OHIO'S BIRTH STRUGGLE.
BY WM. T. M'CLINTOCK, CHILLICOTHE, O.
[The story of the controversy between
General Arthur St. Clair, the
Governor of the Territory of the United
States Northwest of the
River Ohio, and the young Jeffersonian
Republicans of that Territory,
in 1799-1803, which resulted in the
birth of a new state to the Federal
Union.]
There is no part of the history of the
U. S. Territory north-
west of the Ohio River more interesting
than the story of the
controversy between its Governor,
General Arthur St. Clair
and his friends, and that group of able,
ambitious, enthusiastic and
untiring young men who crossed the Ohio
River as emigrants in
the last five years of the eighteenth
century, and who found, or
fancied they found, their interests
opposed and thwarted by the
Governor and his supporters. The story
has all the excitement
of a drama. The plot moves on step by
step; the scenes shift;
the actors' parts are distinct and
picturesque and the interest of
the spectator constantly increases until
he beholds the creation of
a new State and the addition of the
seventeenth star to the flag of
the Union.
The part of the Governor has been
repeatedly told, and in
such manner as to excite public sympathy
and induce a ready
assent to the account of the supposed
wrongs and injustices which
he suffered at the hands of his
opponents, and which culmin-
ated in his downfall and removal from
office in the winter of
1802-1803.
The biographers of St. Clair have set
forth these wrongs
and the public has given their statement
of them a ready accept-
ance. As late as the year 1897, a writer
in "The Nation," one
of the ablest and best known newspapers
of our country, has
assumed and boldly stated that his
opponents were prompted
principally by motives of self-interest
and personal ambition, while
the Governor was actuated only by the
motives of the most patri-
otic character.
(44)
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 45
On the other hand, the parts of his
opponents in that to him,
disastrous struggle, have only been
partly and imperfectly set
forth. The sources of knowledge
respecting them are limited,
and it is now difficult to find the
material for a fair representation
of what actually occurred.
The result has been that a cloud of
reproach more or less
thick and gloomy, has been allowed to
cast its shadow upon the
character of those who ventured to oppose
the man they regarded
as having outlived his usefulness and to
whom they did not hesi-
tate to apply the name of
"tyrant."
The friends of St. Clair, including the
late writer in "The
Nation," to whom reference has been
made, claim that the gov-
ernment of the Territory under the
Ordinance of 787, bore
heavily on no interests except on those
of speculators in lands,
and that there was no tyranny or
oppression of which any one had
just cause for complaint.
It cannot be denied, however, on a full
and impartial review
of the events of that time, that both
parties had personal interests
to subserve; the one, in the
preservation of the rights and emolu-
ments incident to official position, and
the other in the profit to be
derived from the survey and location of
lands for themselves, or
others, within the territorial limits,
as provided with the compact
with the State of Virginia and the laws
of the United States. In
many instances, notably in the case of
Worthington and Tiffin,
and other emigrants from Virginia and
Kentucky, the motive of
pecuniary advantage was supplemented by
a large hearted desire
to give freedom to their slaves, which
could be done only by
bringing them into a territory where
slavery was forbidden by
law.
So far is it from being true that the
Territorial Government
bore heavily on no interests except
those of speculators in lands,
it may be said, on the contrary, that
the seeds of dissension and
controversy were implanted in that very
"Ordinance of 1787"
to which we justly give so much credit
as a remarkable embodi-
ment of wisdom and foresight, under
which Ohio and the other
states afterward created within the
bounds of the old Northwest
Territory, have made such rapid and
wonderful growth.
46 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
This feature may indeed be considered as
adding force to the
eulogy that this Ordinance approached as
nearly to perfection as
anything in the history of legislation
the world over.
It is certain that the form of
government, like "the swaddling
bands of infancy" was not
"friendly to liberty." It was arbitrary
and Colonial in the extreme. The
native tribes of Indians were
not only to be governed without their
consent, but were to be
whipped into subjection. The people of
the states emigrating to
the Territory had no voice or concern in
its business. All power,
legislative, judicial and executive, was
vested in a Governor, a
Secretary, and three Judges, all of
Federal appointment, and
responsible only to a distant Federal
head.
The Governor had the sole power to
appoint magistrates
and other civil officers throughout the
Territory, and to lay out
counties and townships, a matter of much
interest to the people,
and emphatically legislative in
character. He claimed also from
this, by implication, the power to fix
the location of county seats
and to change them at pleasure, without
any right of interference
on the part of the local Judges or
magistrates, or of the people.
He, and the Judges of Federal
appointment, determined what
laws should be adopted, how they should
be construed and how
executed, and from their decision there
was no appeal to the
people.
Provision was made for the compensation
of these officers by
the Federal Government, but the general
expenses of the Territo-
rial government were met by assessments
upon the several coun-
ties, or by fees, exacted from the
people and payable to every
officer concerned in the administration
of justice, from the Judges
of the General Court down to the
humblest Justice of the Peace.
It is seen that such a government was
paternal in the last
degree, and was at all times, even in
the hands of the best of men,
liable to abuse, because of the
limitations upon human intelligence
and the imperfections of human reason.
Upon the authority of Mr. Nathan Dane
who was a member
of the special committee in the Congress
of the Confederation
which framed the Ordinance, it was thus
"made unfriendly to
liberty" in order to induce the
early formation of states to become
a part of the Federal Union.
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 47
The Government worked well from the time
of its organi-
zation in 1788 down to and after Wayne's
Treaty with the Indians
at Greenville, in 1795. Up to that time
there were only a few
settlements of whites, at Marietta,
Cincinnati, Vincennes and
Detroit, and the chief business of the
Government was to protect
these from hostile attacks of the
Indians, and reduce the latter to
a state of subjugation; but after the
making of that treaty, the
flood of emigration rapidly increased
and many new settlements
were made, so that by 1798, eight
counties had been organized,
and by a census then taken, it was
ascertained that there were
5,000 free male inhabitants of full age,
within the Territory.
It was provided by the
"Ordinance" that on proof of this fact
to the Governor, these 5,000 free male
inhabitants were to receive
authority, with time and place named, to
elect representatives
from their counties or townships to
represent them in a General
Assembly.
These representatives were elected
during the fall of 1798
and the Governor designated Cincinnati,
February 4th, 1799, as
the place and time for their meeting.
