Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/86

 62 SKETCHES OF THE

pealed to. And here I will state that Burkes statement of Mr. Henry's consenting to withdraw two resolutions^ by way of compromise with his opponents^ is entirely erroneous/^

The manuscript journal of the day is not to be found; whether it was suppressed^ or casually lost, must remain a matter of uncertainty; it disappeared however, shortly after the session,* and therefore, could not have been among the documents destroyed by the British dur- ing the revolutionary war, as conjectured by Mr. Jef- ferson.

In the interesting fact of the erasure of the fifth reso- lution, Mr. Jefferson is supported by the distinct recol- lection of Mr. Paul Carrington, late a judge of the court of appeals of Virginia, and the only suiTiving member, it is believed, of the house of burgesses of 1765. The statement is also confirmed, if indeed fur- ther confirmation were necessary, by the circumstance that instead of the five resolutions, so solemnly recorded by Mr. Henry, as having passed the house, the journal of the day, exhibits only the following four:

Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this his majesty's colony and dominion of Virginia, brought with them, and transmitted to their posterity, and all others his majesty's subjects, since inhabit- ing in this his majesty's said colony, all the liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities, that have, at any time, been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the peo- ple of Great Britain.

Resolved, That by two royal charters, granted by king James the I. the colonists aforesaid, are declared entitled

tween the two countries ; therefore could not have been destroyed, as you supposed probable." — Paul Carrington, sear.
 * " The manuscript journal was missing' ten years before hostilities be-

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