State and country on
the 17th January, 1862, at Richmond, Virginia, while
a member of the first Confederate States Congress,
Of his great ability, his far-sighted and disinterested
statesmanship, his incorruptible personal and polit
ical integrity, and his unselfish patriotism there
was no more genuine admirer than Gordon, who
though differing with him politically In the later
period of his public career, continued to his death
to cherish the personal friendship which had grown
up and continued between them from the time of
their early service together as members of the Vir
ginia House of Delegates,
The other Senator from Virginia was Mr, Taze
well, "It is a coincidence in the lives of Mr. Taze
well and his father," says Mr. Grigsby in his "Dis
course," "that the father was elected to the Senate
of the United States to fill a vacancy caused by the
resignation of John Taylor of Carolina; and that
the son, after an interval of thirty years from the
election of the father, was chosen to fill the vacancy
in the Senate made by the resignation of the same
individual; and that father and son were twice
elected President of the Senate,"
William Wirt has left a graphic portraiture of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 187
Tazewell In his youth in "The Old Bachelor"; and
Francis Walker Gilmer, himself one of the most
gifted and brilliant young men of his period, has
drawn him with masterly touch as he was before he
entered the United States Senate. Mr, Grigsby's
"Discourse" presents him at length, and in the ma
jesty of his intellect and person. It was said of him
on the occasion of his death, by his fellow townsman,
Mr. George Loyall of Norfolk, that "Virginia had
conferred upon him her highest official trusts. Her
generous confidence he requited with a deep and fer
vent devotion, laying upon the altar of her stern and
simple political faith the offerings of matured wis
dom, and upholding in all seasons, with a lofty
patriotism and the utmost energies of his powerful
intellect, her right and honor. Standing upon the
great principles that lie at the foundation of our insti
tutions, the powers of the Federal Government, as
limited and defined by the compact and the rights of
the States in all their integrity he regarded as vital
to the preservation of the Confederacy and the sta
bility of our republican system. Whether in repell
ing open assaults upon the Constitution, or meeting
at the threshold covert abuses of delegated power,
no man within our border saw more clearly, or more
directly and firmly trod the path of duty before him.
Personal asperities engendered by political strife,
and which too often follow In the train of collisions
of opinion and partisan warfare, were alien to his
nature." He had been elected to the legislature soon after
coming to the bar ; and he was one of Its members in
the memorable session of 1798 that saw the introduc
tion of Mr. Madison's famous resolutions. He went
to Congress from the Williamsburg district In the
next year, succeeding Judge Marshall In that body.
He declined a re-election, and removed from
Williamsburg to Norfolk, where he practised his
profession until 1825, when he was elected United

1 88 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
States Senator. He resigned his seat in the Senate
In 1833, and was soon after elected Governor, which
office he also resigned before the end of his term. It
has been said of him that "It was the subject of deep
regret that one possessing such colossal powers should
have been so unwilling to exert them"; and he has
been compared in his career to Chief Justice WUmiot
of England, as one of the great men of history who
sought an obscurity that he could not win.
The roster of the Federal Senate of this session
bore, among others hardly less prominent, the Illus
trious names of Daniel Webster, John M. Clayton,
James Iredell, Robert Y, Hayne, Hugh L, White,
Edward Livingston, William R, King and Thomas
H, Benton, In the House of Representatives were
Edward Everett of Massachusetts, Churchill C,
Cambreleng of New York, James Buchanan of Penn
sylvania, Daniel L, Barringer of North Carolina,
Robert W. Barnwell and Warren R. Davis of South
Carolina, Richard Henry Wilde of Georgia, Richard
M. Johnson of Kentucky, John Bell, David Crockett,
Cave Johnson and James K. Polk of Tennessee,
James Shields of Ohio and Edward D, White and
Clement C. Clay of Louisiana, The talent was
largely with the South; and the politics of the "Vir
ginia School" were dominant.
Congress met December 7, 1829; and Jackson
began with his first message the self-willed and im
perious policy that served at an early date to alienate
many of his former followers, and to disrupt what
had been the republican-democratic party of Jeffer
son, Many who started out in that session as the
President's devoted friends and followers, later be
came his stoutest enemies.
Domestic matters detained Gordon at home, after
the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention;
and he did not arrive in Washington until the latter
part of January, 1830, His general allegiance to
Jackson remained unshaken through this session, and

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 189
the following one; and we find him writing in De
cember, 1830, to Mrs, Gordon of the political com
pany he was keeping: "I wrote you that I was at
Mrs. Peyton's, but did not tell you the mess. We
have Mr. Tazewell, Mr. White, the Senator from
Tennessee, the Senator from North Carolina, Mr,
EUis from Mississippi, and many others, — all Jack
son men,"
The President advocated In his message the direct
election of President and Vice-President by the peo
ple; he advised an inquiry by Congress Into the
constitutionality and propriety of renewing the char
ter of the Bank of the United States, which was to
expire In 1836; and he favored the distribution of
the surplus revenue among the States, The strict
constructionists, among whom the Virginia Demo
crats were conspicious, were not long in parting com
pany with Jackson, upon one or another of his poli
cies, Gordon, calling on him at the White House
during the second session of the 21st Congress, took
occasion to remind him that he had always been his
political and personal friend, though he had found
himself forced to oppose In Congress some of the
measures which the President had advocated, be
cause in his opinion they were wrong. The Presi
dent's reply was eminently characteristic,
"I do not care a damn," he said, "for a friend
who stands by me only when he thinks I am right.
The kind of friends I want are those who will stand
by me when they think I am wrong!"
Jackson made no allusion in his first message to
the tariff; and this was already a matter of burning
Import to the South, The Crawford Democrats be
lieved that Jackson could not be relied on to main
tain their hostility to protection, the Iniquities of
which had been the subject of condemnatory resolu
tions, not only In the General Assembly of Virginia
during Gordon's membership In the House of Dele
gates, but also in the legislatures of Georgia and

I90 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
South Carolina, which had denounced the tariff of
1828 as unjust, oppressive and unconstitutional.
This action on the part of South Carolina developed
later into the assertion by that State of the doctrine
of Nullification;- — a doctrine which Gordon, while
consistently opposed to a protective tariff, never
adopted as a part of his political creed; though the
little band of Nullifiers in Congress, with Mr, Cal
houn at their head, included some of his closest per
sonal friends. His attitude to the question was that
of such resistance to unconstitutional and oppressive
legislation as Virginia had made to the Alien and
Sedition laws, — a resistance, which Benton says in
his "Thirty Years' View," "was an appeal to the
reason, judgment and feelings of the other States,
and which had its effect in the speedy repeal of those
laws," The loose-constructionists in the Democratic party
were in favor of protection and of internal Improve
ments, both of which doctrines the "Virginia School"
of Democracy rejected as heretical. The National Re
publicans, successors of the Federalists, beheld their
ranks enlarged by the accessions of loose-construction
Democrats; the anti-masonic party sprang up with a
mushroom growth in several of the Northern States ;
the influence of the Bank of the United States allied
itself to the inchoate mass of opposition to Jackson,
The tremendous personality of the man himself, —
his courage, his resourcefulness, his self-reliance, —
and the Inability of the elements antagonistic to him
to unite closely and compactly upon principles of op
position left the victory at last, after a long and bit
ter struggle, In Jackson's hands.
The union of his opponents, such as it was, found
its cohesive force, during the stormy period of his
two administrations, solely In this antagonism which
each constituent element felt towards him; and the
Whig party, thus originated, continued for several
years, and until there was a final crystallization of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 191
political opinions and policies into party action, to
contain many men of widely divergent minds upon
the political questions of the day, who marched
under Its banner of opposition to Jackson, without
subscribing to any of the Whig tenets of Webster
and of Clay.
It was only a seeming harmony that existed be
tween the Northern and Southern sections of the so-
called Whig party of the period ; for many southern
Whigs were as staunch believers in State-Rights as
were the Southern Democrats; and slavery had its
friends among Southern members of the party, as
it had its opponents among those who called them
selves Whigs In the North.
r<rom the organization of the Whig party In 1833
in opposition to Jackson, to the time in 1837 of the
return of Calhoun, Tazewell, Gordon, and the State-
Rights Democrats who had co-operated with it, to
the Democratic party, hostility to Jackson was its
fundamental tenet. This must appear at once from
a glance at its extraordinary make-up. Into the
AduUam cave of discontent with the President were
gathered the incongruous hosts of the old National
Republicans, or "loose-constructionists;" the Nulli
fiers, led by Calhoun; the Jeffersonian RepubUcans,
who were "strict constructionists," and while oppos
ing nullification, yet condemned Jackson's proclama
tion as unconstitutional; other southern Republi
cans, like Randolph of Roanoke, who sympathized
with every move, however extreme, against the Bank
of the United States, and yet were willing to take
up arms in opposition to the force-bill and the procla
mation; the Democrats, who antagonized a bank,
yet regarded the President's removal of the deposits
as arbitrary, usurpatlve and unconstitutional; the
anti-masons, whose party had grown up about the
historic masonic episode of Morgan; and others,
whose political opinions agreed with those of no
party or faction. It was a strange aggregation

192 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
which included in it Webster, and Calhoun, and
Henry Clay, and Robert W, Barnwell, and John
Quiney Adams, and John Tyler, and Warren R,
Davis, and William F, Gordon,
At the time of Gordon's first arrival at the Capital,
the famous Webster-Hayne debate was in progress.
It did not interest him. He listened to Mr. Web
ster for a little while, and wrote home that "he did
not strike the Virginia note," Gordon had been
listening for three months to Marshall, and John
Randolph, and Benjamin Watklns Leigh, and Up
shur and Tazewell In the Virginia Convention,
On the 13th of April, 1830, the leading Demo
crats in Washington gave a dinner to celebrate Mr,
Jefferson's birthday. It appears to have been the
first occasion on which such a testimonial to the mem
ory of the great republican leader, then dead not
quite four years, was ever made; and there was no
one more interested In the event than was Gordon,
who took an active part In promoting It, and was
a member of the committee of Congressmen who
had In charge the arrangements for the function. In
anticipation of the occasion, which was expected to
be a notable one, he wrote to Mrs, Gordon on the
9th of March from Washington:
"We have determined to celebrate the birthday of
Mr, Jefferson ; and yesterday I waited on Mrs, Ran
dolph to ascertain the day of his birth. We expect
to give an impulse to free and true principles by a
celebration of the advent of our great Star of Free
dom." The dissensions in the ranks of Democracy were
emphasized by the occurrences at this dinner, which
was attended by both President Jackson and Vice-
President Calhoun, The strict-constructionists were
in charge of the details, including the toast-list; and
the toasts Indicated an exaltation of the doctrine of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 193
the reserved rights of the States, according to the
gospel of Jefferson.
Niles' Register, a National Republican organ, con
tained in its issue of April 24, 1830, a long account
of the dinner; and blazoned abroad Its political
significance. "Jefferson's birthday, 13 April, 1830," says the
Register, "was celebrated by a numerous party of
members of Congress and others, at Brown's Hotel.
Mr. John Roane of Virginia presided, assisted by
Mr, Bibb of Kentucky, Mr, Woodbury of New
Hampshire, Mr, Grundy of Tennessee, Mr, Cam-
breling of New York, Mr, Gordon of Virginia, and
Mr, Overton of Louisiana, Among the invited
guests were the President and Vice-President of the
United States, and the Secretaries of State, War and
the Navy, After dinner twenty-four regular toasts
were given, with speeches of considerable length
from Messrs. Bibb, P, P, Barbour, Woodbury,
Hayne, and Wayne of Georgia; and some of the
volunteers by Messrs. Hubbard of New Hampshire,
Potter of North Carolina ; and Pope, Governor of
Arkansas, made a few remarks. There were about
eighty volunteers; together, one hundred and four
toasts." President Jackson took fire at what he regarded
as a suggestion of nullification during the speaking;
and after the regular toasts offered "a volunteer,"
which later became a slogan of his followers : — "Our
Federal Union: It must be preserved." Calhoun
accepted the implied challenge, and offered his
"volunteer:" — "The Union: Next to our liberty
the most dear; may we all remember that it can only
be preserved by respecting the rights of the States,
and distributing equally the benefit and burden of the
Union." It was the open declaration of a state of war on
either side, where hostilities were actually begun,
13

194 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Niles continues, in the same Issue of the Register:
"It (the dinner) was intended for political effect, —
to bring out the weight of Mr, Jefferson's name in
favor of the new doctrines concerning State Rights,
and against internal improvements and domestic
manufactures;" and concludes that "the speeches
and the toasts abundantly prove this,"
Gordon's simple announcement in his next letter
home, April 23, 1830, was: "We had a splendid
celebration of Mr, Jefferson's birthday. The pa
pers and political parties are making it a dinner for
political effect, I trust, if It has any, it will be to
bring into the administration of our affairs the prin
ciples of our great countryman,"
The House Journal of the first session of the 21st
Congress, which adjourned on the last day of May,
1830, shows that Gordon took the oath as a mem
ber on January 25, preceding. On the ist of Feb
ruary he wrote to Mrs, Gordon:
"I am greatly pleased that we can communicate so
speedily by letter; and. If need be, that at any time
I can soon be at home, I removed last evening on
the Hill to Dawson's boarding-house, where I have
a genteel mess of Virginia and Southern members,
I am quite comfortably situated, with a wood fire,
which is a luxury after having been ten winters dusted
with the coal,
"As yet I have made but few acquaintances. Be
ing a stranger, I wait for the civilities of others. I
have not as yet got cards for visiting, which I am
told are necessary to the city circles. I shall, how
ever, endeavor to retain as much of my country man
ners as possible. Colonel Barbour is my next door
neighbor. Mr. Tazewell and Mr. Alexander, from
Virginia, on the southside of James River, IDoctor
Hall from North Carolina, Colonel Benton, Senator
from Missouri, and Mr. Yancey of Kentucky, for
merly from Albemarle, and J. S, Barbour, form

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 195
my immediate mess. We dine and live alone; and
from appearances live quite genteelly, I have not
yet seen Mrs. Stevenson. To-morrow I am to dine
with the President which will be a new scene,"
He was not long, however, in making acquaint
ances and friends. Many of his Virginia associates
were in Washington ; and in his next letters home he
tells Mrs, Gordon of seeing her friend, Mrs, Ran
dolph and two of her daughters, at Mr, Van Bu
ren's, and of meeting other friends,
"I visited Mrs. Randolph a few days after I saw
you last," runs his letter of February 7, following,
"She seems to be comfortably fixed, and the estab
lishment showed much of taste in all that I observed.
She seems a little pensive, and says she feels some
of the pains of an exile."
"The session is_ becoming somewhat more inter
esting than it has been," he writes in the same month,
"although I cannot yet see what the policy of the
administration will result In."
His votes were consistently in line, throughout the
session, with the political sentiments which he had
always entertained. He voted against pension bills
and against all the money bills offered for internal
improvements, including the bill to make a national
road from Buffalo to New Orleans, a bill for a stock
subscription by the Government to the MaysvIUe and
Lexington Turnpike, a bill for the Incorporation of
the Alexandria Canal Company, a bill for_ govern
ment subscription to the stock of the Louisville &
Portland Canal Company; and he voted to sustain
the President's veto of the MaysvIUe Turnpike bill.
During this session he was deeply interested^ In
the contested election case of George LoyaU against
Thomas Newton, involving a seat in the House from
the Norfolk, Virginia, district. Mr, LoyaU had
been his friend and associate in the General Assem
bly and in the Convention; and Gordon had the

196 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
gratification of seeing the contest decided in his favor,
"Loyall has got his seat," he writes jubilantly to
Mrs. Gordon on the i6th of February, 1830, "and
is a great acquisition to us,"

CHAPTER XIII
IN CONGRESS  THE NULLIFIERS  NULLIFICATION
AND SECESSION
The second session of the 21st Congress beginning
on the 6th day of December, 1830, saw the breach
between Jackson and many of its members, his for
mer supporters, still widening. The President's
message again attacked the Bank of the United
States; and dealt with the subject of internal im
provements from the standpoint of the strict con
structionists. Congress, however, passed a harbor
improvement bill which Jackson concluded to sign;
and the Jeffersonian Republicans, who had been fol
lowers of William H, Crawford, grew more uneasy
and anxious. Crawford had practically retired from
politics, and was out of public life; and the Virginia
Jeffersonlans were beginning to look to Mr. Cal
houn as his successor. Crawford, himself a Vir
ginian by birth, had moved to Georgia in his boy
hood, where, studying law and entering politics, he
illustrated his talents by a subsequent career of great
distinction. He had been United States Senator;
had declined the Secretaryship of War under Mr.
Madison, and had filled with ability and success
the office of Minister to France. He had succeeded
Dallas as Secretary of the Treasury, and had been
a sturdy opponent of Internal improvements by the
Government, He had been nominated for President
through the influence of the Virginia school, as the
most conspicious representative of the Jeffersonian
Democracy; and had received forty-one votes in the
electoral college, including those of Virginia and
Georgia. But disease had now sapped his vigor;
and Calhoun's political star seemed to be in the as
cendant.

198 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
The estrangement between Calhoun and Jackson
had grown into undisguised hostility; and In the
same month In which Congress adjourned in 183 1,
the Vice-President published his famous attack upon
the President. Gordon, who had been a follower of
Crawford, took sides with Calhoun as against Jack
son. Calhoun's attack upon the President, which
had been expected since the Jefferson birthday din
ner, was followed by the dissolution of the Cabinet.
Jackson for some time past had hardly seemed to
trust his Calhoun secretaries; but relied for advice
and assistance upon Mr. VanBuren, and a party of
unofficial friends, who were dubbed by his enemies
"the Kitchen Cabinet," VanBuren resigned from
the Cabinet in order to enable Jackson to request the
resignation of its other members, which he promptly
did. The war between Jackson and Calhoun was now
on in all its ferocity; and was characterized by such
a bitterness of feeling and of expression on the part
of their respective followers as has been seldom
known in American politics, Calhoun's hostility to
Jackson had Its inception in the former's strict con
struction views of the reserved rights of the States;
and was the beginning of that mighty championship
of the "institution" of slavery, which depended for
its existence on the State-Rights doctrine that was
so long and ably upheld by his relentless and inex
orable logic.
Though Mr, Calhoun has been condemned by the
generations which have followed the abolition of
slavery for his attitude upon that profoundly perplex
ing and difficult problem, yet an unsympathetic and
often hostile biographer, of an antagonistic school of
political thought, has paid him the tribute that his
genius must compel from history. "The name of
Calhoun," says Dr, Von Hoist In his biography In
"The Statesmen Series," "conveys a much more defi
nite idea to the American people than that of either

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 199
Webster or Clay ; and this difference wIU be steadily
Increased In his favor. The simple explanation of
this remarkable fact is that Calhoun is In an Infi
nitely higher degree the representative of an idea;
and this idea is the pivotal point on which the his
tory of the United States has turned from 181,9 to
nearly the end of the first century of their existence
as an Independent republic. From about 1830 to
the day of his death, Calhoun may be caUed the very
impersonation of the slavery question. From the
moment when he assumes this character his figure
towers far above all his contemporaries, even Jack
son not excepted; while up to that time he is. In
spite of his uncommonly brilliant career, only an able
politician of the higher and nobler order, having
many peers and even a considerable number of su
periors among the statesmen of the United States."
It is unnecessary to dwell upon here, or even
to attempt an outline of the life of Mr. Calhoun,
which was personally as blameless as that of some
of his distinguished compeers was the reverse ; or to
recount the positions which he filled with conspicuous
dignity and honor. The idea for which he labored,
and upon which he spent the energies of an unsel
fish and devoted personality, perished almost within
his gaze, and Its memory with many is that which
the conquerors of lost causes keep. But the spirit
in which the great statesman and logician main
tained his cause, and the genius and glory which he
manifested in its maintenance are worthy of the most
vivid and glowing page in the history of the Ameri
can Republic,
About Calhoun, In the struggle which began over
protection, and went through nullification to seces
sion and war, were gathered at this early period a
group of men who for their ability and patriotism
may not inaptly be compared to the Girondins who
assembled about Isnard and Barbaroux, to perish
for freedom, in the time of the French Revolution.

200 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
The story of the Nullifiers is a story of talents and
of tragedy.
Conspicuous among the South Carolinians in the
2 1st Congress were Robert W, Barnwell, Warren
R. Davis, and George McDuffie, all three of whom
were adherents of the State-Rights view, and with
each of whom Gordon maintained an intimate per
sonal association. Mr. Barnwell's career Is pre
sented in a later chapter. Of the other two there
was none of his associates In Congress with whom
Gordon stood in a friendlier or more admiring rela
tion than with Warren R, Davis, orator, wit, poet
and party leader — who was the delight of every
social gathering that he entered; whom Benton
named as one of the ablest debaters of the session;
to whom John Randolph appealed In a memorable
letter to Mark Alexander, as to the leader of the
Jeffersonian RepubUcans In the House; and whose
death occurring on the 29th of January, 1835, while
Congress was in session, was deplored in the Senate
by Mr, Calhoun in a speech of lofty and splendid
eulogium, Davis, who was born In May, 1793, settled in
Pendleton, South Carolina, at the same time that
McDuffie settled in the same place, "Mr, Davis
succeeded," says his biographer, "and got business.
Mr, McDuffie had none," Davis was elected to
Congress In 1824, and continued to represent his
district until his death in 1835, "His life was short,"
the writer above quoted remarks of him, "and I
had almost said a merry one. Every company In
which he mingled experienced the joy of his wit.
Indeed, humor was his nature; he rioted always in
its wild luxuriance," He espoused the cause of Nul
lification with all the fiery ardor of his disposition
and his brilliant speeches and his witticisms, after
his untimely death, came to be household words in
the mouths of his friends. He was the chairman
of the important House Judiciary Committee, of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 201
which Gordon became a member as soon as he en
tered Congress; and of which the other members
of that session were WiUiam W. Ellsworth of Con
necticut, Henry Daniel of Kentucky, Edward D,
White of Louisiana, Thomas F, Foster of Georgia,
and Samuel Beardsley of New York.
"A cat Is a good nuUIfier," Davis said one day,
as he chanced to tread on a feline tail, and felt aveng
ing claws set In his leg, "She knows it is her tail that
I trod on, and she doesn't care a rap whose foot it
is that she claws,"
His gift of graceful versification Is illustrated In
the lines written by him to the old Scotch air of
"Roy's Wife of Ardavalloch :"
"Johnson's -wife of Louisiana, —
Johnson's wife of Louisiana, —
The fairest flower that ever bloomed
'Neath southern sun on gay savannah.
"The Inca's blood flows in her veins, —
The Inca's dreams her dark eyes lighten, —
Child of the sun, like thee she reigns.
To cheer our hopes, our sorrows lighten.
"Her mind is radiant with the lore
Of ancient and of modern story;
Her sprightly wit, of nature's store,
Bedecks her with a rainbow-glory.
" 'Twas such a vision, bright though brief.
In early youth my fond heart rended ;
Then left me, like the withered leaf,
On life's most rugged thorn suspended."
It was on the occasion of Mr, Davis' funeral, held
at the Capitol, that the attempt to assassinate Presi
dent Jackson was made by Lawrence, a crazy car
penter. This occurrence, which came near being a
tragedy, is graphically described in a letter from
President Tyler, then one of the Senators from Vir
ginia, to his son Robert Tyler, written from Wash
ington, January 31, 1835:
"My son : I am very much pleased at a letter which

202 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
General Gordon showed me from you this morning,
in return for his kind recollection of you in having
forwarded Mr, Adams' oration (on Lafayette's
death). You very properly returned him your
thanks for the favor, and he Is obviously very much
gratified at the terms employed in your letter, I
dined a few days since at General Jones' with Gov
ernor DIckerson, who enquired after you. My ob
ject, however, in writing to you was to give you an
account of an occurrence which transpired yesterday,
and to ask that you will walk down to Judge tem
ple's and inform him of the facts, '
"Warren R, Davis died two nights ago, and yes
terday the funeral ceremonies were performed in the
House of Representatives, The members of both
Houses were present, and the President of the United
States, with the members of his Cabinet. The pro
cession moved from the hall, through the rotunda,
to the east porch of the Capitol, — the House first,
the Senate second, followed by the President, etc.
I was unwell, and concluded not to go to the grave;
and after getting to the porch, I stepped out of the
line of procession to the right. I had not been stand
ing there more than a minute before I heard an ex
plosion, similar to that produced by an ordinary
cracker, which caused me to turn around, when I
perceived a man standing in front of the President,
about four steps off, with a pocket pistol pointed at
the President, The report Immediately followed,
of the same character with that I had a moment
before heard. The President Immediately raised his
cane and made at him; but before he could strike,
the fellow was seized and thrown down, the Presi
dent still pressing on him, and when preparing to
stick his cane into him was drawn off. The fellow
was immediately transferred to the civil authorities,
and now lies in jail to await his trial at a future
day, "It seems that he had two pistols, each of which he

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 203
had attempted to discharge; but they were with per
cussion locks ; the day was very damp, a thick mist
prevailing, and although the caps, by their explosion,
must have been as fine as were ever used, the powder
did not Ignite, They were found to be well loaded
with the finest powder, and It is almost a miracle that
they did not go off,
"The man is said to be an EngUshman by birth;
to have been In this city some three years; to be a
painter by trade; and to have given, on more occa
sions than one, evidences of derangement. He was
asked, I learn, by Mr, Randolph, the sergeant-at-
arms of the House, what led him to attempt the life
of the President, He replied: 'Because he killed
my father three years ago!' There is nothing but
madness in all this,
"The effort will doubtless be made to turn this
to political effect. Although RavalUac killed Henry
IV, of France, although one madman attempted to
shoot George III,, and another killed Mr, Percival,
the prime minister, in the Parliament house; yet if
a madman attempts to kill General Jackson It must
be used for party effect, "Your father,
John Tyler,"
Singularly brilliant and unusual as were the talents
of Warren R, Davis, they were eclipsed by those of
his great compeer and fellow South Carolinian,
George McDuffie, McDuffie was born In Georgia in
1788, He studied law, and settling at Pendleton,
South Carolina, failed to get practice until taken into
partnership by a prominent local lawyer with a con
siderable business. His rise in his profession, thence
forth, was almost without parallel ; and cases poured
in upon him from every direction. In 1821 he was
elected to Congress, and thenceforth "delighted
Senators and governed men with his eloquence," He

204 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
took front rank among the opponents of the tariff
legislation of the period ; opposed the removal of the
deposits by Jackson in a powerful speech, character
izing it as "an act of usurpation, under circumstances
of injustice and oppression, which warranted him In
saying that the rights of widows and orphans had
been trampled in the dust by the foot of a tyrant;"
and was the strongest and boldest of the Nullifiers in
the celebrated Nullification Convention of South
Carolina, In December, 1834, he was elected
Governor of his State; and in 1842 he became a
Senator from South Carolina in the United States
Senate. Here he was a prominent advocate of the
passage of the Sub-Treasury Bill and of the annexa
tion of Texas, both of which measures he had once
antagonized. Lacking the genial qualities which endeared War
ren R, Davis to the hearts of his associates, Mc
Duffie was In youth, manhood and old age remarka
ble for his taciturnity and reserve. It has been said
of him that "he literally seemed to commune with
himself; yet there were occasions, when he met old
friends and companions. In which he seemed to enjoy
life with as much zest as any man," Chief Justice
O'Neall of South Carolina said of McDuffie in an
address delivered in 185 i, the year of his death:
"With a thousand times more honesty, McDuffie
has surpassed the most brilliant efforts of France's
greatest orator, Mirabeau, McDuffie, with a head
as clear as a sunbeam, with a heart as pure as honesty
itself, and with a purpose as firm as a rock, never
spoke unaccompanied with a passionate conviction of
right, which made his arguments as irresistible as the
rushing flood of his own Savannah."
The story of Nullification does not need repeti
tion here at any great length or in detail. The Nulli
fication Ordinance was adopted by a State Conven-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 205
tion held at Columbia, South Carolina, November
19, 1832, It formally declared the tariffs of 1828
and of 1832 to be "nuU, void and no law, nor bind
ing upon South Carolina, her officers and citizens;"
and It forbade the coUection of tariff duties within the
State after February, 1833. It also declared that
should the United States use force. South Carolina
would secede from the Union,
The relation of the question of Secession and of
the tremendous tragedy of the War between the
States in 1 861-1865, In organizing which South Caro
lina bore a leading part, to the nullification measures
of 1832 have been dealt with by many historians
and writers. The verdict of Impartial history must
be that this was no new and astounding doctrine In
politics thus advanced, although its appearance was
so grave and threatening; but that In one form or
another the doctrine of nullification had already been
proclaimed by more than half the States at that time
constituting the Union: by Georgia, Virginia, Ken
tucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Ohio, New York, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Maine.
On December 16, 1832, the President issued his
Nullification Proclamation, and sent a naval force
to Charleston Harbor. A tremendous excitement
agitated the States, and was felt throughout the Un
ion. The military of South Carolina were gathered
together, and volunteers strengthened the militia for
defense. On December 24, 1832, Gordon wrote from
Washington to Mrs. Gordon:
"I might have visited you at Christmas. The
weather Is, however, very cold; and I daily expect
the river will be frozen up. Indeed our anxiety for
the fate of the country is such that I am unwilling
to be absent a single day from the seat of govern
ment. We of the South have been sadly disap-

2o6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
pointed In the course of the President towards the
wrongs of our country, A spirit of violence and not
of conciliation seems to be the order of the day
which If persevered in, must have the worst conse
quences. The course of South Carolina was marked
by much Indiscretion, and should therefore have been
met by more prudence on the part of the President.
I yet hope for the best. The mediation of Virginia
may turn away for a time the disaster of disunion —
bad enough at any time, and in any way, but greatly
to be deprecated, if stained with civil blood. We are
waiting with great anxiety to hear how the proclama
tion of the President will be received in South Caro
lina, You must not be unhappy about our affairs,
Virginia will have an Important part to act in the
great political drama which seems to be at hand;
and I doubt not will act worthily of herself, A little
prudence in our rulers would yet compose everything.
Of that, however, there is but slight hope, and If the
good sense of the people does not overrule the mad
ness of the rulers, great confusion may ensue,"
The Force Bill was introduced, and a great debate
followed in the United States Senate, in which Cal
houn, who had resigned the Vice-Presidency, and
now represented South Carolina, defended the State-
Rights doctrine with unsurpassed ability. He Intro
duced his famous resolution, reciting that the States
are united "as parties to a constitutional compact";
and that the theory that the people of the United
States "are now or ever have been united on the prin
ciple of the social compact, and as such are now
formed into one nation or people" Is erroneous and
false, both in history and reason, Calhoun sup
ported the resolution In a speech of unanswerable
power and inexorable logic, before which Webster,
the champion of centralization, sat mute, defeated by
the South Carolinian's argument. The Federalist
writers have since skimmed the surface of the his-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 207
torlc Incident, or have fled from it as an instance In
illustration of Calhoun's "metaphysical politics,"
But the horrid front of war disappeared. Clay,
the great compromiser and pacificator, brought in a
tariff bill, which provided that the tariff should be
gradually reduced, so that after the expiration of ten
years it should become "a tariff for revenue only."
South Carolina rescinded her nullification ordinance;
and the disputed proposition whether Jackson would
have undertaken to carry out his threat to "hang
Calhoun" In the event of secession, was never settled.
The tariff question and the slavery question were
already beginning to become the subjects of a politi
cal agitation, which has continued in the former in
stance, with more or less persistence, down tO' the
present day; and In the latter until the abolition of
"the Institution" by the judgment of war. In May,
1832, Gordon wrote from Congress to Mrs. Gordon:
"To-morrow we enter on the Tariff debate in
which the destinies of the Union are involved. After
that is dismissed or acted on, we shaU shortly ad
journ, I shall not despair of the republic, although
I am hoping almost against hope. There is, how
ever, this consolation, that affairs can scarcely be
worse than they are at this time. The great interests
of the Confederacy are in conflict; and all the com
posure and virtue of the best men are necessary to
settle them harmoniously. Our own State for the
present has less to apprehend from any vicissitudes
than any other. She has made so many offerings pn
the altar of peace and union, that even her enemies
must acknowledge 'if Rome must fall, that she at
least Is Innocent,' "
The tariff act to which Gordon alluded was ap
proved on July. 14, 1832, after having passed the
House of Representatives by a vote of 132 yeas to
65 nays, and the Senate by 32 yeas to 16 nays. It

2o8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
repealed all previous acts in relation to fixing the
rates of duties, and Imposed new ones, that were
free, specific, compound, ad valorem and minimum.
The free list was greatly extended; but the tariff had
not yet become a tariff for revenue only. It was the
tariff that South Carolina met with Nullification and
the threat of secession.

CHAPTER XIV
IN CONGRESS  THE BANK CONTROVERSY  THE RE
MOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS  THE VIRGINIA
RESOLUTIONS
The bill to enforce the tariff, commonly called in
South Carolina "the Bloody Bill," whose opponents
in the Senate, with the exception of Senator Tyler of
Virginia, had refused to vote, was passed and signed
by Jackson, with the result of arousing great feeling
In the South. But in the spring of 1833 the Presi
dent stirred up a profounder and wider-spread excite
ment than anything in connection with Nullification
had caused. In his first administration President
Jackson had recommended that Congress should
order the removal of the public funds from the Bank
of the United States, where existing law designated
they should be kept, with authority in the Secretary
of the Treasury to cause their removal, provided he
should thereafter give his reasons for such removal
to Congress. Congress had refused by a large ma
jority to follow the President's recommendation,
Jackson, believing his reelection to the office of Presi
dent for a second term indicated public approval of
his attitude towards the Bank, determined to force
the removal of the government deposits,
Louis McLane, of Delaware, his Secretary of the
Treasury, refused to obey the President's order of
removal, and was retired from the Cabinet, Wil
liam J. Duane, of Pennsylvania, appointed by Jack
son to succeed McLane, proved as intractable as his
predecessor, Duane was removed, In turn; and
Roger B, Taney, of Maryland, whose name Is Unked
In history with his removal of the deposits while
Secretary of the Treasury, and with the decision of
14

2IO WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the Dred Scott case, while Chief Justice of the United
States, carried out Jackson's order with relentless
courage. The removal was not a physical deporta
tion of government moneys from the coffers of the
Bank, for no funds then in the Bank of the United
States belonging to the government were really re
moved. The famous "removal of the deposits" con
sisted in the official order for the future deposit of
all incoming revenues in various designated State
banks, which soon obtained the political appellation
of "Jackson's pet banks,"
The 23d Congress met In Its first session on the
2d of December, 1833, and the President sent in his
message, together with the report of the Secretary of
the Treasury, defending the removal of the deposits.
The Whigs in the Senate, comprising the National
Republican Senators and those of the Calhoun State-
Rights Democracy, constituted a majority. Mr,
Clay introduced resolutions condemning this execu
tive action in relation to the government funds, and
a debate ensued which lasted three months. The
resolutions of censure were adopted; and Jackson
responded with a protest, charging that the Senate
had in effect impeached him, without giving him an
opportunity to defend himself. Benton, of Missouri,
offered a resolution to "expunge" the resolutions of
censure from the Senate Journal; and around this
inflaming subject raged for a long time the struggle
between the President and the opposition. The war
fare finally culminated in the triumph of Jackson,
and the expunging from the Journal of the resolu
tions of censure by the adoption of Benton's famous
expunging resolution.
In the House of Representatives the situation was
different. There the Jacksonian Democracy had in
dicated by a strong majority Its adhesion to the Presi
dent by the re-election of Mr. Stevenson, an ardent
supporter of the Administration, to the office of
Speaker. Gordon had voted in 1832 against re-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 211
chartering the Bank, and he had supported in the
Virginia House of Delegates a resolution declaring
it to be the opinion of that body that the law of Con
gress establishing the Bank was not authorized by
the Constitution, But he believed none the less that
Jackson, in removing the deposits, had, In the lan
guage of the resolutions of censure, "assumed upon
himself authority and power not conferred by the
Constitution and laws, but In derogation of both,"
He was supported in his position by political opinion
at home, for the General Assembly of Virginia
adopted resolutions condemning the removal of the
deposits; and he was selected as the vehicle of their
presentation to the House of Representatives, How
divergent, however, the views of Individual Demo
crats might be, and what dissensions were created in
the party by the President's policies and measures,
are perhaps nowhere better Illustrated than in the
case of John Randolph of Roanoke, who, then In the
sere and yellow leaf, had written to Mark Alexander
in the June preceding the removal of the deposits,
and apparently with a willingness to go to any ex
treme with Jackson in his war on the Bank:
"I write to entreat you to tell Warren R, Davis
and his colleagues that If, by their votes, the United
States Bank Bill shall pass the House of Representa
tives, they will receive the curses loud and deep of
every old-school Republican of the South,"
Yet when the fight was well on between Jackson
and Calhoun over NuUification, Randolph sided with
the South Carolinian, and denounced the President
as a "Djezzar Pacha," and his proclamation as a
"ferocious and blood-thirsty" document.
On March 3, 1834, Gordon presented to the
House the Virginia resolutions. They were as fol
lows :

212 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"Whereas the General Assembly of Virginia deem
It of the utmost importance that the power to con
trol the public revenue should be made to abide in
practice, where It has been vested by the Constitu
tion, In the immediate representatives of the people,
and of the States, in Congress assembled; and all ex
perience of the practical operations of governments
has proved that arbitrary assumptions of power by
them, or any officer of them, if silently acquiesced In,
become precedents for further and still greater acts
of usurpation ; therefore
"i. Resolved by the General Assembly, That the
recent act of the President of the United States, ex
erting a control over the public deposits, by causing
them to be withheld and withdrawn, on his own re
sponsibility, from the United States Bank, in which
they had been ordered to be placed by the act of Con
gress chartering the said Bank, is in the judgment
of the General Assembly a dangerous and alarming
assumption of power by that officer, which cannot be
too strongly condemned,
"2, Resolved, That while the General Assembly
will ever be ready to sustain the President in the ex
ercise of all such powers as the Constitution has con
fided to him, they, nevertheless, cannot but regard
with apprehension and distrust, the disposition to
extend his official authority beyond Its just and
proper limits, which he has so clearly manifested in
his recent interference with the Treasury Department
of the Federal Government, in the exercise of a sound
discretion, which Congress had confided to the head
of that Department alone,
"3, Resolved, That our Senators In Congress be
instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use
their best exertions to procure the adoption by Con
gress of proper measures for restoring the public
moneys to the Bank of the United States; or, at
least, for causing them to be deposited therein for the
future, according to the direction and stipulation of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 213
the act of Congress chartering the said bank; If, at
the time of their action on the subject, the said bank
be, in their opinion, a safe depository of the public
treasure, "4, Resolved, That the General Assembly cannot
recognize as constitutional the power which has been
claimed by Congress to establish a United States
Bank, because, in the opinion of the General As
sembly, as they have heretofore solemnly declared,
that power Is not given to Congress by the Constitu
tion of the United States,
"5, Resolved, That the General Assembly do not
Intend, by the declaration of their opinion in regard
to the unconstitutionality of the Bank of the United
States, to qualify, or in any manner to impair, the
force of their disapprobation of the withholding and
withdrawing of the public deposits,
"6, Resolved, That the Governor of the Com
monwealth be requested to transmit a copy of these
resolutions to each of our Senators and Representa
tives in the Congress of the United States,"
Gordon supported the presentation of these reso
lutions by a characteristic speech, which embodied
the attitude of the strict constructionists,
"In offering these resolutions," says the official
report, "Mr. Gordon said he rose for the purpose of
presenting to the House resolutions passed by the
General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia
on the subject of the removal of the public treasure
from its deposit in the Bank of the United States,
where it had been placed by law. The General As
sembly of Virginia have been deeply Impressed with
the Importace of the principles Involved in this ques
tion; and, after the most deliberate consideration,
have come to resolutions condemning the course of
the President of the United States, Instructing their
Senators, and requesting the Representatives from
the State of Virginia to use their efforts to restore

214 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the deposits to the Bank of the United States. The
General Assembly have considered this as a question
of liberty, in which the principles of a limited con
stitution have been violated by the practice of the
Chief Magistrate, In assuming authority properly to
be exercised by other departments of the Govern
ment. The General Assembly of Virginia and the
people of Virginia have heretofore yielded to no por
tion of this Confederacy in respect and affection for
the present Chief Magistrate of the United States;
but the General Assembly and the people standing
on their long-cherished and oft-defended ground of
constitutional construction, and their own estimation
of the principles and practices of government, best
calculated to secure the blessings of freedom, have
spoken on this occasion in a language not to be mis
understood. The General Assembly consider the re
moval of the deposits from the Bank of the United
States, in the manner It has been effected, on the re
sponsibility of the President, as 'a dangerous and
alarming assumption of authority,' tending to con
centrate in that officer all the powers of government.
The legislative functions of Congress, and the judi
cial authority of the courts, have both been Invaded.
The province of the courts, patiently to examine and
correctly to ascertain facts by the consecrated trial by
jury, has been utterly disregarded; and the Chief
Executive officer of this Government, although di
rected by law, if he deemed there had been an infrac
tion of the bank charter, to direct a scire facias to
issue, in order to a trial by a court and jury, has him
self adjudged the questions, on ex parte testimony,
and determined that the bank has forfeited its char
ter; thus in his own person deciding the question of
the violation of the charter. Involving high penalties
on the part of the bank, without sending it for adjudi
cation to the tribunals marked out by the Constitu
tion and laws. The first clause of the Constitution
declares, that 'all legislative powers, herein granted,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 215
shaU be vested In a Congress of the United States,
which shall consist of a Senate, and House of Repre
sentatives.' This legislative power had vested In the
Secretary of the Treasury an important discretion, to
remove the deposits from the Bank of the United
States. The President, consulting with his then Sec
retary of the Treasury, found that the Secretary did
not think there was any good cause for the removal
of the deposits from the Bank of the United States;
and, notwithstanding a divided cabinet on the sub
ject, dismissed the Secretary of the Treasury from
office, and replaced him by one whose opinions were
known to concur with his will on this subject; thus
abusing his power of removal, and interfering in
juriously with that discretion which the law had con
fided to the Secretary of the Treasury. By these as
sumptions and indirections, the President has done
what he had no power to do directly, under the Con
stitution and laws of the country.
"There Is not a man in America who wiU not deny
to the President the power directly to control the
public revenue unless he derives his authority from
appropriations made by law.
"We, the representatives of the people, hold In our
hands the purse-strings of the people's money; and
fatal to their rights, and Interests, and freedom, —
most fatal, — will It be whenever they are surrendered
Into the hands of any Executive Magistrate. He has
no direct authority either to raise, appropriate, or in
any manner to dispose of, or use, the public revenue.
"The General Assembly do not deny, nor did he
(Mr. Gordon) the power of the President, under the
law, to remove from office any unworthy officer; but
they do deny to the President the right to remove a
faithful officer, to effect that which he had no right
ful authority to effect In any way. This abuse of the
power of removal, and assumption of power over
the treasure of the country, was a dangerous enlarge
ment of the power and patronage of the President,

2i6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
already endangering the purity and Independence of
the other departments of the government, and calcu
lated to enable the Executive Magistrate successfully
to appeal to the worst passions of his partisans, In
stead of establishing a reliance on the purity and wis
dom of his administration,
"The patronage of this government, wielded by
one man, with the power of putting in and putting
out at his will and pleasure some forty thousand offi
cers and agents, great and small, to whom the im
mense revenues of this country are distributed, Is a
power, in his (Mr, Gordon's) view, utterly incon
sistent with the genius of a free constitution,
"Men are not angels, 'Lead us not Into tempta
tion' was the wise and meek prayer taught by the
Redeemer to fallen man. Human virtue is too frail
to withstand the temptations and Influence which an
ambitious and reckless Chief Magistrate might
wield; and the Executive Department of the Govern
ment, absorbing all the vital and essential powers of
the other departments, would reduce us, In fact, with
the forms of a free constitution, in effect, to a simple
monarchy, "There is already a fearful proclivity of power
towards the Executive Magistrate; and if a construc
tion be given to the Constitution by which the Presi
dent would have the power to appoint and displace,
at his mere will, or under the pretext of seeing that
the laws were faithfully executed, I should feel that
the power given to the Legislative Department of
the Government was absorbed In the pretended exe
cution of the laws, and the representatives of the
people had as well hence to their Idle homes. He
(Mr. Gordon) did not admit that the power of re
moval gave a right to the President to control all the
functionaries of their government In the estimate
which they might make of their duties under the law ;
nor did a faithful execution of the law mean in all
cases that there should be a wise administration of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 217
the law, A judge may make a faithful execution of
his office, and so may a Secretary of the Treasury,
without carrying any great degree of wisdom into
their administrations. Indeed, with a few Illustrious
e3«:eptions, if a contrary doctrine is to prevail, the
officers of all our governments. State and Federal,
might tremble for their places. Would a judge be
dismissed who gave an erroneous but conscientious
judgment? Would the Legislature of Virginia, two-
thirds of which have a right to remove a judge, exer
cise that high power because he had pronounced a
judgment at variance with their own? If this new
version of the President's power be admitted, then,
Indeed, he may be considered as holding in his hand,
and exhibiting to the people and functionaries of the
government, a golden ladder of preferment, with
forty thousand rounds, to which so many climbers up
are perpetually turning their anxious and longing
eyes, the elevation or disgrace of each depending on
the wiU of the President, from the minister who
represents this great confederacy in foreign courts,
down to the most Inconsiderable postmaster. With
such an appeal to the hopes and fears and interests
of our citizens, used to effect any purpose on which
the President is intent, all opposition In the nature of
things must be fruitless, unless the people can be
aroused to redeem their institutions from the exer
cise of a power Inconsistent with their freedom and
peace. The power of appointment and removal, even
when most discreetly and forbearingly used, is a fear
ful discretion to confide to any one man,
"Mr. Gordon said he did not himself believe the
President of the United States had an Intention to
usurp the liberties of his country, but he did believe
his present course of action would be recorded as a
monument, and some future man of ambition might
become, by his example, master of the Confederacy,
"The General Assembly of Virginia have con
sidered it as a question Involving the separation of

21 8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the powers of a free constitution, and not as a ques
tion of bank or no bank.
"The Constitution of Virginia contains a pro
vision, that the Executive, Legislative and Judicial
Departments of government should be kept separate
and distinct, so that neither should exercise the powers
properly appertaining to the other. In the Federal
Constitution the demarcations of the several depart
ments are distinctly made. The Legislative, Execu
tive and Judicial powers are assigned to their appro
priate organs,
"The Legislative power is vested In Congress —
there was none given to the President, He Is not a
representative of the people — he is the Executive
officer, appointed by the people. His power of veto
is not a legislative power — it ought to be, as it is, a
mere negative. No money shall be drawn from the
Treasury, without an appropriation by law, and the
question was submitted to the House, as the guardian
of the Treasury, if large sums of the public money
have not been withdrawn from the bank without an
appropriation made by law? It seemed to be con
tended by those who justify the course of the Presi
dent, that he and the officers under him had the right
to use the money of the people as they pleased In the
interval between the time of Its collection and the
time of Its appropriation. That they can place It
where they will, and loan or deposit it to whom they
will ; and contract what those receiving it shall do in
return. Let us put this to the test of ordinary trans
actions in private life; — an agent has power to col
lect money for his principal ; does It therefore follow
that he has the power to use It for his own purposes,
lend it out, make contracts on it? Has he any other
power than to collect and keep It, and pay it over to
his principal as soon as possible? Try the President
by this simple test, and it will be found he has used
millions of the public treasure in a manner not sanc
tioned by the authority under which he acts. The

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 219
public revenue on deposit, I suppose, usually amounts
to between seven and eight millions of dollars, and
the fair interest for its use is worth nearly half a
million dollars annually. Can any one be so blind
as not to see the Influence and power which such a
use of the revenues of the country must add to the
already too extensive patronage of the President? Is
It deemed that the President, or those who surround
him, have a right to remove the revenue from the
places appointed by law, except in a manner pre
scribed by law? In this whole matter the President
had no direct authority to act,
"Mr, Gordon said there was another great prin
ciple of freedom invaded, which he never would sur
render. He claimed as a freeman, as a citizen of
Virginia, one of the members of this great confeder
ated Union, either by himself, or his representative,
to tax himself. It was a great principle of English
liberty, that taxes were the free gift and grant of the
Commons; and he believed if the King of England
should at any time Invade or impair this right, he
would hear from his Indignant subjects that no more
taxes would be paid until there was a reform. He
Insisted that as Congress only could raise revenue, so
also could they alone direct everything appertaining
to the revenue, both as to its preservation and distri
bution, "Mr, Gordon said he claimed, as a representative
of the people, of those who gave him public leave to
speak In their behalf, to act as sentinel over the
public treasure — a post he would never yield, so long
as he was worthy to speak in the name of those who
sent him. He greatly regretted, — he considered it
one of the evil omens of the times, and high as was
his respect for the distinguished body of which he
was a member, he could not but deeply lament, that
on such a question, — on a question of taxation, of
liberty, — a majority of the Immediate representatives
of the people are seen rallying to the side of power.

