Life of William Plumer

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1857. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III. THE LAW STUDENT AND LEGISLATOR. From his labors as a preacher, my father returned, at the close of 1780, with unabated ador, to his old pursuit of knowledge, through the medium of books. But books were no longer the sole companions of his leisure. For the last eighteen months he had been almost constantly in contact, and occasionally in collision, with the world of living men; and, without losing his hold on the past, he came thenceforth to feel a more lively interest in the passing events of the day, and especially in the two great events of his time, the war of Independence, and the assumption of self-government which that war devolved upon the people of the United States. His father had been a Whig while the object sought by the colonies was a redress of grievances. But when the question of Independence arose, he doubted both as to the policy and the practicability of the measure. He thought the people not yet ripe for self-government; or, if so, not strong enough to set at defiance the power of the British empire. "Let us wait," he said, " till we are stronger, before setting up for ourselves. Remonstrate and petition, if you will, and adhere to your non-importation acts, but let there be no fighting in our day. Our sons, or, at the farthest, their sons, will be strong enough to have their own way in this matter; and their way will be a better one than any we can now take in that direction." In a word, he was a Whig of the John Dickinson, rather than of the John Adams schooL These cautious counsels were, however, ill-suited to the ardent temper of the times; and, finding them of no avail, he submitted, with his usual prudence, to the popular decision, paid his war-taxes promptly, and discharged readily all the duties of a good citizen, th...