Their only duty at this first meeting
was to nominate ten
freeholders, from whom the President of
the United States was to
select five, as a Legislative Council,
with a five years term of
service. (The term of the Assembly men
being two years only.)
This first duty performed, the Assembly
adjourned to meet again
at the same place on September 16, 1799.
From the freeholders so nominated, the
President of the
United States, the elder Adams, by and
with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, appointed five, as
the Legislative Council, and
these two bodies, the Legislative
Council, and the General As-
sembly, with the Governor, constituted
the Legislature, with au-
thority to make laws not inconsistent
with the Ordinance of 1787,
or the Federal Constitution.
This opened the second stage in the
progress of the Territory
provided by the original Ordinance. It
is probable that the im-
portance of the change was not fully
appreciated by the Governor,
or the people. The latter gained the
right of placing men of
their own choice in the new Assembly,
and through them to elect
a representative in Congress, and the
Judges of the Territory
48
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
were limited to the exercise of judicial
functions. On the other
hand, the Governor retained his general
executive authority and
his full appointing power to minor
offices, and gained the new
right to convene and prorogue or
dissolve the General Assembly
at pleasure, with an absolute veto upon
any and all legislative acts.
None were of any force without his
formal assent. His power
was more absolute than before, being
altogether independent of
the people and subject to no control
except that of public opinion,
which operates indirectly and is often
unseen, or unheeded.
It has been thought singular that the
free male inhabitants
of the Territory, of voting age, should
desire such a change in
their form of government, especially as
the influx of population
was largely from Virginia and Kentucky,
the two states in which
Democratic Republican ideas had taken
deepest root. It was,
however, one of the steps which the
ordinance had provided for,
and we are forced to the conclusion that
the framers of that in-
strument purposely tightened the chains
of the Territorial Gov-
ernment in order to induce the speedy
introduction of new states
into the Federal Union.
Up to this time the Northwest Territory
was strongly favor-
able to the National Administration,
both under Washington and
the elder Adams. St. Clair's appointment
to office in 1788, was
for three years only. He was reappointed
in 1791-1794 and 1798
without a breath of opposition.
Winthrop Sargent had been appointed
Secretary of the Ter-
ritory contemporaneously with the
Governor in 1788. In 1789
Congress gave the Secretary power to
exercise the functions of
Governor, in the absence of the latter.
This led to occasional
fault-finding, but St. Clair and Sargent
had managed to main-
tain a strong personal friendship and in
the main had been faith-
ful to each other.
In the summer (July or August) of 1798,
Sargent resigned
the office of Secretary, in order to
become Governor of the Mis-
sissippi Territory, to which he had been
appointed by President
Adams. He was succeeded by Captain
William Henry Harri-
son, a young man, only twenty-five years
of age, who had already
acquired distinction as an officer in
the U. S. Army, on the staff
of General Wayne in the Indian campaign
of 1794-5. His sub-
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 49
sequent career, including his election
as President of the United
States in 1840, was only the fulfillment
of the prophecy of his
youth.
St. Clair's biographer and eulogist,
William Henry Smith,
says, "There were no ties of
sympathy between the Governor and
the new Secretary. They belonged to
opposite schools. The one
was growing gray and was accustomed to
deference from others.
* * * The other, young and ambitious,
was ready to sympa-
thize with any movement that had for its
object the changing of
the old for a new order of things. Hence
it soon came to pass
that the Secretary formed plans about
which he did not consult
the Governor."
In the meantime, local causes, arising
out of the rapid set-
tlement of the Territory, began to
operate against the Governor
in the exercise of his claim to absolute
authority. The owners
of land, the founders of towns, and the
people in the several coun-
ties, desired to fix or change the
county seats to suit their own
views and convenience. The Governor
claimed this power as be-
longing only to himself, and in the
summer of 1798 he asserted
this claim in the case of Adams county,
in opposition to the
wishes and interests of Col. Massie and
of the people in that
county.
The Assembly having adjourned at its
first meeting in Feb-
ruary, 1799, to meet again on September
16th of that year, in
order to allow, in the meantime, of the
selection and appoint-
ment of the Legislative Council, again
met in Cincinnati, but it
was not until September 24th that a
quorum was obtained, and
the two houses, the Council and
Assemblymen, were organized
and ready for business.
These two houses did not, however,
constitute the Legisla-
ture, for the Ordinance provided that it
should "consist of the
Governor, legislative council and house of representatives."
The
Governor was a sort of Third House, a
veritable autocrat, with
power to convene, prorogue and dissolve
the other branches of
the Legislature at pleasure, and to veto
absolutely any bills which
they might adopt.
Vol. XI-4
50
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
On the second day of the meeting of the
Council and As-
semblymen, the Governor addressed them,
expressing, among
other things, his conviction that the
system of government which
had just been superceded was "full
of wisdom and benignity,'
yet congratulating the people and their
representatives on their
being withdrawn from under a law making
power in which they
had no voice, and that now the laws to
direct their conduct and
protect their property were to be made
by their own representa-
tives.
The hidden sarcasm of this
congratulation was not developed
until later in the session.
In the main, the recommendations of the
address rose to the
importance of the occasion. It was
cordially responded to, and
the business of the Session proceeded in
apparent harmony and
without regard to any political
divisions.
In that valuable contribution to the
history of the Territory
Northwest of the River Ohio, known as
"Burnet's Notes," the
author says of this first Territorial
Legislature, that "the people
in almost every instance selected their
strongest and best men."
Of the twenty-one members in the House,
the greater part
were Federalists and friends and
supporters of St. Clair, as were
also all the members of the
Council. He names McMillan, Sib-
ley, Meigs and Fearing as lawyers of
distinction and ability, and
gives especial credit to Darlington,
Massie, Worthington, Tiffin,
Samuel Findley, Langham, Benham, Edgar,
and Smith.
We have not been able to ascertain with
certainty, the names
of all those who were Democratic
Republicans, but it may be
stated that Goforth and Smith, of
Hamilton County, Darlington
and Massie, of Adams, Worthington,
Tiffin, Findley and Lang-
ham of Ross, and Pritchard of Jefferson,
were followers of Mr.
Jefferson.
At that time, however, there was little
attention paid within
the Territory to National politics. The states
were greatly agi-
tated by party strife, but the people of
the Territory, having no
voice in electing the officers of the
general government, and there
being but little patronage to distribute
among them, were not so
much interested in National affairs.