2 20 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
He was deeply mortified that the Congress of the
United States had not, unanimously. Instantly re
proved this perversion of Executive authority; and
although he had not intention to make any Illiberal
imputation on the members of Congress, who were,
he doubted not, as honorable, as a body, as could
anywhere be found, yet he would say that if the
people of the country sustained their representatives
in yielding to this overwhelming Executive power,
he should consider that the liberties attempted to be
secured by this constitution were gone forever.
"Mr. Gordon said the occasion was a fit one to
take a rapid glance at the past course of the ancient
Commonwealth of Virginia in relation to this Gov
ernment, She had ever contended for a strict con
struction and faithful execution of the limited,
though extensive, powers delegated by the compact
to Federal functionaries. Jealous of power every
where, — diffusing and limiting it in her own gov
ernment, she has looked always with apprehension on
Its too great accumulation In any of the departments
of this Government, Her warning voice has often
been heard on this floor in reproof of undelegated
authority in the legislative department of Govern
ment, During the administration Immediately pre
ceding this, she thought she perceived. In the asser^
tion of powers in this Government by the then Chief
Magistrate, an alarming tendency to consolidation
of all the powers of the States in this Federal head;
and although these assertions of authority were not
carried out Into action, she rallied In opposition to
their bare assertion, and gave her support to the
present Chief Magistrate, under the confident hope
that he would administer the Government in a spirit
of moderation, according to the Constitution, and
bear himself with a meekness and simplicity in his
high office, congenial to the spirit of our institutions,
and thus adorning the high military reputation by
which he had attracted the admiration of his coun-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 221
trymen. By her powerful aid the present Chief
Magistrate was elected; and for the first years of
his administration she stood almost In solid phalanx
supporting aU his great measures,
"But it has been with a feeling of deep mortifica
tion that she perceived, after the second election of
the present Chief Magistrate, In which she so heartily
cooperated, a disposition to enlarge his authority,
and to administer the powers conferred on him in a
harsh and overstrained manner,
"Those of us who stood here last year well re
member the universal satisfaction which the message
of the Chief Magistrate, at the opening of the session,
diffused over the entire south. It conformed, more
than almost any paper ever sent to this House, with
the feeling of moderation and principles of govern
ment always cherished by the Commonwealth of Vir
ginia, In some of Its recommendations it recognized
the principles of the nullification of South Carolina,
the ultima thule of State-Rights. It was calculated
to destroy nullification itself, by curing all those evils
for which its advocates contended it was the rightful
remedy, "But what are mortal hopes? The smoothness
produced in our affairs by this message in six short
days was ruffled by the storm engendered by that
fatal proclamation, so hateful to all lovers of a free
confederacy of the States; denouncing as traitors
those who professed and paid allegiance to the laws
of the State that gave them birth when in contact
with the federal authority, — and that proclamation
followed up by a special and argumentative message,
claiming for this Government of delegated and
limited authority unlimited power over the States, as
parties delegating that authority — and this message,
sustained and ratified by the legislative department,
by a grant of the whole military and naval and fiscal
power of the Government, to prostrate a gallant and
talented State of this Confederacy, who had dared to

222 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
stand for the restoration of long-lost rights, and re
monstrate against unconstitutional taxation. When
we saw a majority of this House and the other voting
that declaration of war against all the States, which
throws the sword before the judgment of the
courts, and subjects this once free confederacy to
martial law at the will of the President and his col
lectors, the Commonwealth of Virginia whose con
stitution consecrates the trial by jury, by declaring
that it should be held sacred — when we saw and felt
these things, it was impossible not to recoil from
them ; and now, after having compromised and for
a time settled the conflicts of interest and opinion
which gave rise to these hateful measures, and after
the country had become in a great degree composed
and at peace, the President of the United States In
the wantonness of power has struck a blow on the
financial affairs of this country, the fearful vibrations
of which are heard and felt to the extremities of the
Confederacy. He had given the death-blow to the
Bank of the United States by his veto; it would have
died, it must have died, because the President's tenure
of office was longer than that of the charter of the
Bank, But the President, sixty days before the meet
ing of Congress, without any public necessity, had
done a deed of fearful note. In a community of five
hundred banks, with a paper circulation interwoven
with every interest of society and affording the actual
currency of the whole Confederacy; carrying on all
the exchanges, foreign and domestic, of this great
continent of States; ministering to the commercial,
manufacturing and agricultural industry and enter
prise of the country — over the varied and compli
cated strings of such an instrument he has thrown his
gigantic but unskillful hands; and the dissonant and
jarring sounds which he has produced return upon
his ear, and discompose the nerves of the whole com
munity. "These resolutions of the General Assembly of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 223
Virginia deny to Congress the constitutional power
to make a Bank of the United States; In which he
(Mr._ Gordon) entirely concurred. For on a former
occasion he had voted against rechartering the bank;
and atthe last session he had voted against the reso
lution in reference to the safety of the deposits in the
Bank of the United States, — not because he consid
ered them unsafe, but because he had no opportunity
from the late period of the session to examine the
subject; and he feared the resolution would aid the
Bank In a future effort for a charter. On his part
that was a mere negative vote. He felt that on pre
senting these resolutions and delivering his own
v^iews of the powers of this government, he was per
forming no very acceptable service to any large party
In this House, He believed the question of bank or
no bank must arise before the session terminates;
and when It does, he would be found standing by his
native State, on the narrow isthmus which she occu
pied, in strenuous though unavailing efforts to roll
back the waves of legislative or executive encroach
ment on the Constitution and liberties of his country.
But whilst he believed that Congress had no constitu
tional power to Incorporate a bank, it should not and
does not mitigate the conduct of the President for an
unconstitutional violation of its chartered and vested
rights. He confessed that the doctrines and prac
tices of the Chief Magistrate had greatly alarmed
his mind; he believed if the President had properly
construed his right of removal, and that by Its exer
cise he could control all the officers of Government
in the discharge of their duties under the law, and
that a difference of opinion with him is a just cause
of removal from office, all the other departments of
the Government must fade away under the gigantic
powers given to the President, and the people awake
from their dream of liberty to find that, instead of
an association of free and confederate States, they
had in fact erected a despotism, whose horrid features

2 24 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
had not been visible until the veil was withdrawn by
the President,
"But It cannot be. The power of removal does
not rightfully imply a power of control and direc
tion; otherwise the President to all Intents and pur
poses would be the Government, and there Is no
effective limit to his authority either under the law or
the Constitution. He (Mr, Gordon) knew that the
advocates of power were never at a loss for prece
dents; they are an inclined plane down which every
government has slid into despotism, — and it was the
duty of Congress to inquire whether this power of
removal was a power conferred by the Constitution,
or implied, and given by the legislative department, —
and in either case to curb and keep It within strict
limits. Mr. Gordon trusted that good would arise
out of evil; that this rash and inconsiderate conduct
on the part of the President would ultimately tend to
place the Government on surer and safer founda
tions; — and that when it was found in practice that
there had been an unequal share in the distribution of
the powers of this Government, given to or assumed
by the President, those for whom the Government
was established would in either case apply the
remedy, Mr, Gordon said that, in regard to the
present expediency and wisdom of the course of the
Administration, there would amongst all those who
would extend their view to the whole circle of our
affairs, be but one opinion. In this young and grow
ing country, comprehending a territory as large as
Europe, in rapid career of advancement, deficient in
nothing but capital and labor — and the efforts to in
crease both had eventuated in giving to the United
States that most extended system of banks and paper
circulation, said to amount to five hundred banks and
nearly one hundred millions of paper circulation, —
the credit of these banks and this currency, dependent
entirely upon public confidence, was as delicate as the
sensitive plant, and had shrunk from the rude touch

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 225
of unauthorized power. The President had de
stroyed the public confidence In the public currency,
and the consequence was universal clamor and almost
universal despondency,
"He said he felt proud of the position which the
Commonwealth of Virginia occupied; he trusted
that her continued efforts In the cause of constitu
tional liberty would redound to the peace and honor
of the Confederacy, Asking nothing for herself, her
most fervent wish was to see this part of the Gov
ernment guided according to those constitutional
landmarks. In the establishment of which she had
had some agency; and, in conclusion, he trusted that
he might be permitted, without offence to any, to say
that the Commonwealth of Virginia was happy In
the purity of her own principles and purposes, suffi
ciently rich In the spontaneous gratitude which on all
great occasions she had excited in her sisters of the
Confederacy, and glorious in being the disinterested
creditor of mankind In the large advances and gener
ous examples she had made In the cause of freedom,"

15

CHAPTER XV
IN CONGRESS — ORIGINATES THE INDEPENDENT
TREASURY
Gordon's speech on the Virginia Resolutions con
demning the removal of the deposits had been made
con amore. A month earlier he had written to Mrs,
Gordon :
"We are still In great excitement in Congress,
When it will subside I know not. The Administra
tion. I think Is overthrown. They cannot carry on
the Government,"
But he underestimated the entrenched power and
ability of Jackson, On the 14th of April, 1834, he
had grown despondent, and wrote:
"We have no mitigation here of our anxiety for
the state of the country. The ruinous course pursued
by the President is developing every day the folly of
the measure. Three banks In the District within the
last three or four days have stopped payment; and
I very much fear that most of the State banks In the
Union will have the same fate. The ruin to indi
viduals will be appalling,"
He was now well out of any sort of sympathy with
the party of the Jacksonian Democracy, — a situation
to which he refers in the same letter: "I am getting
tired of this kind of public life, though I have no
apprehension that my kind constituents will discard
me for having the sagacity to see their interest, and
firmness enough to pursue It, On the contrary, I have
no doubt that the shouts of applause which so re
cently have been raised In favor of the advocates of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 227
power will be turned into curses deep and loud. The
conduct of the Executive in this matter Is without a
parallel for its folly,"
In Virginia, as throughout the Union, the removal
of the deposits had created great excitement. The
Secretary of the Treasury had set out in detail in his
report to Congress on December 3, 1833, the reasons
for issuing the order of removal; and the debates
which ensued In both the Senate and the House of
Representatives, continuing for months, are said to
have Illustrated an ability and warmth never before
displayed In a congressional discussion.
"The people caught the excitement," says Mr.
Hugh Blair Grigsbj, in his "Discourse on TazeweU,"
"and public meetings were held in all the commercial
cities; and memorials were forwarded to Congress
urging the Immediate restoration of the deposits to
the vaults of the bank. Each memorial, as it was re
ceived by a Senator or Representative, was honored
with a speech from some master spirit. And now the
most menacing monetary crisis occurred which the
country had ever seen. In a little less or more than
six months the Bank of the United States had short
ened Its line of discounts ten millions of dollars ; and
all the State banks in self-defense were compelled to
follow the example of that great institution. Confi
dence ceased to exist. No man in business could look
ahead a single day without fear and trembling. Men
spoke In whispers, and walked doubtfully as if the
earth might quake beneath their feet. The result
was a change in the party relations of those who
lived In towns without a parallel in our history. And
it was soon seen that a new party was forming, In
comparison of which the tertium quid of Jefferson's
administration was a mere bubble floating on the sur
face of the stream. In that tempest was rocked the
cradle of that large and intellectual party, which as
sumed the appellation of Whig, which won some
splendid victories, which encountered some decisive

22 8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
defeats, which then slept awhile, and which has re
cently burnished its armor anew for a fresh cam
paign. (i860.)
"Richmond set the example among us of holding
meetings of the people, with a view of urging the
restoration of the deposits to the Bank, Watklns
Leigh and Chapman Johnson made on that occasion
an appeal to the people of Virginia in favor of a re
storation, which was heard from so respectable a
source with the attention it deserved. The Assembly,
then in session, which when elected had been favor
able to the administration of Jackson, faltered In
their faith, Instructed the Senators in Congress to
vote for a restoration of the deposits, and on the resig
nation of Mr, Rives, who upheld the policy of the
Administration, elected Mr. Leigh in his stead.
Even the Richmond Enquirer, its polar star momen
tarily obscured, was tossing helplessly on that tem
pestuous sea,
"In this state of things, some of the citizens of
Norfolk, of both parties, as those parties had pre
viously stood, highly distinguished by social position,
by talents, by wealth, and by their Intimate connec
tion with our banking institutions, called on Mr.
Tazewell, and requested him to take the chair at a
public meeting to be held on the 8th of January,
1834. He consented to do so, and on taking the
chair delivered one of the most graceful, most ner
vous, and most eloquent speeches that ever fell from
his lips. In language not to be misunderstood, he de
nounced the act of removing the deposits from the
Bank of the United States, advised their immediate
restoration, and condemned the whole series of the
measures of the President of the United States in re
lation thereto. A gentleman happening to be present
who had heard Canning, Brougham and Sir Robert
Peel from the hustings and in the House of Com
mons, declared that the speech of Mr, TazeweU fully
equalled their grandest efforts on such occasions ; and

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 229
all who heard It pronounced it a wonderful work of
argument, eloquence, and declamation combined, A
few days after the meeting, Mr, Tazewell was
elected Governor of the Commonwealth,"
Upon the reassembling of the 23d Congress in
December, 1834, regulations were made to govern
the deposit of the public moneys in the State banks.
The use of the State banks as depositories had begun
In October, 1833; so that from this date to the
passage In 1835 of the acts regulating the govern
ment deposits, the public moneys were practically
under the complete control of the President and the
Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the
Treasury selected these banks according to his own
notion; and an Immediate result of the removal of
the deposits, and the failure to re-charter the Bank
of the United States, was the springing up ot what
has been called "a mushroom crop" of local banks,
all eager to obtain the Government's patronage as
a basis for their discounts.
During the session of 1834-35, Gordon, moved by
the uncertainty of the Government's financial de
positories, and seeking, with what Mr. Calhoun in
private conversation said was "the inspiration of
genius In statesmanship," to have the government keep
its own moneys in Its own control and subject to its
own purposes, through its public officials, and thus
to separate the public business of the government
revenues from the private business of the money-
market, devised and proposed to the Congress of the
United States the scheme of the Independent Treas
ury, or Sub-Treasury System, — a financial plan of
government which gave to Its author, after its later
adoption, the soubriquet of "Sub-Treasury Gordon."
The measure was one of much simplicity, as are
most of the great measures of governmental policy
or of social life. The effect of It was to separate the
fiscal concerns of government from those of the pri
vate banking corporations of the country, on the

230 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
theory that Congress should have nothing to do with
the money-market, except to see that the makers of
a credit currency shall redeem their promises In coin
or go out of business, Gordon believed that this was
the duty of the Government, and that there its duty
ended, Gordon's Sub-Treasury Bill provided that the
revenues of the Government should be left In the
hands of the collecting officers, or assistant treas
urers, throughout the country, to be disbursed, trans
ferred and accounted for to the Secretary of the
Treasury, The fidelity of the Government's agents
was to be secured by bonds.
Of Its successful operation when finally adopted,
and after a brief trial, Alexander Johnston, one of
the fairest and most judicial historians of this coun
try, has said:
"It inflicted no damage upon the State banks, or
upon business at large; It did not increase the num
ber of offices at the disposal of the President and his
party, or the power of the President over the com
mercial interests of the country; it laid no 'corner
stone of despotism' ; its practical operation was much
more smooth and successful than might have been
anticipated In a civil service already so far debased;
and it plainly relieved the Government from any ex
cept Indirect and remote consequences of suspension
of specie payments by the banks, and the country
from the difficulties and dangers incident to the con
trol of a national bank by a representative body. Its
passage opened a hitherto unthought of door of
escape from a national bank so inviting that it would
have been foolish for the dominant party not to have
availed itself of It, and so convenient when triedj that
it would have been impossible on a fair test to induce
the country to retrace its steps. Only the momentum
of the Whig party proper, acquired by years of
struggle for a national bank, compelled its leaders to

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 231
keep up for a time a contest whose futlUty they were
quick to perceive. The first successful execution of
the Independent Treasury act made a national bank
an impossibility with general popular consent, and
completed the divorce of bank and state,"
On the 20th day of June, 1834, Gordon addressed
the House of Representatives upon his bill to estab
lish an Independent Treasury, The proposition
came up upon the motion made by him to amend the
Local Bank Deposit Regulation Bill, then before the
House, by striking out all of the said biU after the
enacting clause, and inserting the following:
"i. That from and after the  day of 
in the year  , the collectors of the public reve
nue at places where the sums collected shall not ex
ceed the sum of  dollars per annum, shall be the
agents of the Treasurer to keep and disburse the same,
and be subject to such rules and regulations and give
such bond and security as he shall prescribe for the
faithful execution of their office; and shall receive,
in addition to the compensation now allowed by
law  per centum on the sums disbursed ; so that
it does not exceed the sum of  dollars per
a.nnum, "2. And be It further enacted. That at all places
where the amount of public revenue collected shall
exceed the sum of  dollars per annum, there
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, receivers of the
public revenue, to be agents of the Treasurer, who
shall give such bond and security to keep and dis
burse the public revenue, and be subject to such rules
and regulations as the Treasurer shall prescribe, and
shall receive for their services  per centum per
annum on the sum disbursed: provided it does not
exceed the sum of  doUars per annum,
"3, And be it further enacted. That from and
after the  day of  the whole revenue of

232 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the United States, derived from the customs, of lands,
or other sources, shall be paid In the current coins of
the United States,"
In Benton's "Abridged Debates o^ Congress" the
author of the proposed amendment is reported as
having spoken as follows :
"Mr, Gordon said that it was due to that portion
of the House who were opposed to the re-charter of
the United States Bank, and who, nevertheless, dis
approved of the course of the Executive in removing
the deposits, that some of their number should sub
mit a plan which should be conformed to their views
of this very important question. It seemed to be a
point given up, that the present Bank of the United
States was not to be re-chartered ; and that so far as
the action of that House was concerned, the de
posits were not to be restored to the custody of that
institution; and a scheme had thereupon been de
vised, which seemed as unsatisfactory to the friends
as to the opponents of the measure, by which the
public money had been withdrawn from the bank.
It was said to be the opinion of the President that it
was extremely desirable the revenue of the United
States should be collected in specie and not in paper;
and in connection with which opinion the House had
heard a new name applied to specie : it had been
called 'Jackson money,' He now called upon all who
were In favor of 'Jackson money' to go with him in
support of the old-fashioned, constitutional notion of
a hard-money government. His object was to dis
connect the Government entirely from the system of
banks, whether State or Federal, It must be obvious
to every man acquainted with the times, that the
country could not get on with Its present paper cir
culation. The Bank of the United States, the great
federal monster, closed Its doors against all investiga
tion of its concerns ; and to rely upon such an Institu-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 233
tion was to sap the foundations of public liberty.
The advocates of the State banks could not propose
a system that was satisfactory even to themselves.
All attempts to control State banks were contrary to
the Constitution, All the House could do was to re
store the public deposits to the authority of the
Treasurer of the United States, They had no right
to commit their funds to the State banks; they
formed an instrument of power which he should be
very sorry to see put In the hands of the Government.
The country was In a very unfortunate condition.
An Interminable war had been declared by the Presi
dent of the United States against the Bank of the
United States; but who could doubt that a very
different state of things would have taken place, if
the bank had thrown Its vast power Into the aid of
the Executive? And should he succeed in substi
tuting any combination of banks in its stead, and
consequently In obtaining a control over their inter
ests, it could not but prove a most dangerous instru
ment in the hands of a,ny Chief Magistrate. It
would enable him to tamper with the pecuniary
affairs of the States; and though its management
might require more address than would be requisite
to attain the control of a single Institution, yet the
consequences would be equally dangerous to the se
curity of liberty. Whichever way the friends of a
united and constitutional government turned their
eyes, they saw equal dangers in the prospects before
them. Let them, then, endeavor to simplify the
fiscal machine ; let them endeavor to get a simple sys
tem, which should be subject to the control of Gov
ernment alone (he meant, the control of Congress,)
and which should be wholly disconnected with all
paper money of every description. If the various
and conflicting opinions of the House could thus be
compromised, an achievement would be effected In
favor of a limited and constitutional Government
such as had never been witnessed before. It must be

234 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
evident to all, that the whole tendency of government
was to accumulate power. Whenever an election of
President was approaching (and when was it at a
great distance?) all great questions of policy were
made to bear upon that all-agitating topic. All good
men began to tremble for our Institutions. Amidst
the strife and rude war of such mighty interests, vir
tue and patriotism shrank back In dismay. But
would gentlemen make no effort to diminish this dan
ger? Must there still be a war against internal im
provements, a war against the tariff, a war against
the Bank of the United States, or against the State
banks, altogether distinct from any regard to the
happiness of the people? Were the President and
the Bank to be left in deadly conflict? Must there
be no end to these political contests ? Who could go
home and leave things in their present condition, and
not apprehend the worst consequences? He called
upon the House to make a generous, magnanimous
effort to free the country; he invited, he invoked
them, to give up something of their party prejudices,
and to unite together to steer in a safe middle course
the vessel of state, now in such Imminent danger of
rocks on the one side and whirlpools on the other,
"He observed that the measure he had proposed
was one of extreme simplicity. He should not now
attempt to go into the details which belonged to it;
if the principle were approved, the details might be
easily arranged. He simply proposed to make those
who received the revenue the agents for its custody,
when not exceeding a given amount, and constituting
them the agents, also, for Its disbursement. He was
aware, indeed, that the members of the House had
so long been in the habit of coijslderlng matters of
revenue as matters pertaining to a bank, that It was
difficult, perhaps, for them to admit of any other
idea. But Mr, Gordon did not propose to interfere
with the banking principle; he had nothing to do
with their notes, whether small or large. Let them

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 235
regulate that as they could. He did not Interfere
with the Bank of the United States, He went only
for what was originally Intended, and what alone
was contemplated by the framers of the Constitution,
viz: that the revenue should be collected in coin.
Coin was the only legal tender now, yet the Govern
ment had made paper substantially such. He was
for putting an end to this. He was most clearly of
opinion that the hard-money system was the simplest
and best the Government could ultimately adopt.
There might be some objections urged against it.
Some gentlemen might apprehend that it would with
draw too large an amount from circulation. But
this objection was not well founded. As the duties
on Imports should decrease, the amount of surplus
revenue would be less and less ; It would soon be but
a few millions. It might be said that the transfers
of money would not be made as easily as by a federal
bank with branches. All that would be requisite
would be drafts from the Treasury, specifying the
place where the money should be paid. These drafts
would not be at premium, but would pass as money.
They would be a substitute for bank paper, and the
Government would thus be delivered from its con
nection with the system of banking; a system which
all knew to have a corrupting tendency, and which
must be a perpetual Instrument of party spirit. The
whole world recognized gold and silver as the repre
sentative of property; it was the only real money in
existence. He hoped to see It the money of this gov
ernment," The report of this speech adds, "The amendment
of Mr, Gordon was ordered to be printed." His
Invocation to the patriotism of the House, and his
appeal that Its members should rise superior to the
passions and prejudices of party, were in vain.
Neither Jacksonian Democracy nor the heterogeneous
aggregation of Whiggery would touch the proposi-

236 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
tion. The amendment, when put upon Its passage,
was overwhelmingly defeated In the House.
Benton, In the Senate debate on the Sub-Treasury
Bill, In September, 1837, when the measure had been
made an administration one by President VanBuren,
gave as the reason for its rejection by the Congress
of 1834-35 that Jackson's administration could not
afford to antagonize the local banks. In reply to
Mr. Rives, then Senator from Virginia, and always
a relentless opponent of the Independent Treasury,
Senator Benton said:
"The Senator from Virginia (Mr. Rives) repeats
what has been often told and answered, that the
friends of the Administration voted in a body against
Mr. Gordon's Sub-Treasury proposition In 1834.
They did so, and for a reason both notorious and
good at that time, but not good now. The Adminis
tration could not cut loose from the local banks then ;
they were allies against the Bank of the United
States and, as such, had to be saved. They were the
Half-JFay House in getting from the National Bank
to the Sub-Treasury; and as such had to be main
tained. They are no longer allies, but foes and de
serters. They have cut loose from the government,
and are weight in favor of a national bank; and as
such, the government is now done with them. It was
expedient to maintain the connection In 1834; it is
expedient to let it remain dissolved now,"
Though lost in 1834 and again in 1835, Its author
lived to see the ample vindication of his political and
financial wisdom in the origination of this great
statute, upon which his largest fame as a statesman
is entitled to rest, In the later adoption by President
VanBuren of the Sub-Treasury scheme as a party
measure and a rallying cry, and his party's persis
tent efforts for Its enactment Into law until its final
adoption. It was VanBuren's espousal of the cause

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 237
of the Independent Treasury that moved Calhoun,
the master spirit of the State-Rights Democrats, and
those who thought with him, like Gordon, to aban
don the Whig association, and return to the Demo
cracy. "Much time," says VonHolst, In his "Life
of Calhoun," "was to elapse ere justice was ren
dered Calhoun with regard to the course he saw fit
to pursue upon the leading question of the day —
President VanBuren's Sub-Treasury scheme, which
was to sever entirely and forever the connection be
tween the Government and banks of every descrip
tion. It was but natural that the Whigs were deeply
chagrined to see Calhoun part company with them
in the moment when, as he himself freely admitted,
the continuance of the alliance would have led to
the overthrow of the Administration party ; but they
had no right to expect anything else from him. He
was not guilty of any treachery, nor could he be
justly charged with Inconsistency, though in 1835
(1834), when the Sub-Treasury scheme was first
introduced by General Gordon, he had declared it
'premature,' and In 1836, when the proposition was
renewed by Benton, 'impracticable at the time,' nay
even though he had himself proposed the establish
ment of a United States Bank for twelve years 'as a
better and more practical plan to unbank the banks.' "
Neither Calhoun nor Gordon had ever been a
Whig. They had associated themselves with the
Whig party for the single purpose -of opposing the
autocracy and unconstitutional usurpations of Jack
son, They had always belonged to the party of
strict construction; and they returned together to
the Democratic ranks upon a fiscal scheme that took
the hand of the Government off the State banks on
the one side, while it prevented on the other the
possible aUiance between a national administration
and a national bank.
In 183.5 Gordon again introduced his Sub-Treas
ury BiU; and it was again defeated.

238 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In September, 1837, the twenty-fifth Congress
was convened in extra session, Martin VanBuren
was President, and the Calhoun Democrats were sup
porting the new administration. The President's
message, which his ablest biographer, Mr, Edward
M, Shepard, In his "Life" In the "American States
men Series," characterizes as "a message which marks
the zenith of his political wisdom," and as "one of
the greatest of American State papers," recommended
the adoption by Congress of the Independent Treas
ury, When proposed by the Democratic adminis
tration, the Whigs assailed it as an endeavor to break
down. all the banks in the country; and some of the
Jackson Democrats, calling themselves "Conserva
tives," and generally voting with the Whigs in finan
cial matters, led in the Senate by Mr, Rives of Vir
ginia, and Mr, Tallmadge of New York, also op
posed It, Gordon, whose career in Congress had
ended with the close of his third term in 1835,
watched from his home in Albemarle the fight that
was being waged In the national legislature about
his great project, where on the floor of the House
of Representatives some of the little band of its sup
porters in 1834 and 1835 still remembered him and
his measure, to eulogize both. In the debate in the
House, In committee of the whole on the state of the
Union in 1837, Francis W. Pickens of South Caro
lina, who, as Governor of that State something over
two decades later, gave the order to fire upon Fort
Sumter, said in the course of a speech advocating
the bill for a Sub-Treasury:
"But I have said, sir, that I felt myself somewhat
committed on this subject. In 1835 a friend of mine
from Virginia (Mr, Gordon), not now a member of
this House, — and I will here take occasion to
say of him that he Is a gentleman who would
have done honor to Virginia in her proudest
days of glory and fame — presented the very
identical proposition to this House which is

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 239
embraced in the blU on your table. For that
proposition, sir, I then voted, I acted from reflec
tion, and from a conscientious conviction of the ef
fects of that measure to bring about honesty in the
Government and to secure the independence of the
people. True I was then but a very young man, and
had but for a few weeks taken my seat in this House,
Yet, sir, I had made up my opinion from observa
tion and reflection. And although young, yet, to use
the language applied to another, I was old enough
'Acta parentum jam legere, et quae sit poterat cog-
noscere virtus.'
"Sir, I had formed my judgment then, and have
not yielded It since. On the contrary, the experience
between then and now has only tended to confirm
my conviction, I desire the Clerk to read the propo
sition and the vote upon |t. * * *
"I will now quote a paragraph from the speech
of the mover of the proposition, made at the time,
as illustrating the views under which we acted, which
too truly portrays what has really happened since,
and what I fear we will again see if the system be
continued, Mr, Gordon said: 'There is another
consideration which has induced me to offer this
amendment. We may all very plainly see that the
contest for the Executive office Is the rock on which
the permanency of this republic is likely to be
wrecked. And the vehemence of this contest will
ever be In proportion to the Executive patronage.
But for this, the office would have no allurements
but for virtuous ambition ; but with this concomitant
it exerts an influence which may one day prove fatal
to the federal part of our system. If we do not sepa
rate the Influence of the Executive from the interests
of banking corporations, we shall have another con
troversy on the subject of banks. The political will
be united with the money power; the contest must
come; it will come. You wiU witness a struggle in
this Capitol between State banks and Federal banks;

240 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
and the combatants for the President's chair will be
found contending in different ranks of interest and
influence, whilst they mar the peace of the country,
and shake the pillars of the Constitution, Separate
them, I beseech you, representatives of the American
people. If you wish to put down this fearful contest
for the Presidential chair — I had almost said Presi
dential throne; separate, I beseech you, banking and
politics. Let the banks facilitate the exchanges of
commerce, and further the interests of trade; but
let them, I pray you, have nothing to do with the
Government,' "

CHAPTER XVI
Gordon's speech in 1835 on again proposing
THE independent TREASURY
Upon Its re-introduction by him In the House of
Representatives, again as an amendment to the Bank-
Deposit Bill, on the loth of February, 1835, Gor
don addressed the House In greater detail upon the
significance and effect of his measure. The official
report of his speech states that "When Mr, Gordon
had offered his amendment, he addressed the House
as follows :
"In presenting the amendment which has just
been read. I candidly acknowledge that I do not at
this time entertain a very distinct hope of obtaining
in Its favor the votes of a majority of this body, I
presented, at the last session, a similar amendment
to a bill then pending; and I was Induced to do so
by the deep interest felt, both here and elsewhere.
In the discussions which were then carried on in Con
gress, touching the management of the public reve
nue. When, within sixty days of the meeting of
the Congress of the United States, I beheld the ex
traordinary spectacle of the executive head of this
confederacy attempting, through his power of ap
pointment, and the practice of removal from office,
to control and regulate the deposits of the public
revenue, it did, I confess, awaken in my mind feel
ings of the deepest surprise and alarm,
"In the controversy which was so warmly prose
cuted in this House in relation to the subject, the
members of Congress were divided Into two parties —
one in favor of the continuance of the Bank of the
United States, and of giving to It the custody of the
16

242 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
public revenue; another in defence of the executive in
terference, in its removal, and of substituting the banks
of the different States, I was one of a small class
of Representatives on this floor opposed to the Bank
of the United States, both because it was unconstitu
tional, and Is an institution capable of wielding a
power dangerous to republican government, and also
opposed to the executive Interference In any way with
the revenues of the people, because I considered it
to be a vital principle In all free governments, that
the revenue must, in all respects, be under the con
trol of the people or their representatives, to whom
alone it pertained to say how it shall be raised and
collected, by whom It shall be paid, how It shall be
disbursed, to what uses It shall be applied, and by
whom and where It shall be kept,
"It was argued by the friends of the Executive,
that such an Institution as the United States Bank
was dangerous to a free government, from its exten
sive and powerful Influence, as well over the public
opinion as over the public Interest, I con
cur In this opinion, and rejoice that the Bank
is to be put down, but I nevertheless en
tirely disapprove of the executive interference, in
causing the public money to be removed from the
custody where the law had placed It, to the State
banks, where the law did not direct it should be
placed, and because the power and Influence of a
multitude of State banks, scattered over every por
tion of the country, dependent on the executive will,
would be a dangerous extension of the patronage of
the Executive, especially as the custody and control of
the revenue were claimed by the friends of the Ad
ministration, in this behalf, as an executive power
derived from the Constitution itself. Perceiving, I
thought, that the scheme of the Executive would re
sult in evils not then anticipated, I looked out with
anxiety to discover some plan by which the Federal
Government might be wholly disconnected from the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 243
organized capital of the country, whether In a na
tional or In State banks. And after much reflection
and consultation with wise and experienced men, I
proposed to effect it by an amendment to the bill
then pending, and presented it to the consideration
of Congress; and I now venture once more to sub
mit It to the notice of this body,
"In taking this step, I am actuated by higher con
siderations than a regard simply to the safe keeping
of the public treasure, I verily believe, and I think
experience will convince the most Incredulous Re
publican, that the wise and patriotic framers of our
Constitution have unintentionally given to the ex
ecutive power a fearful and dangerous ascendency,
which makes it an overbalance to all the other de
partments of Government. Limited and circum
scribed with the constitutional limits, it Is a power too
great to be confided with safety to any human being.
According to the new construction placed upon Its
extent by the present Incumbent, and his supporters
In his behalf. It is a mass of power such as the bene
ficent Author of the world could alone wield with
out danger to human liberty. What is this body?
What are the representatives of the American peo
ple? Before the might of the executive arm they
yield as a rush. When that exalted officer unrolls
the scroll of his might, when he exhibits to their
anxious eyes the endless roll of honorable and profit
able appointments which await his pleasure, who
among us possesses the firmness to turn with averted
eyes from the golden bait of interest and power?
And who can sustain the erectness of his spirit after
he has reached the goal of his ambition, when he
feels that he holds his station by the will of one
man? And when It has become the practice of the
Government to appoint to the highest of those places
influential and devoted members of this body, can
any man expect that a majority of its members should
long stand up against the influence of this proud and

244 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
seducing power thus exerted? Let It not be thought
that I have any wish to speak unkindly of the present
distinguished incumbent of the executive chair. I
contributed my humble aid to elevate him to the seat
he occupies, and in many, in most of his acts, he has
my entire concurrence. But I have seen of late,
under his construction of the Constitution, and the
support which his doctrine and his course have re
ceived, the liberties of this country brought, as I
conceive, to the most Imminent danger. Owing to
the attachment of my country to one whom they
consider as their great and distinguished benefactor,
the whole land seems to be sleeping in a condition
which, unless we arouse and exert ourselves, may
prove the sleep of depotism.
"Mr. Speaker, this Representative hall presents,
or ought to present, the true and legitimate fountain
of public opinion. It is here that the representa
tive of the people should take his stand In defence
of the liberty of the people and his. own rights,
against the overshadowing influence of executive
power. But, sir, how is it that we have stood upon
this floor, and what is the resistance which we have
presented to executive claims? By pleading the prac
tice of the Government during former years, in
minor instances, to justify the extraordinary spec
tacle of the Chief Executive Magistrate of this Re
public controlling, by a single act of his will, the
whole revenue of the country. In my recollection
of English history, I remember no Instance where a
question has arisen affecting Immediately the rights
of the people, Invaded by the King, that the English
Commons have not been true to the people's interest,
against the unjust pretensions of the Crown. But
here, sir, within these walls, I regret that on almost
the first great question which has arisen affecting
the dearest rights of the people, directly -Invaded by
executive power, a majority of the immediate repre
sentatives of the people are seen rallying on the side

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 245
of power. Still, had the act of the President, though
to my mind plainly wrong and unauthorized, re
sulted in an equal and beneficial diffusion of the pub
lic revenues through the different portions of the Re
public, we might have found some room for paUia-
tlon of the illegality of the act in its beneficence. If
we could not approve, we might at least have ex
cused it. But what, sir, in fact, has been the actual
result of this new and beautiful arrangement of our
fiscal concerns, so highly lauded by the talented and
amiable chairman of the Committee of Ways and
Means? Of the twenty-four millions which consti
tute the gross amount of our revenue received from
the customs, more than thirteen millions, being col
lected In one seaport, are deposited In the banks of
a single State, while the other twenty-three States are
left to get such fragments of the residue as chance
or favor may throw into their lot. Yes, sir, while
the great State of New York, so justly styled the
Empire State, in addition to all her other advanta
ges, natural and political, has her banking capital
increased by the accession of more than thirteen
millions of dollars, by a single wave of the executive
arm, Virginia, the Old Dominion, receives from the
same arrangement a little more. In gross revenue,
than two hundred thousand dollars. Ay, sir, that
ancient Commonwealth that has borne the battle and
the breeze, which In all emergencies of this Repub
lic, If not foremost, has ever been found In the front
rank in its defence, in this distribution of the Federal
loaves and fishes, puts into her coffers two hundred
thousand dollars, while the great State of New York,
with her army of Representatives on this floor, and
all her preponderating weight In the councils of this
nation, receives the modest and Inconsiderable sum
of thirteen millions of dollars. Whenever I think
of this distribution, It reminds me of Aesop's fable
of the beasts who hunted with the lion in company.
We all know how the spoil was divided then, and it

246 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
is not difficult now to tell who it is that has received
the lion's share,
"The proposition I have presented is intended to
remedy these inequalities. Sir, I have said that the
Executive, in this Government, was too strong for
the other departments, from Its legitimate constitu
tional power. Commander-in-chief of the army, of
the navy; controlling, In a great degree, the Land
and the Indian Departments, the Post Office Depart
ment, the offices of the customs, the jobs and con
tracts authorized by law, — when you superadd to the
executive patronage this power of dispensing the
revenue to whatever portion of the country he may
please, you yield a fearful and highly dangerous ex
tension of an authority never, in Its simplest form,
sufficiently guarded or circumscribed. The great
man of Virginia, Patrick Henry, — a political seer
who looked far down the stream of time, and who
foretold with prophetic truth the tendencies of this
Government, — uttered in the convention of Virginia
which adopted the Federal Constitution, this sen
tentious maxim of political wisdom : 'When you
give power, you know not what you give.' Sir, it
is most true. When you give power to a Secretary
of the Treasury (we know of what stuff they are
made) to transfer at pleasure the deposits of the
revenue to such banks as may most successfully
court his favor, you are adding to the President of
the United States, whose creature he is, — and that,
by the legislation of this House, — a most tremendous
and gigantic power. And how Is It to be exercised?
Is there to be no inequality? Yes, sir, the States
of the South, and those whose representation is weak
upon this floor, are to get nothing, although it Is their
agriculture which furnishes two-thirds of the entire
amount of our commerlcal exports. Sir, you com
promised the controversy about the tariff, but if the
whole of the States of this Union are to be taxed
for the exclusive benefit of the bankers and brokers

