he
direction of independence, it being evident that England would never
restore the colonies to their condition previous to 1763. A declaration
of war is usually preceded by a hypothetical denial of hostile designs:
it is the lull whose mysterious silence heralds in the approaching
storm.

Patrick Henry stood foremost among the statesmen of Virginia, from the
beginning of the contest, in favor of independence; he was on this point
ten years in advance of them;[581:A] standing out in bold relief the
prominent and pre-eminent figure on the canvas. Samuel Adams, in
Massachusetts, was a patriot of the same stamp.

The danger of an outbreak of hostilities between the people of Boston
and the British troops growing daily more imminent, the spirit of
warlike preparation, by a sort of contagion, pervaded the colonies. It
had long been a custom in Virginia to form independent military
companies; and several of these now solicited Colonel Washington to
review them and take command; and he consented; and in the apprehension
of war, all eyes involuntarily turned to him as the first military
character in the colony. At Mount Vernon he occasionally saw his former
companions in arms, Dr. James Craik, and Captain Hugh Mercer, also a
physician, both natives of Scotland, and with them talked over the
recollections of former years, and discussed the prospects of the
future. Washington was visited during the year also by General Charles
Lee and Major Horatio Gates, natives of England, who had distinguished
themselves in the British army, and destined to become conspicuous in
the American war of revolution. They had recently purchased estates in
Berkley County, Virginia.

FOOTNOTES:

[578:A] Life of Richard Henry Lee, 17.

[579:A] Carpenter's Hall, instituted in 1721 by the Company of
Carpenters, is in a court a little back from Chestnut Street. There is
in the Hall the following inscription: "Within these walls Henry,
Hancock, and Adams inspired the delegates of the colonies with nerve and
sinew for the toils of war resulting in our national independence." Two
high-backed arm-chairs are preserved, marked "Continental Congress,
1774."

[579:B] See his Life and Works, ii. 366.

[579:C] Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry.

[580:A] Lord Brougham.

[580:B] Grigsby's Va. Convention of 1776, p. 150.

[581:A] Grigsby's Va. Convention of 1776, p. 148.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

1774.

Indian Hostilities--Battle of Point Pleasant--Ge