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 51
Governor St. Clair up to this time had
retained the respect
and confidence of the people, but his
popularity began to wane
during the first session of the
Legislature in 1799. During this
session and in anticipation of it, in
1798, he manifested, accord-
ing to the admissions of his own
friends, a strong desire to en-
large his own powers, and to restrict
those of the Assembly. His
forced construction of some of the
provisions of the Territorial
Ordinance have already been alluded to,
by which he claimed the
exclusive right to create new counties
and townships by the di-
vision and alteration of existing
counties, although his power in
that respect was limited to the district
in which the Indian title
had been extinguished, as to which he
had exhausted his authority
prior to the meeting of the Legislature,
and although the power
to make such alterations was expressly
committed to the Legis-
lature by the provisions of the
Ordinance itself.
The Legislative Council and the House of
Representatives in
the course of the Session passed thirty
odd bills. Of these he
returned nineteen, from time to time,
with his approval, but he
held the remainder without expressing
approval or disapproval,
and when the two houses requested him to
return such bills as
he could not approve, before the close
of the session, with his ob-
jections, so that they might make an
effort to remove the objec-
tions by amendments, he refused to do
so, but retained them in
his hands until the end of the Session,
when he sent a communi-
cation to the Assembly remonstrating in
offensive language
against their proceedings as an
usurpation of power, and intimat-
ing in strong terms a want of confidence
in the judgment and dis-
cretion of the Assembly. Some of these
bills, in the judgment
of his own friends, were supposed to be
of much importance and
all of them calculated to advance the
public interest. Some he
rejected because they related to the
establishment of new coun-
ties; others, because he thought them
unnecessary or inexpedient.
The result was that a third of the fruit
of the entire session was
lost by the exercise of the arbitrary
power of a single man.
In order to make this power more
sensibly felt, he proceeded
immediately to create and organize new
counties, out of old ones,
on a plan different from that adopted by
the Assembly, and to es-
tablish them by proclamations, without
consulting the Legislature.
52
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
At the close of the Session, a
complimentary address to
President John Adams was adopted, having
so little of party spirit
in it that only five members voted
against it. Mr. William Henry
Smith, in his "St. Clair
Papers" alludes to this vote as "the leaven
that changed the politics of the
Territory and in due season sent
the Governor back to the hills of
Pennsylvania."
In view of all the facts, it would seem
to be the better opinion
that this dissenting vote was given
because of personal bias, and
had little political significance. The
true leaven was the arbi-
trary use of the Governor's veto, the
assertion of exclusive power
in himself for the erection of new
counties and the location of
county seats, and in the offensive
language used by him in his
public message to the Assembly.
The action of the Governor provoked the
adoption of a re-
monstrance, addressed to Congress,
against the unqualified veto
given to the Governor, and against the
exclusive right claimed by
him of dividing and subdividing
counties, not only in their first
creation as provided by the Ordinance,
but continuously afterward.
An important duty of the Session was to
elect a delegate to
represent the Territory in Congress.
This seems to have been the
only function of the Legislature which
did not require the assent
of the Governor, for it was provided
that the Council and House,
assembled in one room, should exercise
this authority.
The history of the period shows that if
Jacob Burnet, a young
but distinguished lawyer residing in
Cincinnati, and a member of
the Legislative Council, would have
accepted the office, he would
have been elected without opposition,
although a strong Federal-
ist in his politics. On his refusal to
be a candidate, public opinion
had settled upon two candidates, one of
them being the new Sec-
retary, Captain Harrison, the other,
Arthur St. Clair, Jr., the son
of the Governor, and by the latter's
appointment, the Attorney
General of the Territory. Harrison, on
October 3, 1799, was
elected by a majority of one vote, and
at once resigned his office
as Secretary, proceeded to Philadelphia,
where Congress was then
in session and took his seat in that
body. He retained that office
but a single session, but in that time
secured much legislation of
great advantage to his constituents. His
position as delegate en-
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 53
abled him to discover the trend of
events toward the overthrow
of the Federal party and the triumph of
Mr. Jefferson and his
fellow Republicans.
The Session of the Territorial
Legislature was prorogued by
the Governor on December 19th,
1799, to meet again on the first
Monday of November, 1800.
The struggle for supremacy between the
Federalists in the
Territory and their Republican opponents
now became very much
in earnest. Foremost, on the Federal
side, stood their leader,
Governor St. Clair, described by his
biographer as a man of ripe
experience and thorough education. Prior
to the War of the
Revolution, he had been an officer in
the British army, under Gen-
eral Wolf; then a trusted agent of the
Proprietors of the Prov-
ince of Pennsylvania, and a magistrate
over an extensive district,
after it became a State. During the
Revolutionary War he was a
Major General, a friend and associate of
Lafayette, and honored
also by the friendship of Washington. He
served as the Presi-
dent of the Continental Congress. In
private life he was a favor-
ite in the drawing room, brilliant in
conversation, handsome in
form and dignified in bearing, a leader
by nature, calculated to
win the hearts of all. This was,
however, when he was in his
prime. But at the time of which we are
now speaking, his long
journeys from one part of the old
Northwest Territory to another,
during which he often slept on the
ground or in open boats, and
lived on coarse, irregular and uncertain
fare, made up a series of
hardships which had severely wrenched
his constitution and
brought on attacks of gout, which
constantly became more fre-
quent and aggravated. What wonder that
his campaign against
the Indians in 1791 resulted in
disaster? After this, in the winter
of 1794-5, a malignant fever brought him
almost to the very door
of death. The exigencies of his office
required perpetual personal
attention. The burden was too great for
his years. What won-
der that such a man, of a stiff and
uncompromising disposition,
brought up in the habit of military
command, accustomed to have
his own way and to be implicitly obeyed,
now finding himself beset
and puzzled by the activities, ambition
and energy of a group of
young men, mere boys to him, should
become impatient, it may be
54 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
arrogant, and should seek by all means
at his command to thwart
their efforts and to retain for himself
and his friends the places of
power so long held without dispute or
opposition.
It must be remembered, however, that the
Governor's mental
strength had not diminished in
proportion to his physical disable-
ment. He was but sixty-five years of
age, and had lost none of
his strength of will and obstinacy of
purpose. His supporters
were chiefly men of mature years, such
as Cutler and Putnam, of
Marietta; McMillan of Cincinnati, Sibley
of Detroit, and others
of like calibre and experience in public
affairs. Some young
men were also of his party, notably
Jacob Burnet of Cincinnati,
and Charles Hammond of Wheeling, Va.,
recently admitted to
the practice of law within the
Territory, subsequently reaching
great elevation in his profession and in
politics, and identified with
much of the history of Ohio and its
legislation.