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 247
of New York, you are Imposing upon the people a
burden even worse than that of the tariff itself. Un
just and oppressive as that was. It had stIU something
alluring about it in the encouragement of our own
fabrications; in the arts which adorn and the arms
which defend our country — an object which, could
It be effected with fairness, and without oppression,
the South would rejoice in. But It is a most gloomy
prospect to contemplate, that more than half of the
revenue derived from the customs of this vast coun
try shall go Into the coffers of New York, Sir, that
Empire State, with this fearful addition- to all her
natural and commercial advantages, will grow too
powerful for this Confederacy, That will happen
with respect to her which Maryland feared would
happen as to Virginia, unless she should consent to
cede her western domain. Sir, Virginia put those
fears to flight. With a view to preserve the equality
of the States, she did cede her western domain, to be
formed into States equal and free as herself; for,
true to principle, she has always preferred liberty to
power. "The State of New York possesses great natural
advantages, improved by the enterprise of her citi
zens and the wisdom of her councils. At this I re
joice. Her position is most felicitous. Extensive
in territory, with the lakes on one border and the At
lantic Ocean on the other, binding to her closely
by ties of interest whole States of the confederacy,
she is possessed of commercial advantages to which
she is fairly entitled, and of which I would not wish
to deprive her. But I would not swell her prosperity
by political regulations calculated to give her a fear
ful preponderancy; for should the political power of
the President drift to a union with the commercial
power of New York, they will present a combination
ominous to freedom.
"There is another consideration which has in
duced me to offer this amendment. We may all very

248 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
plainly see that the contest for the executive office
Is the rock on which the permanency of this republic
Is likely to be wrecked, and the vehemence of this con
test will ever be in proportion to the executive patron
age. But for this, the office would have no allurements
save for virtuous ambition; but, with this concomi
tant. It exerts an influence which may one day prove
fatal to the federal part of our system. If we do not
separate the Influence of the Executive from the In
terest of banking corporations we shall have another
controversy on the subject of banks. The political will
be united with the money power. The contest must
come— It will come. You will witness a struggle In
this Capitol between State banks and Federal banks,
and the combatants for the President's chair will be
found contending in different ranks of interest and
influence, whilst they mar the peace of the country
and shake the pillars of the Constitution. Separate,
then, I beseech you. Representatives of the American
people, If you wish to put down this fearful contest
for the Presidential chair — I had almost said Presi
dential throne — separate, I beseech you, banking and
politics. Let the banks facilitate the exchanges of
commerce and further the interests of trade; but let
them, I pray you, have nothing to do with the Gov
ernment, "Mr. Speaker, I know and feel under what dis
advantages the proposition I have offered comes be
fore the House, Sir, I am not the first or the only
man who has attempted to arrest the course of power,
and I know at what a hazard the attempt is usually
made. Sir, the chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means has told us that the plan I propose has
not escaped the notice of the Secretary of the Treas
ury. Yet, though that officer has presented us with
a ponderous, I wish I could say luminous, report on
the fiscal concerns of this Government, he has passed
this proposition with a single glance. When the gen
tleman from Georgia (Mr. Gamble) Introduced a

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 249
resolution calling upon the Secretary of the Treas
ury for a plan to collect and disburse the public
revenue without the agency of banks, the House
voted it down. The proposition met with no favor.
The arrangement was made; the bargain was con
cluded; the banks had got the money; they hold
it now; and the present bill is a little more or less
than a form, a ceremony, ratifying the bargain con
cluded between the organized capital of the country
and the Secretary of the Treasury. No wonder that
officer declined entering into the details of a scheme
which he himself admitted to be of a practical char
acter, but which did not suit the purposes of power.
Sir, the scheme is practicable; and, further, I say
that It Is more simple and more efficient than that
proposed by this bill. It Is true, the amendment is
elementary only; It proposes the germ, the distin
guishing measure only, of the plan I propose; but
were this agreed upon, how easy would It be to go
on and perfect the details. Let these collectors be
put under bond, with sufficient security, and let them
keep the revenue they may collect until called for by
the Government, The Chairman of the Committee
of Ways and Means thinks that this would keep
too much specie unemployed. Sir, the day has not
long gone by when this hall, ay, sir, and the whole
country, rang with the cry of 'specie! specie!' 'Jack
son money!' 'yellow-jackets!' 'down with bank rags!'
Well, sir, I propose a plan by which the business of
government will be done in specie, and in specie
only; and the gentleman tells us that by law it Is
done In specie already. Such, it seems, is now the
law of the land. Sir, I am glad, exceedingly glad,
to hear it. If the fact be so, I have proposed no in
novation; and ought not the practice of the Gov
ernment to correspond with the law? I am not for
altering such a law. But what does this bill do?
It makes It indispensable to any bank's becoming the
depository of the Government funds, that it have at

250 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
all times a large amount of specie In Its vaults. It
appoints a system of search and Inspection to ascer
tain the fact; and If It shall be discovered that the
bank does not keep locked up from circulation a cer
tain large amount of specie, the Government deposits
are withdrawn, and the bank ruined.
"Surely, sir, the specie In the vaults of a bank Is
as much withdrawn from circulation among the peo
ple as In the coffers of a coUector of the revenue.
It lies there merely as a source of credit to the bank.
But there would only an Inconsiderable amount lie
thus idle at any time. The money would, in effect,
be as useful as if deposited In the State banks them
selves. It would be moving in a constant stream
into and out of the depositories. The banks might
possess themselves of the drafts of Government,
which, being drawn on specie in the actual posses
sion of these agents of the Treasurer, In favor of all
public creditors, would be held as so much specie.
Such drafts, or I am mistaken, would soon be at a
premium. There would be no difficulty whatever on
that score. This plan would probably require the
creation of a few additional officers, I admit, but
they would not be many; possibly there might none
be needed; but In point of patronage they would
be nothing, compared with this fearful connection
between the organized capital and the Treasury of the
Union, If gentlemen will only aid me by bestowing
on the proposition I have submitted a small share
of the labor and thought applied to carry Into effect
the State bank system; If they will turn their minds
earnestly to perfecting Its details, they will find
imagined difficulties fade before them. They will
soon be convinced that honest and responsible men
are to be found in this country, who may safely be
intrusted with the custody of the public treasure.
The Treasurer, by his drafts, will relieve all diffi
culties on the subject of exchange; and the entire

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 251
system of managing the public revenue will be re
duced to the simplest and easiest form,
"I desire to limit and restrain the executive pa
tronage; I seek to keep it free from the corroding
influence of banks and banking. Sir, I desire no
longer to have it openly charged upon members of
Congress that they have been bought and bribed by
a bank. Let the proposed plan of the chairman of
the Committee of Ways and Means go Into effect, and
the day Is not far distant when gentlemen will be
charged in the self-same manner with having been
bribed by the State banks. When a new war of in
terest and ambition shall arise, between a renewed ef
fort to make a bank of the United States and the ex
isting State banks, those who oppose the
measure will then be told that they are bribed
by the State banks. Sir, the times are por
tentous; all feel It, all know It to be so.
Everybody knows that pervading anxiety agitates
the bosoms of the best and wisest patriots of
the land; and no man can tell how the drama Is
to terminate. Let us, then, endeavor at least to purify
one source of corruption. Let us cut off at least one
arm of dangerous and unnecessary power. We shall
have the bond of those who keep our money; and
if It is not paid, we will have it paid. Then we shall
no longer be calculating here how a million and a
half of dollars deficit in the Treasury, said to be lost
by default of State banks, can be made to appear
but four hundred thousand dollars. You will then
have an honest system of custody for the public
funds, and one in which the people of the country
have a deep interest. Sir, the great body of the
people do not understand these banking institutions.
They know nothing about them; nothing, sir, noth
ing, but the happy event of bringing the United
States Bank to an end; and the use made of It for
political purposes has prevented you from hearing,
from one end of this Confederacy to the other, one

252 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
universal cry against the interference of the Execu
tive with the public revenue. Sir, the Executive Is
honest; he is frank and open; he promised to kill
the Bank, and he has killed it, I rejoice at it, nor
did I quit his side in this contest until I thought he
had passed the bounds of constitutional warfare, and
was inflicting wounds on Liberty herself,
"Mr, Speaker, it is the theory of this Govern
ment, and it is no less the wish of the people, that
the Government shall be wholly dissevered and kept
distinct from the religion of the nation. The sepa
ration Is guaranteed in the Constitution by an amend
ment proposed by my native State. It Is equally
the provision of that instrument that the Government
shall be equally separated from the public press. It
solemnly enjoins that nothing shall be permitted to
silence that trumpet which summons the people to
the defence of their liberties. And it will turn out
to be no less necessary that the action of this Gov
ernment shall be separated from all moneyed cor
porations organizing the wealth and capital of the
country. Sir, we have been placed, by the hand of
Divine Providence, upon a vast and fertile conti
nent. We enjoy the freest government under heaven ;
we have a great, a glorious confederacy of free
States; Is It not our sacred duty to guard this fair
inheritance against the taint of corruption? Sir, I
declare before this body, upon the Integrity of my
honor, that the effort I have now made Is utterly
disconnected with all party aims and party feeling.
I believe some such expedient indispensable to liber
ty. And were I authorized to speak, I would say
that I do believe the great man, whose genius and
whose patriotic valor have raised him to the first
seat In this Government, would himself, being no
advocate of banks, prefer such a measure to that
proposed in this bill,
"I know there are some slight inconveniences at
tending the plan. But these, whatever they may be,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 253
are but dust in the balance In comparison to the dan
gerous tendency of that now held out to us, and
which may one day shake this Confedracy to Its
deepest foundations. The agitation attending the
pulling down of the national bank has not subsided
to this day; the undulation of the blUows will long
be visible; nor will banking controversies, for our
Immense revenues, cease until some efficient substi
tute shall be provided by Congress.
"As to the details of the scheme I have now had
the honor to propose to the Congress of the United
States, they may be arranged at leisure when once
the principle of the scheme Is settled, I did not pre
sent my proposition as containing a perfect plan;
but. If Its principle shall be approved of, the sub
ordinate arrangements need be attended with but
little difficulty,
"Sir, I am fully aware of the desultory and ir
regular manner In which I have been able to present
my thoughts of the House; but they have been con
ceived, I trust, in purity of purpose, as they have
been frankly uttered. Let us not lend our aid to the
enactment of laws which go only to swell the al
ready portentous tide of executive power; rather,
whilst we restrain ourselves within the limits pre
scribed by the Constitution, let us use our best ef
forts to curb executive encroachment on our legis
lative rights, and to provide more effectual safe
guards for the liberties of the people,"
This speech, proceeding from a man practically
without a party following, upon a measure which
was objectionable alike to the old Bank of the United
States men, and to the admlnistratlonists, neverthe
less produced a strong impression on the House, al
though it failed to win more than a comparatively
small number of votes to the support of the measure
which it advocated. In the debate on the Deposit
Bill, which had been opened by Mr, James K, Polk

254 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of Tennessee, the chairman of the Committee of
Ways and Means, Gordon's amendment, proposing
the Independent Treasury, was discussed by Mr.
Samuel McDowell Moore of Virginia, Mr. Ewing
of Ohio, Mr. Robertson of Virginia, Mr. Churchill
C. Cambreling of New York, Mr, Clayton of
Georgia, and Mr, Wilson of Virginia,
Mr, Ewing "acquiesced in a large portion of the
argument of the gentleman from Virginia '(Mr,
Gordon) though he could not support his amend
ment. The subordinate officers of this Government,
or any man rewarded with office, merely for party
services, should never become the depositories of
the people's money with his consent,"
"Mr. Ewing offered a new bill of twenty-seven
sections, as an amendment to that of Mr, Gordon;"
and "rose to remark briefly on the amendment or
substitute sent to the table, and to move, before he
resumed his seat, to refer it, with the amendment
of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Gordon) and
also the bill of the Committee of Ways and Means,
to a select committee to consist of one member from
each State in the Union. He said he adopted this
course because the subject was one of deep, general,
and vital Importance to the whole country. Its ef
fects will remain when the passions and parties of
the present day shall have passed to the bourn of
oblivion; and it should be presented to this House
and discussed free of all party predilections,"
Mr. Robertson said: "Favoring, himself, the
principle of that (the amendment) proposed by
his colleague (Mr. Gordon), so far as it dispensed
with the agency of banking operations, and desirous
of seeing that principle embodied into some practi
cable plan, he should move a commitment of the bill
to the committee which had reported it, with in
structions to report a plan to effect that object."
"Mr. Cambreling said: "The gentleman from
Virginia (Mr, Gordon) has told us that the PresI-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 255
dent has 'possessed himself of the whole revenue of
the country,' and that 'our rights and our liberties
are in danger,' The gentleman surely cannot have
forgotten the act of March, 1809, referred to by
the Secretary of the Treasury, under which all pub
lic moneys in the hands of disbursing officers are
directed to be deposited In banks to be 'designated
for the purpose by the President of the United
States'; an act which was not repealed even by the
charter of the Bank of the United States, and which
stands to this day the law of the land. Under that
act, sir, continued for six and twenty years, our
Presidents were authorized to control, so far as the
mere question of deposit was concerned, some five
hundred millions, for the use of our army, navy, and
for other Government purposes. If there is any
thing substantial In this argument about the union
of the purse and the sword, or any abuse in the ex
ercise of this control over the public money, the legis
lative and not the executive branch is responsible to
the country for Its origin,
"(Mr, Gordon disclaimed having said anything
about the union of the purse and the sword),"
Mr, Clayton said: "In presenting my reasons for
voting against the bill on your table, and sustaining
the substitute offered by the gentleman from Vir
ginia (Mr, Gordon) I shall briefly urge what I
have always done against the Bank of the United
States, viz : that any concern on the part of the
General Government with banks of any description is
not only unconstitutional but inexpedient."
Mr, Mann was disturbed by what Mr, Gordon
said about the State of New York, "The inference
which It appears to me necessarily follows from the
scope of the remarks of the gentleman, taken alto
gether, (and I state it as an Inference), is, that the
power of New York is not only too great in the
Union, but that she will use it for poUtical and im
proper purposes of self-aggrandizement,"

256 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Mr, Gordon said that he "had not Intended to
utter a word disrespectful to the State of New York;
that he admired that State, and Its rapid progress and
improvements; and protested against any Inferences
being drawn by the gentleman from New York ( Mr.
Mann) which his language did not warrant."
Mr, Wilson, of Virginia, "was opposed to the
amendment of Mr. Gordon, Believing that the
Bank of the United States would not be rechartered,
he was satisfied that it would be necessary to employ
the State banks as the fiscal agents of the Govern
ment." The House refused to recommit the bill; and de
feated the amendment of Mr. Ewing to Gordon's
amendment. The amendment of Mr, Gordon, pro
viding for the Independent Treasury, was then de
feated by a yea and nay vote of thirty-two yeas and
one hundred and sixty-one nays.
The members voting in the affirmative were :
Messrs, John Quiney Adams, Heman Allen, John T,
Allen, Chilton Allan, Archer, Barber, Beale, Beaty,
Campbell, Claiborne, William Clark, Clayton, Amos
Davis, Davenport, Deberry, Foster, Gamble, Ghol-
son, Gordon, Griffin, Heath, Letcher, Lewis, Martin-
dale, McComas, Pickens, Robertson, Spangler,
Steele, William P, Taylor, Wilde, WiUiams and
Henry A, Wise,
Thus ended Gordon's personal connection with a
measure which has now been for many decades so
firmly imbedded in the fiscal scheme of the United
States Government as that Its continued existence Is
likely to terminate only with the end of the Govern
ment Itself,

CHAPTER XVII
THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY
The extra session of Congress in 1837, called by
VanBuren, adjourned six days after the close of the
debate on the Sub-Treasury bill. Upon its reassem-
bUng in regular session in December, 1837, the
measure was again pressed upon Congress by the
Administration. Mr, Wright, of New York, from
the Senate Committee on Finance, reported the bill
on the 1 6th of January, 1838. It passed the Senate
on the 4th of March, by a vote of 27 to 25, among
those who voted for it being Benton King of Ala
bama, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, Walker
of Mississippi, and Silas Wright, Recorded as vot
ing against It were the great triumvirate, Calhoun,
Webster and Clay, Mr, Calhoun was In favor of the
bill as Gordon had originated It, But he voted
against It now because that portion of the original
measure providing for "hard money" had been
stricken out. The two Senators from Virginia were
divided upon it, Mr. Roane voting for the bill, and
Mr. Rives opposing It,
"Calhoun now rejoined the Democratic party,"
says Mr. Edwin M. Shepard in his luminous discus
sion of the Sub-Treasury, in his "Life of VanBuren,"
In "The American Statesmen Series," "It was only
the year before he had denounced it as 'a powerful
faction held together by the hopes of public plunder' ;
and early In this very year he had referred to the
removal of the deposits as an act fit for 'the days of
Pompey or Caesar,' and had declared that even a
Roman Senate would not have passed the expunging
resolution 'until the times of Caligula and Nero,'
But VanBuren, Calhoun now said, had been driven
17

258 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
to his position; nor would he leave the position for
that reason. He referred to the strict construction
of the powers of the government involved In the di
vorce of bank and state. There was no suggestion
that VanBuren had become a convert to Nullifica
tion. But Calhoun could with consistency support
VanBuren, The Independent Treasury scheme was
plainly far different from the removal of the deposits
from one great bank to many lesser ones * * *
Calhoun joined Silas Wright and the other adminis
tration Senators; but he still maintained a grim and
independent front,"
This grim and Independent front was illustrated
In his refusal to support the administration measure,
upon which he had returned to the party of the ad
ministration, and which had been the most potent in
fluence in recalling the strict constructionists, who had
revolted against Jackson in his fight on the Bank,
from their affiliation with the Whig party. He re
jected It, because it did not contain the hard money
feature, which had characterized it as Gordon had
fashioned it.
The bill went from the Senate, with its narrow
majority of two votes, to the House of Representa
tives, where It was again defeated on the 25th of
June, 1828, by a vote of 125 nays to iii yeas,
Gordon's successor, Mr. Garland, from the Albe
marle district, was one of Mr. RIves's "Conserva
tives," and voted against it. Thus the Whigs and
the Conservatives again put the measure to sleep.
Mr, Foster of New York moved a reconsideration of
the vote by which the bill was defeated. His motion
was lost by a vote of 205 nays to 21 yeas.
Once more. In the 26th Congress, the Sub-Treasury
Bill came to the front. The Senate passed It, by a
majority of six in a vote of forty-two, on the 23rd of
January, 1840. It had the hard-money feature re
stored, and Mr. Calhoun voted for it. Again It went
to the House, which on the 30th of June adopted it

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 259
by a vote of 124 in its favor to 107 against It, after
a debate that lacked nothing of the interest which the
proposition had formerly excited,
"Again," writes Mr, Shepard, "the wisdom of sep
arating bank and state, again the wrong of using
public moneys to aid private business and speculation,
were stated with perfectly clear, but uninspiring logic.
Again came the antiphonal cry, warm and positive,
against the cruelty of withdrawing the Government
from an affectionate care for the people, and from
its duty generously to help every one to earn his liv
ing. In and out of Congress it was the debate of the
time, and rightly; for It involved a profound and
critical issue, which since the foundation of the Gov
ernment has been second in importance only to the
questions of slavery and national existence and re
construction," The victory thus won, by so narrow a margin, was
correspondingly brief in Its continuance. Soon after
the assembling of the 27th Congress in extra session
in May, 1841, Mr, Clay reported from the Senate
Finance Committee a bill to repeal the Independent
Treasury law. The repealing bill passed the Senate
by a vote of 29 to 18, and the House with amend
ments, in which the Senate concurred, by a vote of
134 to 87, President Tyler signed the repeal-bill;
and the Independent Treasury scheme was once more
put out of action.
In 1846, In the first administration of James K,
Polk, the Sub-Treasury law was restored to the
statute-book, there to remain thenceforth as a perma
nent part of the fiscal system of the Government. It
had been the object about which political activities of
great magnitude and significance had asserted them
selves, and over which tremendous intellects had con
tended with equally tremendous passions. It was the
question on which Clay had taunted Calhoun as
abandoning his party, and deserting to the enemy; —
a taunt to which the South Carolinian had retorted.

26o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
referring to the coalition which John Randolph had
called that of 'Blifil and Black George,' between
Adams and Clay, that the latter had upon a memor
able occasion gone over, leaving it to time to disclose
his motives, "Here It was," says Mr, Shepard, "that
in the decorous fury of the times, both Senators
stamped accusations with scorn in the dust, and
hurled back darts fallen harmless at their feet."
The Independent Treasury scheme was charged
by its enemies with being a device of VanBuren's that
was "blood-curdling," and an Instrument of tyranny,
whereby the people were to be ground "to the very
dust by the awful despotism of their rulers," A
measure, which in the opinion of such strict-construc
tionists as Calhoun and Tazewell, so illustrated and
distinguished VanBuren's adherence to State-Rights
as that upon its adoption by him as an administration
measure, they, and thousands of their way of think
ing, left the Whigs to return to Democracy, was de
nounced by Its opponents as a project of centralizing
tendencies, and as constituting "a union of the sword
and the purse" — the very phrase which Cambreling
had attributed to Gordon's denunciation of the con
trol of the deposits In the "pet banks" by the Execu
tive, in the debate In the House in 1835. The State
banks antagonized VanBuren's administration be
cause of the Sub-Treasury; and the advocates of a
National Bank, under a covert defense of State bank
ing institutions, fought the Sub-Treasury scheme with
a no less relentless hostility. The antagonism of
what Gordon had dubbed "the money power" ex
hibited itself in assaulting what It discovered it was
unable to control. In the debate in the House of
Representatives, in the session of 1 839-1 840, a mem
ber from North Carolina exposed with relentless
logic the insincerity of the attitude of the national
bank advocates, "Some gentlemen have been seized
with a wonderful regard for the institutions of the
States; lips which have poured forth scorn and de-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 261
rision upon the doctrine of State-Rights have lately
used most honeyed phrases, and invoked the South
to Interfere and reject a measure that will destroy
their local banks. Sir, the real object of this pre
tended sympathy is to play on the feelings of hon
orable members, and use them to advance a measure
condemned by our constituents, and utterly repug
nant to their Interests; they hope to destroy this bill
(for the Independent Treasury) and establish a
great national bank, which is so friendlv to the States,
and so little hostile to their own corporations !"
The arguments urged against the Sub-Treasury,
where they did not proceed from those directly or
indlectly Interested In the banks, were political, Mr.
Webster said that the act was a backward step from
developed civilized credit to bolts and bars. "The
use of money," he said "is In the exchange. It is de
signed to circulate, not to be hoarded. All that the
government should have to do with it Is to receive it
to-day, that It may pay it away to-morrow. It should
not receive It before it needs it; and it should part
with it as soon as It owes It, To keep it, that Is, to
detain It, to hold it back from general use, to hoard
it, Is a conception belonging to barbarous times and
barbarous governments,"
This sound doctrine, coming from one of the ablest
opponents of the Sub-Treasury system, was one In
which Gordon entirely concurred, because he was as
hostile to a protective tariff, which he conceived pro
duces a surplus, as Webster was to the Independent
Treasury, With his strict construction views of the
functions of a national confederated government of
sovereign States, he thought that no higher tariff
duties should be imposed than would afford a revenue
sufficient to meet the expenses of that government,
economically administered. This was the view of
the State-Rights Democracy; and was presented with
great ability along with the other arguments in de
fence of the plan, in a pamphlet by William M,

262 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Gouge, entitled, "An Inquiry into the Expediency of
Dispensing with Bank Agency and Bank Paper in the
Fiscal concerns of the United States," which Is be
lieved to be the best exposition of the merits of the
Independent Treasury System that has ever been pub
lished. Gouge replied to the objection that the system
would lock up money and prevent its circulation in
business, that the Government ought not to have the
money of business, and there should be no surplus to
lock up. He said, as Gordon had said, in his pre
sentation of the scheme to Congress, that the Incon
venience of transfer could be overcome by the use of
drafts ; and that specie payment could be maintained.
He also argued, as Gordon and Pickens, and others
of their way of thinking, had urged In Congress, that
the system would decrease executive patronage and
power; and he presented cogent reasons why the
probabilities of loss would be less with the Sub-Treas
uries than with the banks — an anticipation that has
been amply justified by events.
It is interesting to observe, however, how funda
mentally the minds of political party leaders may
differ upon questions of party policy. In the 27th
Congress the Sub-Treasury matter was condemned by
the report of the Ways and Means Committee of
the House of Representatives, made on President
Tyler's proposed "Exchequer Plan," in the follow
ing language :
"Its model may be found In the imperial institu
tions of Darius, the King of Persia, and its principles
have descended, with little modification and slight
improvement, it Is believed, through all governments
where banks do not exist, and are now found In per
fect operation in the Island of Cuba !"
Such was the opinion of a Whig Committee of
Congress of this Democratic measure, which Mr.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 263
VanBuren is said to have considered a Declaration
of Independence second only to that earlier docu
ment, penned also by the hand of another and greater
citizen of the same Virginia county of Albemarle,
The functions and operations of the Independent
Treasury law have been dealt with by the present
writer in a volume entitled, "Congressional Cur
rency, An Outline of the Federal Money System,"
which was first published in 1895, From that vol
ume the following brief statement is now reproduced,
as apposite to the subject:
"The Independent Treasury Act, now on the Fed
eral Statute book, became a law on August 6, 1846;
and though amended in many minor details by direct
enactment, and diverted from its original purposes
by sundry acts of congressional legislation, stands in
general form as It was originally framed by Its author,
"There are nine sub-treasuries at the present time,
located respectively at Baltimore, Philadelphia, New
York, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, New
Orleans and San Francisco, Of these the most Im
portant, on account of its location and of the mag
nitude of its transactions, is that In the city of New
York. By the provisions of the act passed in 1875
for the resumption of specie payments, the suspen
sion of which by the sub-treasuries took place Decem-
mer 28, 1861, the legal tender United States note
known as the greenback was made redeemable only
at the sub-treasury In the city of New York, By sub
sequent legislation the sub-treasury at San Francisco
was also authorized to redeem the greenback In
'specie' ; and these two sub-treasuries remain the only
ones at which such redemption may be made,
"Although the Independent Treasury plan, as
formulated and adopted, contemplated primarily
nothing further than a better organization of the
Treasury in its methods of business, and the
proper collection, safe-keeping, and disburse-

264 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ment of the public revenues; or, as stated by Mr.
Calhoun In his speech on the Independent Treasury
bill, delivered In the Senate February 15, 1838, 'to
take the public money out of the hands of the Ex
ecutive and place it under the control of the laws,
and to prevent the renewal of a connection which
has proved so unfortunate to the government and
the banks,' Federal legislation subsequent to i860,
without materially altering the tenor and form of
the Sub-Treasury Act, has given to the general
Treasury system an incomparably greater latitude
and significance than it possessed in Its earlier his
tory, and has Incorporated into Its operation fea
tures, which if not at variance with those original
provisions of the law, were at least never antici
pated in the purview of Its first plan.
" * * * The financial war policy which con
ceived and created the greenback, with a legal-tender
feature approved by the judicial determination of
the highest Federal tribunal; the compulsory enact
ment of the Congress which makes the greenback
redeemable In coin on presentation, and requires it
to be re-issued immediately on redemption by the
Treasury Department; and the further financial
legislation by the Congress, authorizing not only the
accumulation of silver bullion in the Treasury and
the coinage of silver doUars on a false ratio, but the
issue of certificates of deposit and Treasury promises
to pay against such dollars and bullion, and defin
ing the policy of the Government to be the practical
payment of the greenbacks, silver certificates, and
Treasury notes in gold coin, have combined to set
into motion other systems of financial machinery than
those known to the earlier administration of the
Treasury Department, Before the enactment of this
later legislation, the Sub-Treasury system as origi
nally established so entirely severed the government
from the money market that, fortunately, the bank-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 265
ers and merchants could afford to laugh at the in
significance of the Government on their arena; but
its position was 'never so strong or so sound as when,
in this point of view. It was most ridiculous,' "

CHAPTER XVIII
CONTEMPORARIES IN CONGRESS — 1829-1835
The historians and biographers of the time cov
ered by Gordon's legislative experience in the United
States Congress have concurred in pronouncing the
Federal legislature of the period a most extraor
dinary one for the ability, the distinction, and the
character of those who then appeared "in the keen,
bright sunlight of pubUcIty," Of the great majo
rity of these men both history and biography have
alike treated at large; and even were this not so,
there would be scant space In such a work as the
present to inscribe even a list of the names of all of
them upon Its pages. But of those who were of
Gordon's own school of political thought, and were
thrown into a more or less close personal relation
with him, or who, being marked as out of the ordi
nary, however great that ordinary was, attracted his
attention by any singularity of personal character
or typical achievement, there were a few of whom
some words may serve to illustrate the environment,
and mark the scenes in which he moved,
Gordon was possessed always of a strong literary
bent. He was a Shakspearean scholar, not In the
critical sense, but with an accurate knowledge of the
dramatist's plays and characters, and an ability to
use this knowledge alike in the forum and at the
bar. His acquaintance with the classic authors of
his tongue was varied and extensive; and his imagi
nation was charmed and his sensibilities enlivened
by whatever was best in the domain of lighter letters.
"I send you 'The Tales of My Landlord,' " he wrote
to his wife, a few days after reaching Richmond,
in 18 18, in his first session in the Virginia House of
Delegates; and with the letter went "Old MortaUty,"

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 267
"The Black Dwarf," and "The Heart of Midlo
thian," the last of which was that year just from the
press. One of his earliest letters to Mrs. Gordon
that was written from Washington, in AprU, 1830,
states that he had "got Byron's life, by Moore. It
is an amusing book; but is licentious and wicked in
many passages," Shelley, in the earlier decades of
the century, was "flaming amazement" upon the
EngUsh reading-world. In his poems of Ideal beauty.
They attracted Gordon's attention, as did those of
Scott and Byron and Moore; but the Infidelity,
and what he conceived to be the Immorality, of
some of them were displeasing to him, "Take the
book out of the house," he said to one of his sons,
who brought him the volume, with words of praise
for "The Skylark."
It was the literary instinct which, amid the other
wise engrossing consideration of political questions,
enabled him to find recreation and amusement in the
sympathetic society of such men as Warren R. Davis,
and his since much better known State-Rights col
league from Georgia, Richard Henry Wilde,
Wilde was a scholar and poet, whose popular fame
rests largely upon a single poem, as "Single Speech"
Hamilton's reputation survives in the English House
of Commons In his one consplclously brilliant oratori
cal effort there, Wilde wrote many other verses than
the melodious lyric, beginning :
"My life is like the summer rose
That opens to the morning sky;
But ere the shades of evening close
Is scattered on the earth to die;"
but in it his memory as a poet survives,
Wilde, like Gordon, opposed Jackson, and did not
long remain In Congress, Later, he went to Flor
ence, Italy, and in that Tuscan city, whose mere
mention recalls a host of names that are garlanded
with the wreaths of English poetry and letters, he

268 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
devoted himself to the study of Italian literature;
and won a larger fame with scholars in his discovery
there of some forgotten documents concerning
Dante, and a mural portrait of the author of "The
Divine Comedy," painted by Giotto on the wall of
the Bargello Chapel, and hidden through interven
ing centuries by the obscuring brush of an unknown
whitewasher. Another notable figure, picturesque and unusual,
who came to his political end on account of his op
position to Jackson, was David Crockett, who was
a member of Congress from 1827 to 1831 from
Tennessee, It was said of him that he won his elec
tions to the Tennessee legislature and to Congress
from the backwoodsmen of his constituency by tel
ling humorous stories and by his skill with the rifle,
and that he never read a newspaper and never made
a speech. He was of the stuff, however, of which
heroes are made; for after leaving Congress he
joined the Texans in their struggle for Independence,
and died with Bowie and Travis and the other mar
tyrs to liberty, who fell In her cause in the bloody
massacre of the Alamo.
Crockett's election to Congress afforded a subject
of Infinite jest to some of the newspapers of the
period. The Philadelphia Ariel, describing the back
woodsman's methods of campaigning, said that
"while his competitor was telling the people of his
great merits, Davy was giving practical evidence of
his by grubbing up a stump which two ordinary men
would have abandoned In despair. This striking
demonstration of statesmanlike qualities was irre-
sistable to the yeomanry of Tennessee, and the elec
tion of our worthy Davy was carried by acclama
tion," An anecdote is told of him, which is said to have
given him great vogue among the Southern mem
bers in Congress, He was sitting one day, with
several of his colleagues, in the office of the old

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 269
"Indian Queen" hotel, a hostelry in Washington
much frequented by the statesmen of the period, A
Massachusetts member, standing at the door, turned
and called to the Tenneseean, "Come here, Crockett!
Here are a lot of your constituents!" Crockett and
his companions crowded to the door, and saw a
drove of mules passing the tavern. "Where are
they going, Crockett?" queried the Bay State states
man. "They air a-goin' to Massachusetts to teach
school," replied Crockett with a grin, and returned
to his seat amid the applause of his companions.
Crockett said on one occasion that although he
was no speaker, he Intended to make a speech in
the House of Representatives, for he saw no reason
for his being diffident, as he could lick any man in
it. Although he lacked the gift of oratory, he
v/lelded the pen of a ready writer, and wrote a num
ber of books, among them a characteristic "Auto
biography," and a "Life of Martin VanBuren, Heir
apparent to the Government." During his first
term in Congress he attended a dinner given by Presi
dent John Quiney Adams, of which he gave the fol
lowing account:
"When we went In to dinner I walked round the
long table looking for something I liked. At last
I took my seat just beside a fat goose, and I helped
myself to as much as I wanted. But I hadn't took
three bites when I looked away up the table at a
man called Tash (attache). He was talking French
to a woman on t'other side of the table. He dodged
his head and she dodged hers, and they got to drink
ing wine across the table. If they didn't, I wish
I may be shot. But when I looked back again my
plate was gone, goose and all. So I just cast my
eyes down to t'other end of the table, and sure enough
I seed a white man walking off with my plate. Says
I, 'HeUo, mister, bring back my plate,' He fetched

270 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
it back In a hurry as you may suppose, and when he
sat it down before me, how do you think it was?
Licked as clean as my hand. If it wasn't I wish I
may be shot. Says he, 'What will you have, sir?
and says I, 'You may say that after stealing my
goose,' and he began to laugh. If he didn't, I wish
I may be shot. Then says I, 'Mister, laugh If you
please, but I don't half like such tricks upon trav
elers. If I do, I wish I may be shot.' I then filled
my plate with bacon and greens, and whenever I
looked up or down the table I held my plate with
my left hand. If I didn't, I wish I may be shot.
When we were all done eating, they cleared every
thing off the table and took away the table-cloth,
and what do you think — there was another table
cloth under it. If there wasn't I wish I may be
shot. Then I saw a man coming along carrying
a great glass thing with a glass handle below, full
of little glass cups, with something in them that
looked good to eat. Says I, 'Mister, bring that
here!' Thinks I, let's taste 'em first. They were
mighty sweet and good, and so I took six of them.
If I didn't I wish I may be shot,"
Crockett evidently shone at the state dinners In
the White House, On another occasion, before he
broke with Jackson, he was the latter's guest at a
Presidential dinner given to members of Congress.
Among other unaccustomed luxuries on the menu
that confronted Crockett's simple experience, were
champagne and olives. "How are you getting on,
Mr. Crockett?" called President Jackson down to
his guest, with a twinkle in his eye, "First rate,
President," responded Crockett, as he paused in a
diUgent play of knife and fork: "This here cider
of yours is the best I ever tasted; but I must say,
your plums are a little green,"
It was doubtless the literary Inclination which dis
covered in John Quiney Adams a responsive sym-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 271
pathy that brought about between- Gordon and the
ex-President one of the most singular, as well
as It was among the most Interesting friendships of
the former's political career, Mr, Adams was
elected to Congress in 1831, as a representative of
the anti-masonic party, from Massachusetts; and
held the position until his death In 1848 in the
Speaker's room of the House, Gordon had left
Congress In 1835, and before Mr, Adams aroused
the hostility of the South by his persistent presen
tation of the petitions for the abolition of slavery
in the District of Columbia, In his congressional
career he acted Independently of political parties;
and while he opposed Jackson's conduct In connec
tion with the war on the Bank and the removal of
the deposits, he supported him in his attitude to
wards Nullification, There were, therefore, no par
tisan differences to keep the two men apart, Adams'
name led the rest of the thirty-two members of the
House who in 1835 supported Gordon's Indepen
dent Treasury amendment; and a kindly friendship,
which was a source of much pleasure to the younger
man, and lasted throughout his stay In the House
of Representatives, sprang up between them. Two
years after Gordon's departure from the scene of
the struggles over the Tariff, the Bank, Nullification,
and the other great governmental problems of the
times, a contemporaneous writer. In 1837, gave the
following graphic picture of Mr, Adams:
"Our attention is now attracted to a ray of light
that glitters on the apex of a bald and noble head,
'located' on the left of the House, in the neighbor
hood of the Speaker's chair. It proceeds from that
wonderful man who In his person combines the agita
tor, poet, philosopher, statesman, critic and orator,
John Quiney Adams, Who that has seen him sitting
beneath the cupola of the hall, with the rays of light
gathering and glancing about his singularly polished

272 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
head, but has likened him to one of the luminaries of
the age, shining and glittering In the political firma
ment of the Union, There he sits, hour after hour,
day after day, with untiring patience, never absent
from his seat, never voting for an adjournment,
vigilant as the most jealous member of the House,
his ear ever on the alert, himself always prepared
to go at once into the profoundest questions of state,
or the minutest points of order. What must be his
thoughts as he ponders upon the past, in which he
has played a part so conspicuous? We look at him
and mark his cold and tearless eye, his stern and
abstracted gaze, and conjure up phantoms of other
scenes. We see him amid his festive and splendid
halls ten years back, standing stiff and awkward,
and shaking a tall, military-looking man by the
hand, in whose honor the gala was given, to com
memorate the most splendid of America's victories.
We see him again, years afterwards, the bitter foe
of the same military chieftain, and the competitor
with him for the highest gift of a free people. We
look upon a more than king, who has filled every
department of honor In his native land, still at his
post; he who was the President of millions, now
the representative of forty-odd thousand, quarrel
ing about trifles or advocating high principles. To
day growling and sneering at the House with an
abolition petition in his trembling hand, and anon
lording over the passions, and lashing the members
into the wildest state of enthusiasm by his Indignant
and emphatic eloquence. Alone, unspoken to, un-
consulted, never consulting with others, he sits apart,
wrapped in his reveries; and with his finger resting
on his nose, he permits his mind to move like a
gigantic pendulum, stirring up the hours of the past
and disturbing those of a hidden future; or prob
ably he Is writing — his almost perpetual employ
ment — but what? Who can guess? Perhaps some
poetry In a young girl's album ! He looks en-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 273
f eebled, but yet he Is never tired ; worn out, but ever
ready for combat; melancholy, but let a witty thing
fall from any member, and that old man's face Is
wreathed In smiles; he appears passive, but woe to
the unfortunate member that hazards an arrow at
him; the eagle is not swifter in his flight than Mr,
Adams; with his agitated finger quivering In sar
castic gesticulation, he seizes upon his foe, and amid
the amusement of the House, rarely fails to take a
signal vengeance.
"His stores of special knowledge on every sub
ject, gradually garnered up through the course of
his extraordinary life, in the well-arranged store
house of a memory which is said to have never yet
permitted a single fact to escape it, give him a great
advantage over all comers in encounters of this
kind. He Is a wonderful, eccentric genius. He be
longs to no party, nor does any party belong to him.
He is of too cold a nature to belong to a party
leader. He Is original — of very peculiar ideas, and
perfectly fearless and independent in expressing and
maintaining them. He is remarkable for his affa
bility to young persons; and surrounded by them,
at his own table, he can be as hilarious and happy
as the gayest of them. For one service, at least,
his country owes him a debt of gratitude, I refer
to the fine illustration which he offered of the true
character of our institutions, when he passed from
the Presidential palace to his present post on the
floor of the House of Representatives, Though the
position which he has there made his own, may not
be that which his friends might wish to see him oc
cupy In that body, yet in every point of view the
example was a fine one,
"His manner of speaking is peculiar; he rises
abruptly, his face reddens, and In a moment throw
ing himself Into the attitude of a veteran gladiator,
he prepares for the attack; then he becomes full
18

274 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of gesticulation, his body sways to and fro, — self-
command seems almost lost, — his head is bent for
ward in his earnestness till it sometimes nearly
touches the desk; his voice frequently breaks, but
he pursues his subject through all its bearings; noth
ing daunts him — the House may ring with the cries
of order ! — order ! — unmoved, contemptuous, he
stands amid the tempest, and like an oak that knows
Its gnarled and knotted strength, stretches his arm
forth and defies the blast."
One of the delegates from the territory of Ar
kansas was Ambrose H, Sevier, who possessed much
of the talents of his uncle, John Sevier, the celebrated
Indian fighter, who had moved from his birthplace
in Rockingham County, Virginia, In early life to
the Watauga region of North Carolina, and had
founded there the State of Franklin, Ambrose
Sevier was a territorial delegate to Congress for a
number of years; and was elected Senator in 1836,
He remained in the Senate till 1848; and in that
year was a member of the commission to make peace
with Mexico,
Perhaps the most picturesque and spectacular of
the Virginians who served with Gordon, as he was
among the ablest and most distinguished, was Henry
A, Wise, Wise's first term was Gordon's last,
namely that of the 23d Congress, which convened in
December, 1833, and ended in March, 1835, "Of
the members of this Congress," says Parton, "five
have been President; five, Vice-President; eight.
Secretary of State; twenty-five, Governor of a
State," The same story is told of Wise, who was
just twenty-seven years old when he entered the
House of Representatives, as is related of Randolph
of Roanoke, under like circumstances. "Where Is
Mr. Wise?" asked Speaker Stevenson, when John
Y, Mason of Virginia presented his boyish-looking
colleague to take the oath. The Speaker had taken

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 275
the young member for one of the pages of the House.
"How old are you, Mr. Randolph?" the same offi
cial had queried of Randolph three decades earlier,
"Ask my constituents, sir," responded the shrill
voice, which he, who once heard It, Is said never to
have forgotten,
Henry A, Wise was an orator of brilliant powers,
a poUticIan of commanding abUity, and of the most
daring and adventurous courage, a statesman of
great foresight, and an executive of such firm
ness and decision of character as were not
exceeded by any of his contemporaries. He
left Jackson on the Bank question, joining
the so-called Whig aggregation; and served
two additional terms in Congress, He was the sec
ond of Graves in the famous duel In which the latter
killed Cilley, an unfortunate episode for which Wise
was unjustly held to blame by many; and was char
acterized by John Quiney Adams, between whom
and himself there were frequent Intellectual colli
sions on the floor of the House, as "coming into the
House of Representatives with his hands dripping
with blood,"
President Tyler nominated Wise as Minister to
France; but the Senate refused to confirm the ap
pointment. He then became Minister to Brazil,
where he remained from May, 1844, to October,
1847, He was nominated for Governor of Vir
ginia by the Democratic party in 1855, and after
conducting the most remarkable canvass against the
"Know Nothing," or American party, which had up
to that time ever occurred In the Commonwealth,
was triumphantly elected. . His term had not quite
expired when the John Brown raid took place; and
the execution of Brown on the 2d of December,
1859, was among the last notable events of his ad
ministration. He was a member of the Secession
Convention of Virginia, and a brigadier-general in
the Confederate Army. In his later years he pub-

