cern, that I should differ so widely in sentiment from you, in a matter of such great moment and general import; and should much distrust my own judgment upon the occasion, if my nature did not recoil at the thought of submitting to measures, which I think subversive of every thing that I ought to hold dear and valuable, and did I not find, at the same time, that the voice of mankind is with

me.

*

DEAR SIR,

TO BRYAN FAIRFAX

MOUNT VERNON, 24 August, 1774.

1

Your letter of the 5th instant 1 came to this place, forwarded by Mr. Ramsay, a few days after my return from Williamsburg, and I delayed acknowledging it sooner, in the hopes that I should find time, before I began my other journey to Philadelphia, to answer it fully, if not satisfactorily; but, as much of my time has been engrossed since I came home by company, by your brother's sale and the business consequent thereupon, in writing letters to England, and now in attending to my own domestic affairs previous to my departure as above, I find it impossible to bestow so much time and attention to the subject matter of your letter

1 The letter of Bryan Fairfax to which this is a reply is an excellent statement of the views of a moderate loyalist, and is printed in full in Ford, The Writings of George Washington, ii., 429.

2 To attend the First Continental Congress, to which he was a delegate from Virginia.

as I could wish to do, and therefore, must rely upon your good nature and candor in excuse for not attempting it. In truth, persuaded as I am, that you have read all the political pieces, which compose a large share of the Gazette at this time, I should think it, but for your request, a piece of inexcusable arrogance in me, to make the least essay towards a change in your political opinions; for I am sure I have no new lights to throw upon the subject, or any other arguments to offer in support of my own doctrine, than what you have seen; and could only in general add, that an innate spirit of freedom first told me, that the measures, which administration hath for some time been, and now are most violently pursuing, are repugnant to every principle of natural justice; whilst much abler heads than my own hath fully convinced me, that it is not only repugnant to natural right, but subversive of the laws and constitution of Great Britain itself, in the establishment of which some of the best blood in the kingdom hath been spilt. Satisfied, then, that the acts of a British Parliament are no longer governed by the principles of justice, that it is trampling upon the valuable rights of Americans, confirmed to them by charter and the constitution they themselves boast of, and convinced beyond the smallest doubt, that these measures are the result of deliberation, and attempted to be carried into execution by the hand of power, is it a time to trifle, or risk our cause upon petitions, which with difficulty obtain access, and afterwards are thrown by with the utmost con

tempt? Or should we, because heretofore unsuspicious of design, and then unwilling to enter into disputes with the mother country, go on to bear more, and forbear to enumerate our just causes of complaint? For my own part, I shall not undertake to say where the line between Great Britain and the colonies should be drawn; but I am clearly of opinion, that one ought to be drawn, and our rights clearly ascertained. I could wish, I own, that the dispute had been left to posterity to determine, but the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition, that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use shall make us as tame and abject slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway.

I intended to have wrote no more than an apology for not writing; but I find I am insensibly running into a length I did not expect, and therefore shall conclude with remarking, that, if you disavow the right of Parliament to tax us, (unrepresented as we are,) we only differ in respect to the mode of opposition, and this difference principally arises from your belief, that they-the Parliament, I mean, want a decent opportunity to repeal the acts; whilst I am as fully convinced, as I am of my own existence, that there has been a regular, systematic plan formed to enforce them, and that nothing but unanimity in the colonies (a stroke they did not expect) and firmness, can prevent it. It seems from the best advices from Boston, that General Gage is exceedingly disconcerted at the quiet and steady conduct of the people of

the Massachusetts Bay, and at the measures pursuing by the other governments; as I dare say he expected to have forced those oppressed people into compliance, or irritated them to acts of violence before this, for a more colorable pretense of ruling that and the other colonies with a high hand. But I am done.

I shall set off on Wednesday next for Philadelphia, whither, if you have any commands, I shall be glad to oblige you in them; being, dear Sir, with real regard, &c.

P.S. Pray what do you think of the Canada Bill?

TO CAPTAIN ROBERT MACKENZIE.

DEAR SIR,

PHILADELPHIA, 9 October, 1774.

Your letter of the 13th ultimo from Boston gave me pleasure, as I learnt thereby, that you were well, and might be expected at Mount Vernon in your way to or from James River, in the course of the winter.1

1" At that Congress [the first Continental], Washington had appeared as one of the representatives of Virginia, but apparently not yet clear as to what extent it was proper to involve himself in the difficulties into which Massachusetts was plunged. There is reason to suppose that he shared somewhat in the distrust generally felt, south of New England, of the purposes of the Massachusetts leaders. Whilst in this state of mind, he received a letter from Captain MacKenzie. MacKenzie was a native of Virginia, and an acquaintance of Washington, who had taken a commission in the British army, and was at this time attached to one of the regiments stationed at

When I have said this, permit me with the freedom of a friend (for you know I always esteemed you) to express my sorrow, that fortune should place you in a service, that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the contrivers, and, if success (which, by the by, is impossible) accompanies it, execrations upon all those, who have been instrumental in the execution.

I do not mean by this to insinuate, that an officer is not to discharge his duty, even when chance, not choice, has placed him in a disagreeable situation; but I conceive, when you condemn the conduct of the Massachusetts people, you reason from effects, not causes; otherwise you would not wonder at a people, who are every day receiving fresh proofs of a systematic assertion of an arbitrary power, deeply planned to overturn the laws and constitution of their country, and to violate the most essential and valuable rights of mankind, being

Boston. The object of the letter was to prejudice his mind against the action of the people of Massachusetts, and to induce him to exert his influence to counteract the policy their delegates were advocating in Philadelphia. Determined to satisfy himself as to the true character and designs of these delegates, he seems to have sought an interview and free conference with them at their lodgings. That interview took place on the evening of the 28th of September, 1774. Richard Henry Lee, and Dr. Shippen of Philadelphia, were also present. It seems to have settled all Washington's doubts, if he had any; for instead of noisy, brawling demagogues, meaning mischief only, he found the delegates plain, downright practical men, seeking safety from oppression, and contemplating violence only as a result of an absolute necessity forced on them by the government at home. The effect of this conference is made visible in his answer to MacKenzie."-Charles Francis Adams, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, iv., 69.