On the side of the young Republicans,
the acknowledged
chiefs were Nathaniel Massie, Thomas
Worthington and Edward
Tiffin. Judge Burnet speaks of them
"as qualified to exert an
influence in any deliberative
assembly."
Massie, a native of Virginia, was among
the earliest and
most enterprising adventurers into the
Territory, and shared
largely in the dangers and privations
attending its first settle-
ment. He occupied a high place in the
estimation of the people.
He was a surveyor and locator of
Virginia Military Land War-
rants in the District between the Scioto
and Little Miami Rivers,
reserved in the deed of session from
Virginia for the compensa-
tion of her officers and soldiers on the
continental establishment,
during the Revolutionary War. In this
business he made ac-
quaintances and friends both within and
without the Territory,
which his talents and acquirements, and
his polished and agree-
able manners, enabled him to retain to
the end of his life. He
was now about 36 years of age.
Worthington, like Massie, was the
descendant of an old Vir-
ginia family, tracing its lineage to an
ancient and honorable family
of England, established at their manor
in Lancashire from the
days of Henry the Second, some of whose
descendants at a later
period found a home in Virginia. His
father was an ardent
supporter of the war of the rebellion of
the Colonies against the
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 55
Mother Country and died in that service.
Thomas was his
youngest child, born July 16, 1773. At
the age of fourteen, Major
General William Darke, a distinguished
soldier of the Revolution
and a prominent politician, became his
guardian. General
Darke, as an officer of the Revolution,
had a large holding of Vir-
ginia Military Land Warrants. He was now
an old man. His
only son had been killed at St. Clair's
defeat by the Indians in
1791. He now asked his former ward to
join a party of young
Virginians, chiefly sons of
Revolutionary officers, who were about
to locate warrants for their fathers
beyond the Ohio River, and
to do a like service for him.
This party, in the spring of 1796,
reached the then hamlet
of Chillicothe, which had been laid out
in April of that year by
Massie, and was as yet only a collection
of log huts.
Worthington having located the warrants
of General Darke,
returned to Virginia, and was married in
December, 1796, to Miss
Eleanor Sweringen. These two young
people, occupying a high
social position and both possessing
considerable wealth, a large
portion of which consisted of negro
slaves, determined to free
these slaves. This was after the passage
of the law of Virginia
which made it obligatory to remove
emancipated slaves from the
state. They therefore determined to give
them a home in the
settlement of the new Territory. Mr.
Worthington had purchased
from General Darke the lands which he
had located near Chilli-
cothe, and in company with his friend
and brother-in-law, Dr.
Edward Tiffin, left Virginia on May 1,
1797, reaching Chillicothe
on the 17th of that month. During this
visit, he and Dr. Tiffin,
although they had come only to seek
homes for their emancipated
slaves, became so enamored of
Chillicothe and the lands in its
vicinity that they determined to remove
their families from Vir-
ginia, and make the Territory their own
abiding home.
Accordingly, in the latter days of
March, 1798, the party set
forth from Shepherdstown, Va. It
consisted of Thomas Worth-
ington, his wife and infant daughter;
his brother, Robert, and
his family, Mrs. Worthington's young
brothers, Thomas and
Samuel Van Sweringen; Dr. Tiffin, his
wife, his parents, two
sisters, two brothers, a few skilled
mechanics, and a small army
of emancipated slaves. They reached
Chillicothe April 17, 1798.
56 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
The next year both Thomas Worthington
and Edward Tiffin were
elected to the Territorial Legislature,
which met in Cincinnati.
Edward Tiffin was born in Carlisle,
England, June 19, 1766,
and came with his parents to America in
1784. In 1789 he mar-
ried the sister of Thomas Worthington.
Both he and his wife
were devoutly religious, being members
of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and he, one of the
licensed preachers of that body.
It is said the determination of Mr. and
Mrs. Worthington to free
their slaves was largely influenced by
the opinions of Dr. and
Mrs. Tiffin, who felt, in conscience,
bound to free those they
themselves owned and to give them a home
in the free territory of
the Northwest. Dr. Tiffin, after
reaching Chillicothe, as a physi-
cian, and as a preacher in the Methodist
Church, soon rose to a
high position in the esteem of all who
knew him. His talents and
acquirements readily indicated his
fitness for the speakership of
the assembly, to which he was elected on
the organization of that
body in September, 1799.
These three, Massie, Worthington and
Tiffin, were the ac-
knowledged leaders of the Republican or
Virginia party. Others
were scarcely less distinguished and
able.
It has been already noted that the
office of Secretary of the
Territory became vacant on the election
of Captain William H.
Harrison as delegate in Congress, on
October 3d, 1799. The va-
cancy was not filled until December 30th
of that year, when
Charles Willing Byrd, credited to
Virginia, but in reality a resi-
dent of Kentucky, since 1794, was
appointed to that office. He
took the oath of office before Governor
St. Clair on February 26th,
1800,
at Cincinnati, to which place he had removed at about that
time from the State of Kentucky. He was
not yet thirty years
of age. On completing his education, and
before reaching his
majority, he studied law and was
admitted to the bar, and a few
years afterward emigrated to Kentucky,
as the agent of Mr. Rob-
ert Morris (who owned a large body of
land in that State), where
he acquired celebrity as a lawyer and
ranked high for ability and
probity. The distinction of his Virginia
ancestry, the influence
of his wealthy relatives and friends in
Philadelphia, which was
then the seat of the Federal Government,
united to his own merit
and reputation, secured his appointment
to succeed Captain Har-
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 57
rison. His identification with the
Republican party was manifest
from the first. He was a brother-in-law
of Col. Nathaniel Massie.
His personal interests and associations,
as well as his political
opinions, naturally inclined him to a
decided opposition to the
Governor's opinions and policy. It will
be remembered that in
the absence of the Governor from the
State, which often hap-
pened, the Secretary became the acting
Governor. Mr. Byrd did
not hesitate to use this ad interim authority,
to further the inter-
ests of his friends and party. This fact
and his recognized vigor
of intellect and legal learning gave him
prominence as one of the
leaders of the opposition to the
Governor, and made him another
actor in that exciting territorial
drama.