276 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
lished "Seven Decades of the Union; a narrative
of political history, especially with relation to the
life and political career of President Tyler."
The same contemporary pen, which gave the de
scription of Mr. Adams, above quoted, wrote of
Wise at this time :
"Lie Is remarkably quick In arriving at conclu
sions, and generally, too, in a way that would not
have been struck upon by any one else. He has un
doubtedly very high talents, and I have heard him,
upon more than one occasion, soar into the regions
of commanding eloquence. His forte lies in invec
tive; then he becomes, to those whose party sympa
thies follow his own excited train of feeling, thril
ling; his pale and excited face, his firm and com
pact head thrown back, his small bony hand clenched
In the air, or with the forefinger quivering, as if all
the passion of the orator was concentrated there,
his eyes brilliant and fixed, his voice high yet sonor
ous, impress a picture too vivid to be easily erased
from the mind."
Gordon greatly admired Mr. Wise, an4 was
warmly attached to him. On one occasion when
Wise's attitude on some public question was not so
pleasing to Gordon as had been the former's vote
for the Sub-Treasury amendment in 1835, Gordon
said to him, half-provoked and half-amused :
''Wise, you have a brave and generous heart, but
a singularly perverted Intellect!"
"General," responded Wise, with great good
humor, "you are entirely mistaken. I have a very
able and direct Intellect, but sometimes a singularly
perverted heart!"
Another distinguished Virginian, who was in Con
gress during Gordon's membership, was John Y.
Mason. He had been a member of the General As
sembly and of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 277
1830, In both of which bodies he evinced ability.
He was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Af
fairs during his service In the House, and later be
came a Federal Judge of the District Court, and
afterwards a State Judge in Virginia. He was Sec
retary of the Navy under Tyler, succeeding Governor
Gilmer; and Attorney-General, and again Naval
Secretary under Polk. He was President of the Vir
ginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, and Min
ister to France from 1853 to 1859. He died In
Paris In the last named year.
Of the thirty-two votes recorded in favor of Gor
don's amendment to the Bank Deposit Bill, estab
lishing an Independent or Sub-Treasury, he had the
gratification of seeing one third, including his own,
cast by members of the Virginia delegation.
The Virginians who supported the Sub-Treasury
plan were John J. Allen, William S, Archer, James
M. H, Beale, Nathaniel H, Claiborne, Thomas
Davenport, James H. Gholson, William McComas,
John Robertson, William P. Taylor and Henry A.
Wise. It was a support of which the author of
the measure might well be proud; for these men
represented no small portion of the best and ablest
public thought, character and position in the Vir
ginia of their day. John J, Allen became a distin
guished member of the Supreme Court of Appeals
of Virginia, and was regarded as one of the strongest
lawyers of his time, William S, Archer had a long
and honorable political career, that has been briefly
narrated in a previous chapter,
Benton mentions him in the "long catalogue of
able speakers" in the House, In the ranks of the
opposition to President Jackson, — a political array
against the President, which the MIssourian charac
terizes as "unprecedented in point of number and
great in point of ability," and among whom he
names ex- President Adams, the eminent jurist, Horace
Binney of Pennsylvania; Bell of Tennessee, later a

278 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
candidate with Mr, Everett of Massachusetts on
the Whig Presidential ticket in the momentous cam
paign of i860; Rufus Choate of Massachusetts, re
garded by many as the most gifted and brilliant
speaker of his day at the New England bar; Tom
Corwin of Ohio, wit, orator, lawyer and raconteur,
of whom his colleague, Choate, once said, "He could
fill the cup of your eyes with tears In a single sen
tence;" Warren R, Davis of South Carolina; Ed
ward Everett of Massachusetts, scholar and rheto
rician; Millard FUmore of New York, urbane, pol
ished, suave, later a President of the United States;
Benjamin Hardin of Kentucky, whom John Ran
dolph of Roanoke described as "a carving knife
whetted on a brickbat," and of whom a contemporary
writer In the Democratic Review said: "Hardin
was a most provoking and annoying enemy, —
with his deformed finger, crooked like an au
dacious note of Interrogation, — his livid face,
peering with a sneering expression Into that of
his adversary, — his seeming arrogant tone of
voice — his left hand thrust country lawyer-like,
with due elegance and grace. Into his breeches
pocket — altogether he was enough to worry
the most resigned;" George McDuffie of South
Carolina, the great opponent of the tariff and ex
ponent of nullification; Balie Peyton of Tennessee,
distinguished In three States as lawyer, rhetorician
and politician; and Richard Henry Wilde of Geor
gia, scholar, orator and poet. Mr. Archer met with
the fate of many of Jackson's political opponents,
and returned to private Ufe in 1835; but in 1841
he was, as heretofore related, elected from Virginia
to the United States Senate, where he served a term,
and in which body he was chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee.
James M. H. Beale, another supporter of the In
dependent Treasury scheme, a distinguished mem
ber of the prominent Virginia family of that name,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 279
served In Congress from 1833 to 1837. Nathaniel
H, Claiborne was for a number of years a member
of the General Assembly in both the Senate and the
House of Delegates, where he achieved distinction
as a "watch-dog of the treasury," and was after
wards from 1825 to 1835 a representative in Con
gress. He possessed a literary bent, and published
in 18 19 a volume entitled "Notes on the War In the
South," Thomas Davenport was a member of the
House from 1825 to 1835, James H, Gholson was
a Congressman from 1833 to 1835, an extreme
State-Rights strict constructionist, and in 1850 a
delegate with Gordon to the Southern Convention
at Nashville, William McComas served two terms
In the House, from 1833 to 1837, John Robertson,
sprung from the Indian Princess Pocahontas, was a
Circuit Judge and Attorney-General of Virginia, and
a congressman from 1834 to 1839, "In Congress
his abilities were highly estimated. By his friends
he was called a stickler for the Constitution, so strict
was his loyalty to it; and an Illustrative story was
invented on him by his witty and waggish friend,
Waddy Thompson of South Carolina, that once
being In Washington, and supposed about to die, he
begged him as his last request not to allow him to
be burled at public expense, for. he thought It would
be clearly unconstitutional," Judge Robertson pos
sessed literary talents of no Insignificant order; and
was the author, among other works, of a tragedy
entitled, "Riego, the Spanish Martyr." WiUiam P.
Taylor was a member of the House for one term
from 1833 to 1835. Governor Henry A. Wise,
the eleventh voter In the delegation for the Sub-
Treasury amendment, has been described above In
this chapter.
Of the other Virginia representatives, those who
stood by the Administration, and voted against the
Sub-Treasury amendment, were Thomas T. Bouldin,
Joseph W, Chinn, John H, Fulton, George Loyall,

2 8o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Edward Lucas, John Y. Mason, Charles Fenton
Mercer, Samuel McDowell Moore, John Mercer
Patton, Andrew Stevenson, the Speaker, and Edgar
C. Wilson, The most prominent of these were
George Loyall, Gordon's personal intimate and
friend, who remained throughout this period of poli
tical change and tumult an unwavering adherent of
Jackson's; John Y. Mason, Charles Fenton Mercer,
Samuel McDowell Moore, John Mercer Patton
and Mr, Speaker Stevenson.
All of these last named public men have been
dealt with at more or less length in this volume ex
cept Mr. Patton, who was one of the most notable
figures of the period in his State, He began his
career in life as a physician, but subsequently studied
law. Taking up the practice of his profession at
Fredericksburg, his talents brought him rapidly to
the front. He was a member of the House of Rep
resentatives from 1830 to 1838, when he resigned,
in order to continue the practice of law, In which
he achieved a distinguished eminence.

CHAPTER XIX
SPEECHES AND DEBATES IN CONGRESS  THE JUDI
CIARY ACT  THE BILL TO REMOVE WASH
INGTON'S BODY  ADDRESS TO CON
STITUENTS — Tyler's letter
Though Gordon was not a frequent speaker on
the floor of the House, yet the reports of the de
bates contain his speeches upon various questions.
In the session of 1832-33 he discussed the question
of Nullification; and in the course of his speech he
said that he thought that "the wisest mode of re
sistance to the spirit now prevailing in South Caro
lina was to meet It by a spirit of conciliation; to
meet the crisis arising from the oppression of the gov
ernment by showing a disposition to relieve It," In
another speech on the same subject he deprecated
the employment by the Administration of force
against South Carolina,
During the session of 1833-34, in addition to
speaking in support of the Virginia Resolutions con
demning the removal of the deposits, he took part
in the debate on the bank deposit bill in connection
with his amendment; and in that of 1834-35 he
discussed the same bill. In the debate which Involved
again the merits of his Sub-Treasury scheme.
One of his earliest speeches in the House was upon
the bill to repeal the twenty-fifth section of the Ju
diciary Act of 1789, by which the Supreme Court
of the United States was empowered to pass upon the
constitutionality of State laws. The House Judi
ciary Committee, of which he was a member, re
ported on the 25th of January, 1831, In favor of
the repeal of the twenty-fifth section on the ground
of Its unconstitutionality. The tenure and method
of appointment of the Federal judges had always

282 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
been objectionable to Mr. Jefferson and the State-
Rights Democrats; and Jefferson had inveighed
against the power conferred upon the Supreme Court
by this section, in his first Inaugural, In which he
said: 1
"I do not forget the position assumed by some
that constitutional questions are to be decided by
the Supreme Court, not do I deny that such ques
tions must be binding upon the parties to that suit,
while they are also entitled to very high respect and
consideration In all parallel cases by all departments
of the government. But if the policy of the govern
ment upon a vital question affecting the whole people
is to be Irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the Su
preme Court, the moment they are made, the people
will have ceased to be their own masters; having
to that extent resigned the government into the hands
of that eminent tribunal."
There was not only a majority, but a minority re
port from the Judiciary Committee, the latter being
prepared and presented by James Buchanan, after
wards President. Upon the coming in of these re
ports to the House, Gordon engaged In the discus
sion which ensued, and actively supported the ma
jority report, Phillip Doddridge, of Virginia, ex
pressed the opinion, in the progress of the debate,
that the repeal of the twenty-fifth section of the
Judiciary Act was "equivalent to a motion to dis
solve the Union." To this Gordon repUed:
"As to the constitutionality of the twenty-fifth
section of the Judiciary Act, has it not been mooted
frequently? It was neither a new question, nor an
alarming one. Could it be new, especially to a Vir
ginia lawyer? Did the gentleman not know that
the Virginia Judiciary, with Roane at its head, had
solemnly denied the constitutionality of that section?

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 283
Did he not also know that many of the leading men
of the State, Including John Taylor of Caroline, had
contended that the section was unconstitutional ? Did
not Georgia, the other day, by her legislature deny
the constitutionality of the act, and order the execu
tive, with all his powers, to repel its enforcement on
her? Had not Pennsylvania too declared it uncon
stitutional, and resisted Its execution?"
Continuing his argument, he alluded to the famous
case of Cohens vs, Virginia, in which the State of
Virginia had been made a party before the Supreme
Court of the United States, where the case was de
cided ten years before, and had employed distin
guished counsel to argue the unconstitutionality of
the authority claimed by the Court,
The repeal-bill, however, was defeated by a vote
of 137 to 51; though among the minority were
some of the leading admlnistratlonists.
"Since the case of Cohens vs, Virginia," wrote
John Randolph of Roanoke to his friend. Dr. Brock-
enbrough, "I am done with the Supreme Court!"
The twenty-fifth section of the Judiciary Act of
1789 gave a right of appeal to the Supreme Court
of the United States from a final judgment of a
State court on what are now known as "federal ques
tions," In February, 1821, Chief Justice Marshall,
in his opinion in Cohens vs. Virginia, upheld the con
stitutionality of the Twenty-fifth section of the Judi
ciary Act, and enunciated and Illustrated for the first
time In American jurisprudence the "supreme law"
clause of the Constitution, with Its legitimate con
clusions. The doctrines of federalism contained in
this opinion, and in the bank cases of McCulloch
vs, Maryland, In February, 18 19, and Osborne vs.
The Bank of the United States In 1824, had caused
a flame of opposition to burst forth, whose fires were
still burning. They seemed to justify Randolph's
famous remark about seeing, when a youth, the first

2 84 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
President take the oath to support the Constitution,
and how two men in Virginia, George Mason and
Patrick Henry, beheld what Washington did not see,
"the poison under its wings!"
The doctrines set out in these opinions were ably
controverted by Judge Spencer Roane, who married
Patrick Henry's daughter, In a series of powerful
articles in the Richmond Enquirer from May lo to
July 13, 182 1, over the signature of "Algernon Sid
ney," "Organized opposition to them," says Mr, Alex
ander Johnston, "In several States was only checked
by the overshadowing Importance of the Missouri
question," Three days after the coming In of the majority
and minority reports on the repeal of the twenty-
fifth section of the Judiciary Act, Gordon voted in
favor of the consideration of a resolution offered
by Mr, Joseph LeCompte of Kentucky, directing
the Judiciary Committee of the House to Inquire as
to "the expediency of amending the Constitution of
the United States, so that Judges of the Supreme
Court and of the inferior courts shall hold their
offices for a limited term of years." The House
refused to consider the resolution by a vote of 116
to 60,
On the 13th of February, 1832, Gordon made a
characteristic argument against the proposal then
pending to remove the body of George Washington
from Mount Vernon, and deposit it under the dome
of the Capitol, where the crypt prepared for it still
remains unoccupied, after the lapse of nearly a hun
dred years.
In 18 16 the General Assembly of Virginia had,
by resolutions unanimously adopted, requested in the
name of the State that Washington's body might
be removed from Mount Vernon, and interred near
the State Capitol, beneath a monument to be erected
at public expense, "to serve as a memorial to future

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 285
ages of the love of a grateful people," The family
of the President, however, declined the request.
In February, 1832, It was determined by Congress
to celebrate with great ceremony the centennial anni
versary of Washington's birth on the 2 2d of that
month; and the resolution provided further "that
the President be requested to superintend the deposit
of the remains of the deceased in the place which has
been selected for that purpose,"
At the same time, a resolution was adopted for
placing the body of Mrs. Washington in the same
receptacle with that of her husband; and Mr. Cal
houn, as Vice-President, and President of the Senate,
and Mr. Stevenson as Speaker of the House, commu
nicated to Mr. John A, Washington, the grand-
nephew of Washington and the owner of Mount
Vernon, the application of Congress for permission
to remove and deposit the body of Washington in
the National Capitol, "In conformity with the reso
lution of Congress of the 24th of December, 1799;"
and Its request for a like disposition of the body of
Mrs, Washington, who had, on December 31, 1799,
consented to the execution of the last named resolu
tion, in a letter addressed to President Adams, A
similar request was made of Mr. G. W, P, Custis,
In relation to the body of Mrs, Washington.
Mr. Custis consented; but Mr, Washington de
clined to accede to the removal, on the ground that
General Washington's will, "In respect to the dis
position of his remains, has been recently carried
Into full effect, and they now repose in perfect tran
quility, surrounded by those of other endeared mem
bers of the family,"
Gordon's speech, made before the letter of Mr,
Washington was written, appears as follows In Ben
ton's "Abridged Debates:"
"Mr, Gordon of Virginia expressed his deep re
gret that on an occasion like this there should be

2 86 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
any division of sentiment amongst those who were
called to celebrate the birthday of the most illus
trious of our citizens, and he could not but think
that there would have been a unanimity more worthy
of the occasion, had not the select committee thought
proper to Introduce a resolution, calculated in its
very nature to produce division. The question it
involved had from the beginning been an exciting
and a dividing question. General Washington had
died in the bosom of his family, after a long life,
glorious to himself, to his country, and to man
kind. He had been buried upon his own estate
amidst his own connections, by his family and his
neighbors ; and what was now proposed to be done ?
To violate the sanctity of the grave; to take his
bones from their honored deposit, and translate them
to another spot.
"Mr. Gordon said he knew it had been common,
when our heroes had perished In foreign lands, to
redeem their bones by a national act from the es
trangement Into which they had been accidentally
thrown. But he suspected that the present was the
first Instance, when It had been proposed or was
thought of, to take their remains from the home
of the deceased and from their native soil. And
for what? For a monument to his memory? Had
it not been once said of an Illustrious foreigner that
'all Florence was his monument' ? And might It
not, with equal truth and force be asked, is not this
city a monument to Washington? Nay, we might
ask, was not the entire country his monument, and
her liberty and happiness his best and noblest memo
rial? He must disagree with one of his colleagues
(Mr, Mercer) in the sentiment that the removal of
the ex-animated bones of the patriot would have any
great efficiency towards cementing the Union of the
States. The way to cement the Union was to imi
tate the virtues of Washington, to remove not his
body, but If possible to transfer his spirit to these

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 287
halls. Gentlemen could not suppose that the mere
removal of his dust would infuse Into men's breasts
any higher veneration for his virtues. Let It rather
be their part. Instead of disturbing his bones, each
to go to the altar of his country and swear to Imitate
the example of Washington,
"He said there was another aspect of the subject,
which he was sorry to advert to, yet as a Virginian
he could not, for his soul, repress. Congress had
no right to remove that dust, Washington had
given his life to the United States, and Virginia re
joiced to remember It, But his bones belonged to
her soil. Her sons honored the spot where they re
posed ; and they thought that that was a spot, where,
if anywhere, union and peace should ever dwell. The
act proposed in the resolution was but a vulgar honor.
It degraded Washington to the measure of little men,
who needed monuments to preserve their names.
Since the art of printing had been invented, piUars
and monuments were but Idle records. Letters were
the best, the enduring monuments. They held the
name and the deeds of Washington, and would hold
them forever; and It was vain to attempt by an
empty pageant, unchristian in Its character and
every way In bad taste, to add anything to Washing
ton's immortality. Such a celebration would be sure
to dissatisfy the people of his native State, In a
great association of republics, such as ours, the best
and fairest competition is this: who should furnish
citizens most devoted to their country ? Who should
be farthest from that selfishness which degrades a
patriot? Let such be our emulation, and let the
virtues of Washington be set before us as our model.
If we practise these, then will our Union be Im
mortal, But let not the House, by separating the
remains of Washington from his own beloved State,
and making them an object of the vulgar gaze, seek
to gratify men who could never be moved by a con
sideration of his great example,"

288 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
A week later, on February 20, 1832, the General
Assembly of Virginia unanimously adopted resolu
tions earnestly requesting the proprietor of Mount
Vernon, in the name of the people of the Common
wealth, not to permit the body to be removed to
Washington, In a later year Gordon said in a letter to his wife,
written on an April day:
"On Saturday I visited for the first time Mount
Vernon, and lingered some time at the tomb of
Washington, I felt strange emotions; and. In spite
of me, a tear started to my eyes, as my mind glanced
over the past and the present. It Is a beautiful spot,
worthy to contain the remains of the first man of
America," Gordon's severance of party ties had brought
upon him the hostility in his district which Jackson
systematically fomented against those who had been
Democrats and had antagonized him; and which
proved consplclously effective In the cases of Richard
Llenry Wilde and of Crockett. In May, 1834, with
the congressional elections approaching, he wrote
from Washington to Mrs, Gordon :
"In regard to the movement in my district I am
very Indifferent personally. Whenever the people
think I have abandoned their Interests, or that they
can be more ably represented, I am willing to retire."
The movement referred to was one to elect his
neighbor, Mr. WUUam C. Rives, then temporarily in
political retirement, to the House of Representa
tives from the district, in Gordon's place. Mr. Rives
had a short time before resigned from the United
States Senate, because of his unwillingness to support
the Senate's vote of censure of the President for re
moving the deposits — a measure which Mr. Rives ap-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 289
proved, but which the General Assembly of Virginia
highly reprobated, as Indicated In the resolutions pre
sented to the House of Representatives by Gordon.
"I have never been in the way of Mr. Rives,"
continued the latter, in the Intimacy of the last-quoted
letter to his wife: "I have been content to see him
wear the highest honors of the country, without
rivalry and without envy. I have asked nothing for
myself; I have sought no office ; I have no aspirations
beyond the wishes of my constituents."
Mr, Rives was elected by the General Assembly,
whose political character had changed, to his former
position In the United States Senate; and the Jack
sonian Democracy of the district nominated Mr.
James Garland as Gordon's successor.
On the 20th of August, 1834, Gordon addressed
the following letter to his constituents of Amherst
County, as an account of his stewardship given to
the whole district :
"Amherst C, H,, 20th August, 1834,
"Gentlemen: "Be pleased to accept for yourselves, and for my
fellow-citizens of Amherst, my sincerest thanks for
the welcome you have given me to your liberal and
patriotic county, and for the generous sentiments
of approbation with which you have cheered my
humble services, as your representative in the late
session of the Congress of the United States,
"A free constitution is the birthright of every
Virginian; and ere we cease to defend it, and the
sacred rights which it sustains and consecrates, we
must forget the glories of our history, and degen
erate Into ignoble descendants of the immortal men,
who In the vanguard of freedom achieved our liber
ties, and transmitted them to us, guarded by free
constitutions, "The crisis In our affairs is portentous. The ad-
19

290 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
ministration of the Federal Government has been
characterized by extraordinary assertions of authority
on the part of that Government. The President of
the United States has greatly misapprehended the
true history and intent of our Constitutions, both
State and Federal. In the unexpected and strange
proclamation, which he Issued after his second elec
tion to the Presidency, the States were consolidated
into a mass, their sovereignty denied, the limitations
on Federal authority obliterated, and the rights of
the States and the people, under express reserva
tions, were cancelled and denied. The degrading
epithet of traitor to his country was affixed to the
names of those who owned allegiance to the sov
ereignty, and obedience to the laws of the States
which gave them birth. A bill known as the Force
Bill embodied the principles of this proclamation into
an unconstitutional law. The army, the navy, the
militia, the treasury, were yielded by Congress to
the President of the United States, as a substitute
for the courts of law. Trials of our citizens in the
Federal Courts were authorized, In derogation of
the rightful jurisdiction of the tribunals of the State,
The civil constitutions were burled with military
honors by the representatives of the people and the
States; the President of the United States made
the sole monarch of the concentrated powers of the
whole system; the glorious stars of your twenty-
four sovereign and independent States struck from the
brilliant flag of the Union, and the stripes of gloomy
despotism waved in melancholy triumph over the
darkened liberties of the Confederacy,
"When we give power, we know not what we
give. The appetite for it can never be satisfied.
The last session of our Federal legislature was dis
tinguished by new, and to a large portion of the
people of the Confederacy, still more alarming as
sertions and exertions of power. Not content with
having repealed the Constitution by proclamation,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 291
and obliterating the rights of the States, the Presi
dent claims for the Executive Department of the
Federal Government the powers of all the depart
ments of that government. Sixty days before the
meeting of the representatives of the people, and of
the States, in Congress, he caused on his own re
sponsibility the revenue of the United States to be
removed from the deposit in the United States Bank
prescribed by law, and placed it in various State
banks, under regulations and stipulations prescribed
by executive authority, and not sanctioned by the
law of the land. He adjudged that the Bank was
unconstitutional and had violated Its charter. He
Inflicted a penalty for that violation, and made a
system of executive legislation for the revenues of
the country,
"We hold it as a great element of civil liberty
that an executive chief magistrate can have no right
ful authority to touch, or In any manner to control,
the revenues of the people. Liberty cannot co-exist
with such a power. Hence our own Constitutions
have guarded this as the vital principle of freedom,
and prescribed the mode of raising and collecting the
revenues by Congress, and provided that no money
can be drawn from the treasury without an appro
priation by law,
"The President, In vindicating this power, claims
for the executive still other new and alarming powers
and responsibilities by virtue of his power to re
move and appoint officers, both of which he claims
as constitutional. He asserts the responsibility of
every officer to him, because he Is to see the laws
faithfully executed; he interprets the discretion,
which the law confides to others, by his supreme will,
and acts accordingly. He abuses the power of re
moval, to effect that, which if done directly, would
be a palpable and ruinous usurpation of authority,
and stands in proud defiance of the clamors of the
people and the resolves of the Senate,

292 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"To the rapid waves of this whirlpool of power
I have made a firm but ineffectual resistance. Noth
ing but the power and firmness and purity of the
people can still the storm, and say to the advancing
tide, 'Thus far shall you go, and no farther.'
"Will not the people give the order? Will not
Virginians — men of the land of Henry and Mason
and Washington and Jefferson awake, arise, and
spurn from them the base bribes with which power
and patronage may tempt them to the surrender of
their liberties, and the sale of their birthright of
freedom? It must be so. We cannot be slaves
whilst we stand on the graves of our invaders, and
those of the Immortal men who conquered our liber
ties, and gave us our peculiar constitutions of free
dom, "I see In the spirit and patriotism of the people
of Amherst a sure pledge that they can never sub
mit to lawless power. Throwing from them the
distinctions of party, unpledged to men, and looking
only to their country and to liberty, they will march
In unbroken phalanx, and I trust, with all Virginia,
till lawless authority shall be rebuked, and the in
dignant resistance of freemen has driven back these
invasions of their liberty,
"For the kind and too personal approval which
your friendship has made of my character and ser
vices, I can only assure you that my zeal In the cause
of liberty is unabated; and that the approbation of
my constituents is the only incentive I have ever had
to the exertion of my very poor abilities in the cause
of our common country.
"I accept your Invitation to a public dinner; and
mention Friday next as the day most convenient to
meet you,
"With sentiments of great personal regard, I am,
gentlemen, your faithful servant and fellow citizen,
"W, F. Gordon.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 293
"To Saml. M. Garland, Jos. K, Irving, W. S. Craw
ford, Wm, H, Garland, H, J. Rose, Addison
Glascock, Jas. S, Pendleton, Chas, B, Claiborne,
John Thompson, Jr,, H, T, Brown, J. P. Gar
land and Champe Carter, Esquires,"
President Jackson had determined to dictate to
the country his successor In the Presidential office,
and had fixed upon Mr, Martin VanBuren, of New
York, as the man of his choice. This was regarded as
another act of executive usurpation by the opponents
of the administration. Mr, Tyler, then one of the
Senators from Virginia, suggested Mr. Tazewell as
the strongest man with whom to beat VanBuren. He
wrote to Gordon on the subject, as follows:
"Gloucester, Nov, 9th, 1834,
"My dear General: I am but a day ago from the
North, where I left the advocates of Presidential
power shouting their loudest huzzas at the result of
the New York election. Will you believe me when
I declare to you that I was half Inclined to join
them, and my object in writing to you is to tell you
the reason. My visit to the North and East fully
satisfied me that. If New York declared against
VanBuren, Webster would at once be proclaimed
candidate for the Presidency,
"The South would not have entertained him, and
the consequence would have been great danger to
the Union. With political designs, the tariff would
have been revived, and the slave-question would
probably have been moved In relation to the Dis
trict. At all events we should either (I mean the
South) have been thrown into the arm of some other
Northern or Western man, or the contest which
would have arisen would have exerted a feeling of
hostility between the sections. This election avoids
these contingencies. Webster Is driven from the
field, and the whole North is In a state of despair.

294 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"What are the prospects from the West? Equally
bad. The great Middle States are for VanBuren —
rely upon that. Ohio and Kentucky are with us,
while Indiana and Illinois will either go to Van
Buren or support R, M, Johnson. In one word,
no Bank man can be elected. Every day will go
farther and farther to establish this,
"What then is the prospect before us? Absolutely
one of gloom, unless a Southern man can be found
who will unite the whole South, and thereby ensure
to himself the support of all the anti- VanBuren
States, I say all the opposition States — and I say
it with full knowledge that these States everywhere
will now rally on the strongest man. Who then can
unite the whole South? I have brought myself
to think that Governor Tazewell Is that very man,
Maryland waits but a nomination — perhaps she may
move In advance with one of her counties, and at an
early day. North Carolina and South Carolina will
rally to him I have no doubt; Georgia will not
forget the steady and able advocate of her rights,
when she most required an advocate; while Ala
bama and Mississippi will recollect that he is the
first public man who ever proposed a reduction In
the public lands; while Virginia, if her people are
wise, will and ought to unite upon him as affording
the means of bringing together the old State-Rights
party, which the proclamation separated,
"What say you, my dear sir, to these specula
tions? I am sanguine a decided move Is all that is
required. The North and East are panic-struck,
and all men avow their readiness to unite on any
'gentleman,' I mentioned Tazewell to a Pennsyl-
vanlan, Kentuckian, and Marylander. They
snatched at the suggestion. I should not be surprised
If he is named in some public journal of each of these
States forthwith. No matter where his name may
be first brought out. It will spread like lightning —
that is my opinion. Is there then cause for despon-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 295
dency? What if recent events shaU ultimate as I
predict — shall I not be right In saying that I felt
disposed to join in the huzzas?
"I asked myself to whom shall I address my no
tions — and I sat down to address you, I felt that
you would even indulge me In a delusion, If you
should so consider It, so fuU of pleasing anticipa
tions for the country and the liberty of the human
race, I know I need not ask you to meditate on
these things, but I will request you to show this
to Gilmer, should it fall In your way; and if you
think It well, cause to be thrown out some sugges
tions in the Charlottesville paper. When we meet
In Washington, we will talk more at large,
"Yours most truly, "J. Tyler,
"General Gordon,"
On the 8th of December, of the same year, Gor
don wrote from Washington to his wife that Mr.
Ritchie's loss of his election as public printer "has
produced much sensation here In both parties;" and
rejoiced that "Mr. Leigh's election Is now consid
ered certain" — a prognostication that found its ful
fillment a short time thereafter In the choice of Mr.
Benjamin Watklns Leigh to the United States Sen
ate by the General Assembly of Virginia as succes
sor to Mr. Rives.
Gordon's own defeat for Congress by Mr, Gar
land In the congressional election of 1834 had not
served to sour his kindly and generous spirit. To
his wife, who was then residing in the old Maury
house at Edgeworth, which was burned in the Feb
ruary following, he said In the same letter: "I am
happy to hear that Mr, Rives' family are mingling
in the society of the neighborhood without reserve,
I should be extremely mortified if the demon of
party should expel the social virtues from our neigh
borhood. I hope you will visit Mrs, Rives, and offer

296 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
her the hospitality of our humble dwelling, I do
not wish to embark our ladies on the stormy sea
of politics. Long may their smiles and approbation
be the purest rewards of patriotism, whilst they
separate themselves from those angry feelings, which
men contending for empire always feel,"

CHAPTER XX
DEFEATED FOR CONGRESS  CALHOUn's LETTER ON
JACKSON's DICTATION OF A SUCCESSOR 
BARNWELL ON THE WHIGS  TYLER AND
THE EXPUNGING RESOLUTION,
The result of the election In Virginia was a triumph
for the Jacksonian Democracy, Gordon, defeated
by a "conservative" Democrat, ended his six years'
career as a member of the House of Representatives
with the close of the second session of the 23d Con
gress, which adjourned on the 3d of March, 1835.
Jackson, who had determined on VanBuren as his
political heir, also determined that he should be
nominated by a national convention. The conven
tion met In Baltimore In May, 1835, and named
VanBuren, and Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky as
candidates for President and Vice-President, and ad
journed without a formal platform, but as standing
on Jackson's "policies," Mr, Calhoun viewed the
situation with great anxiety. In the same month In
which the Jacksonian Democracy met in convention In
Baltimore, Calhoun wrote to Gordon as follows:
"Fort HIU, 22d May, 1835,
"My Dear Sir:
"The results of your election have cast a deep and
universal gloom over the patriotic and reflecting in
this quarter. Who could have thought it, that the
oldest and the proudest of the slave-holding States,
the most steadfast heretofore in her political prin
ciples, and to which all the South looked up as to a
leader in their political struggles, would In so short
a time become a colony of New York, to be ruled by
the lowest and basest cabal that ever aspired to do
minion? The sympton Is awful. In Virginia the

298 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
doom of the slave-holding States is fixed, unless
something is done promptly to arrest the current of
events. We shall be the most degraded portion of
the civilized world. Our condition will be worse
than our slaves, who will have the sympathy and
kindness of our masters of Albany, while we shall
be the object of their scorn and hatred, unless pro
tected by their contempt. Something must be done;
but what that something should be Is a great and
serious question,
"I see that in order to save yourselves from the
grasp of the regency, you are moving on White, You
know my opinion on that point. The very resort to
It is among the strongest symptons of our decay. I
do not condemn the move. It may be necessary In
the desperate state Into which you are thrown; but
I doubt the success of the move, and if it should
prove successful, I doubt the consequences. Much
however, will depend on the ground on which the
canvass Is placed, both as to the success of the move,
and Its consequences, whether successful or not; and
It is to that point I wish to call your attention, as one,
if judiciously taken, which may blend It with great
and Important consequences.
"I do not know how others may regard it, but as
to myself, I would view the success of the Execu
tive's nominee to be a case of open and palpable
usurpation of the supreme executive power ; as much
so as if it had been effected by the army and navy,
I see no practical difference whether the Executive
employs them, or the more effectual and dangerous
means — the patronage of the Government — to give
us a ruler, unless indeed it be more base and fatal
to submit to the latter than the former. I for one,
at least, am prepared to take this high and manly
ground in advance, and to announce openly and
boldly that the attempt of the Executive to noml-
note his successor would, if successful, constitute a
case of manifest usurpation of the supreme execu-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 299
tive power, and of plain subornation of our institu
tions and liberty, — be in fact the establishment of an
odious and corrupt despotism on the ruins of our Re
publican institutions, and that obedience to such au
thority would be a matter of discretion and not of
constitutional obligation. Let this ground be as
sumed openly and boldly, accompanied by a deter
mined assault on the traitorous assembly of office
holders and office-seekers at Baltimore, and a new
and far more interesting and hopeful character will
be given to the canvass — one which would attract the
affection of all who are in favor of liberty and op
posed to usurpation and slavery, and which will yield
fruits whether you are victors or not,
"Permit me to add. In reference to yourself, that
you had no friend who took more Interest personally
in your success, or felt more mortified in your defeat,
"Yours sincerely and truly,
"J. C. Calhoun,
"Hon, Wm, F. Gordon."
The combination of strict-construction Republi
cans and National Republicans who were opposed to
Jackson, the latter of whom were now generally
known as Whigs, put forward in Virginia "The
People's Republican Whig Ticket," with Hugh L.
White of Tennessee, as their nominee for President
and John Tyler of Virginia for Vice-President, Gor
don was one of the electors on this ticket ; and other
Virginians of prominence on it were Mark Alexan
der, Chapman Johnson, John L, Marye, John Jan-
ney, Charles James Faulkner and Briscoe G. Bald
win. Judge White was In the Senate from Ten
nessee, in which body he had been Jackson's succes
sor, Gordon had known him personally and pleas
antly as a member of his mess, when he and the
others who belonged to it. Including Benton, were
"all Jackson men," White had supported Jackson

300 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
in his war on the Bank; but in February, 1835, he
had attacked the administration In a speech in favor
of restricting executive patronage. He had followed
this up by another speech in opposition to Benton's
resolution to "expunge" the resolutions of censure,
that had been passed by the Senate, condemning Jack
son for removing the deposits; and was now so far
advanced into the camp of Jackson's opponents as
to attract their attention to him as an available can
didate with which to oppose the candidate of the
President, But the Republican-Whig combination lacked
unity; and while Republicans and Whigs in the
South supported White, the Whigs of the North
voted for General William Henry Harrison,
who was not inoculated with the virus of State-
Rights, White carried Tennessee and Georgia, re
ceiving twenty-six votes In the electoral college, Van
Buren had one hundred and seventy, and was elected.
Harrison's vote was seventy-three; while Webster
got fourteen, and Willie P. Mangum of North Caro-
lirla, eleven. "The double-shotted ticket killed us,"
wrote Tyler to Henry A, Wise in January, 1837, al
luding to the division of the coalition. In the election,
between Harrison In the North and White in the
South, Everywhere the feeling of discord was rankling,
without regard to North or South, The State-Rights
men had little or nothing in common with the Na
tional Republicans, except hostility to Jackson,
Neither element trusted or liked the other, Mr.
Robert W. Barnwell, of South Carolina, illustrated
this feeling of distrust and discord In a letter written
some months earlier to Gordon :
"Beaufort, S, C, 6th August, 1834.
"My Dear Gordon:
"I believe that you know enough of my disinclina
tion for writing to be somewhat surprised at receiv-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 301
Ing this letter from me. Whilst I say truly that I
have felt much Interest in your political course, and
would have been much pleased at a renewal of our
intercourse, yet I must acknowledge that It required
some additional motive to overcome my repugnance
to letter-writing, A young gentleman of Beaufort
requested me to obtain some Information with respect
to your University at Charlottesville, and I knew no
one who was more competent to afford us this In
formation than yourself. Will you be so kind as to
forward to me some enumeration of the studies re
quired for admission, and the studies pursued by the
different classes, together with such remarks as may
facilitate the object of this application?
"It is not long since we were together in Wash
ington, comparing and contrasting my sombre and
your bright prognostications with respect to the des
tinies of the Republic, And yet so rapidly have
events of the deepest import to the freedom of the
people hurried to their consummation, that I can
scarcely believe that our Government has only had
one additional year of maturity to ripen its powers.
Although no longer feeling the madness of the strife,
strong associations with numerous and valued friends
have given a spur to the patriotic anxiety with which
I have watched passing events, I know not whether
you will not suspect me of being so deeply imbued
with nullification as to feel an insane terror of legis
lative usurpation; but so it Is, that even the furious
career of the old vandal, who is called President,
affects me with less gloomy anticipations of our fu
ture security in the enjoyment of institutions truly
free than the base and shameless love of spoil indi
cated In both houses at the close of the session,
"I cannot say that my past experience permitted
me very sangulnely to anticipate forbearance among
our Northern and Western legislators; yet the im
mediate danger of our civil rights, and the united
stand made for them by South and North ought in

302 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
reason to have mitigated the ravenousness of the
Whigs, How very far this was from being the case,
the immense amount of your appi'opriations will
show. The position of the State-Rights party is ex
tremely dangerous, whilst It Is compelled to act with
those who are the most formidable and deadly ene
mies of Its principles. Whilst Webster rules the
National Republicans, they never will permit any
measure to be adopted which will strengthen the
State-Rights party. They will give us warm pro
fessions, but their enmity neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Yet aware as I am of the danger of your position,
I cannot devise any more safe or more efficient line
of policy than that which you have pursued. It Is
truly melancholy to be obliged to refer the greater
part of our present dangers to the collisions of Van
Buren and Calhoun, Of the blame I acquit Cal
houn, for his talents (which rendered him dangerous
to the other aspirants) he could not and ought not
to have suppressed. Yet whilst in the commencement
of the contest I believe him to have been far more
sinned against than sinning, I will not say that his
subsequent course has been uninfluenced by resent
ment or ambition. Yet I cannot but find excuses for
his faults in his fate, which has thrust him upon a
people who have neither virtue nor intelligence suffi
cient to appreciate his greatness.
"I congratulate you personally that you are now
thrown openly and entirely in opposition to the
schemes of that wicked cabal, which rules the land
* * * If you see Gilmer, make my kind remem
brances to him. Believe me,
"Very sincerely your friend,
"R. W. Barnwell.
"Gen. Wm, F, Gordon."
Barnwell deserves more than a casual mention In
these pages. He was younger than Gordon by some
ten or .welve years; but their associations during

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 303
the former's two terms in Congress from 1829 to
1833 had thrown them into a close personal com
panionship, which resulted in a mutual regard and
admiration. If the younger man had no such halo of
earUer romance adorning his story, as did Gordon's
latest Presidential candidate. Judge White, who at
seventeen years of age was said to have ended the
Cherokee war, when under the command of Gen
eral Sevier he won the battle of Etowah, by shooting
the Cherokee Chief, King Fisher; yet Barnwell was
even at this time a prominent man In his State, and
destined later to have a career that was as patriotic
as it was highly distinguished. After leaving Con
gress he occupied for six years the dignified position
of president of the College of South Carolina. Re
tiring on account of his health, he was appointed to
the United States Senate, and served during the ses
sion of i860. He represented South Carolina in the
convention of seceding States, which met at Mont
gomery, Alabama, early In 1861; and it was by his
casting vote that Jefferson Davis was elected Presi
dent of the Confederate States, Mr, Barnwell
served his State and country later as a Senator in the
Confederate Congress at Richmond; and died In
Columbia, South Carolina, on November 25, 1882,
In his eighty-second year, admired, honored, and es
teemed by all who knew him.
The election of VanBuren, and his adoption of
Gordon's plan of an Independent Treasury as the
leading measure of his administration, brought about
the practical destruction of the coalition between the
State-Rights Republicans, or Democrats, and the Na
tional Republicans, or Whigs, In 1837 Mr, Cal
houn returned to an active affiliation and co-opera
tion with the Democratic party on the specie plat
form of the Independent Treasury; and Gordon and
a host of Virginia State-Rights Democrats went with
him. In 1840 Gordon supported with voice and vote
the nomination of VanBuren for a second term, while

304 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the Whigs now centered their attacks upon his finan
cial policy and the Sub-Treasury scheme. When the
electoral votes were counted in February, 1841, Wil
liam Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate, had a
great majority over his competitor, VanBuren; and
Mr, Tyler, who was a State-Rights man, but had re
mained with the Whigs, was elected on the ticket
with General Harrison, and succeeeded him as Presi
dent upon his death a month after his Inauguration,
In the mean time, early in 1836, the General As
sembly of Virginia passed resolutions instructing the
Senators from that State to vote for Benton's ex
punging resolution. These Senators were Benjamin
Watklns Leigh and Mr. Tyler. Leigh refused to
be instnicted, and held on to his seat. He wrote to
Tyler :
"I will not be instructed out of my seat, I will
not obey instructions which shall require me to vote
for a gross violation of the Constitution, If I shall
be Instructed to vote for expunging or rescinding the
resolution of the Senate disapproving General Jack
son's conduct in removing the public deposits from
the Bank, I shall obey the instruction when I shall
be prepared to write myself fool, knave and slave,
and not before, — when I shall be prepared to obey
an instruction to vote for the abolition of the Senate,
and with It of the State sovereignties, — when I shall
be willing to fix the monarchical doctrines of the pro
test upon this nation, and then, In effect to subvert
the RepubUc. I know very well that I cannot do my
duty to my country without a sacrifice of myself as
a public man in my own State; for as the advocate
of the right of instruction In 18 12, I am peculiarly
situated; but I am prepared to make the sacrifice
without a sigh or a murmur."
Mr. Tyler consulted the judgment of his friends
and political supporters of Influence in the State,
Governor Barbour and others advised against reslg-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 305
nation ; while John Hampden Pleasants, the able and
powerful editor of the Richmond Whig, favored
his resignation, Gordon took the view of James Bar
bour and Benjamin Watklns Leigh, against resig
nation, and wrote Mr. Tyler the following letter :
"Albemarle, January 15th, 1836,
"My Dear Tyler:
"I received your welcome letter a few days ago.
I have given to it all the consideration I am capable
of. From your position on the stage of affairs, you
have a more commanding view than I can possibly
have, and my opinions may, therefore, be worth
little; but as you request them, they shall be given
in all sincerity. I am decidedly of opinion that you
ought not to resign. That would be to do precisely
what your adversaries desire you should do, I can
not tell in what form the resolutions of the legisla
ture may pass. You say you would have no difficulty
to obey an Instruction to rescind the resolution of
the Senate. Is that proposed by Watklns' resolu
tion more than a proposition to rescind, supremely
ridiculous as it Is? The proposition to draw black
lines around the original resolution, and to write on
It that it is expunged. Is a fetch to get around the
constitutional objection to an obliteration of the Jour
nal of the Senate, and a new interpretation to the
word 'expunge,'
"Were I in your place, I should 'agnize a willing
and prompt alacrity', and obey literally the instruc
tions given. Obedience, however, is not what your
masters at Richmond desire; they want your place,
and Leigh's, Obedience will disappoint them woe
fully. As to the fate of that resolution of the Senate,
It Is now of no moment. It has already had Its effect
for good or evil; it never can be obliterated; the
very effor't to effect that would give it a more con
spicuous place in history, and the posterity of this

