d of his design they
threatened to mob him, while the officers of the Continental troops made
ready to arrest him if his plans bore fruit, so that he was glad to
leave the country. [Footnote: Do. Gardoqui to Florida Blanca, Jan. 12,
1789, inclosing a letter from Col. George Moreau. See Green, p. 300.
Also State Dept. MSS., No. 150, vol. iii., St. Clair to John Jay, Dec.
15, 1788. This letter and many others of St. Clair are given in W. H.
Smith's "St. Clair Papers." VOL III-9]

Other Separatist Movements.

These movements all aimed at a complete independence, but there were
others which aimed merely at separation from the parent States. The
efforts of Kentucky and Franklin in this direction must be treated by
themselves; those that were less important may be glanced at in passing.
The people in western Virginia, as early as the spring of 1785, wished
to erect themselves into a separate State, under Federal authority.
Their desire was to separate from Virginia in peace and friendship, and
to remain in close connection with the Union. A curious feature of the
petition which they forwarded to the Continental Congress, was their
proposition to include in the new State the inhabitants of the Holston
territory, so that it would have taken in what is now West Virginia
proper, [Footnote: State Dept. MSS., Memorials, etc., No. 48, Thos.
Cumings, on behalf of the deputies of Washington County, to the
President of Congress, April 7, 1785.] and also eastern Tennessee and
Kentucky.

The originators of this particular movement meant to be friendly with
Virginia, but of course friction was bound to follow. The later stages
of the agitation, or perhaps it would be more correct to say the
agitations, that sprang out of it, were marked by bitter feelings
between the leaders of the movement and the Virginia authorities.
Finding no heed paid to their requests for separation, some of the more
extreme separatists threatened to refuse to pay taxes to Virginia; while
the Franklin people proposed to unite with them into a new State,
without regard to the wishes of Virginia or of North Carolina. Restless
Arthur Campbell was one of the leaders of the separatists, and went so
far as to acknowledge the authorship of the "State of Franklin," and to
become one of its privy councillors, casting off his allegiance to the
Virginian Government. [Footnote: Va. State Papers, IV., pp. 5, 31, 32,
75, etc.] However, the whole movement soon collapsed, t