and adopted to make that resistance simultaneous and effective. In all these difficult scenes, Mr. Lee and his brothers took an active and decided part.

Mr. Lee filled no other public station than that of a member of the Virginia assembly, previous to the fifteenth of August, 1775, when, upon the resignation of colonel Bland, he was elected a member of the continental congress, by the convention of Virginia. The year 1775 was one of the most eventful of an eventful period, and might emphatically be said to have tried men's souls. It was in that year that American blood first flowed in defence of American liberty; it was in that year the opposition to British tyranny was embodied by the meeting of a continental congress for the purpose of watching the designs of the British ministry, warning their countrymen of their danger, rousing their energies, and preparing for the approaching conflict;-it was in that year that the great father of his country was chosen to take command of its armies ;-and that the addresses to their fellow colonists, to the people of Great Britain, to the king, and to the inhabitants of Quebec, conferred an imperishable fame upon those who originated and adopted papers, so full of wisdom, of virtue, of firmness, and love of liberty. The selection of Mr. Lee, at such a period, to represent his country in such a body, affords conclusive evidence of the high opinion entertained of his abilities and public spirit. Nor were the expectations of his countrymen disappointed; for he appears to have so far enjoyed their

confidence, as to have been successively re-elected to that office on the twentieth of June, 1776, twentysecond May, 1777, and twenty-ninth May, 1778.

Although Mr. Lee was not accustomed to public speaking, and from his earliest entrance in life was addicted more to pleasure than business, yet, when duty urged him to exertion, very few surpassed him in depth of thought, strength of argument, and force of conclusion. He was, therefore, appointed to many of the most important committees of congress, and often filled the chair as chairman of the committee of the whole. But it was his proud and justifiable boast both to have supported and signed an act, full of peril, and with many of doubtful propriety, which called at once for all the courage, and all the patriotism of its supporters the declaration of independence. His brother and colleague, in consequence of instructions from his constituents, which he had, some time, been strenuously urging them to adopt, was, from his known wishes on the subject, his powers of elocution, and his unshaken love of liberty, selected to move the mighty question in congress. This he is said to have done with all the strength and force of argument, all the arts. of persuasion, and all the splendid anticipations of the grandeur and sublimity of the object to be attained, which the subject demanded. There can be little doubt that brothers so closely attached, patriots so disinterested and firm, politicians so clear sighted and well informed, must have mutually assisted each other in the doubtful

for

conflict; and whilst future generations shall hail the name of Richard Henry Lee, as having first raised his voice in support of our independence, the name of Francis Lightfoot Lee, as his brother, his colleague, and his aid in this great work, will not be forgotten.

Whilst a member of the continental congress, Mr. Lee also assisted in framing the old articles of confederation, which, although subsequently found incompetent to the purposes of union, and to the promotion of the prosperity of a growing people, were nevertheless the cement which at that time bound the states together in one common cause, and finally gave success to their views. So much wisdom, fortitude, justice, and disinterestedness, marked the conduct of congress, that the obedience of the states was voluntarily and cheerfully given to their calls. Indeed, the annals of the world can hardly afford greater proof of pure and honest patriotism, than the whole conduct of the continental congress, at that period, exhibited; nor of a people, whose love of liberty, and estimation of talents and worth, caused them more contentedly to submit to privations, and obey the wishes of those in whom they confided..

During Mr. Lee's term of service, the questions respecting the fisheries, and the navigation of the Mississippi, were also warmly debated in congress. To the people of the northern states, the fisheries were an object of primary importance; and to those of the west, the navigation of the Mississippi was of no less value. The fixed opinion of Mr. Lee was,

that no peace should be made with Great Britain, without both these objects being secured to the United States. Some of the members of the middle and southern states, maintained that they ought not to be made a sine qua non of the negociation, but that, if a recognition of our independence could not otherwise be obtained, those points ought to be abandoned. But, on the other hand, it was strongly urged, that rights so important to a great portion of our citizens, should not be relinquished whilst we possessed power to contend for them. These rights were finally secured in the treaty with Great Britain, acknowledging our independence.

Whilst Mr. Lee served in congress, a question was agitated which has given rise to some unjust suggestions of a late writer, respecting the conduct of the "Lees of Virginia," as he styles them, whom he charges as being inimical to general Washington. It is to be lamented that he should have suffered his opinion to be swayed by vulgar prejudice. Had he consulted the journals of congress, he would have seen that the only one of the name, at that time in the house, was the subject of the present sketch; and that he voted for a confirmation of the sentence of the court martial, which suspended general Lee from the service, for improper language used to his commander in chief: in consequence of this, general Lee would never afterwards speak to, nor visit him. Francis Lightfoot Lee is well known to have been uniformly a great admirer of, and strongly attached to, general

VOL. IX.-A a

Washington, as a virtuous patriot, a great, á good, and an honest man; and it is a fact, which evinced this opinion as powerfully as possible, that he was the only one of his family, who always avowed himself a friend of our present system of federal government, principally upon the ground of its having been approved of, and sanctioned, by one he so highly esteemed.

An anecdote is related of Mr. Lee, about that time, which supports our assertion. Being at the county court house, on a court day, just after the federal constitution was published, and was of course the subject of general conversation, many of his countrymen, who held his opinions in high estimation, asked him what he thought of it. He told them, with an air of gravity, that he did not pretend to be a judge of these things now-that he was old, and did not read much -but that there was one thing which satisfied his mind, and that was," that General Washington was for it, and John Warden against it." Mr. Warden was a Scotch lawyer of considerable celebrity, but known to be unfriendly to American independence: he had just finished an harangue to the people in opposition to the system.

In the spring of 1779, Mr. Lee retired from congress, and returned to the home to which both his temper and inclination led him, with pleasure and delight. He was not, however, long permitted to enjoy the satisfaction it conferred; for the internal affairs of his native state were in a situation of so