3o6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
degenerate and corrupt generation will have to de
cide whether you, who denied, or those who asserted,
a rightful control over the public revenue for the
Chief Executive officer, were the friends of liberty.
You suggest the propriety of resigning, and appeal
ing to the people. Discard the idea. Power can
only be controlled by power. In your place you have
power. You have a point from which you can de
fend yourself. If you resign, you sink Into the great
mass of citizens, without a shield to ward off the
attacks of the press and the office power of the Ad
ministration, "Your case will be unlike Rives' ; he resigned with
the Administration at his back — with all their power,
money and presses; you would be a warrior going
into battle without a sword or shield. The question
of instructions has been so bandied in Virginia — has
been so universally acknowledged — that it is very
difficult to make the great body of the people under
stand its rightful from Its false exercise by the legis
lature, I am decidedly of opinion that, If you can,
without violating your own consciousness of duty to
your country and yourself, obey the Instructions of
the legislature to the letter, It will have the happiest
effect both for you and those with whom you act, on
the people of Virginia,
"The time must come, and shortly, when the people
of Virginia at least will learn that the control of the
revenue of the country Is not an executive function.
The discussion of this subject at your present session
will be received with more calmness than at the last.
Let the charter of the United States Bank expire, and
present the naked question to the community, and
they must decide rightly, Mr. Calhoun's bill to
regulate the deposits will be a fine opportunity, not
only to relieve the Secretary of the Treasury ifrom
the high and painful responsibility which so much
discretionary power has imposed, but of damning
the Administration which imposed It on him.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 307
"I expect great results from this session, from your
body, Mr, Clay and Mr, Calhoun will both wield
a power infinitely greater than when they were con
sidered candidates of the Presidency. I am decidedly
of opinion that VanBuren cannot get Virginia against
White. I was at Louisa Court the other day, and
was present at a meeting to send delegates to Rich
mond, Many of General Jackson's strong friends
there are opposed to Van. What effect their drop
ping Colonel Johnson may have I know not. If
Johnson himself has any of the hero remaining, I
think he and his friends must look with indignation
on the attempt to use him for the promotion of Van,
and to his own defeat. My own opinion is that if
ever we can get General Jackson's shield from him,
he can be foiled. You must show up the corruption
of the Administration, Do not give too much Im
portance to the French question. It Is a ruse of the
Administration to call off the people from attending
to their domestic demerits. There can be no war,
and if there is, it will seal the fate of the party. But
do not make a noise about It, to draw off the atten
tion of the country from the misrule under which
we are suffering.
"In regard to your own affair, I wish you all suc
cess. But I fear that it will be too good for us, even
to get the second office of the government for a man
of your politics. I am very sure, however, that you
will be sustained by your own State, or rather by the
party in Virginia, which must now stand for what
Virginia once was. Make It a majority, and you and
the cause are triumphant. But I candidly confess
I have not much concern who Is President, in com
parison with the reassertion of those Republican
principles, which were once the glory, and are now
the disgrace by their abandonment, of Virginia. We
have a very able paper at Charlottesville. The ed
itor, Moseley, is a man of first-rate talent. It Is

3o8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
doing good in this part of Virginia. Give him a
hand. "Present me respectfully to any of my old friends
who remember me, — to Robertson and Mr. Calhoun
especially. Accept my congratulations on the mar
riage of your daughter. Present me most kindly to
General Tipton and Mrs. McDaniel's family; and
believe me, "Your friend,
Wm. F. Gordon,"
Mr, Tyler proved himself a wiser politician than
either Mr, Leigh or Gordon, He declined Leigh's
example and Gordon's advice, and resigned. He
lived to become President of the United States, while
Mr, Leigh's public career ended with his term in the
Senate, When Calhoun, Tazewell, Gordon and a number
of other leading State-Rights Republicans returned
to the Democratic party in 1837, on the adoption of
the Independent Treasury measure by VanBuren,
they did not take with them from the Whig alliance
all of the State-Rights men, Calhoun himself be
wailed in a letter written in July, 1840, the existence
of these conditions, "If united," said he, "victory
(for State-Rights) would be certain, and safety
placed beyond contingency."
The most representative State-Rights man in Vir
ginia, who remained with the Whig party, was Mr.
Tyler,

CHAPTER XXI
slavery on ITS DOMESTIC SIDE  NAT's INSURREC
TION  THE TRAGEDY AT GERMANNA,
From 1835, when Gordon's last term in Con
gress ended, down to the date of his death, the slav
ery question in its political aspect occupied a large
space upon the stage of national affairs. At home,
in Virginia, In 1831, it had shaken society to its
foundations, and created a general alarm through
out the South, by a tragic happening in one of the
eastern counties of the State that culminated in
scenes of bloodshed and horror. This occurrence,
which Is known as "Nat's Insurrection," or "The
Southampton Insurrection," was the massacre in
August, 1 83 1, of fifty-five white men, women and
children In Southampton County by a body of some
sixty or seventy slaves, under the leadership of a
negro slave, named Nat Turner. The following
account of this ghastly event was locally published
a short time after Its occurrence :
"The leader of this insurrection and massacre
was a slave by the name of Nat Turner, about thir
ty-one years of age, born the slave of Mr, Benjamin
Turner of Southampton County, From a child Nat
appears to have been the victim of superstition and
fanaticism. He stimulated his comrades to join him
In the massacre, by declaring to them that he had
been commissioned by Jesus Christ, and that he was
acting under inspired direction In what he was going
to accomplish,
"In the confession which he voluntarily made to
Mr, Grey, while in prison, he says: 'That in his
childhood a circumstance occurred which made an
Indelible impression on his mind, and laid the ground

310 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
work of the enthusiasm which terminated so fatally
to many. Being at play with other children, when
three or four years old, I told them something,
which my mother overhearing, said it happened be
fore I was born, I stuck to my story, however,
and related some things which went, in her opinion,
to confirm It; others being called on were greatly
astonished, knowing these things had happened,
and caused them to say in my hearing, I surely
would be a prophet, as the Lord had showed me
things which happened before my birth. His
parents strengthened him In this belief, and said in
his presence that he was intended for some great
purpose, which they had always thought from cer
tain marks on his head and breast,' Nat, as he grew
up, was fully persuaded he was destined to accom
plish some great purpose; his powers of mind ap
peared much superior to his fellow-slaves; they
looked up to him as a person guided by divine In
spiration; which belief he ever Inculcated by his aus
terity of life and manners.
"After a variety of revelations from the spiritual
world, Nat says, In his confession, that 'On the 12th
of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens,
and the spirit instantly appeared to me, and said
the serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down
the yoke he had borne for the sins of men ; and that
I should take it on and fight against the serpent, for
the time was fast approaching when the first should
be last and the last should be first — and by signs
In the heavens that it would make known to me when
I should commence the great work — and until the
first sign appeared, I should conceal It from the
knowledge of men. And on the appearance of the
sign (the eclipse of the sun last February, 1831)
I should arise and prepare myself, and slay my
enemies with their own weapons. And Immediately
on the sign appearing in the heavens, the seal was
removed from my lips, and I communicated the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 31 1
great work laid out for mc to do to four, in whom
I had the greatest confidence, (Henry, Hark, Nel
son and Sam). It was Intended by us to have begun
the work of death on the 4th of July last. Many
were the plans formed and rejected by us; and It
affected my mind to such a degree, that I fell sick,
and the time passed without our coming to any de
termination how to commence — still forming new
schemes and rejecting them, when the sign appeared
again, which determined me not to wait longer.'
"Nat commenced the massacre by the murder of
his master and family. He says: 'Since the com
mencement of 1830, I had been living with Mr.
Joseph Travis, who was to me a kind master, and
placed the greatest confidence In mc. In fact, I had
no cause to complain of his treatment to me. On
Saturday evening, the 20th of August, it was agreed
between Henry, Hark, and myself, to prepare a
dinner the next day for the men we expected, and
then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined
on any. Hark, on the following morning, brought
a pig, and Henry, brandy; and being joined by
Sam, Nelson, Will and Jack, they prepared in the
woods a dinner, where, about three o'clock, I joined
them. I saluted them on coming up, and asked
Will how came he there; he answered his life was
worth no more than others, and his liberty as dear
to him. I asked him If he thought to obtain it? He
said he would, or lose his life. This was enough
to put him In full confidence. Jack, I knew, was
only a tool in the hands of Hark. It was quickly
agreed we should commence at home, (Mr. J,
Travis') , on that night; and until we had armed and
equipped ourselves, and gathered sufficient force,
neither age nor sex was to be spared, (which was
invariably adhered to). We remained at the feast
until about two hours In the night, when we went
to the house and found Austin; they all went to
the cider-press and drank, except myself. On re-

312 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
turning to the house, Hark went to the door with
an axe for the purpose of breaking It open, as he
knew we were strong enough to murder the family,
if they were awakened by the noise; but reflecting
that It might create an alarm in the neighborhood,
we determined to enter the house secretly, and mur
der them while sleeping. Hark got a ladder and
set It against the chimney, on which I ascended, and
hoisting a window, entered and came down stairs
unbarred the door, and removed the guns from their
places. It was then observed that I must spill the
first blood. On which, armed with a hatchet, and
accompanied by Will, I entered my master's cham
ber; It being dark, I could not give a death-blow;
the hatchet glanced from his head, he sprang from
the bed and called his wife; it was his last word.
Will laid him dead with a blow of his axe, and Mrs.
Travis shared the same fate as she lay in bed. The
murder of this family, five in number, was the work
of a moment, not one of them awoke; there was a
little infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten
until we had left the house, and gone some distance,
when Henry and Will returned and killed It; we
got here four guns that would shoot, and several old
muskets, with a pound or two of powder. We re
mained some time at the barn, where we paraded;
I formed them In a line as soldiers, and after carry
ing them through all the manoeuvres I was master
of, marched them off to Mr. Salathlel Francis', about
six hundred yards distant.'
"They proceeded in this manner from house to
house, murdering all the whites they could find,
their force augmenting as they proceeded, till they
amounted to fifty or sixty in number, all mounted,
armed with guns, axes, swords and clubs. They
then started for Jerusalem, and proceeded a few
miles, when they were met by a party of white men,
who fired upon them and forced them to retreat.
'On my way back' (says Nat), 'I called at Mrs.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 313
Thomas', Mrs, Spencer's, and several other places;
the white families having fled, we found no more
victims to gratify our thirst for blood. We stopped
at Major Ridley's quarter for the night; and being
joined by four of his men, with the recruits made
since my defeat, we mustered now about forty strong,
" 'After placing out sentinels, I lay down to sleep,
but was quickly roused by a great racket; starting
up, I found some mounted, and others in great con
fusion. One of the sentinels haying given the alarm
that we were about to be attacked, I ordered some
to ride round and reconnoitre; and on their return
the others being more alarmed, not knowing who
they were, fled In different ways, so that I was re
duced to about twenty again; with this I deter
mined to attempt to recruit, and proceeded on to
rally in the neighborhood I had left. Dr, Blunt's
was the nearest house, which we reached just before
day; on riding up the yard. Hark fired a gun. We
expected Dr. Blunt and his family were at Major
Ridley's, as I knew there was a company of men
there; the gun was fired to ascertain If any of the
family was at home; we were Immediately fired
upon and retreated, leaving several of my men, I
do not know what became of them, as I never saw
them afterwards. Pursuing our course back, and
coming In sight of Capt. Harris', where we had
been the day before, we discovered a party of white
men at the house, on which all deserted me but two
(Jacob and Nat), We concealed ourselves In the
woods till near night, when I sent them In search
of Henry, Sam, Nelson and Hark; and directed
them to rally all they could, at the place we had
our dinner the Sunday before, where they would
find me; and I accordingly returned there as soon
as it was dark, and remained until Wednesday even
ing, when, discovering white men riding around the
place as though they were looking for some one,
and none of my men joining me, i concluded Jacob

314 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
and Nat had been taken, and compelled to betray
me. On this I gave up all hope for the present, and
on Thursday night, after having supplied myself
with provisions from Mr. Travis', I scratched a hole
under a pile of fence-rails in a field, where I concealed
myself for six weeks, never leaving my hiding-place
but for a few minutes in the dead of the night to
get water, which was very near; thinking by this
time I could venture out, I began to go about in the
night and eavesdrop the houses In the neighborhood;
pursuing this course for about a fortnight, and gath
ering little or no intelligence, afraid of speaking to
any human being, and returning every morning to
my cave before the dawn of day. I know not how
long I might have led this life. If an accident had not
betrayed me. A dog in the neighborhood, passing
by my hiding-place one night while I was out, was
attracted by some meat I had in my cave, and
crawled in and stole it, and was coming out just as
I returned, A few nights after, two negroes hav
ing started to go hunting with the same dog, and
passed that way, the dog came again to the place;
and having just gone out to walk about, discovered
me and barked, on which thinking myself discovered,
I spoke to them to beg concealment. On making
myself known they fled from me. Knowing then
they would betray me, I immediately left my hid
ing-place, and was pursued almost Incessantly, until
I was taken a fortnight afterwards, by Mr, Benja
min Phipps, In a little hole I had dug out with my
sword, for the purpose of concealment, under the
top of a fallen tree. On Mr, Phillips discovering
the place of my concealment, he cocked his gun and
aimed at me. I requested him not to shoot, and I
would give up, upon which he demanded my sword,
I delivered it to him and he brought me to prison.'
"Nat was executed according to his sentence, at
Jerusalem," (the county-seat of Southampton),
"November ii, 1831, The following is a list of the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 315
persons murdered in the insurrection, on the 21st
and 22nd of August, 1831 :
"Joseph Travis and wife, and three children, Mrs,
Elizabeth Turner, HartweU Prebles, Sarah New-
some, Mrs, P, Reese and son William, Trajan Doyle,
Henry Bryant and wife and child, and wife's
mother; Mrs. Catherine Whitehead, son Richard,
four daughters and grandchild; Salathlel Francis,
Nathaniel Francis' overseer and two children, John
T. Barroe, George Vaughn, Mrs, Levi WaUer and
ten children, William WiUiams, wife and two boys;
Mrs. CasweU Worrel and child, Mrs. Rebecca
Vaughn, Ann Elizabeth Vaughn and son Arthur,
Mrs. John K. WiUiams and three children, and Ed
ward Drury — amounting to fifty-five."
The effect of this terrible massacre upon the public
mind was to do away with the tendencies thereto
fore existing and steadily growing in Virginia to
wards the abolition of slavery in the Commonwealth,
As far back as October 5, 1778, the Virginia
General Assembly had prohibited the Importation
of slaves Into the State by sea or land, under a pen
alty of one thousand dollars fine for each one brought
in, and by the emancipation of the slave himself;
while the first constitution of the State, which was
unanimously adopted on the 29th June, 1776, con
tained In Its preamble the recitation that the King
of Great Britain had prompted "our negroes to rise
In arms among us, those very negroes, whom by an
inhuman use of his prerogative he had refused us
permission to exclude by law," Many men In Vir
ginia of distinction and influence favored the eman
cipation of the slaves, and there were numerous in
stances of their manumission by testamentary pro
vision. The proposition for abolition, prior to the
time when the New England and Quaker conscience
flung It as a burning brand Into the political arena,
had been one of grave consideration with many of

3i6 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the statesmen of the Commonwealth; and not in
frequently the matter had been one of counsel and
discussion In its legislative bodies. But the difficul
ties of the situation were aggravated by the rapid
growth of the slave population through natural
causes; and by a threatened interference with the
State's local matters by outsiders, that was now be
ginning to assume definite and determined shape.
Nat's Insurrection produced a profound and far-
extending belief that it had been stimulated. If not
directly caused, by the introduction and circulation
among the slaves, through secret agents, of the abo
lition doctrines advocated In New England. The
resolutions In favor of emancipation ceased to be
introduced in the General Assembly; and the feel
ing against slavery, that had begun to grow so strong
in Virginia, received a violent check. The first legis
lature which met after the bloody massacre in
Southampton, instead of further considering plans
of emancipation, enacted the most stringent laws for
the government and control of the slave population.
It forbade their meetings, it proscribed their instruc
tion, and it Imposed on the slaves themselves grave
penalties for seditious and rebellious words. Much
of this legislation, wrought out of the elemental pas
sions that were aroused by Nat Turner's sanguinary
performance, were subsequently repealed or modi
fied; but there can be little doubt that the result
of this murderous occurrence was to fix more firmly
than ever before the bonds of the Virginia slave,
until the day of his final disenthralment amid the
convulsions and cataclysms of a relentless and bloody
war. How grave were the difficulties which were
pressed upon the people of the slave-holding States,
and especially of Virginia, where the desire to get
rid of the Institution, if some safe way might be
found, had from the earliest days of the Common
wealth prevailed with many, was illustrated not onjy

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 317
by the savage onslaughts of the Northern abolition
ists, but by more than one tragic incident In the do
mestic lives of the local slave-owners. One of these
incidents happened in Gordon's Immediate family
circle, about six years prior to his death.
His brother, Armistead, a bachelor, and his two
maiden sisters, Lucy and Elizabeth, had continued
to reside, after the death of their parents, at the
family homestead at Germanna. Lucy died first,
leaving the other two to survive her In the posses
sion of the property and the occupancy of the resi
dence. In 1852 It became known among the negro
slaves on the Germanna plantation that Elizabeth
Gordon had made a will, manumitting her slaves,
of whom she owned a number, their freedom to en
sue after the expiration of the life-estate of her
brother, Armistead, to whom she bequeathed them
while he survived; and that the will, in accordance
with the provision of the law of Virginia which re
quired that manumitted slaves should be removed
out of the State within a year, further provided that
these negroes, when their freedom attached, should
be sent to Liberia, for which purpose a sum of
money was provided by the testatrix. The know
ledge of the contents of Miss Gordon's will was
communicated to the other slaves on the place by
a negro servant-girl, who was a housemaid for her
mistress, and who had been taught to read and write
by her. This girl saw her mistress' will in a bureau-
drawer where it had been inadvertently left; and
a short time thereafter both the sister and brother
died suddenly, one on one day and the other on the
following, from poison in the coffee which had been
prepared and served by the domestics In the house.
The conclusion was irresistible that they had been
murdered by the negroes in order that the latter
might obtain the freedom that had been provided
for them by the will. The will was probated and
its provisions carried out by Gordon, who qualified

3i8 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
as administrator. The emancipated slaves were sent
to Liberia; but they became very much dissatisfied
after their arrival there, and more than one letter
came back from them to Virginia, vainly entreating
that they be returned to America and restored to
slavery.

CHAPTER XXII
THE SLAVERY PETITIONS  SLAVERY AND SECESSION
 THE COMPROMISE OF 185O,
The Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery In the
Northwest Territory, that magnificent domain
whose bestowal upon the Government of the United
States by Virginia has entitled her since to the proud
and significant appellation of "Mother of States,"
The State of Ohio was formed out of a portion of
the Northwest Territory, and was admitted Into the
Union on November 2, 1802, The territory of the
new State was rapidly settled; and thenceforward,
during Mr, Jefferson's administrations, repeated and
persistent efforts were made by citizens of Ohio, who
are said to have felt the hardships of pioneer life,
and to have pictured to themselves "In golden colors
the ease and affluence incident to slave labor as it
existed in the South," to legalize slavery in the re
gion northwest of the Ohio River.
In the House of Representatives on the 8th of
February, 1803, a communication was presented
from Mr. William Henry Harrison, president of
the convention of the Territory of Indiana, memo
rializing Congress on behalf of the convention, to
suspend the article prohibiting slavery in the North
west 1 errltory.
Reports were made In favor of several similar
petitions sent in to Congress, but they were never
acted on; and finaUy a committee, of which Ran
dolph of Roanoke was chairman, reported that It
was not expedient at that time to suspend the sixth
article of the compact of the government of the ter
ritory northwest of the Ohio River, which was the
article prohibitive of slavery.

320 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
This ended the slavery dream of the people of the
Northwest Territory,
It was hoped and believed by many that the Mis
souri Compromise, that sectional measure of demar
cation which made two different peoples in one gov
ernment, and alarmed Jefferson "like a fire-bell In
the night," would end the question of slavery. But
the issue was one that would not down. From the
time of Gordon's entrance into Congress In 1830
until the final disposition of the Institution of slav
ery by wager of battle, it was a thing that seemed
to be almost constantly in the public mind.
When the true history of slavery shall come to
be written by the dispassionate and philosophical
historian, the attitude of the State-Rights slave
holders towards it as an institution will be better un
derstood, "What is called slavery," said Mr, Cal
houn, "is in reality a political institution, essential to
the peace, safety, and prosperity ot those States of
the Union In which it exists," Gordon believed,
with Calhoun, that It was so Inextricably interwoven
with the State-Rights doctrine of constitutional con
struction, that the abolition of the one meant the
subversion of the other; and It was a belief entirely
consistent with his attitude to the "basis" question
In the Virginia Convention of 1 829-1 830, where he
had aroused the wrath of the slave-holders of the
eastern part of the State by espousing the cause of
the white basis, as against that of the "federal num
bers," The number of slaves in the slave-holding
States had become very large; and the advocates
of slavery viewed with an alarm that was prophetic
the danger and the evils of emancipating such a popu
lation, and leaving them as freemen in the commu
nity. Before the admission of Ohio, and the petitions
of citizens of the Northwest Territory for slavery,
the anti-slavery agitation had been begun. In 1790
petitions of Quakers In Pennsylvania and New York

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 321
were presented In Congress for the abolition of the
slave-trade, Benjamin Franklin signed as Its Presi
dent "a memorial of the Pennsylvania Society for
promoting the abolition of slavery, the relief of free-
negroes held in bondage, and the improvement of
the African race," This memorial was presented to
Congress in the same year. At intervals, to 1820,
various petitions in regard to slavery, chiefly from
the Quakers, were presented; and In the latter year
a number of petitions were offered against the in
troduction of slavery Into any State thereafter to be
admitted Into the Union, Some of these were re
ferred to committees, and others were merely read.
It was not till 1827 that the abolition campaign was
begun on a business principle by the presentation on
February 12, of that year, by Mr. Barney of Mary
land, of a memorial of certain citizens of Baltimore,
praying that children thereafter born of slave parents
In the District of Columbia might be free. The House
refused to print the memorial, on the motion of Mr.
McDuffie of South Carolina, and after a debate in
which Mr. Dorsey of Maryland stated that the
memorial breathed the general spirit of emancipa
tion, and that though its request began with the Dis
trict of Columbia, its ulterior purpose went much
further. Four years later John Quiney Adams pre
sented fifteen petitions from inhabitants of Penn
sylvania praying for the abolition of slavery In the
District of Columbia, and the abolition of the slave-
trade therein, Mr, Adams asked that the petitions
be referred to the committee on the District, saying
that he regarded the abolition of the slave-trade in
the District of Columbia a proper subject for legis
lative disposition; but that he would not support
the abolition of slavery there.
In 1830, the year in which Gordon entered Con
gress,' — as shown by the corrected census of that year,
published in Force's "National Calendar" for 1832,

322 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
— every one of the then twenty-seven States and Ter
ritories of the Union was a slave-holding State or Ter
ritory, with the exception of Vermont; although the
number of slaves in the New England States and in
Ohio and Indiana was nominal.
In 1836 petitions for abolition In the District of
Columbia poured into Congress; and Mr. Adams
became the vehicle of their presentation. Mr. Cal
houn proposed in 1837, In the Senate, a resolution
"That the Intermeddling of any State, or States, or
their citizens, to abolish slavery In this District, or in
any of the Territories, on the ground, or under the
pretext that It is immoral or sinful, or the passage
of any act or measure of Congress with that view
would be a direct and dangerous attack on the insti
tutions of all the slave-holding States,"
On motion of Mr, Clay this resolution was
amended so as to provide "That when the District
of Columbia was ceded by the States of Virginia
and Maryland to the United States, domestic slav
ery existed in both of those States, including the
ceded territory; and that as It still continues in both
of them, it could not be abolished within the Dis
trict, without a violation of that good faith which
was implied in the cession, and in the acceptance
of the territory, nor, unless compensation were made
for the slaves, without a manifest infringement of
an amendment of the Constitution of the United
States; nor without exciting a degree of just alarm
and apprehension in the States recognizing slavery,
far transcending in mischievous tendency any pos
sible benefit which would be accomplished by the
abolition," The petitions continued to pour in, and the ex
citement over them in the House was intense. In
1838 Mr, Henry L. Pinckney of South Carolina
moved. In the House of Representatives, a series
of resolutions which provided that all the petitions
should be referred to a select committee, with in-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 323
structlons to report that Congress could not con
stitutionally interfere with slavery In the States, and
ought not to do so in the District of Columbia, The
House adopted the resolutions, adding soon after
a further provision reported from this committee
that thereafter all petitions which related in any way
to slavery or Its abolition should be laid on the table,
without action and without being printed or re
ferred, Adams and Henry A, Wise met in fierce
debate over the petitions. The former, who had
started out in 1831 as the opponent of the aboli
tion of slavery in the District, continued Its op
ponent to the end. Wise, at a later period, said of
him, that Mr, Adams "again and again, in the lobby,
on the floor, told me vauntingly that the pulpit would
preach, and the school would teach, and the press
would print, among the people who had no tie and
no associations with slavery, until would not only
be reached the slave-trade between the States, the
slave-trade In the District of Columbia, slavery In
the District, slavery in the Territories, but slavery
in the States, Again and again he said that he would
not abolish slavery in the District of Columbia if
he could ; for he would retain it as a bone of conten
tion — a fulcrum of the lever for agitation, agitation,
until slavery in the States was shaken from its base.
And his prophesies have been fulfiUed — fulfilled far
faster and more fearfully, certainly, than ever he
anticipated before he died,"
The petitions still continued to come in. On the
25th of February, 1850, Mr, GIddings of Ohio,
In the House of Representatives, presented two pe
titions, one from Isaac Jeffries and other citizens of
Pennsylvania, and the other from John T, Wood
ward and other citizens of Delaware and Pennsyl
vania, which were as follows :
"We, the undersigned inhabitants of Pennsyl
vania and Delaware, believing that the Federal Con-

324 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
stitution, in pledging the strength of the whole na
tion to support slavery, violates the Divine law,
makes war upon human rights, and is grossly incon
sistent with republican principles; that its attempt
to unite slavery In one body politic has brought upon
the country great and manifold evils, and has fully
proved that no such union can exist, but by the sac
rifice of freedom to the supremacy of slavery, re
spectfully ask you to devise and propose, without
delay, some plan for the immediate, peaceful disso
lution of the American Union,"
The House declined to receive these petitions by
a vote of 162 to 80. On February ist, 1850, the
same petitions, praying a dissolution of the Union,
were presented in the Senate by Mr, Hale of New
Hampshire. Three Senators voted for their recep
tion; viz: Messrs. Hale, Chase of Ohio, and Seward
of New York.
Calhoun assailed the petitions, from the time of
their first multitudinous flood upon Congress down
to his death, as "in themselves a foul slander on
nearly one half of the States of the Union." Von
Hoist says of his attitude towards them: "The
charge was wholly unfounded that he was endeavor
ing Intentionally to Incense the North and the South
against each other, in order to promote the purpose
of his party. He spoke the simple truth, when he
asserted in his speech of March 9, 1836, that 'how
ever caluminated and slandered,' he had 'ever been
devotedly attached' to the Union and the Institu
tions of the country, and that he was 'anxious to
perpetuate them to the latest generation.' He acted
under the firm conviction of an Imperious duty to
wards the South and towards the Union, and his
assertion was but too well founded that these peti
tions for the abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia were blows on the wedge, which would
ultimately break the Union asunder."

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 325
The abolitionists were the original secessionists,
who desired to destroy the Constitution and the Un
ion, and to separate from the slave-holding States;
and the State-Rights strict constructionists of Cal
houn's type were the genuinely patriotic adherents
of the Union and of Its constitutional Institutions.
Gordon lived long enough after his retirement from
active participation In public affairs to read that Mr.
Wendell Phillips of Massachusetts said at a meet
ing in Boston in May, 1849, "We confess that we
Intend to trample under foot the constitution of this
country;'' and that Mr. William Loyd Garrison de
manded in his paper, The Liberator, in September,
1855, "a Northern Confederacy, with no Union
with slave-holders;" and that in the same paper of
June 20, 1856, he denounced the United States Con
stitution as "a covenant with death and an agree
ment with hell,"
Horace Mann said In the House of Representa
tives, during the 31st Congress: "Under a full sense
of my responsibility to my country and my God, I
deliberately say, better disunion — better a civil or
a servile war — better anything that God in his provi
dence shall send — than an extension of the bounds of
slavery," The Rev, O, B, Frothingham of New Jer
sey said at a meeting of the American Anti-Slavery
Society In New York, May 13, 1857: "He beUeved
that this Union effectually prevented them from ad
vancing in the least degree the work of the slave's
redemption * * * As to the word Union, they all
knew it was a political catchword,"
Mr, Calhoun, on the contrary, with the prescience
of the Hebrew prophet, said: "To destroy the ex
isting relations would be to destroy this prosperity
(of the Southern States), and to place the two races
in a state of conflict, which must end in the expul
sion or extirpation of one or the other. No other
can be substituted compatible with their peace or
security. The difficulty is In the diversity of the

326 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
rades. So strongly drawn Is the line between the two
In consequence, and so strengthened by the force of
habit and education, that It is impossible for them
to exist together in the community, where their num
bers are so nearly equal as In the slave-holding
States, under any other relation than that which now
exists. Social and political equality between them
is impossible. No power on earth can overcome the
difficulty. The causes lie too deep In the principles
of our nature to be surmounted. But, without such
equality, to change the present condition of the Afri
can race, were it possible, would be but to change
the form of slavery."
The breach between North and South came to be
an ever-widening one; and the wedge of their divi
sion, driven home by the persistent and relentless
blows of the abolitionists, was slavery. The North
had learned to look upon the Union under the Con
stitution as desirable only so long as it seemed use
ful or agreeable; for New England had attempted
In 1803 to create a Northern Confederacy, consist
ing of five States of her territory, with New York
and New Jersey; and after withdrawing from co
operation with the prosecution of the War of 18 12,
had held a convention of those States to formulate
sectional autonomy. With the continued introduc
tion of the abolition petitions into Congress, the
North now began to regard State-Rights and the
strict construction of the Constitution as mere dog
mas, set up and persisted in by the South for the
perpetuation of the hated institution,
Calhoun, with towering genius and prophetic
foresight, beheld In the proposed abolition of slavery
the overthrow of the society upon whose continued
existence the happiness, the prosperity and the free
dom of the people of the Southern States depended;
and he foresaw, no less unerringly, in emancipation
the destruction of the right of local self-government
by the subversal of the State-Rights doctrine. The

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 327
time for the revolution which Jefferson had justified
In his letter of January i, 1826, to Gordon, and of
which Calhoun asserted the right In his toast at the
Jefferson Birthday Dinner in 1830, seemed to be
drawing very near to the strict constructionists of the
South in the year 1850.
"When the future historian," quotes Benton from
a leading South Carolina newspaper, published on
January i, 1850, "shall address himself to the task
of portraying the rise, progress and decline of the
American Union, the year 1850 will arrest his at
tention as denoting and presenting the first marshal
ling and arraying of those hostile forces and oppos
ing elements which resulted In dissolution; and the
world will have another Illustration of the great
truth that forms and modes of government, how
ever correct in theory, are only valuable as they con
duce to the great ends of all government, — the peace,
quiet, and conscious security of the governed."
The spirit of separation, which had been Illus
trated in New England by the Hartford Conven
tion, and which had since flamed out in the abolition
speeches of GIddings and Frothingham and Garri
son, had begun in 1850 to take possession of many
of the people of the South, who loved the Union,
but who loved better the liberty which abolitionism
assailed in assailing the constitution of government
intended to preserve it.
Compromise after compromise of vital and an
tagonistic principles. Involving constitutional con
struction, the rights of the States, and the Institution
of slavery, had followed each other, until thought
ful and far-seeing men began to anticipate that final
decision which came in the next decade. There had
been compromises in the formation of the Federal
Constitution itself, which were, even at the time of
its formation and adoption, big with deferred
trouble. The Missouri Compromise, which Ran
dolph of Roanoke had called "a dirty bargain."

328 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
while he denounced the "dough- faces" from the
North who helped to make it, had been a further
source of continued controversy and alienation, Mr.
Clay's tariff compromise. In Jackson's administration,
had left unsettled the tariff question, though it had
served to end Nullification, and now, In 1850, the
Jeffersonlans and the Hamiltonlans faced each other,
in a crisis of passions, upon the same dividing Issues
of constitutional interpretation that had aroused the
animosities and stirred the prejudices of the makers
of the Constitution themselves.
During the last days of Polk's administration,
Calhoun, convinced that the right of self-govern
ment of the Southern States was approaching a
period of Imminent peril, urged among his followers
a more compact union on the part of the South,
Under his advice a large number of Senators and
Representatives from the Southern States united in
an address to the people of the South, setting out
the wrongs which they had received at the hands of
the North, which required redress. In response to
this serious political document a convention of dele
gates of the people of Mississippi, chosen without
regard to party affiliation, assembled in October,
1849, in that State, and recommended that "a con
vention of slave-holding States should be held at
Nashville, Tennessee, on the first Monday of June,
1850, to devise and adopt some mode of resistance
to the aggression of the non-slave-holding States,"
On May 8, 1850, Mr, Clay reported to the Senate
as Chairman of the Committee of Thirteen another
compromise of the threatening questions of disunion
and slavery. The strict constructionists of the South
had in the meantime appointed their delegates to
the Nashville Convention; though many hung back,
hoping again for the Intervention of the hitherto
unfailing "compromise." Henry A. Wise, who had
been chosen as the delegate from his district in Vir
ginia to this gathering, wrote a letter to WiUiam

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 329
H. Roy, the president of the Virginia Convention to
select delegates to Nashville, In which he voiced the
sentiment of the Democrats of the Commonwealth
on the subject of further compromise.
"If the Constitution of the United States," wrote
Mr. Wise, "shall be nullified by a majority doctrine
and become frittered away by the awful pacification
of compromises upon compromises, the Union will
no longer exist as it was formed by the Adamses and
Shermans and Franklins and Hamiltons and Lees
and Randolphs and Madisons and Rutledges of the
Revolution; it will cease Itself to be a compromise,
the compromise of compromises, as it was in 1789;
it will become the absolutism of a many-headed
monster of oppression. Inequality and dishonor to
us, and we will be obliged to resist it as our fathers
did 'taxation without representation,' or lose our
self-respect and the respect of the rest 9f mankind,
and cease to be a free people."
The Congress of Mr, Clay's Compromise Bill of
1850 was absorbed by the tremendous question of
slavery. In June 5, 1850, Mr, Chase of Ohio moved
an amendment to the bill in the Senate, "that noth
ing herein contained shall be construed as authoriz
ing or permitting the Introduction of slavery or the
holding of persons as property within said territory"
(of Utah and New Mexico), The amendment was
lost, Mr, Seward of New York, moved as an
amendment, that "neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude otherwise than upon conviction for crime,
shaU be allowed in either of said Territories of
Utah and New Mexico." It was the language of
the coming Fourteenth Amendment to the Consti
tution of the United States, paraphrased from the
Ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery In the North
west Territory, Mr, Seward's amendment was lost.
Mr. Davis of Mississippi, the future President of
the Confederate States of America offered the fol
lowing amendment: "And that all laws or parts

330 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
of laws, usages or customs pre-existing In the terri
tory acquired by the United States from Mexico,
and which In said Territories restrict, abridge or
obstruct the full enjoyment of any right of person
or property of a citizen of the United States, as
recognized or guaranteed by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, are hereby declared and
shall be held as repealed," Mr, Davis' amendment
was lost. Mr. Douglas of IlUnoIs, later, In i860,
the nominee of a faction of the Democratic party
for President, at the suggestion of Mr, Davis of
Mississippi, proposed the Missouri Compromise
line as the southern boundary of Utah, Mr, Doug
las' proposition was lost.
In the House of Representatives Mr. Root of Ohio
had offered on December 31, 1849, ^ resolution In
structing the committee on Territories to bring In
territorial bills for that part of the Mexican terri
tory which had been ceded to the United States by
the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, lying eastward
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and prohibiting
slavery therein, Mr, Alexander H, Stephens, later
the Vice-President of the Confederate States, moved
to lay Mr, Root's resolution on the table. The mo
tion was adopted. The affirmative vote was a South
ern one, with the addition of ten votes from Illinois,
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The negative
votes came entirely from the North.
On February 14, 1850, Mr, GIddings, abolition
ist member from Qhio, offered in the House a reso
lution, "that we hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life
and liberty, and that governments are instituted to
maintain these rights. That In constituting govern
ment In any territory of the United States, It Is the
duty of Congress to secure to all the people thereof,
of whatever complexion, the enjoyment of the, rights
aforesaid." On the motion of a Southern member

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 331
the resolution was laid on the table by a majority
composed almost entirely of Southerners,
On May 27, 1850, Mr. CromweU moved to sus
pend the rules to enable him to introduce a bill to
abolish the slave-trade in the District of Colum
bia, The motion to suspend was lost by a sectional
vote, but one Northern man, a member from Ohio,
voting in the negative, and no Southerner voting
In the affirmative. On September 5, 1850, Mr,
Toombs of Georgia offered an amendment to the
New Mexico territorial bill, that "the Constitution
of the United States, and such statutes thereof as
may not be locally Inapplicable, and the common law
as it existed in the British Colonies of America until
the 4th day of July, 1776, shall be the exclusive
laws of said territory upon the subject of African
slavery until altered by the people's authority," The
whole North and seven Southern members voted nay,
and the rest of the South voted aye, and the amend
ment was lost. On September 24, 1850, Mr, Pres
ton King of New York asked leave to introduce a
bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.
The House refused to suspend the rules. Every
man who voted in the affirmative was from the
North. North and South, regardless of party, were ar
rayed against each other on the question of slavery,
and Jefferson's "fire-bell In the night" was now
clanging an ominous and ceaseless alarum,
Mr, Clay's compromise measure of 1850 had been
originally one bill. It was debated throughout the
summer session of Congress; and was by degrees
separated into a number of individual bills. These
were all passed by the Senate and the House in the
months of August and September, and having been
signed by the President, became laws. In the mean
time, the Southern Convention had met at Nashville
in June, and had adjourned, after the adoption of
resolutions, to meet there again In November fol-

332 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
lowing — a meeting that proved futile, since James
M, Mason of Virginia had written into Clay's com
promise measure a fugitive slave law, that recon
ciled a majority of the Southern people to a postpone
ment of the mighty issue, which Gordon, and most
of his associates in the convention's second assemblage
in November, perceived was Inevitable and already
imminent.