About this time (1799) Col. Massie
received a letter from a
friend in Philadelphia, introducing a
young man from the State
of Connecticut who had it in
contemplation to establish himself
in the Territory N. W. of the Ohio,
should he meet with due en-
couragement. This was Michael Baldwin.
He had finished a
liberal course of education and obtained
a license to practice law
in Connecticut, and was recommended to
the notice and friendly
attention of Col. Massie, as a young man
of "talents, good morals
and good disposition." His four or
five brothers occupied dis-
tinguished positions as Representatives
or Senators in Congress,
Judges of the higher courts, or as men
of wealth and prominence
in as many different states. He at once
joined the young Vir-
ginians and soon compelled recognition
by his energy, learning
and sparkling intellectual gifts. It is
said he soon distanced all
his competitors at the bar, and for
several years had a large prac-
tice. In the early part of the State's
history he filled several re-
sponsible offices, and had it not been
for his too intimate friend-
ship with old John Barleycorn, he might
have vied with his dis-
tinguished brothers in the attainment of
fortune, fame and high
office, instead of finding an early and
now unknown grave in the
little old cemetery once existing near
the intersection of Riverside
and Bridge streets, in Chillicothe, all
vestige of which has long
since been effaced.
The one person, in Chillicothe, who kept
up with Baldwin in
the legal profession, was William
Creighton, Jr., also a college
graduate, who had studied law and
removed from Berkley County,
58
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Va., to Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1797, or
early in 1798, before he had
completed his twentieth year. He too
belonged to the young
Democracy, and afterward became the
first Secretary of State
for the new state of Ohio, and later a
distinguished member of
Congress, and a Judge of the U. S.
District Court.
Another of the group was Jeremiah
Morrow. He was born
near Gettysburgh, Pa., in October, 1771,
and emigrated from that
State to what is now Warren County,
Ohio, in 1796. He taught
school for a while, was a competent
surveyor, and soon acquired
the respect of his fellow pioneers. He
was a member of the Ter-
ritorial Legislature, also of the
Constitutional Convention of 1802;
and of Ohio's first General Assembly. He
was the first, and for
ten years the sole representative of the
State in the lower house
of Congress; six years a member of the
U. S. Senate, served two
terms as Governor of Ohio, and in his
old age, at the earnest
solicitation of his friends, served them
again in Congress and the
Legislature. He was a steady and
unflinching supporter of the
party in opposition to St. Clair.
Add to these the name of Return J.
Meigs, Jr., of Washing-
ton County, and we have about completed
the list of that extraor-
dinary group of young men who had come
west to establish homes
and fortunes, and to carve out careers
which should reflect honor
upon themselves and their posterity.
These, and others like them, were the
chief actors in that
grand conflict, to whom were added a
multitude of humbler peo-
ple unknown to fame, but gifted with
voices and votes, and whose
separate thoughts in the aggregate, made
up that great force
called "public opinion." Many
of them, both among leaders and
people, were devoutly religious. Tiffin
and Worthington were
Methodists, Morrow and others were
Scotch Presbyterians.
As soon as the Governor threw down
"the gage of battle"
it was promptly taken up, and the
struggle began.
The Governor forsaw the plans of his
opponents, and in-
fluenced in part by personal hostility
to some of the more promi-
nent members of the opposition,
particularly Col. Massie, Sec-
retary Byrd, Judge Symmes and his
son-in-law, Harrison, also
by the natural desire to defend himself
against attacks which he
regarded as persecution, but chiefly
because of his zeal to uphold
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 59
and continue in power the political
party in National politics to
which he belonged, determined at once on
measures to defeat
them.
The fifth "article of compact"
in the ordinance of 1787,
had provided for the formation of not
less than three nor more
than five states within the Territory,
and fixed the boundaries
for three of such prospective states,
the most easterly of which
had for its boundary a direct line due
north from the mouth of
the Great Miami River to the northern
boundary of the Terri-
tory. When either of these divisions
should have a population
of 60,000 free inhabitants, it was
entitled to admission into the
Federal Union, on an equality with the
original states, and at
liberty to form a permanent constitution
and state government,
republican in form and in accord with
the principles of the Ordi-
nance. There was, however, a further
provision that such ad-
mission might be allowed, although there
might be less than
60,000 free inhabitants within the
limits of the proposed state,
but this, only "so far as it might
be consistent with the general
interest of the Confederacy."
Here was a chance for the creation of a
new state, and the
leaders of the two great National
parties, Federalist and Re-
publican, soon appreciated the
importance of this fact. If it could
be made of Federalist material, it would
strengthen that party,
but the contrary if of Republican
timber.
As parties in the States then stood, it
was not likely that a
new state northwest of the Ohio River
could be formed so as to
add strength to the Federal party. It
was therefore obviously
the policy of the Governor and his
Federal friends to postpone
the creation of a new state as long as
possible. Accordingly, he
at first in a letter to the Secretary of
State at Washington, Mr.
Pickering, advised a division, with the
Scioto River as the line
of separation. This he thought would
make the upper or east-
ern division surely Federal, and that
the opposing local inter-
ests of those whom he regarded as
unfriendly to the General
Government, in the western division,
would so balance each other
that they would not be able to unite in
any scheme adverse to
Federal strength. But on reflection, he
thought the eastern divis-
ion so proposed too thinly inhabited and
that the design he had
60 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
in view would be too evident. He
therefore immediately on the
adjournment of the Legislature in
December, 1799, wrote to
his Federal friend, Mr. Ross, of the U.
S. Senate, suggesting
a division by a line due north from the
mouth of Eagle Creek,
a point on the Ohio River in which is
now Brown county, a
short distance above where Ripley, Ohio,
now stands. Such a
division he thought would keep what he
called the "multitude of
indigent and ignorant people" of
the Territory, who were "with-
out fixed political principles," in
"a colonial state for a good
many years to come." He represented
the leaders of the oppo-
sition as holding sentiments opposed to
the general government
and likely to favor a state government
"democratic in form, but
oligarchic in execution, and more
troublesome and more opposed
to the measures of the United States
than even Kentucky." He
wrote that he was persuaded Col.
