Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text ext gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash
of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand
we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God--I know not what course
others may take; but as for me," cried he, with both his arms extended
aloft, his brows knit, every feature marked with the resolute purpose
of his soul, and his voice swelled to its boldest note of
exclamation,--"give me liberty, or give me death!" See also under
_Wirt_.
WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON.
~1742=1779.~
[Illustration: ~Fort Moultrie, S. C. Fort Sumter in the Distance.~]
WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON was born at "Drayton Hall," on the Ashley River,
South Carolina, and was sent in 1753 to England to be educated. He
went in the care of Chief-Justice Charles Pinckney, who was taking
his two sons, Charles Cotesworth and Thomas, for the same purpose. He
returned home in 1764, studied law, and in 1771 was appointed by the
king privy-councillor for South Carolina. He espoused, however, the
cause of the Revolution, with ardor, and was chosen president of the
Council of Safety and of the Provincial Congress. As Chief-Justice of
the State, he declared that the king "had abdicated the government and
had no more authority over the people of South Carolina." He also
dealt with the Indians and exercised a wholesome influence over them
in behalf of the State.
He left in manuscript valuable state papers and a narrative of the
early part of the Revolution, which his son, Governor John Drayton,
edited and published, and from which the extract is taken. His style
is clear, simple, and flowing.
GEORGE III.'s ABDICATION OF POWER IN AMERICA.
[_From the Charge to the Grand Jury of Charleston District, 1776._]
Thus, as I have on the foot of the best authorities made it evident,
that George III. King of Britain, has endeavoured to subvert the
constitution of this country, by breaking the original contract
between king and people; by the advice of wicked persons has violated
the fundamental laws; and has withdrawn himself by withdrawing the
constitutional benefits of the kingly office, and his protection out
of this country; from such a result of injuries, from such a
conjuncture of circumstances--the law of the land authorizes me to
declare, and it is my duty boldly to declare the law, that George III.
King of Britain, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is
thereby vacant; that is, _he has no authority over us, and we owe no
obedience to him_. . . The new constitution is wisely adapted to
enable us to trade with foreign nations, and thereby, to supply our
wants in the _cheapest_ markets in the universe; to extend our trade
infinitely beyond what it has ever been known; to encourage
manufactures among us; and it is peculiarly formed, to promote the
happiness of the people, from among whom, by virtue and merit, _the
poorest_ man may arrive at _the highest dignity_.--Oh, Carolinians!
happy would you be under this new constitution, if you knew your happy
state.
Possessed of a constitution of government, founded upon so generous,
equal, and natural a principle,--a government expressly calculated to
make the people rich, powerful, virtuous, and happy, who can wish to
change it, to return under a Royal government; the vital principles of
which, are the reverse in every particular! It was my duty to lay this
happy constitution before you, in its genuine light--it is your duty
to understand--to instruct others--and to defend it. . . . .
I think it my duty to declare in the awful seat of justice and before
Almighty God, that in my opinion, the Americans can have no safety but
by the Divine Favour, their own virtue, and their being so prudent, as
_not to leave it in the power of the British rulers to injure them_.
Indeed the ruinous and deadly injuries received on our side; and the
jealousies entertained, and which, in the nature of things, must daily
increase against us on the other; demonstrate to a mind, in the least
given to reflection upon the rise and fall of empires, that true
reconcilement never can exist between Great Britain and America, the
latter being in subjection to the former.
The Almighty created America to be independent of Britain; let us
beware of the impiety of being backward to act as instruments in the
Almighty Hand, now extended to accomplish his purpose; and by the
completion of which alone, America, in the nature of human affairs,
can be secure against the craft and insidious designs of _her enemies
who think her prosperity and power already by far too great_. In a
word, our piety and political safety are so blended, that to refuse
our labours in this divine work, is to refuse to be a great, a free, a
pious, and a happy people!
And now having left the important alternative, political happiness or
wretchedness, under God, in a great degree in your own hands; I pray
the supreme Arbiter of the affairs of men, so to direct your judgment,
as that you may act agreeable to what seems to be his will, revealed
in his miraculous works in behalf of America, bleeding at the altar of
liberty!
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
~1743=1826.~
THOMAS JEFFERSON, the "Sage of Monticello," and founder of the
University of Virginia, was born at Shadwell, Albemarle County,
Virginia. He was educated at William and Mary College, and early
developed a rare taste for study, music, and general culture. His is
one of the greatest and most interesting figures in our history. He
received and adorned all the positions in the gift of his
fellow-citizens, from that of member of the State Legislature to that
of President of the United States, which office he twice filled. He is
considered the founder of the present Democratic party in politics;
and he gained imperishable fame as the author of the Declaration of
Independence. He spent five years in France, succeeding Benjamin
Franklin as minister to that country, and he introduced into the
United States the decimal system of currency.
[Illustration: ~Monticello, the Home of Thomas Jefferson, Albemarle
County, Va.~]
His love for country life induced him to retire to Monticello, his
place in Albemarle County, where he spent his declining years in
planning and establishing the University of Virginia. His love of
freedom in every possible form is shown in his plan for the
University, which was, unlike most colleges of the times, to be under
the patronage of no church, and the students were to be controlled
like any community of citizens. He was also opposed to slavery. (_See
his Notes on Virginia._)
He died at Monticello, July 4, 1826, on the same day with John Adams,
just fifty years after the great event of their lives, the declaration
of independence of the United States.
The following inscription was at his own request put upon his
tombstone:
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Previous Next |