CHAPTER XXIII
THE NASHVILLE CONVENTION OF 1850  THE
CRADLE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY
The movement which culminated in the calling of
the Southern Convention of 1850 at Nashville was a
highly patriotic one from the standpoint of those
who fostered it, and was largely inspired by the
statesmanship of Mr. Calhoun,
"The great object of a Southern convention," he
wrote to Mr. Collin S. Tarpley, of Mississippi, on
July 9, 1849, "should be to put forth in a solemn
manner the causes of our grievances In an address to
the other states, and to admonish them, In a solemn
manner, as to the consequences which must follow, If
they should not be redressed, and to take measures
preparatory to It, In case they should not be. The
call should be addressed to all those who are desirous
to saye the Union and our Institutions, and who In the
alternative, should it be forced on us, of submission
or dissolving the partnership, would prefer the lat
ter." Calhoun and Gordon, and men who thought with
them, believed that the time had come for some de
cisive action. Every Northern State save one had
indicated then, or Indicated very soon thereafter, by
resolutions adopted by its legislature, an adherence to
the Wilmot Proviso — which was an addition offered
on behalf of many Northern Democrats, by Mr,
Wilmot of Pennsylvania, a Democratic member of
Congress, to the bill In the House of Representatives
appropriating two millions of dollars for the pur
chase of territory from Mexico, applying to any sub
sequently acquired territory the provision of the Or
dinance of 1787, that it should have "neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude except for crime, whereof

334 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
the party shall first be duly convicted," This Wilmot
Proviso had been supported In the House of Repre
sentatives, where it was enacted, by the Northern
Democrats and by the Whigs; but it was sent
to the Senate too late to be acted on. Every
Southern legislature, save one, had denounced the
proposed exclusion of slavery from new territory by
the Federal Government, as a violation of the Con
stitution of the United States and of the reserved
rights of the States.
The convention met at Nashville on the day ap
pointed, with representatives from five states. Gor
don, who for a long time had retired from active
participation in Federal politics, was deeply Interested
in the movement, and had a profound appreciation
of Its significance. The Virginia delegates who at
tended in June were Messrs. Beverley Tucker, New
ton, Gholson, Wm. O. Goode, Claypoole, and Gor
don, On the 6th of June, 1850, Gordon wrote to
his wife from Nashville :
"I am perfectly well, and very busy with the affairs
of the convention. We have had a great deal of
talent, and a spirit of conciliation, and much una
nimity so far in our councils. I cannot say when the
convention will adjourn. We, I think, cannot ter
minate our meeting until next week, I am pleased I
came. I have been much Interested in the fine coun
try and the good-looking population of the States
through which I have passed, I am very desirous to
return home, and expected to receive a letter from
home; but as yet have been disappointed,
"The town of Nashville is a very handsome town.
The public and private edifices are on a scale of mag
nificence. Everything shows the prosperity of the
country. If we can once compose our differences
with the North, I am sure the slave-holding States
will continue more and more to demonstrate the value
of our Institutions, both in the wealth and the refine
ment of their population,"

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 335
The sessions of the Convention attracted the at
tention of the whole country ; and the Southern news
papers made its proceedings a conspicuous feature of
their news-reports. The convention adjourned on
June 13, 1850, after a session of ten days, to meet
again In Nashville In the following November, when
Congress should have finally adjourned. An address
to the people of the United States was adopted; and
a series of resolutions were agreed upon as follows :
"i. Resolved, That the territories of the United
States belong to the people of the several States of
this Union, as their common property; that the citi
zens of the several States have equal rights to mi
grate with their property to these territories and are
equally entitled to the protection of the Federal Gov
ernment in the enjoyment of that property so long as
the territories remain under the charge of that gov
ernment. "2. Resolved, That Congress has no power to ex
clude from the territory of the United States any
property lawfully held in the States of the Union,
and any acts which may be passed by the Congress to
effect this result is a plain violation of the Constitu
tion of the United States.
"3. Resolved, That it Is the duty of Congress to
provide governments for the territories, since the
spirit of American Institutions forbids the mainten
ance of military governments In time of peace; and
as all laws heretofore existing in territories once be
longing to foreign powers which Interfere with the
full enjoyment of religion, the freedom of the press,
the trial by jury, and all other rights of persons and
property as secured or recognized In the Constitu
tion of the United States, are necessarily void so soon
as such territories become American territories. It is
the duty of the Federal Government to make early
provision for the enactment of those laws, which may
be expedient and necessary to secure to the inhabi-

336 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
tants of and emigrants to such territories the full
benefit of the constitutional rights we assert.
"4. Resolved, That to protect property existing in
the several States of the Union, the people of these
States invested the Federal Government with the
powers of war and negotiation, and of sustaining arm
ies and navies, and prohibited to State authorities
the exercise of the same powers. They made no
discrimination in the protection to be afforded or the
description of the property to be defended, nor was
it allowed to the Federal Government to determine
what should be held as property. Whatever the
States deal with as property, the Federal Govern
ment is bound to recognize and defend as such.
Therefore it is the sense of this convention that all
acts of the Federal Government which tend to de
nationalize property of any description recognized
in the Constitution and laws of the States, or that dis
criminate in the degree and efficiency of the protection
to be afforded to it, or which weaken or destroy the
title of any citizen upon American territories, are
plain and palpable violations of the fundamental law
under which it exists.
"5. Resolved, That the slave-holding States cannot
and will not submit to the enactment by Congress of
any law imposing onerous conditions or restraints
upon the rights of masters to remove with their
property into the territories of the United States,
or to any law making discriminations in favor of the
proprietors of other property against them.
"6, Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal
Government plainly to recognize and firmly to main
tain the equal rights of the citizens of the several
States In the territories of the United States, and to
repudiate the power to make a discrimination be
tween the proprietors of different species of prop
erty in the federal legislation. The fulfilment of this
duty by the Federal Government would greatly tend
to restore the peace of the country, and to allay the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 337
exasperation and excitement which now exist between
the different sections of the Union, For it Is the
deliberate opinion of this Convention that the toler
ance Congress has given to the notion that federal
authority might be employed incidentally and indi
rectly to subvert or weaken the institution existing in
the States confessedly beyond federal jurisdiction and
control, Is a main cause of the discord which menaces
the existence of the Union, and which has well nigh
destroyed the efficient action of the Federal Govern
ment itself,
"7, Resolved, That the performance of this duty
is required by the fundamental law of the Union,
The equality of the people of the several States com
posing the Union cannot be disturbed without dis
turbing the frame of the American Institutions,
This principle Is violated in the denial to the citizens
of the slave-holding States of power to enter into the
territories with the property lawfully acquired in the
States, The warfare against this right Is a war upon
the Constitution. The defenders of this right are
defenders of the Constitution, Those who deny or
impair its exercise are unfaithful to the Constitution;
and if disunion follows the destruction of the right,
they are the disunlonists.
"8, Resolved, That the performance of its duties,
upon the principle we declare, would enable Congress
to remove the embarrassments In which the country
is now involved. The vacant territories of the
United States, no longer regarded as prizes for sec
tional rapacity and ambition, would be gradually
occupied by inhabitants drawn to them by their in
terests and feelings. The institutions fitted to them
would be naturally applied by governments formed
on American ideas, and approved by the deliberate
choice of their constituents. The community would
be educated and disciplined under a republican ad
ministration In habits of self-government, and fitted

338 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
for an association as a State, and to the enjoyment
of a place in the Confederacy. A community so
formed and organized might well claim admission to
the Union, and none would dispute the validity of
the claim.
"9. Resolved, That a recognition of this principle
would deprive the questions between Texas and the
United States of their sectional character, and would
leave them for adjustment without disturbance from
sectional prejudices and passions, upon considerations
of magnanimity and justice,
"10, Resolved, That a recognition of this prin
ciple would infuse a spirit of conciliation in the dis
cussion and adjustment of all the subjects of sectional
dispute, which would afford a guarantee of an early
and satisfactory determination,
"11. Resolved, That in the event a dominant ma
jority shall refuse to recognize the great constitu
tional rights we assert, and shall continue to deny
the obligations of the Federal Government to main
tain them. It Is the sense of this convention that the
territories should be treated as property, and divided
between the sections of the Union, so that the rights
of both sections be adequately secured In their re
spective shares. That we are aware this course is
open to grave objections, but we are ready to ac
quiesce in the adoption of the Une of 36°3o' north
latitude, extending to the Pacific Ocean, as an extreme
concession, upon considerations of what is due to the
stability of our institutions,
"12, Resolved, That it is the opinion of this con
vention that this controversy should be ended, either
by a recognition of the constitutional rights of the
Southern people, or by an equitable partition of the
territories. That the spectacle of a Confederacy of
States, Involved In quarrels over the fruits of a war
in which the American arms were crowned with glory,
is humiliating. That the Incorporation of the Wil
mot proviso. In the offer of settlement, — a proposi-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 339
tion which fourteen States regard as disparaging and
dishonorable, — is degrading to the country, A term
ination to this controversy by the disruption of the
Confederacy, or by the abandonment of the territories
to prevent such a result, would be a climax to the
shame which attaches to the controversy which It Is the
paramount duty of Congress to avoid,
"13, Resolved, That this convention will not con
clude that Congress will adjourn without making an
adjustment of this controversy; and in the condition
in which the convention finds the questions before
Congress, it does not feel at liberty to discuss the
methods suitable for a resistance to measures not yet
adopted, which might involve a dishonor to the
Southern States,"
On the loth day of November, Gordon, who had
returned to Nashville to attend the adjourned ses
sion of the convention, wrote to Mrs, Gordon from
that city :
"I arrived here last evening without an accident.
In perfect health, I came most of the way from
Charleston with some of the South Carolina and
Florida delegates to the convention, among whom
were Mr. Barnwell, Judge Cheves, Colonel Gregg,
and Colonel Chestnutt, the eulogist of Foote,
"I remained two days in Richmond, and saw a
number of old acquaintances. From Chattanooga
to this place we chartered an omnibus, and by easy
stages passing the Cumberland Mountains, and
sleeping at night, we reached Nashville with com
paratively little fatigue. None of the delegates from
Mississippi have arrived, but they are on the way.
There are some here from Georgia and Alabama ;
and most of them are expected to arrive to-day,
"I am alone from Virginia as yet, I have some
hope that Messrs, Newton, Goode and Garnett may
be here, but it Is uncertain.

340 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"There had not been a drop of the fine rain at
Richmond we had just before I left home, and the
drought and dust from that to this place were quite
oppressive; but as I write, it is raining copiously,
I can form as yet no Idea when we shall adjourn, but
I think we shall sit no longer than we did before, I
augur that our deliberations will be harmonious, and
our resolves almost unanimous,"
"This convention," says Benton, "took the de
cisive step, so far as it depended upon Itself, towards
a separation of the States, It invited the assem
bling of a Southern Congress, Two States alone
responded to that appeal — South Carolina and Mis
sissippi; and the legislatures of these two passed
solemn acts to carry it Into effect, — South Carolina
absolutely, by electing her quota of representatives to
the proposed Congress; Mississippi provisionally,
by subjecting her law to the approval of the people."
In the reassembled convention at Nashville, in No
vember, 1850, there were present delegates from seven
States — two more States than at its first session,
Gordon continued the sole representative from Vir
ginia, His colleagues, Newton, Goode and Garnett,
whose coming he had hoped for, did not appear.
The other States, besides Virginia, that were repre
sented in the reassemblage were Georgia, by eleven
delegates ; Alabama, by five ; Florida, by four ; Mis
sissippi, by eight; South Carolina, by sixteen, and
Tennessee, by fourteen.
The preamble and resolutions adopted at its second
session by the Convention were as follows :
"We, the delegates assembled from a portion of
the States of this Confederacy, make this exposi
tion of the causes which have brought us together,
and of the rights which the States we represent are
entitled to under the compact of the Union,
"We have amongst us two races marked by such

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 341
distinctions of color and physical and moral quali
ties as forever forbid their living together on terms
of social and political equality.
"The black race have been slaves from the earliest
settlement of our country, and our relations of mas
ter and slave have grown up from that time. A
change in those relations must end In convulsion, and
the entire ruin of one or both races.
"When the convention was adopted, this relation
of master and slave, as It exists, was expressly
recognized and guarded in that Instrument. It was a
great and vital Interest, involving our very existence
as a separate people, then as well as now.
"The States of this Confederacy acceded to that
compact, each one for itself, and ratified it as States.
"If the non-slaveholdlng States, who are parties
to that compact, disregard Its provisions and endanger
our peace and existence by united and deliberate action,
we have a right as States, there being no common arbi
ter, to secede,
"The object of those who are urging on the Fed
eral Government in its aggressive policy upon our
domestic institution is, beyond all doubt, finally to
overthrow and abolish the existing relation between
the master and slave. We feel authorized to assert
this from their own declarations, and from the his
tory of events in this country for the last few years,
"To abolish slavery or the slave-trade in the Dis
trict of Columbia — to regulate the sale and transfer
of slaves between the States — to exclude slaveholders
with their property from the territories — to admit
California under the circumstances of the case, we
hold to be all parts of the same system of measures,
and subordinate to the end that they have in view,
which is openly avowed to be the total overthrow
of the institution,
"We make no aggressive move. We stand upon
the defensive. We invoke the spirit of the Constitu
tion, and claim its guarantees. Our rights — our In-

342 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
dependence — the peace and existence of our families,
depend upon the issue,
"The Federal Government has within a few years
acquired, by treaty and by triumphant war, vast terri
tories. This has been done by the counsel and the
arms of all, and the benefits and rights belong alike
and equaUy to all the States, The Federal Govern
ment is but the common agent of the States united,
and represents their conjoined sovereignty over sub
ject-matter granted and defined in the compact,
"The authority it exercises over all acquired terri
tory must in good faith be exercised for the equal
benefit of all the parties. To prohibit our citizens
from settling there with the most valuable part of our
property Is not only degrading to us as equals, but
violates our highest constitutional rights,
"Restrictions and prohibitions against the slave-
holding States, It would appear, are to be the fixed
and settled policy of the Government; and those
States that are hereafter to be admitted Into the Fed
eral Union from their extensive territories will but
confirm and increase the power of the majority; and
he knows little of history who cannot read our des
tiny In the future, if we fail to do our duty now as
free people,
"We have been harassed and insulted by those who
ought to have been our brethren. In their constant
agitation of a subject vital to us and the peace of our
families. We have been outraged by their gross
misrepresentations of our moral and social habits,
and by the manner In which they have denounced us
before the world. We have had our property enticed
off, and the means of recovery denied us, by our co-
states. In the territories of the Union, which we were
entitled to as political equals under the Constitution,
Our peace has been endangered by incendiary appeals.
The Union, Instead of being considered a fraternal
bond, has been used as the means of striking at our
vital interests.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 343
"The admission of California under the circum
stances of the case, confirms an authorized and revo
lutionary seizure of public domain, and the exclusion
of near half the States of the Confederacy from equal
rights therein — destroys the line of thirty-six degrees
thirty minutes, which was originally acquiesced In
as a matter of compromise and peace, and appro
priates to the Northern States one hundred and
twenty thousand square miles below that line, and Is
so gross and palpable a violation of the principles of
justice and equality as to shake our confidence In any
security to be given by that majority who are now
clothed with power to govern the future destiny of
the Confederacy.
"The recent purchase of territory by Congress from
Texas, as low down as thirty-two degrees on the Rio
Grande, also Indicates that the boundaries of the
slave-holding States are fixed, and our doom pre
scribed, so far as It depends upon the will of a domi
nant majority, and nothing now can save us from a de
graded destiny but the spirit of freemen, who know
their rights and are resolved to maintain them, be
the consequences what they may,
"We have no powers that are binding upon the
States we represent. But in order to produce system
and concerted action, we recommend the following
resolutions, viz :
"Resolved, That we have ever cherished and do
now cherish a cordial attachment to the constitutional
Union of the States, and that to preserve and per
petuate that Union unimpaired, this convention
originated and has now reassembled,
"Resolved, That the Union of the States is a
Union of equal and independent sovereignties, and
that the powers delegated to the Federal Government
can be resumed by the several States, whenever It
may seem to them proper and necessary.
"Resolved, That aU the evils anticipated by the
South, and which occasioned this convention to as-

344 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
semble, have been realized by the faUure to extend
the Missouri line of compromise to the Pacific Ocean ;
by the admission of California as a State ; by the or
ganization of territorial governments for Utah and
New Mexico, without giving adequate protection to
the property of the South; by the dismemberment
of Texas; by the abolition of the slave-trade and
the emancipation of slaves carried Into the District
of Columbia for sale.
"Resolved, That we earnestly recommend to all
parties in the slave-holding states to refuse to go into
or countenance any national convention, whose ob
jects may be to nominate candidates for the Presi
dency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, un
der any party denomination whatever, until our con
stitutional rights are secured.
"Resolved, That in view of these aggressions, and
of those threatened and impending, we earnestly
recommend to the slave-holding States to meet in
a congress or convention, to be held at such time and
place as the States desiring to be represented may
designate, to be composed of double the number of
their Senators and Representatives in the Congress of
the United States, Intrusted with full power and au
thority to deliberate and act with the view and Inten
tion of arresting further aggression, and, if possible,
of restoring the constitutional rights of the South, and
If not, to provide for their future safety and inde
pendence, "Resolved, That the president of this convention
be requested to forward copies of the foregoing pre
amble and resolutions to the Governors of each of the
slave-holding States of the Union, to be laid before
their respective legislatures at their earliest assem
bling," General Gideon J, Pillow, a member of the con
vention, offered a series ol resolutions, acquiescing In
the bills included in the Compromise Measure of

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 345
1850, but recommending a commercial boycott of
the Northern States in the event that the compromise
acts should not be lived up to In good faith; and fur
ther providing for the call of a convention of slave-
holding States in the event of further aggression by
the North in the way of repealing the fugitive slave
law, abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia
or In any State, Interfering with the basis of repre
sentation fixed on "the Federal numbers," or with
the transportation of slaves from one slave-holding
State to another.
Pillow's resolutions were voted down, and those
given at length above were adopted.
In the National Intelligencer, a paper bitterly hos
tile to the Southern Convention, appeared the fol
lowing brief accounts of the November session :
"Nashville, Tennessee, June 10, — Mr. Gordon
said that as chairman of the Committee on Proposi
tions, he had a report to make on certain resolutions
referred to him."
"Nashville, November 16, 1850. — General Gor
don, of Virginia, from the Committee on Resolu
tions, reported a series of a strong character, and
recommending a Southern Congress at such time as
the States may designate. The proposition Is sub
stantially the same as that Introduced by the delega
tion from Alabama."
"Seventh Day, Southern Convention. — General
Gordon, of Virginia moved that the preamble and
resolutions which had been before reported be re
committed to the committee. Mr, McDaniel, of
Georgia moved the previous question, which was put
and carried without dissent,
"Mr, Gordon, of Virginia, gave notice that the
Committee on Resolutions would hold Its meeting
forthwith, Mr. McDaniel of Georgia, then offered
a preamble and resolutions which were referred;
and the convention took a recess for half an hour,
"On the reassembling of the convention General

346 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Gordon of Virginia stated that he was instructed by
the Committee on Resolutions to report that they
had adopted the preamble as reported by the com
mittee on Saturday, and had substituted other reso
lutions. They are as follows." (Here follow the
preamble and resolutions as heretofore given.)
"Mr. Gordon, of Virginia, moved the previous ques
tion, and on a call of the States six voted yea, and
one (Tennessee) nay. The question then recurring
on the adoption of the report of the committee, it
was adopted by the same vote."
The Nashville Banner of the 19th Instant con
cludes the report of the proceedings of the Nash
ville Convention by giving a full list of its members.
Their names are as follows :
Virginia : Gen, Wm, F, Gordon ( i ) ; Alabama :
R. Chapman, Geo. W. Williams, C. C, Clay, Sen.,
Jas. M, Calhoun, T, Buford, ( 5 ) ; Florida : C, H,
Dupont, Jean H. Verdier, P. W, White, John H.
McGehee (4); Mississippi: J. M, Acker, J. J.
Davenport, A, Hutcheson, W, H. Kilpatrick, Pear
son Smith, Thos, J. Wharton, J. C, Thompson, Chas.
McLaron, ( 8 ) ; Georgia : J, G, McWharter, John
A. Jones, John D. Stell, W. J, Parker, George R,
Hunter, Robert Bledsoe, James N, Bethune, John
C, Sneed, Charles J. McDonald, H, I, Benning, Dr,
Daniels (11); Tennessee: A. V, Broon, G, J, Pil
low, A. O, P, Nicholson, A, J. Donelson, J. B. Cle
ments, Thos. Claiborne, Dr. J, W, Esselman, W. G.
Harding, T. McGavock, Thomas Martin, W. H.
Polk, F. McClaren, T, D, Mosely, L, P. Cheatham
(14); South Carolina: Langdon Cheves, W, J,
Hanna, F. W. Pickens, W, C, Young, J, N. Whlt-
ner, Jas, Bradley, Samuel Otterson, Drayton Nance,
D, F, Jamison, Maxy Gregg, G, A, Trenholm, John
S, Wilson, James Chestnutt, Jr,, Wm, DuBose, R,
W, BarnweU, R, B, Rhett (16).
The congressional compromise bills had become a

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 347
law before the convention reassembled; and though
Mississippi and South Carolina took active steps to
wards the convocation of the Southern Congress,
the repudiation by the United States Congress of the
Wilmot Proviso, and the provision for a rigid fugi
tive slave law in the Compromise measures, served
to defer the separation which had, however, become
inevitable. The Nashville Convention was the
cradle of the Southern Confederacy.
His attendance upon the convention. In which he
was one of the most conspicuous figures, was Gor
don's last appearance on the stage of national poli
tics. Before the decade was ended he had died; and
in two years after its ending one of his eight sons had
been sent as the special emissary of a representative
convention of Virginians at Richmond to convey to
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of
America, the ancient Commonwealth's Ordinance of
Secession ; — while six of those eight sons had entered
the armies of the Southern Confederacy; and one of
them ere the war between the States was a year old,
had fallen at the head of his charging column, at
Malvern HIU, In the bloodiest battle of the Seven
Days fights about Richmond,

CHAPTER XXIV
manners and customs of congressmen —
Houston's assault on stanbery — the news
papers.The manners and customs of the men In public
life during the period of Gordon's service in Con
gress should not be without interest for a later genera
tion. In the matter of dress it was not uncommon
or unfashionable with certain members of Congress
to wear homespun clothes; and reference has been
made In an earlier chapter to Gordon's "Virginia
cloth" suit, which had so pleased his commanding
officer, General Cocke, during the war of 1 8 1 2, One
of Mr. Clay's earliest resolutions in the Kentucky
legislature recommended that the members should
wear only such clothes as were the product of do
mestic manufacture. This measure of Mr, Clay's was
denounced by Humphrey Marshall as "the clap
trap of a demagogue," a characterization which
provoked a fierce altercation, and finally resulted In
a duel, In which both participants were slightly
wounded. The spirit of frugality prevailed es
pecially among the State-Rights men of the period.
As they did not desire to depend upon the Federal
Government for the laws affecting their daily per
sonal life, so they aspired to be Independent of the
world, as far as it might be possible, in an economic
way; and It is a significant fact that the virtue of
frugality has been from the first extolled in all the
constitutions of Virginia, Mr, Clay epitomized the
sentiment and the custom, when he said: "A judi
cious American farmer in his household may manu
facture whatever Is requisite for his family. He
squanders but little in the gewgaws of Europe. He
presents in epitome what the nation ought to be in

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 349
extenso. Their manufactories should bear the same
proportion and effect the same object In relation to
the whole community, which the part of his house
hold employed In domestic manufacturing bears to
the whole family. It is certainly desirable that the
exports of the country should continue to be the sur
plus production of tlUage, and not become those of
manufacturing establishments. But it is Important
to diminish our Imports;, to furnish ourselves with
clothing made by our own industry; and to cease to
be dependent for the very coats we wear, upon a
foreign and perhaps Inimical country. The nation
that Imports Its clothing from abroad Is but little less
dependent than If it imported its bread,"
Mr. Clay's views developed later into an advocacy
of a tariff as a part of his "American System"; but
Gordon's admiration and regard for homespun
clothes grew out of the fact that they were the pro
duct of the plantation. The "local self-government"
which he always advocated was but a part of the
local and individual self-reliance, which lay at the
very foundation of the Jeffersonian creed of govern
mental ethics. Through no affectation, therefore, but
from a spirit of patriotic pride. It was a custom of
Gordon's, and of many of his colleagues, to wear
homespun costumes ; and these were usually cut after
the fashion of the modern "dress clothes" — a "swal
low-tail coat," ornamented with plain brass buttons,
and the long trousers which had now succeeded the
colonial knee-breeches, that had continued through
the earlier administrations of Washington, Adams
and Jefferson.
The Continental Congress, following the example
yet pursued in the English House of Commons, had
been accustomed to sit in session with their hats on;
and this custom came down to Andrew Jackson's
time, "It was thought to be a very great honor
for the House to 'uncover' for anything or anybody,"
says the author of "The American Congress," who

350 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
mentions this habit of the body. "The Speaker,"
he continues, "would sit In his chair all through a
session with his hat on, but when he rose to call the
attention of the House to any matter he would gen
erally doff his hat. About 1830 'cloak rooms' were
introduced, and gradually the members discontinued
the practice of wearing their hats during a session."
A member of the House some years later Inveighed
in a speech upon the burdens, which In his day had
come to be the share of the members of Congress,
as compared with the ease and leisure with which the
earlier Congressmen had been used to transact the
public business, "It has grown into an established
usage," he said, "for a member to publish his speeches
in pamphlet form, and distribute the same among
his constituents. To this end he must write out his
speeches, superintend the printing, (aye, and pay
for it, too), compare the proof sheets, and when the
little pamphlets have been enveloped, he must go to
work and frank and direct them by the thousand and
ten thousand, and after all be faulted for not sending
out more of them. The onerous labor incident to
this operation often occupies the attention of members
while the House is in session, and confusion and waste
of time In calls of committees or of the House is the
necessary result. And not only this, but he Is ex
pected to frank, direct and send tens of thousands of
speeches and documents furnished at the cost of the
government. To accomplish this he will sit at his
desk in the hall franking and directing while a motion
is made and stated, a resolution offered and read, or
a bill or amendment reported to the clerk; and when
he finds a vote about to be taken he throws down his
pen, perfectly unconscious of the matter before the
House, and of course, calls for the reading of the
proposition. Time Is wasted in reading It, So we
go. "Sir, forty years ago, our predecessors came to
this hall every day In full dress at twelve o'clock,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 351
sat at their desks two or three hours without shaking
the powder from their locks, rumpling the ruffles
which garnished their bosoms, soiling their fingers
with ink, or compromising their personal dignity.
How different It is now ! So soon as the committees
act upon the propositions before them, and bring
the same before the House, or soon thereafter, we
change the hour of meeting to eleven A, M,, and
afterwards to ten A, M, ; and we adjourn at various
hours — generally from four to ten o'clock p, M,
The mornings are occupied In writing letters, frank
ing and directing documents, etc, or In attendance
upon the committees to which we belong. When the
hour of meeting arrives, It finds us In the midst of a
letter or with a pile of documents before us. These
we despatch, and away for the Capitol, — at what
In Indiana we call a long lope — not in full dress, by
any means,"
Party feeling ran very high, and occasionaUy
charges reflecting on the personal or political char
acter or conduct of adversaries were made by poli
ticians through the medium of the newspapers or
upon the floor of legislative bodies in debate. The
result was not infrequently a collision or a duel.
One of the most famous of these duels was that be
tween Mr, Clay and Randolph of Roanoke, grow
ing out of the characterization by the latter of the
political alliance between Clay and Adams as the
combination of "Blifil and Black-George — the Puri
tan and the black-leg" — an allusion founded upon the
lives of two of the characters in Fielding's "Tom
Jones." Another and far more tragic one was that
between Graves and Cilley, which resulted In the
death of one of the principals — a bloody conclusion
for which Mr, Wise of Virginia, who was a second
in the duel, was, as heretofore stated, unjustly
charged with responsibility by his political adver
saries. Many men went armed, either with dirks or sword-

352 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
canes; and this was especially the case with those
from the far South and Southwest, A highly In
teresting and dramatic episode, which occupied a con
siderable length of time for its final disposition, oc
curred during the first session of the 22d Congress,
of which Gordon was a member. This was the trial
of Samuel Houston, the Texan hero, for a breach of
the privileges of the House In assaulting and beating
Mr, Stanbery of Ohio, who had taken advantage of
the exemption of members of Congress from being
called to account for words spoken in debate, Hous
ton, who was even then a notable and picturesque
personage, afterwards became the first President of
the Republic of Texas ; and when Texas was admitted
into the Union as a State, he was elected to the United
States Senate as one of its two first Senators, When
he came to the Senate in 1846, he is described as "a
large, fine-looking, rather eccentric man, who usually
wore a very conspicuous costume, made up of a big
Mexican sombrero, a blue coat with brass buttons,
a flaming red vest, and buff pantaloons," At the
time of his encounter with Stanbery he wore the cos
tume of the Indians with whom he had been living,
and on account of whom his difficulty with the Ohio
member originated.
Houston's career had already been an unusual and
checkered one. He was a native of Rockbridge
County, Virginia, and was sprung from that sturdy
Scotch-Irish strain of Valley Ulstermen, who have
given to the Union so many of its illustrious names.
He had been a major-general of the Tennessee troops,
had served In Congress from 1823 to 1827, and had
been Governor of Tennessee, In 1829 he had mar
ried a young woman of that State, and separated from
her a few weeks after his marriage, without any ex
planation save that his conduct did not reflect upon
her character. He became very unpopular on this
account; and leaving the State of Tennessee went
l)acl< to live with his Cherokee friends, In whose

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 353
Interest he had now returned to Washington, Stan
bery on the floor of the House charged Houston with
attempting to get a fraudulent contract with the
Government for furnishing supplies to the Indians,
The account of the Ohio man's accusation was pub
lished in the National Intelligencer. Houston sent
Stanbery a note by Cave Johnson, another member,
requesting to know if his name had been used In de
bate by the latter; and If so, whether the newspaper
had correctly quoted his remarks, Stanbery, instead
of replying to Houston, addressed a communication
to Johnson, saying, "I cannot recognize the right of
Mr. Houston to make the request." What appears
to have happened thereafter Is graphically narrated
in the testimony of Mr. Alexander Buckner, a Sen
ator of the United States from the State of Missis
sippi, who, after haying been sworn on behalf of
Houston, who had been summoned to answer to a
breach of the privilege of the House, testified as fol
lows: "On the evening of the 13th, I think, after tea was
over at my boarding-house, I stepped into the room
of Mr, Grundy; we sat there alone conversing for
a few moments. Governor Houston entered the
outward door, and passed down the passage, intend
ing, as I thought, to pass the door of Mr, Grundy,
which was partly open at that time; as he came op
posite the door, he halted and looked In; I spoke
to him and asked him Into the room; we indulged
a while in idle playful conversation, Mr, Blair,
who was in the adjoining room, in a few minutes
stepped In also. Governor Houston was relating
some anecdotes, which occupied our attention some
fifteen or twenty minutes, when Mr, Blair and myself
rose to retire ; we walked out of the room, it being a
very fine evening, and turned carelessly toward the
23

354 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
outward door, not haying any particular object In
view. Governor Houston came after us, and, as
he stepped out of the door, took each of us by the
arm, one on each side of him, and bore us up the
Avenue, We continued in light conversation, walk
ing slowly, till we came to the cross street which runs
up to the City Hall, across the Avenue at the end
of the brick pavement. When we got to that place,
Mr, Blair observed that we had gone far enough;
we had gone half way with Houston, and that to be
polite, he ought to go back with us. Houston an
swered, no; saying, I think, that he had company,
and must go back. At that time we all faced about,
Houston was rather in the rear, Mr. Blair a little
In advance on the right; after we faced about Mr.
Blair moved off very briskly, without waiting for me
to go with him, I was surprised at this movement,
and asked Houston what makes Blair go off so fast.
Houston was standing not directly facing the palings,
but rather quartering towards it, and quartering to
me; without answering my question he appeared to
shift the position of his feet. I saw nothing at the
time, but soon discovered a gentleman coming across
the Avenue, and pretty near to us, and near to the
pavement; at the time I did not recognize the In
dividual when I first observed him, but as he ap
proached nearer, and was in the act of putting his foot
upon the pavement, I discovered it to be Mr. Stan
bery. It occurred immediately to me that there
would be a difficulty between them, having understood
previously that there had been dissatisfaction between
them. Houston did not reply to my question; as
Stanbery approached nearer, he appeared to halt in
his pace, Houston asked if that was Mr, Stanbery;
he replied very politely, and bowing at the same time,
'Yes, sir,' 'Then,' said Llouston, 'you are the
damned rascal'; and, with that, struck him with a
stick which he held in his hand, Stanbery threw up
his h^nds over his head, and staggered back, his hat

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 355
feU off, and he exclaimed, 'Oh, don't.' Houston con
tinued to foUow him up, and continued to strike him ;
after receiving several severe blows, Stanbery turned,
as I thought, to run off, Houston, at that moment,
sprung upon him in the rear ; Stanbery's arms hang
ing down apparently defenceless ; he seized him, and
attempted to throw him but was not able to do so,
Stanbery carried him about on the pavement some
little time; whether he extricated himself, or Hous
ton thrust him from him, I am not able to determine.
I thought he thrust him from him. As he passed
him he struck him, and gave him a trip : Stanbery
fell ; when he f eU he still continued to hollow ; indeed
he hollowed all the time pretty much, except when
they were scuffling. I saw Stanbery, after having re
ceived several blows, put out both hands In this way;
he then lying on his back. I did not discover what
was in his hands, or if anything was, but I heard a
sound like the snapping of a gun-lock, and I saw par
ticles of fire. Houston appeared to take hold of
Stanbery's hands, and took something from them
which I could not see; after that, Houston stood up
more erect, still beating Stanbery with a stick over
the head, arms, and sides; Stanbery still kept his
hands spread out. After Houston's giving him sev
eral other blows, he lay on his back and put up his
feet; Houston then struck him elsewhere. Mr. Stan
bery, after having received several blows, ceased to
hollow, and lay, as I thought, perfectly still. All
this time I had not spoken to either of the parties, or
interfered in any manner whatever. I now thought
Stanbery was badly hurt, or perhaps killed, from the
manner In which he lay : I stepped up to Houston to
tell him to desist, but without being spoken to, he
quit of his own accord. Mr. Stanbery then got up
on his feet; and I then saw the pistol In the right hand
of Governor Houston, for the first time ; some alter
cation passed between them, Houston observed that
he had taken the pistol from Stanbery, Mr, Stan-

356 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
bery, about that time, asked Houston why he at
tempted to assassinate him in the night? Houston
replied he had not attempted to assassinate him, but
had chastised him for having traduced his reputa
tion. By this time, a crowd had gathered round;
and some person, I do not know who, spoke to Hous
ton, Houston replied that he attended to his own
business, and that he had chastised the damned scoun
drel; If he had offended the law, he would answer
for what he had done; he repeated that he had dis
armed him, and borne off his pistol, Houston then
walked off, and left me; then, after standing for a
few moments, I walked off and left Stanbery stand
ing with the crowd,"
It appeared from the testimony of another witness
that Houston was armed with a sword-cane, which
was disclosed, not by his attempting to draw the
sword, but by the lower part of the cane which con
stituted the sheath flying off while he was in the act
of striking Stanbery with It,
The trial in the House of Representatives, which
lasted nearly a month, excited great Interest; and
during its progress ladies were "admitted within the
hall," The judgment of the House, Indicated by a
vote of ninety-six to eighty-four, was that Houston
should be brought to the bar of the House and re
primanded by the Speaker for contempt and a viola
tion of the privUeges of the House, and then dis
charged from custody, Gordon voted with the min
ority against the reprimand. The sentiment of most
of the Southern members was that although the privi
lege of the House forbade members being called to
account for words spoken in debate, yet no member
should speak words in debate for which he was un
willing to hold himself responsible, Houston re
ceived the reprimand, after filing a written protest
denying the jurisdiction of the House to try him, and
was discharged from custody.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 357
The National Intelligencer, in which had appeared
the account of Stanbery's speech, that gave such um
brage to Governor Houston, was conducted by Wil
liam Winston Seaton, a Virginian who was descended
frorn the ancient Scotch family of Seaton, and had
received his education when a youth in Richmond
from a Scotch nobleman, the Earl of Findlater, who
at that time wasa refugee from his native land, and
taught a school In the Virginia capital, Seaton and
his partner, Joseph Gales, Jr,, a North Carolinian
who was Seaton's brother-in-law, and also a brilliant
writer, were for many years the official reporters of
Congress, and published "the leading debates and
incidents" of its sessions in the "Register of Debates,"
Their newspaper, the National Intelligencer, after
the organization of the Whig party, became the re
presentative journal of that faction, and exercised a
great political Influence, It was an aphorism In the
later days of Whiggery, that "if a man were found
dead with a copy of the National Intelligencer In his
pocket, though he were otherwise unknown, he might
be counted to be a Whig and a gentleman" — a saying
which had its parallel in the story that was current
at an even later period, to the effect that a certain
veteran Whig editor of Petersburg, Virginia, upon
being asked by an ingenuous youth, if there were any
gentlemen in the Democratic party, said, after a
pause, and thoughtfully, "There may be a few, my
son ; Ijut, they are in damned bad company !"
The journalism of the period was of a very differ
ent character from that of the later generations.
Long political essays, signed with the classic names
of Greek or Roman statesmen, and discussing the
profoundest questions of constitutional government,
continued to fill the columns of the newspaper press
to a comparatively late period in the first half of the
nineteenth century. But the most characteristic feat
ure of this old-fashioned journalism was the person
ality of the editors of the several prominent journals.

358 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
The National Intelligencer meant Gales and Seaton,
as later the New York Herald meant Bennett, and
the Tribune meant Greeley,
In Virginia for forty years there was no more
powerful political Influence than that exercised by
Thomas Ritchie through the columns of the Rich
mond Enquirer; and no cause had anywhere in the
Union an abler champion than did that of the State-
Rights Democracy in his potential advocacy of its
principles. He began the publication of his paper
in Richmond In 1804; and was the editor and pub
lisher of the "Debates of the Convention of 1829-
1830," He was king-maker among the politicians;
and the young and talented men of his party in the
State always received from him, through the En
quirer, recognition of their talents and energies, and
a helping hand, Gordon was among his many and
ardent admirers, and was greatly interested In his
career, Mr, Ritchie's long experience as an editor, his ac
quaintance with public men, and his prominence and
influence in the councils of his party, made him during
the larger part of his career one of the most conspicu
ous figures in the State and national politics of his
times; while it has been not inaptly said of the En
quirer under his editorship, that the history of Vir
ginia for forty years might be written from its col
umns, Mr, Ritchie's great journalistic antagonist In Vir
ginia was John Hampden Pleasants, a son of Gov
ernor James Pleasants, who founded and was for
many years the editor of the Richmond Whig, the
chief exponent of Whig doctrines In the Common
wealth for more than two decades. Mr, Ritchie's
son, Thomas Ritchie, Junior, and Mr, Pleasants en
gaged in a duel that unfortunately grew out of
political articles in their respective papers, and In this
encounter the latter was killed.
The state of party feeling, as illustrated In the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 359
newspaper press, during the debate on the Deposit
Banks blU In 1835, is set out from the standpoint of
a supporter of the Sub-Treasury amendment in a
speech on the floor of the House, which may be taken
as an extreme presentation of one who was smarting
under what he regarded as the outrageous Ucense of
contemporary journalism,
"Mr, Clayton, of Georgia," says the official report,
"rose and said: Mr, Speaker, I have two objects
In wishing to address the House upon the question
under debate; the first is to justify myself against
a calumny, and the other is to defend my vote against
Inconsistency, I am accused abroad, and what is
worse, at home too, of being bank-bought. This is
the charge against every man who dares to exercise
the least liberality of sentiment or independence of
opinion, and, to use a familiar phrase, if he does not
walk the chalks exactly as they are drawn, he is
everything but an honest man. He Is accused of
bribery, speculation, assassination, corruption, fraud,
lying, deceit, and indeed every species of meanness,
"Mr, Speaker, if the world believed everything
that is said of public characters in America, they must
consider Congress as a den of petty rogues, and the
nation as a province of polished pick-pockets. Let
me, for the amusement of the House, present them
with a true picture of their character, as portrayed
by the public journals of the country, those faithful
registers of all sorts of information, those truthful
reflectors of public morals, and not less charitable
memorials of private character. And to this end I
would ask you to go with me, in your Imagination,
to Europe, to a large reading-room, for instance. In
London, Suppose a large collection of people as
sembled in that place, and, as is not unfrequently the
case, one more bold than the rest calls the attention
of the crowd to some interesting extracts from a
North American paper just from the seat of Govern
ment of that great Republic, that land of liberty, of

36o WILLIAM IFTZHUGH GORDON
equal laws, of pure institutions, and whose glorious
traits every Fourth of July celebration 'rings through
the world with loud applause,' " He reads :
"Extract from a Fourth of luly oration.
" 'Here In this land of liberty the oppressed of all
nations, fleeing from the tyranny of the old world,
may find an asylum in the purity of our Government,
the sanctity of Its principles, the patriotism of its
statesmen, and a certain protection in the equality
of its laws.'
"A toast on that occasion.
" 'The American States — confederated upon prin
ciples of liberty, justice and equality, present a sacred
refuge to all who shall fly from the force, the follies,
and the frauds of priest-ridden Europe,'
"The assembly all cry out, 'Glorious people!
Magnanimous nation! Happy government!' But
stop, says the reader, let us see what Is on the other
side. He reads:
"Extracts from the President's letter to one of his
Secretaries. " 'The deposits must be removed before Congress
meets, or the Bank will bribe enough of the mem
bers to prevent it.'
"Extract from the Government press.
" 'Senators Clay and Webster are the feed law
yers of the Bank, and hence, their great exertions In
its behalf.'
"From the same.
" 'Senator Calhoun instigated the assassination of
the President.'
"From the same.
" 'Senator Tipton has valuable lands on the Wa
bash, and hence he is trying to get an appropriation
to Improve the navigation of the latter, with a view
to improve the value of the fomier.'
"Extract from a letter of a Washington Corre
spondent.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 361
" 'Senator Webster gets a fee of $5,000 to aid in
passing a blU to pay off French claims.'
"From the sajue.
" 'Governor Tazewell, of Virginia, pure and Im^-
maculate as he Is considered, has received $50,000
from the United States Bank.'
"From the same.
"_ 'Representative A, S, Clayton, who was so violent
against the Bank, has received an accommodation
from that institution, and It has glued his tongue to
the roof of his mouth.'
" 'Was there ever such a set of cut-throats?' cries
one. 'What a Botany Bay set of scoundrels!' says
another. 'Nothing better,' says a third, 'could be
expected from the descendants of convicts,' 'Oh!
the impudent braggarts !'
"Now, Mr. Speaker, what Is the commentary on
aU this? Suppose Mrs. TroUope, or Basil Hall,
or the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, or some of that tribe
of lying journalists who are hired to steal reputa
tion just because they have no reputation of their
own, had gone home and said these things of an
American Congress; what do you imagine the good
people of the United States would have thought
about it? Would it not have produced a deep sen
sation throughout the whole land? Would not
every American of high and honorable feelings have
considered himself grossly scandalized In this male
volent attack upon his country's character ? Nations
have characters as well as individuals, and it is the
sum of individual character that forms a nation's.
It Is utterly impossible for a community of thieves to
make an honest nation ; therefore, every man's char
acter is identified with the character of his country.
When, sir, did any traveler ever. In the worst con
dition of his bile, say such things of us as our com
monly called well-regulated press? They speak of
our manners, customs and Intelligence In terms of
derision, and this excites our indignation in a very

362 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
high degree ; but they say but little about our morals,
and nothing about our honesty; and yet, Mr, Speak
er, our own press would make the world believe,
(and that very world, too, who are looking upon
us with a jealous, not to say, envious eye, on account
of our free principles,) that the great fountain-head
of our legislation, which forms the heart and motive
power of these great liberal principles. Is as corrupt
as the most varied infamy can make It, Can any
thing more delight foreign nations, differing as they
do from us in their forms of government, and trem
bling under the dread of the Influence of enlightened
'freedom upon their coercive institutions, than to
hear that we are likely to sink under the moral dls-
temperature of our system? If they believe our own
testimony, they have a right to form that conclusion ;
and, false as we know It to be, yet we sit here. In
different as to the consequences of such pestilential
slander, tamely acquiescing in every malicious calum
ny that emanates from the press, or from correspon
dents in or out of this House; and, what Is worse,
powerless as we are to suppress the mischief, it meets
with no condemnation from the people, whose own
country and character are as much affected by it as
our own; it arouses no portion of their sensibility,
though It strikes the deadliest blow at the whole
moral frame of a government that forms the boast
of a periodical festival and the theme of their per
petual admiration."