Worthington's business in
Philadelphia at that time, Congress
being then and there in
session, was to press the passage of a
bill for a division on a
line drawn due north from the mouth of
the Great Miami, which
would please the people of Ross county
by giving consequence
to Chillicothe, but that their leaders
had other views, looking to
the formation of a new state, the
expected power of which would
come into their hands as Democrats, and
enable them to mould the
state as they pleased, which in his
judgment would be as un-
friendly to the United States as
possible. In the same letter he
speaks of Worthington as wanting in
candor and as a very de-
signing man; shows his hostility to
Judge Symmes and delegate
Harrison, in unmistakable terms, and
recommends his trusted
supporter, McMillan, for a Judgeship.
He follows this with a letter in
February, 1800, to delegate
Harrison; and as his (Harrison's)
interests and those of Judge
Symmes were identified with Cincinnati,
he endeavors to con-
vince him that any division of the
Territory into only two parts,
would ruin that city. He therefore
recommends a tripartite di-
vision, opposing the Great Miami line,
as making the eastern
division too large and recommending the
Scioto as the west bound-
ary of that division; a line due north
from the mouth of the
Kentucky River, as the west boundary of
the middle division,
and all the country west of that, to the
Mississippi, to constitute
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 61
the third, with Marietta, Cincinnati and
Vincennes as the re-
spective seats of government.
In the meantime, the Governor's
opponents were not idle.
In that same month of December, 1799,
their dissatisfaction with
the Governor's reasons for vetoing
eleven out of the thirty odd
bills which had been passed by the
Council and House of Rep-
resentatives, knew no bounds. They
conceived the plan of pro-
curing a division of the Territory into
two districts at the then
session of Congress in Philadelphia,
with the expectation that
the next meeting of the Legislature for
the Eastern Division
would be in Chillicothe. They sent Col.
Worthington to Phila-
delphia, and to carry out this plan was,
as the Governor had
suspected, the real object of his visit
there. Massie had gone
off on his wedding trip, but was
expected to write to his friends
in Congress, and to co-operate with
Worthington and other citi-
zens of Ross county. The movement was
successful.
On May 7, 1800, Congress passed an act
dividing the North-
west Territory into two parts, separated
by a line beginning on
the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the
Kentucky River, where
Carrollton, Ky., is now located, some
twenty-five or thirty miles
west of the present west boundary of
Ohio, thence by a line
a little east of north, to Fort
Recovery, which is on that west
boundary, and thence due north until it
intersected the boundary
line between the United States and
Canada. The eastern di-
vision was to remain under the then
existing territorial govern-
ment, and the seat of government was to
be at Chillicothe until
it should be otherwise ordered by the
Territorial Legislature
(1 Chase Stat. 70).
To Mr. Harrison, the delegate in
Congress, aided by Mr.
Worthington, the passage of the act was
mainly due. It was
in the teeth and eyes of St. Clair's
project for a division into
three parts. Harrison was made Governor
of the West or In-
diana Division, but with a declaration
on his part that if his
friends on the Ohio River, and at
Chillicothe, should express a
wish for him to resign that office, he
would do so. He wrote
that he would be in Chillicothe at the
meeting of the Legislature.
Now the parties, Federalist and
Republican, after a short
pause to take breath, renewed the
struggle. The then term of
62
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
service of Governor St. Clair was to
expire in December, 1800.
As early as July or August of that year,
his friends circulated
petitions in Cincinnati and elsewhere,
asking for his continu-
ance in office and for censure upon the
inhabitants of Ross county
for their alleged misrepresentation of
his conduct. In September,
it was reported that a scheme was on
foot to secure the ruin
of Chillicothe by having the members of
the Legislature from
Hamilton county in the west unite with
those from Washington
county in the east, to elect one of the
delegates of the latter to
a seat in Congress to succeed Mr.
Harrison, in return for which
favor, the Washington county members
were to unite with those
from Hamilton county in the passage of
an act to remove the
seat of government from Chillicothe to
Cincinnati, and afterward,
through the influence of their delegate
in Congress, and the
Governor's friends, to continue the
Governor in office, and effect
another and different division of the
territory so as to procrasti-
nate the formation of a new state as
long as possible. What
happened afterward proved this report to
be a pretty distinct
"shadow of a coming event."
Congress at the same session at which it
passed its original
act for the division of the Territory
into two parts, also passed
an act directing the census of the
eastern part to be taken under
the direction of the Territorial
Secretary.
In the meantime the opponents of the
Governor and of his
policy had organized a committee, of
which Dr. Edward Tiffin
was the head. This committee issued an
address to the inhabi-
tants of the Northwest Territory who
resided east of a line drawn
due north from the mouth of the Great
Miami River, calling their
attention to the act for taking the
census, and expressing the
belief that it would appear that the
number of inhabitants re-
quired by the Ordinance of 1787 in
order to entitle them to a
state government, would be reached, or
nearly so. They there-
fore recommended their fellowcitizens to
take into consideration
the propriety of forming a state
government, and to instruct their
representatives at the next meeting of
the General Assembly to
govern themselves accordingly; but to
keep in view the additional
expense a state government would
involve, as well as the supe-
rior advantages to be derived therefrom.
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 63
Secretary Byrd was busy taking the
required census.
The Legislature met on November 5, 1800.
It was a short
session. Mr. Chase, referring to it, in
his sketch of the History
of Ohio, says that at this session
"the increasing unpopularity
of Governor St. Clair was evidenced by
the debates and votes
upon the answer to his speech. An
argumentative remonstrance
relative to the erection of new counties
and his mode of exer-
cising the veto power, was presented to
him on behalf of both
houses, to which he returned a long and
labored reply, but con-
ceded nothing." Some of the best
friends of the Governor, in-
cluding Mr. Burnet, regarded the reasons
set forth in the reply
"as more plausible than
solid," and as reflecting unnecessarily
upon the judgment or intelligence of the
Assembly. At this
point the Legislature retired from the
controversy, and many of
its members now began to anticipate
statehood as the only way
to escape from what they regarded as a
harsh, oppressive and
arbitrary rule.
The scheme of the St. Clair party to
unite the Washing-
ton and Hamilton county members, took
form by the election of
Mr. McMillan, a warm St. Clair partisan
from Hamilton county,
as delegate to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the appointment of
Harrison as Governor of Indiana, until
the 4th of March, then
next, a period of about three months,
while Major Paul Fearing,
of Marietta, another Federalist, was
elected for the full term of
two years.
At this period, "the old man,"
as his opponents invariably
called the Governor, introduced a little
strategy, borrowed from
the art of war, with which he was
familiar in his earlier life.
