Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/94

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

ernor when the stamp act passed, and though he was loyal to his superiors in England, he had no heart in the enforcement of this or of the Revenue act which followed. After the passage of the latter act he prorogued the leg- islature from time to time both on account of sickness and in order to avoid a (luarrel. He was sick a long time, and March 3, 1768, he died, and was buried in the north aisle of the church in Williamsburg. According to his will, proved at Yorktown, he left a wife Catherine; a brother-in-law. Francis Wollas- ton ; a brother, William Fau(|uier ; and two sons, Francis and William Fauquier.

Fauquier was a very afifable and agreeable man, though somewhat excitable. He was an excellent talker, and delighted in the company of Dr. William Small, the professor ot natural philosophy at William and Mary College, and of George Wythe, the great Williamsburg lawyer ; and at his table many rising young men of Virginia, like JefTerson and John Page, learned their lessons in the rights of man. As an indication of his interest in scientific mat- ters it may be mentioned that his brother Wil- liam read before the Royal Society in London an article prepared by him in Virginia on 'Hailstones observed in Virginia, July 9, 1758." His influence in another respect was not so fortunate. He diffused in the colony a passion for playing cards, which lasted till it was rebuked by the orders of the Revolution- ary county committees in 1775.

Amherst, Jeffrey, titular governor of Vir- ginia ( 1763-1768;, was the second son of Jef- frey Amherst, of Riverhead, Kent county. England. His family had no influence, and the remarkable fact of the rise of Amherst 'rom page to field marshal is a tribute to his own merit. He was page to the Duke of

Dorset, who procured for him an ensigncy in the (iuards in 1731. He next served on Gen- eral Ligonier's staff, and afterwards on that of the Duke of Cumberland. In 1756 he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifteenth regi- ment. When Pitt became chancellor, and was fitting out an expedition to North America, he picked out Amherst as the man to lead. The expedition that sailed from Portsmouth in May, 1758, was 14,000 strong, and was em- barked in fifteen -ships under the command of Admiral Boscawen. On reaching the Island of Cape Breton he captured Louisburg, and in September, Amherst was as a reward ap- pointed commander-in-chief of the forces in the place of James Abercrombie. In Novem- ber, 1758, he captured Fort Duquesne from the French. He was even more successful in the dififerent campaigns of the next year (1759). Ticonderoga fell before him, and his generals Sir William Johnson and W^olfe took Fort Niagara and Quebec, which in 1760 was followed by the surrender of Montreal, the capital of Canada. Amherst was at once appointed governor-general of North America, and in 1761 received the thanks of parliament and w^as made a knight of the Bath. The French sued for peace, but war still continued with the Indians. They were led by Pontiac, and Amherst proved unfit to deal with him. His failure no doubt was the chief cause of his return to England in 1763. There Pon- tiac's conspiracy was unknow'n, and Amherst w^as received as the conqueror of Canada and made governor of Virginia and colonel of the 60th or American regiment. His fame became very great. In 1770 he was made governor of Guernsey, and in 1772. a privy council- lor and lieutenant-general of the ordinance. During the American war he served in the capacity of adviser to the government. His