CHAPTER XXV
RETURNS TO THE BAR  ON THE CIRCUIT — THE
' ALBEMARLE LAWYERS- — LETTER ON THE IN
FLUENCES OF SLAVERY,
With his retirement from the activities of politics.
In which he had been continuously engaged since
1818, Gordon renewed his Interest in his profession,
and in the pursuit of agriculture, a combination of
occupations not unusual with the Virginia lawyer of
the period.
Society at its best then dwelt in the country re
gions of Virginia, The cities and towns were of
comparatively small population, and slave labor
made the land-owner Independent and comfortable.
The country lawyer had his office in the yard attached
to his dwelling-house, and here his clients visited him ;
or else he met them, and was retained In their cases
at the county-seat on court-day — a monthly occasion
upon which the citizens gathered together to transact
their business with each other, to listen to political
speeches, and to look after their various matters of
Interest, and to attend court,
Thomas Nelson Page, In his paper on "The Old
Virginia Lawyer," read before the Virginia State
Bar Association in 1891, has portrayed with vivid
touch the lawyer of the old school. "He was a
notable person," says Page, "a character well worth
preserving; a constitutional part of our civilization.
He was the most considerable man of the county.
The planter, the preacher and the doctor were all men
of position and consideration, but the old lawyer sur
passed them all. Without the wealth of the planter,
the authority of the clergyman, or the personal affec
tion, which was the peculiar possession of the family
physician, the old lawyer held a position in the county

364 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
easily first. He was. Indeed, as has been aptly said,
a planter, though he was not that primarily. Pri
marily he was lawyer. He managed his farm only
by the way,
"In conversation he was brilliant. The whole
field of law, of literature, history, philosophy, was
his domain. In all of them he ranged at will, ex
hibiting a knowledge, an intelligence, a critical
faculty, which were astonishing. Though he never
wrote a line, he was a philosopher, a wit, a poet.
His knowledge of human nature was profound. It
was his chief study. He nearly always spoke of
men in the aggregate with contempt; of the times
as 'degenerate' ; yet in actual intercourse his conduct
was at variance with his talk; he treated every one
with respect , , , , his fund of anecdote was in
exhaustible. He told stories which kept his com
panions roaring; he told them with inimitable apt
ness and delicious humor; among them he was a boy,
jovial, rollicking; yet, let but a fool approach, and
he was dignity Itself, To young lawyers he was all
kindness. He treated them with a courtesy which
was knightly, with a gentleness and consideration
which were tenderness. He called them in private
intercourse by their names, with that flattering famil
iarity so pleasing to young men. In public he re
ferred to them as 'the learned counsel,' or 'my dis
tinguished young brother.' They repaid It by wor
shipping him."
The characterization Is quite typical; and with
differentiations Is applicable to Gordon, as to many
of his professional brethren of the period. It may
be said of him, however, that no contempt of men
in the aggregate entered Into his mental make-up.
He believed In the ultimate sanity and integrity of
the people, with a faith as profound as ever Imbued
Mr, Jefferson in the days of his extremest democracy,
"Riding the circuit," In the practice of law, was
an incident of the profession in those days before the

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 365
advent of the railroads. William Wirt and Dabney
Carr rode the circuit together, out of Albemarle,
into the "free State of Fluvanna," when they were
young men; and prophesied each the future of the
other as they jogged along the red clay roads. Mr.
WiUiam Green, the most erudite and scholarly law
yer of his age, and a contemporary of Gordon's,
as were Wirt and Carr, on his circuit-riding always
took with him in his saddle-bags or his great-coat
pocket a copy of some classic Greek or Latin author.
Though the associations, which this vogue of travel
ing the circuit created, were frequently, during the re
cesses of the court, cemented by a conviviality that
was not unusual In other contemporaneous societies,
yet the large majority of the country lawyers of the
time practised their profession with serious purpose
and noble achievement, and by no means with the
dissipation often attributed to them,
Gordon, whose home at Edgeworth was conven
iently situated near the junction of the three counties
of Albemarle, Orange, and Louisa, and within easy-
reaching distance of the county of Fluvanna, was a
regular practitioner In the courts of each of them.
Although In his later years, from the Inbred habit
that comes Inevitably to most lawyers who continue
long in active politics, he had ceased to be such a
close and careful student of text-books and of cases
as he had been in his earUer practice; yet the great
principles, which constitute the basis of the law, had
been so deeply grounded In him In his earlier exper
ience that they remained with him; while they had
been continually revived and refreshed by his work
during aU his legislative career, through his frequent
association and contact with law and lawyers in his
services upon the Judiciary committees of the House
of Delegates and of the national House of Repre
sentatives. The overwhelming mass of decisions and of legal
essays and texts, which now afford to the practitioner

366 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
cases for and against nearly every legal proposition
that may be suggested, and contribute to make of the
highly successful lawyer of to-day almost necessarily
a specialist, on account of the limit imposed on human
endurance by finite time, were not essential to the
accomplished practitioner of Gordon's day. He ar
gued his cases from fundamental principles. Melius
est petere fontes quam sectari rivulos, was a not in
frequent maxim of his able bar; — and he made but
sparse and limited citation of authority. His appeal
was to the judicial intelligence which applied sound
reasons to basic foundations, and reached conclusions
which were as certain and correct as any established
upon innumerable cases by unnumbered judges.
With this method of presentation Gordon was strong
and persuasive in all the courts In which he practised ;
and the records of these courts attest the frequency
of his employment In Important litigation, and the
success with which It was conducted by him. As an
advocate in the trial of jury causes, he was eminently
distinguished; and until, with the approach of old
age, he withdrew from active practice, there were
comparatively few litigated common law cases of
importance, or criminal cases of any magnitude in his
judicial circuit, in which he did not appear. That
he maintained himself among his competitors of the
period Is no slight Indication of his knowledge, his
ability, and his skill; for the bar of his vicinage
ranked then, as it ranked before, and has ranked
since, as among the ablest in a State, where the pro
fession has, through the history of both Colony and
Commonwealth, attracted the pursuit of the acutest
and most highly trained Intellects,
At his home bar in Albemarle, and of his own
generation, the roster of lawyers bore the names of
Philip Pendleton Barbour, Hugh Nelson, John S,
Barbour, Valentine W, Southall, Richard H. Field,
Briscoe G, Baldwin, James Barbour, William Cabell
Rives, Chapman Johnson, Thomas Walker Gilmer,

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 367
and Nicholas P. Trist. Some of these men were resi
dents of other counties ; but they were aU active prac
titioners In the Albemarle courts, and they were all
highly distinguished In their profession.
Of the junior bar who practised in the county were
Thomas J. Michie, Luclan Minor, WiUiam B. Nap-
ton, Egbert R, Watson, Hugh A, Garland, Peachy
R, Grattan, John W, Stevenson, John B, Minor,
Shelton F, Leake, Allen B, Magruder, George Wythe
Randolph, William J. Robertson and Roger A. Pryor.
The membership of the Albemarle bar from 1809,
when Gordon first qualified to practise In the courts
of the county, to 1858, the year of his death, consti
tutes a shining bede-roU of illustrious names In the
story of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
Brief mention of many of these men has been made
In preceding chapters. Notable among them on the
poUtical arena of Gordon's period was Nicholas P,
Trist, who having studied law under Mr. Jefferson,
was private secretary to President Jackson, and later
became United States Consul at Havana. He was
Assistant Secretary of State of the United States in
1845; and negotiated the treaty of Guadaloupe HI-
dUgo as Peace Commissioner to Mexico in 1848,
William Green of Culpeper, Gordon's junior by
some twenty years, was known as the most learned
lawyer of his day, not only In Virginia but In the
United States; and the fame of his erudition ex
tended to England, Green and Gordon frequently
met each other In the trial of cases, Mr, John Ran
dolph Tucker was accustomed to tell, with an inimi
table humor, a story of the discussion, between these
two, of Shakespeare's legal knowledge as Ulustrated
in the character of Portia in "The Merchant of
Venice," It Is here set down as narrated by Mr.
Tucker in an address before the Bar Association of
the City of Richmond in the eighties :
"At the country tavern at Orange Court House,"
said Mr, Tucker, "the judge (Field) and the bar

368 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
assembled In the evening after the labors of the day
were over, and professional, public, historic and liter
ary matters were discussed with clever and playful
criticism. In which sharp blows were given and re
ceived without temper or offence. Three lawyers
were there who took part In the exercise of debate, —
the judge and the remainder of the bar as auditors, —
General Gordon, William Green and Alexander R.
HoUaday. General Gordon admired and was better
read in Shakespeare than in the works of my Lord
Coke, On this occasion he was dilating (not dilut
ing, as a wag once said of another speaker) on the
marvellous genius of the great poet. He rose (he
generally did in conversation, when his talk became
something of a speech), and held the floor without
dispute, and not under the prior rule. He permitted
questions from the audience, which only sharpened
his wit and gave spirit to his eloquence,
"Green and Gordon were great friends and mutual
admirers. Each admired in the other what he did
not possess, Gordon dreaded Green's nice point of
law; Green feared Gordon's eloquence before the
jury. Hence their tactics, when opposed, were di
verse, Gordon strove to brush away Green's ob
structive legal objections, while Green sturdily Inter
posed them. 'For Heaven's sake?' cried Gordon
one day, 'let us get to the jury.' 'No,' said Green,
'for if we do, my case is lost,'
"On the occasion under discussion, Gordon spoke
of the myriad-minded Shakespeare, whose knowledge
of the human heart was as If he had made It; that
he seemed to know all human vocations, as if he were
a master-workmen In it, and that In a word, nil
tetigit quod non ornavit.
"At this point Green, who was quietly walking up
and down the room, listening with genuine interest to
the eulogy on Shakespeare, Interposed with the re
mark: " 'Well, General, I am not disposed to depreciate

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 369
your beautiful tribute to the immortal bard; but it Is
due to loyalty to our profession to affirm with confi
dence, what I am ready to maintain before the court,
that whatever he knew of other vocations, he was not
even a tyro in the scene of jurisprudence,'
"Gordon (with emphatic contempt) : 'Well, I
suppose he could hardly compete with a county court
lawyer in the trial of a petty case before the County
Court of Orange, But I challenge your proof,'
"Green: 'In answer to your challenge, I allege he
showed utter ignorance of the simplest maxims of
law In the decision of the case. In re Shylock.'
"Gordon: 'Who the devil ever heard It called In
re Shylock?' "Green: 'I know no other way to cite it; but I
affirm the decision was utterly absurd,'
"Gordon : 'No doubt It is unintelligible to the pet
tifoggers who practise In the county courts. Do you
propose to drag down the winged Pegasus of Shake
speare's genius, and drive him to the tumbril-cart of
your petty county court?'
" 'Green (not offended at this playful badinage) :
'Well, General, notwithstanding your objurgatory ex
pressions, I proceed to show that the judgment was
wrong.' Green (now adopting the seml-SocratIc
method, which Gordon did not like) proceeded:
" 'You admit that when A. grants anything to B,
the law implies with it the grant' of all that is neces
sary to the enjoyment of the thing granted. You
concede that r'
"Gordon : 'No, I'U be hanged If I do. But for
the sake of argument, I admit it,'
"Green: 'Therefore, when Antonio granted to
Shylock a pound of flesh to be taken from about the
heart, the law Implied that so much blood was granted
with the flesh as must be shed In order to the legal
possession of the pound of flesh granted. But Mis
tress Justice Portia held that he could not take the
24

370 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
flesh, because blood would be shed In doing so, which
blood was not granted: — contrary to the simplest
maxims of the horn-books of the law. Hence I say,
Shakespeare knew nothing of law.'
"The General was not prepared to meet this nice
objection, and emptied the vials of his playful wrath
upon his learned friend for questioning Mistress Por
tia's judgment.
"At this point Mr. HoUaday intervened:
" 'But, Mr. Green, may not the decision be vin
dicated on the old case of Collins vs, Blanton? This
was not a case of grant. It was an executory, not an
executed contract, A contract to take flesh and blood
from the heart of a man involved his life; It was a
contract against law and for crime. It was void, and
could not be enforced,'
"Gordon (exultant) : 'Now, Mr, Critic, what
have you to say to that?'
"Green (with all the gravity of a barrister in the
appellate court) : 'The point made by Mr, HoUaday
Is very Ingenious, I will look to see if the authorities
sustain it. But, General, If well taken. It leaves my
contention untouched; for as Mistress Justice Portia
based her decision on the ground I objected to, and
did not assign as a reason for it that offered by Alex
ander HoUaday, I Insist that Shakespeare may have
decided rightly, but for a wrong reason, and there
fore, was no lawyer.'
"The discussion closed with merry laughter, and
the parties retired to bed, with mutual feelings of
admiration and affection." *
Amid the quiet of his professional pursuits and of
the duties Incident to his life as a planter, Gordon
continued to maintain an abiding interest In the great
national political drama which was so rapidly and
inevitably approaching its conclusion. One of his
* This story is narrated in a Biography of William Green, in
"Great American Lawyers," Vol. 5, published by The John C.
Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1907-1909.

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 371
sons, a young man of twenty-six, had taken up his
residence in Alexandria, Virginia, and was the editor
of a daliy newspaper then published in that town, the
Alexandria Standard. To him Gordon wrote in
September, 1854, as follows:
"Your mother and myself take great Interest in
your paper. It is always the first read, and she
files away every one of them. Your disquisitions on
slavery arc well written, and afford just views of the
institution. But In discussing It, do not give offence
to the non-slaveholding States, as you lash the fac
tions that disgrace them. In the dearth of political
matter the subject is well chosen; and its discussion,
in a proper tone and temper, may do much good by
sustaining the rights of the South, and enlightening
the ignorance and prejudices of the non-slaveholding
States, Indeed It is a subject that may well employ
the thoughts of the profoundest statesmen as an
interesting constitution of civilized society new to the
history of the world. If I mistake not, it Is the first
Instance In history of the existence of African slavery
under republican Institutions, of which we have an
experience. Since the Declaration of Independence,
and during our whole colonial history, we have also a
contrasted experience of nearly an equal number of
slaveholding and non-slaveholding States, under the
same general government, and similar State govern
ments, of the white race, or the homo Europaeus
sapiens. I see you have glanced at the side of the
picture which has never been thoroughly examined —
the Influence of the institution on the moral and social
character of the white race. It Is a spacious and un
trodden field, the correct delineation of which might
well employ the highest intellects of the wise and ex
perienced, I am decidedly of the opinion that no
period of human history affords more or higher ex
amples of virtuous and truly great men than that of
the slave-holding States from our Revolution to the
present time — from Washington to Calhoun, What

372 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
other region can boast of such men as Henry and
Mason, — as Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, — as Jack
son, and Clay and Randolph, — with the host of
men of the present day, whose reputation time is to
finish and consecrate ? Where can be found wiser and
braver men, or purer and more virtuous women; and
if v/e mount from individual character to that of com
munities, where can be found an act among the gov
ernments of the world, ancient or modern, to compare
with the munificent bestowal of our Northwestern
empire to the Confederate States, for the purpose of
general liberty? Hold up to the abolitionists of Old
England and New England the statue of Washing
ton, and the deed of cession ornamented with the
portrait of George Rogers Clark, our Virginia Han
nibal; and bid them be silent!"

CHAPTER XXVI
LETTERS TO HIS WIFE  ANECDOTES  DEATH
Gordon's personal characteristics of domesticity
and of strong family affection are indicated in the let
ters written to his wife during his public career. It
was always a struggle with him to forego the kindlier
life of his plantation, and the pleasure of his family
associations, for the frequent absences which his poli
tical duties necessitated. There was no lack of sin
cerity in his statement to Mrs, Gordon, in May,
1834, in one of his letters, when he learned of the
political opposition which was manifesting Itself at
home, that he should be satisfied to retire from office,
"In regard to the movement In my district," he
wrote, "I am very Indifferent personally. Whenever
the people think I have abandoned their Interests, or
that they can be more ably represented, I am willing
to retire. I have asked nothing for myself, I have
no aspirations beyond the wishes of my constituents.
Yet there are tides In the affairs of men, and per
haps the flood of mine has passed. If so, I shall
gUde down the ebb-tide Into the haven of domestic
peace, where the best of wives and dearest of off
spring have been too long neglected,"
In February, 1830, soon after his arrival in Wash
ington to enter upon his duties as a representative, he
wrote to Mrs, Gordon :
"I think I must make some arrangement to bring
you to Washington, or that I shall not remain a
member of Congress long,
"I saw Mrs, Randolph and two of her daughters
some evenings ago at Mr, VanBuren's, I have sent
your father a parcel of wheat from Malaga, procured
by one of our consuls. It is highly spoken of, but I
apprehend It will not do to seed it until the fall.

374 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
"I have made an Interesting acquaintance with a
lady from Baltimore, who lives with Colonel Bar
bour's mess, and is one of the family of General Sam
Smith, She is the counterpart of cousin Betsey
Michie, but somewhat older. She is a very literary
lady both in prose and poetry; and having been here
each session of Congress for more than twenty years,
is acquainted with all the great men and events that
have characterized the age. She is very frank in her
manners and conversation, and attracts general cour
tesy from her extensive acquirements and accurate
observation. Colonel Barbour and Mrs, Barbour
tell me that she Is pleased with me; and I, on my
part, think her one of the best informed ladles I have
seen, "But, after all, nothing affords me any real con
solation for separation from you and my dear chil
dren ; and I can say very candidly to you that, after
having seen many scenes, and mingled in circles cal
culated to gratify my curiosity, I have met with no
lady equal to you, and nothing that can ever compare
with home happiness for a moment,"
While always deeply absorbed in his legislative
duties, or in the politics incident to them, in his let
ters to his wife, he did not forget to tell her of her
friends whom he met, or to relate to her such hap
penings as he thought might Interest her. Again In
February, 1830, he wrote:
"I visited Mrs, Randolph a few days after I wrote
you last. She and her family are well. She seems
to be comfortably fixed, and the establishment showed
much of taste In all that I observed. She seems a
little pensive, and says that she feels some of the pains
of an exile."
In April of the same year he wrote :
"I, like you, am welcoming the flight of time, I

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 375
would give him double wings, for a while, if the
transformation were In my power. I am glad to hear
that Hannah has also determined to take lessons in
French. The diversity of character between her and
Maria, I hope, will be a source of mutual improve
ment and excellence in both. I am very sure they
will be more accomplished in their domestic education
than in any other way. The frippery of fashion, and
the little polish that much company can give will soon
enough be acquired by them,
"I do not expect to see a very fine garden on my
return; but I am Impatient to go back to the bosom
of my family and of nature. I am tired of men and
politics for a season.
"I have got Byron's 'Life,' by Moore. It is an
amusing book, but is licentious and wicked In many
passages, "Mrs, Coolidge is In Washington, I have not yet
seen her, but visited Mrs, Randolph on Sunday last."
On the 3d of May, 1830, he said in a letter to his
wife: "I went on the ist of May to an exhibition, which
they have here annually, of an assemblage of little
girls and boys, the girls decorated with flowers of
every description, and one of them crowned as Queen
of May. I dare say, there were hundreds of them,
and a more interesting sight I have not seen. Some
of the little things seemed quite conscious of the at
tention they attracted."
Once more the note of a longing for green fields,
and his own household gods, appears in his letter of
May loth, 1830:
"I hope before George and Charles are old enough
to learn their books, that I may be a domestic man
and can aid you in their Instruction. I much fear now

376 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
that we shall not rise until the 24th — perhaps not
then; but I thank God we cannot be kept much
longer. I never was so restless and anxious to get
home. The fine weather, and everything out of
doors, is so contrasted with the confinement and
wrangling within, that I am tired almost past endur
ance." In the December following he was again In Wash
ington ; and on the 20th wrote to Mrs. Gordon :
"I am delighted to hear that you and the children
are well. This constitutes my first happiness. Mr,
Patton has just returned from Fredericksburg with
Mrs, Patton and Miss Lightfoot, I wrote you that I
was at Mrs, Peyton's, but did not tell you of the mess.
We have Mr. Tazewell, Mr. White, Senator from
Tennessee, the Senator from North Carolina, Mr.
EUis from Mississippi, and many others — all Jackson
men. The house Is as genteelly kept as any in the
city. "I am pleased to hear my wheat will be at length
delivered. My health is very good, I had hoped to
see you at Christmas, but the roads are next to im
passable, and the mail Is carried on horseback or In
carts. I received my trunk all safe.
"I have had a present of some Turkish tobacco
seed, with some muskmelon seed from the same coun
try. The tobacco Is said to be the best for smoking.
I enclose it to you, and wish it divided with your
father, Captain Lindsay, Lewis Walker and Dr,
Page, you retaining a small quantity for an experi
ment at home,
"I also enclose you two alphabets on horn for
George and Charles, I am impatient that the time
should arrive when I shall meet you all again, I hope
James will persevere In his mathematics. It is a
science so Intellectual and conducive to correct think-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 377
Ing In all other acquisitions, that I am particularly
anxious he should be proficient in it,"
Again in January :
"I accidentally found yesterday, in a shop where
I went to buy tobacco, some small, pretty hoes, about
the size of your hand. I bought two for George and
Charles to work their garden with. They are too
heavy to frank; so I must keep them till I see you."
And again In February: "I wish to thank you for
your last letter and to congratulate you on the near
approach of the 4th of March, when I can leave this
place. I fear the continued bad weather will make
the roads so heavy that no other mode of traveling
except on horseback will be practicable,"
The following Is a letter written from Washington
In January, 1833, to one of his sons, then a lad at
home: "My dear Son: I received your letter with much
pleasure, and am gratified with the account you give
me of the affairs on the plantation. Such information
I prize very much, because no one else gives me those
details about the horses, stock, and work done on the
place but yourself. Continue to write to me of what
ever strikes your own mind as of interest on the farm.
How does the filly that Mr. Baughn was breaking
turn out? Will she make a good riding mare? The
weather Is now very cold, and I fear the lambs will
suffer, as their dams can get very little food In the
fields. Write me how much ploughing has been done,
and how the wheat looks,
"Whilst I encourage you to take an interest in
these matters of business, you must not neglect the
improvement of your mind, I hope you will en
deavor to Improve yourself very much this year, and
be a credit to yourself and to your brother as your

378 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
instructor. Tell William I received his letter, and
will write to him and Maria in a few days. Give my
love to all the family, and my respects to all my
friends. "Your affectionate Father,"
His personal Interest in his family, no less than
the good humor of his women-kind In submitting to
have their headgear selected by a mere man, is evi
denced In the following letter, written in May, 1834:
"I send by the stage, under the care of Mr, Daniel
Slaughter, a bandbox containing three bonnets for
the girls, and yourself, and some articles which I pur
chased at an Orphans' Fair, I have great satisfaction
in hearing of the good health of the family, but am
distressed that you continue weak. We had a fine
rain here last night. I hope It has extended to you.
I can give you no idea when the session will close.
I never was so anxious to see you all.
"We are dragging on here in a confused and inde
cisive manner. Our session Is renewed to-day, and
our hall decorated with matting Instead of carpeting.
"Mr. Stevenson is at length nominated as Minis
ter to England, What his fate will be in the Senate
I can't tell."
A letter from Mrs. Gordon to her husband in
Washington in December, 1834, gives an idea of the
life at Edgeworth, and In the neighborhood, at that
time. She wrote :
"I have not waited on Mrs. A, Rives, but not from
any party feeling. Dining party after dining party
has filled up the time since you left us. I have only
joined them on one occasion, and the constant succes
sion of visits the girls have had has left me very
solitary. ChurchiU manifests great pleasure at see
ing the young ladles, fixes himself In the room with

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 379
them, and never appears to think of any other amuse
ment as long as he can attract their notice. We ex
pected ten or a dozen merry girls to supper night
before last. A fine fire was made In your little read
ing room, and the sofa fixed as it was when you were
at home. Churchill followed me Into the room, and
asked rne if It did not look like Papa and Miss Mary
and Miss Sarah ought to be sitting there. The girls
came, and I never saw a happier party than they
seemed to be without even a single beau to admire
them, "Yesterday morning they insisted I must go with
them to Springfield, where they were aU to dine.
They brought me home in the evening; and all the
party went on to Mrs, Page's, To-day they dine with
Mrs, Frank Nelson at Belvoir, and on Monday they
are going to Cousin James Lindsay's again, Mr.
Rives gave them a dinner last Thursday,"
One of his letters to Mrs, Gordon indicates that
in spite of slaves and slavery "the servant-question"
was a burning one even then in Virginia. "I have
seen Mrs, Coolidge," he wrote, "and she requests to
be particularly mentioned to you and all her friends
in our neighborhood. I got leave of her to tell you
that you had no idea of the trouble servants can give
a mistress, unless you had some experience In Boston,
and that all which Virginia mistresses suffer In that
way is moderation compared with the Insolence and
worthlessness of their menials,
"She Is in good health, and is a fine-looking lady,
Mrs, Randolph directs me always to send her regards
to you and all.
"Colonel P. P. Barbour has been 111, but Is much
better and Is out of danger, I am pleased to hear
that you have been visited by Governor Barbour and
Mrs. Barbour, I shaU enjoy their society when I
return to Albemarle, I am very weary of Wash
ington,"

38o WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Himself an orator of moving power, oratory
charmed him, as music charms the musician, Web
ster's style never seemed to appeal to him. Perhaps
this was partly because he did not admire the man.
But in Clay's persuasive eloquence, and especially In
the attraction of his voice, which he was accustomed
to say was compelling, he took the greatest delight.
He instanced Its influence upon himself when, having
visited the Senate Chamber, he was on the point of
departing, and was spell-bound by the marvelous
sweetness and sonorousness of the Kentucklan's "Mr,
President," as he arose to address the Senate, Its
carrying power seemed to him as wonderful as Its
melody; and it might well be described, as Bulwer
described that of Daniel O'Connell, when he ad
dressed the immense concourse, "walled by wide air
and roofed by boundless heaven," on August 15,
1843, on the Hill of Tara, Some historians.
Informed by eye-witnesses, put the number of that
great audience as high as five hundred thousand; and
careful and unsympathetic witnesses, writes Justin
McCarthy, In his "History of Our Own Times,"
say that a quarter of a million people must have been
present, Bulwer, himself an auditor of O'Connell's
speech, describes in his poem, "St. Stephen's," the
effect of O'Connell's voice :
"And as I thought, rose the sonorous swell
As from some church tower swings the silvery bell ;
Aloft and clear from airy tide to tide
It glided easy as a bird may glide.
To the last verge of that vast audience sent,
It played with each wild passion as it went;
Now stirred the uproar, — now the murmur stilled,
And sobs or laughter answered as it willed.
Then did I know what spells of infinite choice
To rouse or lull has the sweet human voice.
Then did I learn to seize the sudden clue
To the grand troublous life antique, — to view,
Under the rock-stand of Demosthenes,
Unstable Athens heave her noisy seas."
It was this peculiar quality of charm in the voice

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 381
of Henry Clay that lured Randolph of Roanoke, ap
proaching his mortal end, and In the last stage of
consumption, to stop in Washington, on his way to
Philadelphia, in search of medical aid, and to cause
himself to be carried to the Senate Chamber. At
the moment of his arrival, Clay took the floor to ad
dress the Senate. Randolph, too weak to stand, and
gazing towards his old enemy, with whom he had
fought the duel over "Blifil and Black George," said:
"I came here to hear that voice once more,"
As is frequently the case with men of imagination,
Gordon possessed a sense of humor, which often
manifested itself In his association with those about
him. His devotion to his wife did not prevent his
sometimes greatly enjoying a joke at her expense;
and one which highly delighted him was a remark
made to her at her table by a visitor to whom she
was apologizing, as she occasionally did, that the
meal was not such a one as she might have wished to
serve her guest, Gordon's Idea of hospitality was to
give the guest what was given to the family, and that
what was good enough for the family was good
enough for the casual visitor. On this occasion the
visitor was Mr, King, who had married one of his
cousins, and resided in the neighborhood. The but
ter on the table happened to be somewhat reduced by
the earlier onslaughts of the numerous children of
the household ; and Mrs, Gordon apologized to Mr.
King for the small size of the "pat" on the plate, in
sisting that he should take some, and that he should
not "be afraid of It."
"Thank you, madam," repUed King, with a grim
smile which delighted his host, and tended to the dis
comfiture of his hostess, as he helped himself to half
the contents of the dish. "It Isn't big enough to scare
anybody!" His last local public appearance was in a campaign
in Albemarle in 1 849, A State law had been enacted
in 18 18 which provided that commissioners should

382 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
be appointed in every county to provide at the public
expense for the education of the children of families
who were otherwise unable to educate them. The
system worked well in Albemarle, as elsewhere In the
State, for many years. Under It the private schools
and classical academies flourished; and Gordon
was accustomed to emphasize the success of the
existing educational scheme by saying that he had
never known of a child who desired, or whose parents
desired an education for It, who had failed to find
the opportunity in Virginia of obtaining it. About
1845, however, the General Assembly provided for
the introduction of a free-school system, under a
local-option statute. An election was called In Albe
marle to determine the question of the adoption of a
general public free-school system in the county; and
what the local historian calls "a memorable debate"
took place over it, "Dr, Wm, H, McGuffey, of the
University," writes Woods, in his "History of Albe
marle County," "took the stump In behalf of free
schools, and General WiUiam F, Gordon and Colonel
T. J, Randolph against them. By the popular vote it
was decided that the time for public schools had not
yet come."
Gordon antagonized the proposition to establish In
the county a free-school system, under this local-
option statute, because he thought it included features
that were not calculated to advance education, or to
be of public benefit, and because the existing law had
proven sufficient. Among those who espoused the
other side, as stated, was Dr, McGuffey, the famous
author of McGuffey's "Eclectic" readers and spellers,
which were once very familiar to the youth of the
country. Dr. McGuffey was at that time professor
of Moral Philosophy In the University of Virginia.
In a discussion of the question, in a public debate be
tween the two, Gordon suggested that the people of
Albemarle County should not take their views of
primary education from "an Ohio Yankee," alluding

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 383
humorously to the Professor's place of residence at
the time of his election to the chair which he then
held in the University. McGuffey interrupted, pro
testing that he was not "a Yankee," but that his
father was a Scotchman; adding in his embarrass
ment that his "mother was an Irishman." This
Hibernicism was greeted with shouts of laughter
from the audience, which Increased when Gordon
commented, with mischievous humor, but with a very
serious face, that he did not know what to think of a
man of Dr, McGuffey's reputation venturing to speak
so disrespectfully of his mother.
The Doctor's speech was spoiled and he did not
continue long in the contest, which was decided by
the voters In favor of the proposition assumed by
Gordon and Jefferson's grandson. Colonel Randolph,
In his own home, and by his fireside, Gordon's
qualities of ah affectionate husband and father, and
of a hospitable and entertaining host, shone with a
benignant light; and for the members of his house
hold, no less than for the guests who thronged
his home, his conversational powers, and his varied
experiences of men and events proved of constant
and unfailing charm. His sons and daughters alike,
under the Inspiration of his teachings, acquired no
inconsiderable knowledge of the political history of
the country, and of the principles of Its political
parties. To one of these sons, who did not always agree
with him upon public Issues, and not Infrequently
gave his disagreement practical effect by his vote,
Gordon once said :
"Why is it that you so frequently oppose me and
your brothers in your political action ?"
"Because, sir," was the answer, "you have always
taught us to think for ourselves, and I have done so."
"I have no fault to find with you, my son," his
father said, "You have done right,"
His love of nature and of a country Ufe, exhibited

384 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
In the letters that are quoted in this chapter, seemed
to increase and expand as he grew older. He had
come of a race of men, none of whom In the genera
tions through which they have been traced, had ever
lived in a town or a city. The agricultural existence
appealed to him, as It did to Mr, Jefferson, as more
conducive than any other, not only to the purity and
integrity of society, but to the preservation of institu
tional liberty. He anticipated the development and
growth of cities in America as dangerous to republi
can government, and never hesitated to express his
dislike to aggregations of "bricks and mortar,"
He continued throughout his life a student of let
ters, and of political philosophy and history; and
derived therefrom that solace and comforting com
panionship that those know who enjoy the friendship
of books. As Shakespeare appealed to his literary
sense beyond all other English authors, so he found
in the writings of Burke, as did Randolph of
Roanoke, a philosophy of political government which
touched more nearly and subtly than any other his
innate sense of liberty. Among the books in his
library which he especially prized for Its associations,
and profitably studied for Its wisdom and worth, was
a work In three volumes, entitled "Political Disquisi
tions, or an Enquiry Into Public Errors, Defects and
Abuses, by J. Burgh, Gentleman," "An American
edition of Burgh," says Mr. Hugh Blair Grigsby, In
his "Virginia Convention of 1776," "had appeared
the year before, and it was a favorite book with all
our early statesmen. Mr. Jefferson delighted to
praise It," Gordon's copy was of this edition of
1775, and had belonged to Mann Page, whose auto
graph it bore. Page had given It to Mr, Jefferson,
who In turn presented It to his younger friend and
follower. With the religious inclination of most contempla
tive and thoughtful minds, and with a profound
recognition of the value of Christianity not only to

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 385
the Individual, but to society, he yet never became a
church-member. When once reproached with this
fact, he said:
"I have a brother who is a Baptist minister. My
two sisters are the most pious Presbyterians I have
ever known. My wife is a devout Episcopalian. I
am catholic In my views of religion, and embrace
them aU."
The war-clouds, whose lightnings he had long seen
flashing afar, were gathering ominously to their tre
mendous storm, when he departed. In the full and
happy possession of all his faculties, and of aU "that
which should accompany old age, as honor, love,
obedience, troops of friends."
He died suddenly of an affection of the heart, on
the 28th day of August, 1858, at his home at Edge-
worth ; and was buried In the family burylng-ground
of the Lindsays and Gordons at Springfield.

25

CHAPTER XXVII
CONCLUSION
Gordon's name, like that of many of his prominent
contemporaries, does not appear In the biographical
dictionaries ; and even so soon after the period of his
public achievements as the year In which he died —
thus quickly do the events of unrecorded history fade
away and are gone — those who knew him as having
had a career of distinctive civic performance above
the mass of his fellowmen, had forgotten the details
of his work.
The Richmond Enquirer said of him, after he
died: "In the death of this gentleman Virginia has lost
another of that noble list of sons for which she was
distinguished In the early days of her renown.
"He died very suddenly on the morning of the
28th Instant, In the seventy-second year of his age.
"It was the fortune of General Gordon to be
prominently connected with many interesting events
during his life, and his memory will be united with
the history of this Commonwealth in much that re
lates to her future glory,
"The establishment of the University of Virginia
on a permanent basis was an object which engaged
much of the attention of Mr, Jefferson In the latter
part of his life. General Gordon was his personal
and political friend, and being one of the representa
tives of the county of Albemarle In the House of
Delegates of Virginia, was chosen by Mr, Jefferson
as a leading patron of the bill before the House.
"He contributed as much, if not more, than any
other man to the success of all the measures resulting
in the establishment of that institution, which is now

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 387
not only the pride of Virginia, but the most popular
literary institution In all the Southern States,
"He represented his county many years; and when
a revisal of the constitution of the State was deter
mined on, he was elected to the Convention of 1830,
acknowledged to be the ablest body of men which
ever assembled In this country, or perhaps any other ;
containing as It did Madison, Monroe, Marshall,
Randolph, TazeweU, Leigh, Johnson, Stanard, and
a host of others very little Inferior to them. The
great question which agitated that large mass of col
lected talent was whether the future representation
of the State should be based on property, as it was
originally, or on population. It was a mighty
struggle between giant intellects over what was sup
posed to be the vital Interests of the Commonwealth;
and was protracted to great length — the east gener
ally contending for the continuance of the existing
basis, and the west urging that numbers was the
proper one,
"In this state of things General Gordon offered a
compromise, commonly known as 'the Mixed Basis,'
having regard to population and taxation combined.
His proposition was adopted, and closed that exciting
controversy which at one time threatened to divide
the State,
"He was elected to Congress from the Albemarle
district during the administration of General Jackson,
and though a warm political friend, he disregarded
the strong party feelings which in common with many
of the best men of the day he entertained, and in his
greater devotion to the interests of the South he took
sides with the State of South Carolina, and without
reserve opposed General Jackson's famous proclama
tion and force-bill,
"General Gordon may be considered the father of
the great system of gold and silver currency for the
General Government. During his services In Con
gress in the administration of General Jackson he in-

388 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
troduced a bill to have all the revenues of the govern
ment collected In gold and silver. The details of this
bill are not recollected ; but It was the first public sug
gestion of that remedy for the evils of a redundant
paper currency.
"General Gordon was not only distinguished for
the prominent position he held among the leading
politicians of his day, but he held high rank at the
bar. He was a contemporary of Richard Morris and
Philip P, Barbour, and often encountered them.
Though not so profound a lawyer as Barbour, he
was greatly his superior as an advocate. His ready
eloquence, combined with his chivalrous character and
generous feelings, made him a most formidable com
petitor before 'the jury to any lawyer. Being a man
of ardent and sensitive feelings, he knew how to enlist
the feelings of those he addressed,
"High as General Gordon stood as a public man, he
was the more elevated as a private man above the
mass of his followers. To say that he was a Virginia
gentleman of the old school is not enough. No man
who ever lived had a nicer sense of personal honor
and integrity; nor did any practice them with
stricter fidelity. He could not be surprised or
tempted into the commission of the slightest act un
worthy of a man of refined honor and purity. He
was generous and liberal almost to a fault. Indeed
few men possessed qualities of head and heart com
bined, better calculated to command respect and af
fection than General WUUam F, Gordon from aU
who knew him,"
The following article was published about the
same time in The South, a Virginia newspaper then
edited by the Hon, Roger A, Pryor, who after the
War between the States achieved eminence as a law
yer and jurist of New York City :
]W}~^'"'-yY':'''" '"'":''''•.::'- "' >" 
"We regret to announce the death of this distin-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 389
guished citizen. He expired on the 28th instant at his
residence In Albemarle, He was long an influential
member of the State Legislature, He served only
one (three) terms In Congress, but that sufficed to
give him an historic name, for he had the honor of
proposing the Sub-Treasury system. At his death he
held the commission of major-general in the militia
of Virginia, A braver, truer, more generous heart
never beat in any man's bosom than glowed in the
breast of William F, Gordon."
Another contemporary writer, Crosby, said of
him: "In early life General Gordon attained a high
position In the State; and although he had not par
ticipated in the strife of politics for many years past,
yet to the day of his death he was esteemed among
the worthiest of the Democratic leaders. He was a
rigid disciple of the State-Rights school, and an in
flexible champion of the rights of the South, A
fervid oratory was his most characteristic talent; an
incorruptible integrity his distinguishing virtue. In
the relations of private life he commanded universal
respect; and among his more intimate friends he
was regarded with a warm and constant affection,"
In an address on "Virginia Judges and Jurists,"
delivered February 7, 1895, at a banquet to the
Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, at Richmond,
Mr, John Randolph Tucker, himself a distinguished
and able exponent of Gordon's school of political
thought, recalled him as "the planter, the lawyer,
the eloquent and charming man, who as the proposer
of the Sub-Treasury, as a member of the great Con
vention of 1829-30, and as the patriot son of Vir
ginia, deserves to live freshly ever in memory,"
In person he was well-formed and elegant. His
height was five feet ten Inches; and he had an erect

390 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
bearing that conveyed an Impression of lofty dignity.
His complexion was IncUned to swarthiness, and his
eyes were dark and piercing. His mouth was sym-
m,etrlcal, and his smile illuminating and winsome.
His countenance bore what may be denominated the
histrionic stamp — that singular and Indefinable cast
of beauty and charm which has characterized so many
of the great possessors of an imaginative power of
expression, either of their own ideas or of those of
others. His dark hair, which grew silvery with old
age, surmounted In abundance till the end a head of
nobly classic mould. His voice In conversation was
sweet and well-modulated; and his manners with
both men and women possessed a perennial and con
stant attraction. His person was one that the
passer-by in the street would turn to look back at;
and his voice in oratorical effort, once heard by the
casual stranger, haunted his recollection with the
hope of hearing It again.
But back of all his sweetness and serenity and
courtesy burned the fires of a just and inflexible self-
esteem that brooked no impertinence or intimation of
indignity; and It is strikingly characteristic of the im
pression made upon his fellowmen by this blended
simplicity and sense of personal loftiness, that In all
the stirring of mighty passions, and In the midst of
the numerous hostile collisions and personal affrays
which accompanied the politics of his period, he fig
ured in no difficulty, but moved through them all un
touched — admired and respected by friend and foe
alike. As has been said of his great contemporary and
friend, Mr. Tazewell, he cared nothing for the repu
tation which might live after the accomplishment of
the work which he had In hand to do. He seldom,
perhaps never, concerned himself to correct his
speeches for the press. His method of delivery was
rapid, and was so accompanied with the Demos-
thenean action of the genuine orator, that though his

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 391
enunciation was distinct and his voice possessed of
the carrying quality in an unusual degree, and char
acterized by a sonorous sweetness — ^when he spoke
the average reporter of the day, charmed with the
magic of his eloquence and lost in Its swift current,
laid down the pencil in delighted despair. He often
said laughingly of the reporters that they "seemed
unable to take him,"
His literary taste and acquirements, and his pecu
Uar theories of public speaking made him occasionally
critical of the speeches of other men; and as has also
been said of Tazewell that "from the eloquent parts
of such speeches as Webster's In reply to Hayne he
would turn with dislike," so Gordon did turn, if not
with dislike, at least with indifference from that very
eloquence, "I heard Mr. Webster yesterday for a
little while," he wrote of the Massachusetts orator on
the occasion of the famous Webster-Hayne debate.
"He did not reach the Virginia note."
Quite a characteristic illustration of this spirit of
candid though not ungenerous criticism Is shown In a
letter written by him from Richmond in January,
1822, In which, after describing the forensic style and
personal appearance of Benjamin Watklns Leigh, he
undertook an analysis of the speech of George
Tucker, then a member of the United States House
of Representatives, and later a distinguished pro
fessor in the University of Virginia, and author of a
number of books on various historical, philosophical,
financial and literary subjects :
"General Tucker, who is opposed to Mr. Leigh's
views of the propriety of appointing commissioners to
meet those of Kentucky on the subject, is to answer
Mr, Leigh to-day. Indeed, he commenced his speech
yesterday. I do not know that I can so well describe
him — not because he is beyond the grasp of delinea
tion, but because his manner is more poUshed, not to
say artificial, than that of Mr, Leigh; and the promi-

392 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
nences of his mind. If nature ever formed them, have
been so smoothed and polished down, that you can
find no lofty eminence on which to repose, and view
the beauty of the landscape around you. His exor
dium, which was delivered yesterday, was very beau
tiful — illustrated by many historical and poetic al
lusions, and showing at once the polish of his educa
tion and the extent of his acquirements. He quotes
often from Shakespeare ; but wanting, as I think, the
true poetic temperament, he quotes merely, without
the forceful energy with which the poet thought and
wrote himself. His talent as a logician I cannot por
tray, because I have not heard the argumentative part
of his speech; but I fear I shall find that he has
wasted too much of his time over the flowers on the
margin of the river of wisdom, and has neglected to
fiU his urn with Its precious waters. He is, however,
an intelligent and accomplished gentleman; and has
perhaps more of the rigidity of Intellect than I sup
pose," Enough has been disclosed In these pages of Gor
don's political principles and of his methods of politi
cal thought to make almost superfluous the further
statement that he had an unbounded admiration for
Mr. Calhoun's Intellect and personal character, and
that he regarded his speeches and public papers as
those of the master-spirit in the political sphere of his
age; and this, in spite of the fact that, while he con
demned the Force Bill and Jackson's proclamation,
he did not approve of Mr. Calhoun's attitude on
Nullification. If it may be said of him, by those who deride the
doctrine of State-Rights and State sovereignty, that
he was "a Southern statesman in a sectional sense,"
the same characterization may with equal justice be
applied to Jefferson and to George Mason and to
Randolph of Roanoke, and to all of that mighty
throng of patriot spirits who believed that the Fed-

WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 393
eral Constitution meant what the English language
of it purported to mean and express, and no more;
and that the men who made that Instrument devised
in Its unparaUeled construction and formation the
most perfect and perpetual charter of free govern
ment that had ever emanated from the mind of man.
He opposed every encroachment upon the rights of
the States, because he held with unfailing fervor and
patriotic passion that the safety of the Union lay
alone in the safety of the States,
With a full understanding and appreciation of the
evils of slavery, he viewed it, as Calhoun and many
other Southern statesmen viewed It in perfect patriot
ism, as an institution whose permanence involved the
continued prosperity of the South, Yet there Is little
doubt that, though a large slave-owner, he would un
hesitatingly have espoused the cause of emancipa
tion at any time when he believed It could be accom
plished without outside and gratuitous interference,
and without resultant danger to his own people or to
the governments which, as he conceived, held and en
sured their liberties.
His Indifference to the dictates of personal ambi
tion when weighed in the balance with the welfare of
his country is illustrated in his abandonment of a vic
torious party for the sake of an Incorruptible prin
ciple; and no one can read his speech In proposing
the Sub-Treasury to Congress In 1835 without the
profound conviction that patriotism burned always In
his bosom with a bright and shining flame.
He served the people of Virginia with an unselfish
devotion that has been excelled by that of no other of
her sons; and he adorned that service with an un
flinching courage and an invincible Integrity, than
which no man had higher. In the service that he ren
dered to his State he rendered an even greater and
more lasting one to the whole people of a mighty
and now indissoluble Union, in the formulation of the
Independent Treasury.