He knew that his term of office would
expire on December 9.
1800, a fact which was not generally
known, and he determined
to make use of this knowledge in such a
way as to defeat any
plan for the sitting of the Assembly
after his term should expire,
with Secretary Byrd as Acting Governor.
St. Clair held the
opinion that the case of a vacancy in
the office by reason of the
expiration of the term thereof, was not
one provided for by the
Act of Congress, during which the
Secretary should act in the
Governor's place. He knew that the
Assembly and the Secretary
were of a contrary opinion, but he knew
also that he had the
64 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
power to prorogue and dissolve the
Assembly at pleasure. He
determined to exericse this latter power
at a time when it would
be too late to confer with the Secretary
(whose home was in
Cincinnati,) and too late to arrange for
completing the public
business that might be then pending. He
concealed this deter-
mination in his own bosom. In the latter
part of November a
rumor that the Governor's term would
expire on December 9,
having reached the Secretary's ears, he
considered it a trick to
prevent the forwarding of petitions to
the President by him and
his friends, against St. Clair's
reappointment, inasmuch as in the
event of the expiration of the term at
that date, such reappoint-
ment would likely be made, before the
petitions, etc., could reach
Washington City. Secretary Byrd,
however, wrote to Col. Massie
to know when in his opinion the session
would be closed, intend-
ing to go to Chillicothe with the view
to act in the Governor's
place, and continue the sitting of the
Assembly. But before any
word could reach him, the Governor
developed his scheme. On
December 2 he sent a message to the
Assembly declaring that on
the 9th its session must end,
as on that day his term would expire,
and also declaring that a vacancy so
occurring was not a case pro-
vided for by law, in which the Secretary
could become acting
Governor.
Mr. Burnet says it was the prevailing
opinion that the Gov-
ernor should have given notice of his
view of the powers of
the Secretary and of his intention to
prorogue the Legislature,
in his address at the opening of the
session, and that his best
friends were apprehensive that he did
not do so for the express
purpose of preventing the interference
of the Secretary until it
would be too late for such interference
to be of any service.
The development of this piece of
strategy acted like the
Hudibrastic gun which "kicked back
and knocked its owner over."
It wakened the good opinion of the
Governor's friends as to his
candor and fairness, as well as to his
wisdom and judgment,
while it aroused the indignation and
wrath of his opponents.
St. Clair was speedily reappointed by
President Adams.
The contest was continued with renewed
activity and much bit-
terness. The development of events, led
to the adoption of plans,
not seriously thought of at the
beginning. The opponents of
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 65
the Governor at first sought from
Congress a bare modification
of the veto power; next came charges
against the Governor and
the effort to remove him from office,
and finally the creation of
a new state with a Governor of their own
choice.
It was not until February, 1801, that
Mr. Jefferson's elec-
tion as successor to President Adams was
assured. That event
inspired new hopes in the minds of the
democratic Republicans
of the Territory, and was a warning to
the Governor's party to
proceed with caution, but the warning
was unheeded.
The citizens of Marietta early in 1801,
at a public meeting
appointed a committee of five to report
an address to the citizens
of their own and other counties. That address
was reported to
an adjourned public meeting, and
carried, after debate, by a large
majority. It charged the opponents of
Governor St. Clair, as
being designing characters, aiming at
self-aggrandisement and
willing to sacrifice the right and
property of the citizens of the
Territory at the shrine of private
ambition, and deprecated the
domestic tempest thus created, as only
equaled by the dangers
of a foreign war. It disclaimed and
opposed the idea of forming
a state government as involving an
expense beyond the power
of the people to support.
All through the summer of 1801 the
struggle went on. The
spirit of National politics entered
largely into the controversy.
The election held in October, 1801, for
members of the
second General Assembly, now confined to
the counties of the
newly created Eastern Division resulted
in a majority favorably
inclined to the Governor. They convened
in Chillicothe on No-
vember 23, 1801.
The project for changing the boundaries
prescribed in the
Ordinence of 1787 for the states within
the Territory, which
had been a part of the scheme formed by
the Governor and
his friends at the Session of 1800, but
postponed at that time, was
now resumed, and a Bill declaring the
assent of the Territory to
an alteration of the Ordinance of 1787,
by Congress, so as to
change the boundaries as desired, was
the first act of legislation
at that session. It was approved by the
Governor on December
21st, 1801.
Vol. XI-5
66 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
The whole course of the majority
indicated strongly the
carrying out of an agreed plan to unite
the upper and lower por-
tions (on the Ohio River) of the Eastern
Division of the Terri-
tory, against the middle portion.
St. Clair, himself, wrote to delegate
Fearing, at Washing-
ton, "you cannot imagine the
agitation this legislation has created
among the people here."
The minority, embracing the leading
republicans, Tiffin,
Worthington and Langham, of Ross; Massie
and Darlington,
of Adams, and Dunlevy and Morrow of
Hamilton, united in a
strong protest against it. A public
meeting was held at Chilli-
cothe and a Committee appointed to draft
and forward a petition
to Congress asking it to refuse its
assent to the proposed measure
for division. This was put in
circulation for subscription by the
people and agents were sent out to
procure aid in all parts of
the Territory. Messrs. Worthington and
Baldwin were appointed
to go to Washington in person, to
advocate the cause of the peti-
tioners against the proposed division,
which was styled "a con-
spiracy of the representatives of the
upper and lower parts of the
Territory to ruin the middle part."
As an evidence of the local agitation to
which the Governor
referred, caused by the passage of this
Boundary Act, and by the
threat of certain members of the
Governor's party to remove
the capitol back to Cincinnati (among
whom was Mr. Scheifflein,
of Wayne county, now Michigan, who had
spoken very freely on
the subject of the removal from
Cincinnati, and the agency of
the people of Chillicothe in bring it
about), we cite a disgraceful
event. For two evenings, Christmas eve
and the evening before,
unruly and unlawful assemblages of
certain men of the baser
sort, led by that young man of
"talents, good morals and good
disposition," according to his
letter of introduction to Col. Massie,
Michael Baldwin, broke into the boarding
house, where the Gov-
ernor and many of the members of the
Assembly lodged, with
great and riotous uproar. Mr.
Worthington on that occasion
seized Baldwin and threatened him with
death if he did not
desist. Scheiffein met the mob with a
brace of loaded pistols
and drove them back into the street. The
Governor in recounting
the affair, says one of the members was
actually collared, but being
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 67
armed with a dirk instantly drew it, but
fortunately was pre-
vented from putting his assailant to
death. The sight of this
weapon made the mob quit the room. Under
the expostulations
of the Governor, and with the aid of Mr.
Worthington and
a deputy sheriff, the rioters were
quieted and the riot ended
without serious injury to any one on
either side, but as a result,
it hastened the very thing the rioters
desired to prevent, for the
legislature on the first day of the new
year, passed the act for the
removal of the capitol to Cincinnati, as
expressive of their feelings
on this occasion.
Before this was done, Worthington and
Baldwin had left on
their mission to Washington City.
Worthington, on the 31st of
December, was in Zanesville, waiting for
Baldwin, inveighing
against him as the worst traveller he
had ever met with, having
broken down his horse by bad treatment,
and threatening to
cane him on sight; but after their
arrival in Washington, he
reports Mr. Baldwin as acting with
"great prudence and sobriety."
Messengers were also sent to Washington
in behalf of the
Governor's party, and the contest there
was carried on with
wonderful energy and perseverance on
both sides, aided by
constant correspondence with parties in
the Territory. St. Clair
seems from his letters to have been the
most active and per-
sistent of any one on his side. His old
friends of the Federal
party and of the old army, proved
friends indeed. Senator
James Ross, of Pennsylvania, for whom
Ross County, Ohio, had
been named by Governor St. Clair, stood
by him to the last.
The mission of Worthington and Baldwin
was simply to
defeat the change in the boundaries of
the Territory, as was
then proposed by the Legislature, and to
secure the removal of
St. Clair. It was not long, however,
before they and other
Democratic Republicans in the Territory
and at Washington
City, developed a plan to procure the
passage of an act to
authorize a convention of delegates
elected by the people of the
Territory, to declare whether they
wished to form a state gov-
ernment, and if so, to adopt a
constitution for that purpose.
This act was passed by Congress on April
30th, 1802, by a large
majority, and this practically settled
the controversy.
68 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
The effort to remove Governor St. Clair
was not lost sight
of. Charges were filed against him by
Secretary Byrd, and
counter charges against the Secretary,
by the Governor, in the
office of the Secretary of State at
Washington, where they are
still on file. Col. Worthington also
informally filed charges of
his own, promising to follow them by
formal charges to be pre-
pared and forwarded by Col. Massie and
the Committee at Chil-
licothe, and to be sustained by proofs
of the Governor's mis-
conduct, his abuse of power, his
unfitness for the office, and
his lack of devotion to the cause of
equal rights. All these
remain on file at Washington City, in
the office of the Secretary
of State, and recent publications have
brought many of them
to light. The effort to remove him
failed on the charges filed,
but later, an ill advised speech which
he was permitted to make,
not as Governor, but as a citizen to
whom some courtesy was
due, before the Constitutional
Convention, which met in Chilli-
cothe on November 1, 1802, was
considered by President Jef-
ferson sufficiently reprehensible to
warrant his removal from
office. This was done November 22, 1802, and
thereafter the
functions of his office devolved on
Charles Willing Byrd, the
Secretary of the Territory, who
continued to discharge them
until Dr. Tiffin's inauguration as
Governor of the new State,
on March 3, 1803, when he, by virtue of
an appointment by Pres-
ident Jefferson, became United States
District Judge for the
District of Ohio.
In reviewing the controversy, it is
apparent that no one
man among the opponents of Governor St.
Clair is entitled to
the appellation of leader in the
movement which led to the
Governor's downfall and the formation of
the new State. In
reading an account of the part taken by any
one of them, we are
apt to say, "this was the leader,
and the rest were followers."
Young Harrison, with Judge Symmes at his
back, as the
first Territorial delegate to Congress;
Secretary Byrd, who from his official
position was able to
exert a powerful influence in direct
antagonism to the Governor.
John Smith, of Hamilton County, whose
native talents and
mental energy, and whose ambition to
excel, urged him to con-
Ohio's Birth Struggle. 69
stant application and soon raised him to
a standing among the
influential leaders of his day;
Dr. Edward Tiffin, that admirable
presiding officer over po-
litical bodies, great in ability and in
steady adherence to his
convictions of right and duty;
Col. Massie, as the earliest and most
influential of the pio-
neers, with large interests at stake,
and with singular ability to
maintain them; not ambitious of political
preferment, but giv-
ing most valuable aid and counsel in
advancing the cause he
espoused;
Col. Worthington, as second to none in
mental vigor, alert-
ness, and shrewdness; untiring and
persevering to the last
degree, giving up the comforts of home
during prolonged ab-
sences at Philadelphia and Washington,
watching every turn in
the prolonged controversy, spurring up
the tardy, incessant in
action until the result is reached and
then announcing that result
in a brief letter to Col. Massie from
Washington on April 30th,
1802,
in these words: "I do myself the pleasure to enclose you
a copy of the act for the admission of
the Territory into the
Union as a state. I leave this place in
an hour."
When we take these, with Morrow and
others, that might
be named, all into one view, we perceive
that while each was
entitled to a conspicuous position, all
were one in spirit, purpose
and high ambition. We must write on
their joint escutcheon, the
motto; "E Pluribus Unum."
But who can refrain from dropping a tear
of pity over the
sad misfortunes of St. Clair. His
services to his country in
the days which tried men's souls, his
high qualities of head and
heart, command our admiration. Ah! we
say, if he had only
seen the trend of events, their
inevitable progress toward equality
of rights, and the abolition of the
distinctions which separate
the few from the many! If he had only
realized on that fatal
day of dissent from the will of the
people, that "he who spits
against the wind, spits in his own face
!" If he had only yielded,
as far as he might without violating
conscience, by giving up
or modifying the exercise of his
absolute negative on the will of
the people as expressed by their
representatives, and been con-
tent to guide the ship of State amid the
sea of new opinions
70 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
upon which it had been launched, he might have ranked for all time, as he did at first, along with the heroes of his age. The actors of that eventful period are all in their graves, and as Judge Burnet, one of their latest survivors, said of them, "a retrospect of their actions will show that at times, unreason- able warmth and jealousy of motive, existed on both sides." Let us join with him in the wish that "Whatever of abuse, or re- proach, may have been cast then, by either party on the other, may now be covered by the mantle of oblivion." |
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