394 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
It seems no ordinary coincidence that the same
county in "the Red Hills of Piedmont" should have
produced Jefferson's mighty charter of human liberty,
and the statute which the eighth President of the
United States not inaptly described as "a second
Declaration of Independence" — Gordon's Sub-Treas
ury act, that separated the Federal Government from
the banks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following sources and authorities have been
consulted in the preparation of this work :
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Philip Crossle, esq.
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Family Letters and Documents in MS,
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Smith's The Governors of Virginia. Washington,
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Page's The Page Family in Virginia. First and
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Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia.
2 Vols. Philadelphia, 1889.
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Century. Richmond, 1907,
Journals of the House of Delegates of Virginia,
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Debates of the Virginia Convention of i82g-i830.
Richmond, 1830,

396 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
The Jefferson MSS, in the Library of Congress,
The Madison Papers In the Library of Congress.
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Mead's Historic Homes of the Southwest Moun
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Reprint of the Virginia Historical Society.
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Norfolk, i860.
Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia.
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Garland's Life of John Randolph. 2 Vols, New
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RIves's Life and Times of James Madison. 3
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Bouldin's Home Reminiscences of Randolph of
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WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON 397
Tyler's Cradle of the Republic. Second Ed,
Richmond, 1906.
Wirt's Letters of a British Spy. New York,
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Biographies of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John
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Benton's Thirty Years in the United States Senate.
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398 WILLIAM FITZHUGH GORDON
Powell's Nullification and Secession. New York,
1897, Harris's Political Conflict in America. New York,
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Lalor's Political Cyclopaedia. 3 Vols,
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Reports of the Virginia State Bar Association,
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York, 1906,
Thompson's History of the United States. New
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Von Hoist's Constitutional History of the United
States. The Democratic Review. New York, 1837,
The National Intelligencer, 18^0. Washington,
D. C,
Scott's The Lost Principle," by "Barbarossa."
Richmond, 1866,
Journal of the Secession Convention of Virginia,
1 86 1. Richmond, 1861,
Thayer's Cases on Constitutional Law. 2 Vols,
Cambridge, Mass, 1895,
Brock's Virginia and Virginians. 2 Vols, Rich
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Chicago, 1 88 1,

INDEX

Abolition doctrines, Nat Turn-
ner's insurrection attributed
to, 316.
Abolitionists, the original seces
sionists, 325.
Act, establishing University of
Virginia, 96.
Adams, John Quiney, 58, 83 ;
in the Whig party, 192; Gor
don's friendship with, 270;
sketch of, 271-27+ ; and the
slavery petitions, 321.
Albemarle County, the bar of,
51, 366; commonwealth's at
torneys of, 53, 83 ; repre
sentatives of, 113.
Alexander, Mark, 156, 200;
Whig elector, 297, 299.
"Alliance, The Grand," of
Newry, 22.
Algiers, War with, 89.
Allen, John J., supports the
Sub-Treasury bill, 277.
American, Anti-Slavery Society,
Rev. O. B. Frothingham's
speech before the, 325.
American Union, the rise, pro
gress and decline of the, 327.
Ancestry, Gordon's, 18.
Anderson, William, 160.
Andrew, Gov. John A., 74.
"Antis," opposed to the Federal
Constitution, 42 ; nominate
Monroe against Madison, 43.
Archer, William S., 182, 184;
supports the Sub-Treasury bill,
277 ; sketch of, 277.
Armistead, Elizabeth, wife of
William Churchill, 29.
Armistead, Judith, wife of
"King" Carter, 29.
Armistead family, the, 31.
Articles of Confederation, 39.
Bagenal family, the, 19.
Bagenal, Nicholas, owner of
Sheepbridge, 20.

Baker, William, in the Burr
trial, 50.
Baldwin, Briscoe G., 157;
sketch of, 115; Whig elector,
299.
Ball, Ann, 24.
Bank of the United States, Vir
ginia resolutions in regard to,
127; unconstitutionality of,
211 ; Randolph of Roanoke on
rechartering, 211; resolutions
of Virginia legislature on,
212.
"Banks, Pet," Jackson's, 2to.
Banks, Linn, sketch of, 109-110.
Bar, Gordon's return to the,363;
of Albemarle County, 366.
Barbour, James, 38, 156; letter
of, to Gordon, 53 ; the home
of, 71 ; originator of the Lit
erary Fund, 92; advises
Tyler against resignation, 304.
Barbour, John S., 51, 54, 156,
182.
Barbour, Philip Pendleton, 38,
74, 155. 156, 182, 397; the
home of, 71; sketch of, 183-
184.
Barbour, Col. Thomas, 38, 53.
Barnwell, Robert W., 188, 200;
in the Whig party, 192;
letter of, to Gordon, on the
Whigs, 300; sketch of, 302;
delegate to the Nashville Con
vention, 339.
"Barons of Potowmack and
Rappahannock," 29.
Barony of Newry, the, 19.
Barringer, Daniel L., 188.
Basis of representation in the
Convention of 1829-30, 158,
163.
Bassetts, the, 31.
Bayley, Thomas M., 157.
Beale, James M. H., supports the
Sub-Treasury bill, 277; sketch
of, 278-9.
Beardsley, Samuel, 201.

Beinne, Andrew, i6o.
Belvoir, home of Hugh Nel
son, 68.
Belmont, home of Dr. Charles
Everitt, 68.
Bell, John, i88, 277-
Benton, Thomas H., i88, 200,
on the Sub-Treasury scheme,
236; debate on the expunging
resolution of, 2io.
Berkeleys, the, 31- ^
Birthday Dinner, the Jeiter-
son, 192.
Binney, Horace, 277.
"Black and Tan Convention,
the," 47-
"Bleeding Nun, The," 55-
Blesheim, home of Andrew
Stevenson, 71.
"Blifil and Black George," 260.
"Blind Preacher, The," 26 ; Gor
don's life with, 49.
Blues, the Richmond, in War of
1812, 80.
Botts, Gen. Benjamin, Gordon
studies law with, 49; in the
Burr trial, 50; burned in the
Richmond Theatre, 55-
Bauldin, Thomas T., 279.
Braddock's defeat, 64.
Brandon, on James River, 25.
Breckenridge, Gen. James, 97;
sketch of, 116.
"British Spy, The," 26.
Brodnax, William H., 160.
Brown's Hotel, the Jefferson
Birthday Dinner at, 193.
Bruce, Philip A.'s, "Social Life
in Virginia," 30.
Buchanan, James, 188, 282.
Buckner, Alexander, testimony
of, in the Houston-Stanbery
case, 853-856.
Burgh's "Political Disquisi
tions," 383.
Burr, Aaron, trial of, 50.
Burwells, the, 31.
Bushy Park, 28, 30.
Byrd, William, of Westover, 68.
Byron, Moore's Life of, 375.
Cabell, Joseph C, State Senator,
90; rector of the University,
104; sketch of, 114-115-
Cabell, William, the elder, 43.

Calhoun, John C, 15; in the
Whig party, 192; and slavery,
198, 199, 320; eulogy of, on
Warren R. Davis, 200;
speech of, on the Force bill,
206; rejoins the Democratic
party on the Sub-Treasury
bill, 257; votes for the Sub-
Treasury bill, 258 ; letter of,
to Gordon, on the presidential
succession, 297-299 ; resolu
tion of, on the slavery peti
tions, 322; assails the slavery
petitions, 324; prophesy of,
with regard to slavery, 325 ;
on State-Rights, 326; recom
mends a Southern convention,
328.
Cambreling, Churchill C, 188;
in the debate on the Sub-
Treasury, 254.
Campbell, Jane, 2i.
Campbell, Alexander, 158.
Campbell, William, 160.
Camp-life in the War of
1812, 79.
Capitol, Convention of 1829-30,
meets in the State, 158.
Carpet-baggers in the Conven
tion of 1867, 46.
Carr, Dabney, 13, 51, 55, 73.
Carr, Dabney, the younger,
73. 78-
Carr, Samuel, sketch of, no.
Carters, the, 31.
Carter, Camp, in the War of
1812, 81; Gordon's letters
from, 83.
Carter, "King," 29.
Carter, Robert, the councillor,
27, 29.
Carter, Robert W., 34.
Cathedral of Nismes, model of
Virginia State Capitol, 158.
Cary, Archibald, and Patrick
Henry, 65.
Castle Hill, home of William
C. Rives, 65, 66.
Central College, site of the
University, 90, 95.
Chapman, Henley, 160.
Charlottesville, 71.
Chase, Hale and Seward vote
to receive petitions to dissolve
the Union, 324.

400

Cheves, Judge, delegate to the
Nashville Convention, 339.
Chestnutt, Colonel, delegate to
the Nashville Convention, 339.
Chinn, Joseph W., 279.
Choate, Rufus, 278.
Churchill, Lucy, wife of John
Gordon, 27, 129.
Churchill, Col. Armistead, 28,
29, 30.
Churchill, Priscilla, wife of
Councillor Carter of Nom
ini, 29.
Churchill, William, the emi
grant, 30.
Churchills, the, 31.
Cilley and Graves duel, 351.
Cistercian Abbey at Newry,
the, 19.
Claiborne, Nathaniel H., sketch
of, 277.
Clark, Lewis and, expedition
of, 67.
Clark, George Rogers, birth
place of, 72, 73.
Clay, Clement C, i88.
Clay, Henry, 83 ; opposes the Sub-
Treasury bill, 257; amend
ment of, to Calhoun's resolu
tion on the slavery petitions,
322; the voice of, 380; and
Randolph of Roanoke, 381.
Claypoole, Mr., delegate to the
Nashville Convention, 334.
Clayton, Arthur, 80.
Clayton, John M., i88.
Clayton, Mr., of Georgia, in
the debate on the Sub-Treas
ury, 255 ; speech of, on the
newspapers, 359-362.
Cobb, John Addison, 56.
Cobb, Howell 56.
Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 56.
Cockburn, Admiral, in Chesa
peake Bay, 77.
Cocke, Dr. Charles, sketch of,
112.
Cocke, Gen. John H., sketch of,
81, 83, 85.
"Cohens Versus Virginia,'' 128,
283.
Coles, Edward, 71.
Coles, Tucker, 78.
26 401

Compromises on "the basis
question," 164; of Federal
Constitutional questions, 327.
Compromise bill of 1850, of
fered by Clay, 328; debates
on, 329.
Congress, Gordon's election to,
182; Gordon's colleagues in,
182.
Congressmen, manners and cus
toms of, 348.
"Conservative," Democrats op
pose the Sub-Treasury bill,
238.
Constitution, Wendell Phillips
on the, 325.
Constitutional Conventions in
Virginia, 46, 47.
Convention of 1829-30, the, 15 ;
vote calling, 152; organiza
tion of, 154; personnel of,
155; account of, in Niles's
Register, 160; dissensions in,
168; adjournment of, 181.
Convention, the Southern, at
Nashville in 1850, 333.
Convention of slaveholding States
recommended by Calhoun, 328.
Convention, the Virginia, of
1788, 34. 39-
Conway, Col. Edwin, 24.
Conway, Milicent, 24.
Cooke, John R., 160; compro
mise proposition of, on "the
basis," 164; sketch of, 165.
Cooke, John Esten, 165.
Cooke, Philip Pendleton, 165.
Corwin, Thomas, 278.
County Down, 18.
Craney Island, the British at
tack on, 77.
Crawford Democrats, 189.
Crawford, William H., sketch of,
196.
Crockett, David, 188 ; sketch of,
267, 288 ; anecdotes of, 268-
270.
Crosby on Gordon's character
and career, 389.
Custis, G. W. P., consents to
the removal of Mrs. Wash
ington's body, 285.
Customs and manners of Con
gressmen, 348.

Daniel, Henry, 2oi.
Davenport, Thomas, 277.
Davis, Jefferson, 46, 347.
Davis, Warren R., 188, 278; in
the Whig party, 192; sketch
of, 200.
Debate, on the duelling act, 174;
on the Deposit bill, 253 ; on
the Sub-Treasury, 253.
Decatur, Commodore, and the
War with Algiers, 89.
Delegates, names of the, to the
Nashville Convention, 346.
"Democratic Review, The,''
sketch of Benjamin Hardin in,
278.
Deposit bill, debate on the, 253.
Deposits, removal of the, 209 ;
effect of, 227.
District of Columbia, petitions to
abolish slavery in the, 322.
Doddridge, Philip, 160, 179;
sketch of, 185 ; speech on the
Judicary act, 282.
Dred Scott Case, 210.
Dromgoole, George C, 157.
Duane, William J., 209.
Duelling, debate on, in the Con
vention of 1829-30, 174.
Duke, R. T. W., 52.

Edgehill, home of Gov. Thomas
Mann Randolph, 69.
Edgeworth, burning of, 58 ; the
new house at, 63.
Ellsworth, William H., 201.
Elgin, the commissary records
of, zo.
Emancipation, attitude of Vir
ginia towards, 316.
England, War of 1812 with, 76.
"Enquirer, The Richmond," 358:
on Gordon's character and
career, 386.
Eppes, Mrs. J. W., Jefferson's
daughter, 57.
Everett, Dr. Charles, 68 ; sketch
of, no.
Everett, Edward, 188, 278.
Ewing, Mr., of Ohio, in the
debate on the Sub-Treasury,
254.
"Exchequer Plan," President
Tyler's, 261.

Expunging Resolutions, Benton's,
210; instructions of Virginia
legislature as to, 304.
Faulkner, Charles James, a
Whig elector, 299.
Federal Constitution, adoption of
the, 40.
Federal Hill, home of the
Rookes family, 56.
Federal jurisdiction, Virginia
resolutions on, 128.
Federalist hostility to Jefferson,
150.
Field, Richard H., 52.
Fithian, Philip Vickars, Diary
of, 27.
FItzhugh, William Henry, 157.
Fitzhughs, Chatham, the seat of
the, 44.
Force's "National Calendar,"
slavery statistics in, 321.
Force bill. The, 206.
Foster, Thomas, 201.
Fox, Charles James, William B.
Giles compared to, 155.
Franklin, Benjamin, and aboli
tion, 321.
Francisco, Peter, sketch of, 109.
Frederickville parish, in Albe
marle County, 62.
"Friendship, The," and John
Paul Jones, 26.
Frothingham, Rev. O. B., on the
Unioii, 325.
Frugality extolled in the Vir
ginia Constitutions, 332.
Fry, Joshua, 70; home of, 71.
Fugitive slave law in the com
promise of 1850, 332.
Fulton, John H., 279.
Gales, Joseph, editor, sketch of,
359-
Gallatin, Albert, 83.
Garland, James, 289 ; opposes
the Sub-Treasury bill, 258.
Garrison, William Loyd, declares
for a "Northern Conference,"
325 ; on the Constitution, 325.
Garnett, Mr., a delegate to the
Nashville Convention, 339.
Gaudaloupe Hidalgo, the Treaty
of. 33°-

402

"Gerrymander'' of Madison's dis
trict, 42.
Germanna, 68 ; home of James
Gordon of Orange, 35;
Colonel Byrd's account of, 35;
the tragedy at, 317.
General Assembly, Gordon in
the, 107; character of the,
107; training school of states
men, 114.
George, John B., 160.
Ghent, Treaty of, 83.
Gholson, James H., 277; sketch
of, 275 ; delegate to the Nash
ville Convention, 334.
GIddings, Mr., presents petition
for dissolution of the Union,
323 I resolution of, on slavery,
330-
Giles, William B., 155; sketch
of, 137.
Gilmer, Francis Walker, 73,
79. 8i-
Gilmer, Dr. George, 65 ; home
of, 72.
Gilmer, Thomas Walker, 65,
71, 82.
Glasgow, tobacco trade with, 32.
"Globe, The," 62.
Goode, William O., 156; dele
gate to the Nashville Conven
tion, 334, 339.
Gordon, Alexander, of Salter-
hill, 21.
Gordon, Elizabeth, 35.
Gordon, George, 32.
Gordon, James, first of Sheep
bridge, 19, 21.
Gordon, Rev. James, of Com
ber, 20.
Gordon, Col. James, of Lancaster,
21; the emigrant, 23, 24;
journal of, 24; Whitefield's
visit to, 24, 34.
Gordon, Col. James, second, of
Lancaster, in Conventions of
1776 and 1788, 46.
Gordon, James, of Orange, 26,
34, 35; elected to the Conven
tion of 1788, 38, 46; letters of,
to Madison, 37, 40; political
views of, 39; described in
Miss Lee's "Journal," 44; large
landed proprietor, 45 ; death
of, 46.

Gordon, James Waddell, mem
ber of the Virginia Conven
tion of 1901, 47.
Gordon, John, of Middlesex, the
emigrant, 22, 27, z8.
Gordon, John, of Temple
gowran, 23.
Gordon, Reuben Lindsay, Jr., in
Convention of 1901, 47.
Gordon, Samuel, of Sheepbridge,
22.
Gordon, Captain William, of
Sheepbridge, 23.
Gordon, William FItzhugh, son
of James Gordon of Orange,
26; pupil of James Waddell
Gordon, 26 ; his name, 45 ; in
Convention of 1829-30, 40;
birth of, 48 ; early life, 48 ;
education, 48, 49; at Spring
Hill Academy, 49 ; classical
acquirements, 49 ; studies law
with Gen. Benjamin Botts, 49;
comes to the bar, 51 ; begins
practice at Orange, 51; re
moves to Charlottesville, 51;
commonwealth's attorney of
Albemarle, 51; elected to
the General Assembly, — ;
efforts in behalf of the Uni
versity of Virginia, 94, 95 ;
elected to the Convention of
1829-30, 104; elected to Con
gress, 104; in the General
Assembly, 107 ; legislative
work, 122, 123 ; letter to Jef
ferson, 130, 131; address to
Lafayette, 144, 145 ; letter to
Jefferson on his lottery bill,
150; offers compromise propo
sition in Convention of
1829-30, 164; feature of his
compromise plan, 169; con
vention adopts his compro
mise plan of "the mixed basis,"
169; speech on the "basis,"
170; in the Whig party, 192;
votes in Congress on internal
improvements, 195; presents
the Virginia anti-bank resolu
tions to Congress, 211; speech
in support of anti-bank resolu
tions, 213-225; originates the
Independent Treasury or
"Sub-Treasury," 226 ; ac-

403

quires soubriquet of "Sub-
"rreasury Gordon," 229 ;
speech in support of his Sub-
Treasury bill, 232; reintro
duces Sub-Treasury bill, 237;
speech on reintroductlon of
Sub-Treasury bill, 241-253;
contemporaries of, in Con
gress, 266 ; literary bent, 266 ;
speeches in Congress on Nulli
fication, on the Virginia Reso
lutions, on the Bank Deposit
Bill, and on the Judiciary Act,
281 ; speech in Congress on
the proposal to remove Wash
ington's body, 285-287; at
Mount Vernon, 288 ; letter to
his constituents, 289-292 ;
Tyler's letter to, on the presi
dential nomination, 293 ; de
feated for Congress, 297 ;
Calhoun's letter to, on presi
dential succession, 297-299 ; a
Whig elector, 299 ; letter of
R. W. Barnwell to, on the
Whigs, 300; letter of, to
Tyler, advising against resig
nation from the Senate, 305 ;
delegate to the Nashville Con
vention, 334; chairman of
Resolutions Committee in
Nashville Convention, 345 ;
returns to the bar, 363; dis
cusses Shakespeare as a law
yer with William Green, 367;
letters of, to his wife, 373-377,
375-379; his love of oratory,
380; death of, 385; personal
appearance and characteristics
of, 390; attitude of, as to
State-Rights and slavery, 391.
Gordon, William Fitzhugh, Jr.,
a secretary of the Virginia
Secession Convention, 46.
Gordon family, tragedy in the,
at Germanna, 317.
Gordons, of Lesmoir, 21 ; of
Maryvale, 22.
Gouge, William M., defence of
the Sub-Treasury act by, 261.
Governor, office of, in Virginia,
n8.
Governors of Virginia, during
Gordon's legislative service,
118; from 1776 to 1830, 119.

"Grand Alliance, The," of
Newry, 22.
Graves and Cilley, duel between,
351-
Grayson, William, 42, 68.
Great Britain, war witn, 76.
Green, John W., 150, 160.
Green, William, sketch of, 74,
367.
Greenway, Sarah, 22.
Gregg, Colonel, a delegate to
the Nashville Convention, 334.
Grigsby, Hugh Blair, 157; on
the removal of the deposits,
227.

Hale, Chase and Seward, vote to
receive petitions to dissolve the
Union, 324.
Hamilton and Madison, 39.
Hampton, the capture of, 77.
Harrison, Benjamin, of Berke
ley, 24.
Harrison, Benjamin, the signer,
35-.
Harrison, Hannah, wife of
Armistead Churchill, 28.
Harrison, Mary, wife of James
Gordon of Lancaster, the
emigrant, 24, 35.
Harrison, Nathaniel, of Wake
field, 24, 25, 29 ; first Harri
son owner of Brandon, 25.
Harrison, William Henry, 25 ;
supported by Northern Whigs,
300; president of the Indiana
Territorial Convention, 319.
Harrison and Tyler, election of,
304.
Harrisons, The, of James
River, 31.
"Hard Money," The, feature of
the Sub-Treasury bill, 258.
Harden, Benjamin, sketch of,
278.
Hartford Convention, the, 89 ;
and the spirit of separation,
327.
Harvard, John, 25.
Hayne, Robert G., 1S8.
Hay, George, in the Burr
trial, 50.
Helper, Hinton R., author of
"The Impending Crisis," 153.

404

Henry, Patrick, in the Conven
tion of 1788, 39, 40, 42; and
Archibald Cary, 65.
Hesselius, John, portrait painter,
27.
Hopewell, home of Rev. James
Waddell, 64.
Houston, Samuel, trial of, by
Congress, 352; sketch of, 352.
Independent Treasury, the, ori
gin of, 90; devised by Gor
don, 226; bill establishing,
231; Gordon's speech in sup
port of his bill for, 232 ;
amendment to the Bank De
posit Bill, 256; vote on, 256;
functions and operations of,
263 ; "A Second Declaration
of Independence," 263 ; adop
tion of, by Van Buren, 303 ;
destroys the Whig-Republican
coalition, 303.
Indiana, memorializes Congress
to permit slavery, 319.
Insurrection, Nat Turner's, effect
of, on the public mind, 315.
Internal Improvements, Virginia
resolutions in regard to, 135.
Iredell, James, 188.
Irish Rebellion of 1798, Gordons
in the, 23.
Jackson, Andrew, at New Or
leans, 82, 83 ; inauguration of,
152; first message of, 188,
189; personality of, 190; hos
tility of State-Rights Demo
crats to, 191 ; toast of, at the
Jefferson Birthday Dinner,
193 ; attempt to assassinate,
201.
Janney, John, a Whig elector,
299.
Jefferson, Peter, 70.
Jefferson, Thomas, his economy
of time, 57 ; a pupil of Mr.
Maury, 63 ; letter of, to
Cabell, on the University, 98 ;
death of, 104; and his phy
sician, in; political letter of,
to Gordon, 132; his lottery
bill, 149; emancipation of his
slaves, 151.

Jefferson Birthday Dinner, the,
192.
Jeffrey, George, 67.
Johnson, Cave, 188; and the
Houston-Stanbery affair, 352.
Johnson, Chapman, 156, 158,
160; and the University of
Virginia, 97; sketch of, 116;
a Whig elector, 299 ; con
demns removal of the de
posits, 228, 284.
Johnson, Richard M., 188, 293 ;
nominated for Vice-President,
297.
"Johnson's Wife of Louisiana,"
201.
Johnston, Alexander, 284 ; ac
count of the operation of the
Sub-Treasury by, 230.
Jones, John Paul, 27.
Joynes, Thomas R., 157, 160.
Journalism of the period, Mr.
Clayton on the, 357.
Judiciary Act, Gordon's speech
on the 25th section of the,
281-282.
Judiciary Committee of the
House, 201.
Keswick, home of the Pages, 65.
Kentucky Resolutions, the, ap
proved by the Hartford Con
vention, 89.
Kinloch, Eliza, 68.
Kinloch, residence of Hugh Nel
son, 67.
King, Preston, offers resolution to
abolish slavery in the District
of Columbia, 331.
King, William R., 188.
"Kitchen Cabinet," Jackson's,
198.

Lafayette, visit of, to America,
140; in Albemarle County,
141 ; at the University of Vir
ginia, 144; visit of, to Rich
mond, 147 ; resolutions of
General Assembly in regard
to, 148.
Latimer, Mrs. Elizabeth Worm-
ely, 29.
Latin and Greek, Gordon's
knowledge of, 49.

405

Lawrence, attempt of, to assas
sinate the President, 201.
Le Compte, Joseph, resolution of,
to limit terms of Federal
judges, 224.
Lee, Ann, wife of Gen. Henry
Lee, 45.
Lee, "Lighthorse Harry," 45.
Lee, Lucy, "Journal of a Young
Lady of Virginia," by, 44.
Lee, General Robert E., 44.
Lee, Richard Henry, 42.
Leigh, Benjamin Watkins, 155,
160, 192, 391; compromise
proposition of, in the Conven
tion of 1829-30, 164; sketch of,
167, 169; election of, to the
United States Senate, 295;
condemns the removal of the
deposits, 228 ; refuses to vote
for expunging resolutions, 304.
Leigh, William, 156.
Letters of Gordon to his wife,
373-377-
Lewis, Meriwether, 67; birth
place of, 73.
"Liberator, The," declares for a
Northern confederacy, 325.
Lindsay, Elizabeth, 56, 57.
Lindsay, George, 85.
Lindsay, Maria, 65.
Lindsay, Col. Reuben, 56.
Lindsay, William, 80.
Literary Fund, The, 92.
Livingston- Edward, 188.
Loan bill, the University, 100.
Logan, home of Capt. Lewis
Walker, 64.
Lord Montgomery's regiment, 20,
Lottery bill, Jefferson's, 149.
Loyall, George, 70, 157; and
the University, loi ; sketch of,
116, 117; on Littleton W.
Tazewell, 187; contest of, with
Thomas Neaton, 195; votes
against the Sub-Treasury bill,
299.
Lucas, Edward, 279.

Macon, Nathaniel, 156.
Madison, James, candidate for
the Convention of 1788, 37 ;
letter of James Gordon of
Orange, to, 37, 40; and Mon

roe, in their first canvass for
Congress, 44; in the Conven
tion of 1829-30, 155, 156, 160,
Mangum, Willie P., vote of, for
President, 300.
Mann, Horace, in the debate on
the Sub-Treasury bill, 255 ;
favors disunion, 325.
Marye, John L., a Whig elector,
299.
Marshall, Humphrey, duel of,
with Henry Clay, 348.
Marshall, Chief Justice, in the
Burr trial, 50; compromise
measure on "the basis" pro
posed by, 164; sketch of, 166,
192.
Martin, Senator Thomas S., 73,
Mason, George, 13.
Mason, James Murray, sketch of,
u8; author of the fugitive
slave law of 1850, 332.
Mason, John G., 156, 160;
sketch of, 276.
Mason, Thompson, 13.
Massie, Thomas, Jr., 157; sketch
of, 158.
Massachusetts, Connecticut and
Rhode Island nullify act of
Congress, 77.
Maupin, Calvin S., 67.
Maury, Rev. James, 62, 63.
Maury, Rev. Matthew, 63.
Maury, Commodore M. F., 63.
McComas, William, 277.
McCrea, Mr., in the Burr
trial, 50.
"McCulloch Versus Maryland,"
283.
McDuffie, George, 200, 278;
sketch of, 203.
McGuffey, Dr. William H., 382,
Meadows, the, home of Capt,
James Lindsay, 64.
Meerbach, F. W., 67.
Mercer, Charles Fenton, 156, 160,
279.
Merchants' Hope, 25.
Merchants, Scotch, in the to
bacco trade, 32.
Meriwether, David, 67.
Meriwether, David, the younger,
Meriwether, Nicholas, 65.
Meriwether, Dr. Thomas, 20, 68,

406

Militia, the Virginia, 86.
"Militaiy District No. i," 46.
Missouri compromise, Virginia
resolutions on the, 125, 126.
Missouri Compromise act, the,
127 ; and slavery, 320.
"Mixed Basis," Gordon's scheme
of the, adopted by the Con
vention of 1829-30, 169.
Monroe, James, 155, 156; con
test of, with Madison, for Con
gress, 43, 44; residence of, 71 ;
elected President, 90; in the
Convention of 1829-30, 156.
Monroe, Joseph J., 51.
Monticello, 70; Mrs. Gordon
at, 57.
Montpeller, home of James
Madison, 72.
Moore, Elizabeth, 68.
Moore, Samuel McDowell, 279 ;
in the debate on the Sub-
Treasury bill, 254.
Munford, George Wythe, sketch
of, 107, 108.
"Mushroom Banks," growth of
the, 229.

Nashville Convention, the, called
by the State of Mississippi,
328; assembles in 1850, 333;
resolutions of, 335-339; re
assembles, 340; resolutions of,
on reassembling, 340-344 ;
newpaper reports of, 345 ;
Gordon chairman of Resolu
tions Committee in, 345 ;
names of states represented in,
346; nanjes of delegates to,
346; cradle of the Southern
Confederacy, 347,
Nashville, Gordon's letters from,
334. 339-
"National Intelligencer, The,"
353, 357. 358-
National Republicans, growth of
the, 190.
"Nat's Insurrection," in South
ampton County, 309-315.
Nelson, Hugh, of Belvoir, 68 ;
sketch of, 113.
New England threatens to secede,
76; attempt of, to create a
Northern confederacy, 326.

New Orleans, the battle of,
82, 83.
Newry, in County Down, Ire
land, 18.
Newton, Mr., delegate to the
Nashville Convention, 334,
339-
Nicholas, Lieutenant, 82.
Nicholas, Wilson Cary, 71.
"Niles's Register," 160; on the
feeling in the Convention of
1829-30, 161, 162; on the
basis of representation, 169;
on the Jefferson Birthday Din
ner, 193.
Nismes, the cathedral at, the
model of the Virginia Capitol,
158.
Nomini Hall, home of Coun
cillor Carter, 27, 29.
North Carolina and the Fed
eral Constitution, 41.
Northwest Territory, prohibition
of slavery in the, 319.
Northern Confederacy, New
England's attempt to create
a, 326.
North and South, the widening
breach between, 326 ; division
of, on slavery in 1850, 331.
Nullification, by New England
States, 77; and the tariff,
190; Randolph of Roanoke on,
211; McDuffie in the South
Carolina Convention on, 203 ;
the story of, 204, 205 ; by
various States of the Union,
205.
Nullifiers, The, 204.

O'Connell, Daniel, speech of, on
the Hill of Tara, 330.
Ohio and slavery, 319.
Oratory, Gordon's love of, 380.
Ordinance of 1787, prohibiting
slavery in the Northwest Ter
ritory, 319.
Ordinance of Secession, the Vir
ginia, 347.
"Oregon Trail, The," 67.
"Osborne Versus Bank of the
United States," 263.

407

Page, Prof. James Morris, 66.
Page, Mann, 39; and Jefferson,
383-
Page, Dr. Mann, 65.
Page, Thomas Nelson, on "The
Old Virginia Lawyer," 382.
Page, Prof. Thomas Walker, 66.
Pakenham, General, at New
Orleans, 83.
Panic of 18 16, the, 90.
"Parsons, The Two," by Mun
ford, 107.
Party feeling, 358.
Patton, John Mercer, 279 ;
sketch of, 280.
Pen Park, home of Dr. George
Gilmer, 65.
Pendleton, Philip C, i6o.
Petitions, the slavery, in Con
gress, 319, 320; from the
Quakers, 321.
Peyton, Balic, 278.
"Piedmont, The Red Hills of,"
64. 75-
Pickens, Francis W., speech of,
on the Sub-Treasury bill, 257.
Pierce, Franklin, votes for the
Sub-Treasury bill, 257.
Pillow, Gideon J., in the Nash
ville Convention, 344.
Pinckney, Henry L., and the
slavery petitions, 322.
Pleasants, Governor James, 156,
157, i6o; sketch of, 120, 121.
Pleasants, John Hampden, edi
tor of the "Whig," 305, 358.
"Political Disquisitions," Burgh's,
383-
Politics, Jeffersonian, 134.
Polk, James K., i88 ; opens the
debate on the Deposit bill,
353 ; Sub-Treasury act re
stored in administration of,
259.
Portraits of James and John
Gordon, 27.
Powell, Brook, 25.
Prentis, Joseph, 157.
"President," loss of the frig
ate, 83.
Presidential vote in 1835, 300.
Preston, Gov. James B., sketch
of, 119.
"Princeton," explosion on the,
6s, 91-

Proclamation, Jackson's Nullifi
cation, 205.
Provost, Mr., 59, 66.
Pryor, Roger A., editor of "The
South," 389.
Public school system in Vir
ginia, 382.

Quaker anti-slavery agitation,
330.
Quiney, Richard, 25.
Quiney, Thomas, 25.

Ragland, James, 79.
Ragland, Nathaniel, 62.
Randolph, Edmund, in the Burr
trial, 50.
Randolph, John, of Roanoke, 15 ;
74, 155. 160, 192, 200, 278;
foreman of the Burr grand
jury, 50; in the Convention
of 1829-30, 174; speech on the
anti-duelling act, 176; on the
Bank bill, 211; on Nullifica
tion, 211; denunciation of the
alliance of Adams and Clay,
260; comment of, on the Con
stitution, 283 ; and slavery in
the Northwest Territory, 319.
Randolph Peyton, 13, 55.
Randolph, Thomas Jeffersow, 81 ;
address of, to Lafayette, 142.
Randolph, Thomas Mann, 102,
119; sketch of, 69.
Randolph, Mrs., 57.
Randolpli, William, of Tucka
hoe, 39.
Randolph, William, of Turkey
Island, and his descend
ants, 69.
Ravensworth, home of Gen. W.
H. F. Lee, 45.
Removal of the deposits, 207;
effect of, 227.
Resolutions of 1798, the Vir
ginia, 72.
Resolutions of the Nashville
Convention of 1850, 335-339,
340-344.
Representatives in Congress in
1830, 188.
Republican-Whig ticket, the,
299, 300.

408

Richmond Blues, The, in the
War of 1 8 12, 80.
Richardson, Robert, 25.
Rivanna river, the, 70.
River barons of Colonial Vir
ginia, 31.
Rives, William Cabell, 65 ;
sketch of, 66 ; aide to Gen.
Cocke, 81 ; and the University
of Virginia, 98, 99 ; sketch of,
112, 113; opposes the Sub-
Treasury scheme, 338 ; move
ment to elect to Congress, 388 ;
elected Senator, 288.
Ritchie, Thomas, sketch of, 358.
Roane, John, 157, 160.
Roane, Spencer, articles by, 284.
Robertson, John, in the debate
on the Sub-Treasury Bill, 254;
sketch of, 277, 278.
Robertson, William, J., 52;
sketch of, 74.
Robertson, William Gordon,
member of the Virginia Con
vention of 1 901, 47.
Rockfish Gap, meeting of the
University Commissioners at,
93-
Rodney, Caesar, in the Burr
trial, 50.
Rosegill, Bruce's account of the
house at, 30.
Rootes, Mary Robinson, 56.
Rootes, Sarah Robinson, 56.
Rootes, Thomas Reade, 56.
Ross, General, captures Wash
ington, 77.
Rutherford, Mr., 80.

Scotch in Ulster, the, 18.
Scotch merchants in Colonial
Virginia, 32.
Scott, John, 157.
Seaton, William W., Sketch of,
357- , ,
Secession, threatened by New
England, 76.
Secretary of the Treasury control
of government deposits by, 229.
Seminole War, the, 90.
Senators, United States, in 1830,
88.
Sevier, Ambrose H., 274.

Seward, William H., votes to re
ceive petition to dissolve the
Union, 324.
Shakespeare, Judith, wife of
Thomas Quiney, 25.
Sheepbridge, home of the Gor
dons in Ireland, 19.
Sheepbridge volunteers, the, in
the rebellion of 1798, 23.
Shepard, Edward M., on the
Sub-Treasury, 238.
Shields, James, 188.
"Shylock, In re," 367.
Slaves, Jefferson's, manumitted,
151.
Slave-holding States, the, and
emancipation, 316.
Slavery, the question of, in the
Convention of 1829-30, 162;
on its domestic side, 309 ; Vir
ginia laws in regard to, 315;
in the Northwest Territory,
319; petitions to abolish, 319;
its true history to be written,
320; and State Rights, 320;
in the States and Territories
in 1830; Gordon's letter to his
son on, 371-372; Gordon's
attitude to, 391.
Smith, Gen. George W., burned
in the Richmond Theatre, 55.
Soldier's, English view of Ameri
can, 84.
South, the Newspaper, on Gor
don's career, 389.
South and North, the widening
breach between, 326, 331.
Southall, Valentine W., 52, 146.
Southampton Insurrection, the,
309.
Southwest Mountains, the, 71.
Southern Congress, called by the
Nashville Convention, 340.
Southern Confederacy, the Nash
ville Convention the Cradle of
the, 347.
Speakers of the House of Dele
gates, io8.
Specie Clause, the, of the Sub-
Treasury Bill, 303.
Specie payments, the suspension
of, 85.
Spotswood, Gov. Alexander, 31,
45. 68.

409

Springfield, home of Col. Reuben
Lindsay, 62, 64.
Spring Hill Academy, 49.
Stanard, Robert, 157.
"Standard, The Alexandria,"
newspaper, 371.
Stanbery-Houston affair, the, 352.
State Bank depositories, regula
tion of, 229.
State — rights, construction of the
Constitution, 14; at the Jef
ferson Birthday dinner, 194;
men in Virginia 308 ; and
slavery, 320.
States, Southern, represented in
the Nashville Convention, 340.
State Sovereignty, Gov. William
B. Giles on, 135, 136.
Stephens, Alexander H., in the
Slavery Debate of 1849, 330.
Stevenson, Andrew 71, 182 re
elected Speaker, 210; votes
against the Sub-Treasury Bill,
279; sketch of, 182, 183.
Stuart, Archibald, 157.
Sub-Treasury the, 15 ; scheme of,
devised by Gordon, 229 ; gen
eral provision of bill to estab
lish, 230; operation of, 231;
frame of Gordon's bill estab
lishing, 231; Gordon's speech
in support of his bill for, 232 ;
bill to establish, defeated, 236;
Benton on, 236; scheme of,
adopted by Van Buren, 236;
Von Hoist on, 237; bill for,
re-introduced by Gordon, 237 ;
Gordon's speech on re-intro
ducing, 241-253; bill' estab
lishing, passes the House in
1837, 257; again defeated in
1838, 258; finally adopted in
1840, 358; repealed in 1841,
359; restored in 1856, 259;
arguments used against, 260;
defense of, by William M.
Gouge, 261 ; denounced by
Whig Ways and Means Com
mittee, 262 1 functions and
operations of, 263 ; specific
clause of the, bill, 303.
Summers, Lewis, 157, 160.
Sumter, General, birthplace of,
72.

Taliaferro, John, 160.
Taney, Roger B., Secretary of
the Treasury, 209; removes
the deposits, 210.
Tarpley, Collin S., Calhoun's
letter to, 333.
Tariff, the, and Nullification,
190.
Tariff laws, Virginia, resolutions
at the, 129.
Tariff of 1832, debate on the,
307, 208.
Taylor, Col. Frank, diary of, 38.
Taylor, John, of Carolina, 283.
Taylor, William P., 277.
Taylor, Zachary, birthplace of,
72- . .
Taxables in Virginia in 1829-30,
160.
Taxation, Federal power of,
direct, 41.
Tazewell, Littleton W., 155,
169, 182, 192; pre-eminence
of, in debate, 180; sketch of,
i86, 187; speech of, in Nor
folk, on the removal of the
deposits, 328 ; elected gov
ernor, 229; suggested by
Tyler as a presidential candi
date 293.
Theatre, the burning of the
Richmond, 55.
Thompson, Lucas P., 157; sketch
of, 158.
Tobacco trade, the, in Colonial
Virginia, 31.
Toombs, Mr., amendment to the
New Mexico bill offered by,
331-
Townes, George, 160.
Trinity parisli, in Albemarle
County, 62.
Trist, Nicholas P., birthplace of,
72; sketch of, 367.
Troup, Gov. George M., and
the Creek Indians, 134.
Tucker, Beverly, delegate to the
Nashville Convention, 334.
Tucker, George, sketch of, 391-
392.
Tucker, John Randolph, 74, 367.
Turner, Nat, insurrection headed
by, in Southampton County,
309-315.

410

Two-thirds Rule in Democratic
Conventions, origin of the,
133-
Tyler, John, 155, i6o, 182;
sketch of, 185, 186; in the
Whig party, 192; letter of,
to Gordon, 393 ; suggests
Tazewell as a Presidential
candidate, 293 ; nominated by
Republican-Whig alliance,
299 ; consults his friends as
to resignation from the Senate,
304; resigns from the Sen
ate, 308.
Tyler, Robert, account of at
tempt to assassinate President
Jackson, in letter of John
Tyler to, 201.

Ulster, the Scotch in, 18.
Urbanna, residence of John Gor
don, the emigrant, 27, 30.
United States Bank, Virginia
resolutions on the, 212.
University Loan Bill, the, 100.
University of Virginia, the, 15;
distinguished homes near the,
71 ; Jefferson's scheme to es
tablish, 90; correspondence of
Jefferson and Cabell concern
ing, 90; bill to establish, 92;
meeting of the Commissioners
to locate, 93 ; opposition in
the House of Delegates to, 95 ;
act establishing passed, 96;
appropriation for, 102, 103 ;
opening of, 103.
Upshur, Abel P., 155, 192; a
leader in the convention of
1829-30, 161; compromise
proposition on "the basis" in
troduced by, 164; sketch of,
166.

Valentine, Dugald, diary of, 32.
Van Buren calls the Sub-Treas
ury Bill "A Second Declara
tion of Independence," 363 ;
chosen by Jackson as his
presidential successor, 293 ;
nominated for president, 297.
Venable, Richard N., 157.
Virginia Colonial families, 31.

Virginia Resolutions, affirmed by
the Hartford Convention, 89.
Virginia School of politics on
the 2ist Congress, 188.
Von Hoist, on the Sub-Treasury
plan, 237 ; on Calhoun's atti
tude to the Union, 324.
Votes, Gordon's, in Congress,
19s-

Waddell, Rev. James, 25.
Waddell, James Gordon, teacher
at Spring Hill, 49.
Waddell, Josephus, member of
the Virginia Convention of
1867, 47.
Wallace, Jane, 21.
Walker, Betsy, 65.
Walker, Lucy, 65.
Walker, John of Belvoir, 68.
Walker, Gen. Reuben Lindsay,
65.
Walker, Dr. Thomas, 64.
War of 1812, the, 76.
Warronlgh, Camp, troops at, 79,
80.
Washington, the capitol at,
burned by the British, 77.
Watson, Egbert R., 52.
Washington, George, proposal
to remove the body of, 284;
Gordon's speech on, 287.
Washington, John A., 285.
Washington, Mrs., 285.
Watson, Major David, 79, 157.
Webster, Daniel, 155; 192;
opposes the Sub-Treasury Bill,
257 ; vote received by, for
president, 300.
Webster-Hayne debate, the, 192;
Gordon on, 391.
West Virginia, separation of, 15.
Whig party, the, origin of, 191.
Whig Ways and Means Com
mittee on the Sub-Treasury
Bill, 262.
Whig Coalition with Democrats,
the destruction of the, 303.
Whig nomination of Hugh L.
White for President, 299.
"Whig, The Richmond," news
paper, 358.
Whigs, Robert W. Barnwell's
letter to Gordon on the, 300.

411

301.
in the
378,

de-

White, Hugh L., 188, nominated
for President, 299.
White, Edward D., 18
Wickham, John, 156;
Burr trial, 50.
Wilde, Richard Henry, 188
288 ; sketch of, 267.
Wilderness, the, 36.
Wilmot Proviso, the, 333;
feated, 347.
Wilson, Edgar C, 379.
Wirt, William, 26 ; in the Burr
trial, 50; home of, 72; at
Camp Wassonigh in the War
of i8i2, 81.
Wise, Henry A., 377 ; comment
of, on the Republican-Whig
ticket, 300; and John Quiney
Adams in the Slavery De
bates, 323 ; on compromise
legislation, 328 ; sketch of.

274-276; in the Graves-Cilley
duel, 351.
Woods, Micajah, 52.
V/ormeley family, the, 31.
Wormeley, Admiral Ralph Ran
dolph, 29.
Wormeley, John, 29.
Wormeley, Katherlne Prescott,
29.
Wormeley, Madam Elizabeth,
30.
Wormeley, Ralph, of Rosegill,
29.
Wright, Silas, votes for the Sub-
Treasury Bill, 257.

Yancey, Col. Charles, in the
War of 1812, 78.
Young Republicans, the, and
Mr. Jefferson, 124.

412

YALE UNIVERSITY

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