University of Virginia Library

LXXV.

LXXV. EDMUND RANDOLPH.

LXXV. Governor.

LXXV. December 1, 1786, to December, 1788.

Edmund Randolph was born in Williamsburg, the
Capital of the Colony of Virginia, August 10, 1753. It was
in this memorable year that the people of Virginia were
alarmed by the report that the French, aided by the Indians,
were erecting a long line of military posts on the Ohio; this
led George Washington to offer to Governor Dinwiddie his
services, to explore the wild and trackless forests west of the
"Blue Mountains," and to convey to the French commandant
on this frontier, a letter of inquiry from the Governor of
Virginia. History records the perilous nature of this undertaking
and the courageous manner in which it was executed.
Thus, the year in which Edmund Randolph was born, was
signalized as a very important era in the life of his native
Colony, where his family had already borne a distinguished
part. His father was John Randolph, and his mother, Ariana,
daughter of Edmund Jenings. John Randolph was Attorney-General
of the Colony, and was the son of Sir John Randolph,
who had filled the same office and had received the honor of
Knighthood for honorable services to the Crown, being spoken
of as a most eminent man in his profession, and one of high
character.

Sir John Randolph had two sons, John and Peyton, and
they in succession were Attorneys-General of Virginia. At
the breaking out of the war, John went to England, and was
succeeded in his position by his son Edmund; but, bitterly
repenting his choice, he died abroad of a broken heart, and
directed his remains to be brought back to Virginia. They
were interred in the College chapel.

Edmund Randolph now began a career of prominence, and
figured largely for many years as the defender of his country
in the Councils of his state and of the nation, and was the
zealous supporter of the Church against all which he believed
to be assaults upon her rights. He had been adopted by his
uncle, Peyton Randolph, and had espoused his patriotic views
with regard to the independence of America. In 1775 he
served on the staff of Washington, was a delegate to the Virginia
Convention in May, 1776, and from 1779 to 1783 he
was a member of the Continental Congress. On the 29th
August, 1776, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert
Carter Nicholas, Treasurer, and Speaker of the House of
Burgesses of Virginia.

Being a member of the Virginia delegation to "The
Constitutional Convention," which met in Philadelphia, May
25, 1787, Edmund Randolph introduced, on behalf of his
delegation, a series of propositions, fifteen in number, embodying
a new scheme of central government, known in
history as the "Virginia plan." This plan, discussed for
two weeks in committee of the whole, was so modified,
amended, and changed, that it could only be called the foundation
of what was finally accepted and signed by the delegates
in due form. The authorship of "The Constitution" as
then laid down, was clearly the product of many minds, and
the source of some of its most vital phrases will never be given
to posterity. We only know that the end attained was after
long, laborious, anxious discussion and most sagacious compromise.
Sectional differences of opinion were reconciled,
and a distinct plan of constitutional union finally arranged.
Washington presided at this Convention, and by his inflexible
course did much to keep the assembly together—a convention
whose almost continuous session of four months had
more than once threatened to break up in disorder.

It is to be regretted that so little can be known of the
Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia; but the injunction
of secrecy under which its deliberations were held, was
never removed. The official Journal deposited by Washington
in the public archives, and Madison's Notes (all given

to the public at a later day), are the only extended testimony
to throw light on this intensely interesting period—a time
when Washington himself declared that our political affairs
were "suspended by a thread." In that dread crisis the
past furnished no light to guide the statesman of this august
meeting; the present was full of doubt and despair, and the
destiny of the American Liberty hung trembling in the
balance. But, in this juncture, the majestic reason of George
Washington triumphed. "It is too probable," he said,
"that no plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps another
dreadful conflict is to be sustained. If, to please the people,
we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward
defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise
and honest can repair; the event is in the hands of God."
If, in this memorable speech, Washington counseled immediate
action, and thereby cemented the opposing sentiments
of the Convention by one decisive and imperishable step; if
he now laid the foundation of honesty and purity in Constitutional
government, we, the heirs of this rich legacy, are
indebted no less to another Virginian for making the Constitution,
practically, all that it has been, is, and yet may be.
To John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States from
1801 to 1835, do we turn with gratitude for lifting these
Resolutions from the mist and cloud of Doubt, to be the
radiant source of light, and life, and happiness to millions of
enraptured freemen. When as yet the Constitution was a
doubtful experiment, Judge Marshall, by his clear, unanswerable
logic, laid it before an eager world as a wonderful
combination of Liberty and Law, and by his practical construction
of its beneficent provisions, he established it in the
hearts and minds of his fellow-citizens as a wise and never-to-be-abandoned
system of free government.

At the close of the momentous deliberations of the Constitutional
Convention, the plan adopted was disapproved by
Edmund Randolph, but, in June, 1788, when it was submitted
to the Virginia Convention in Richmond for ratification,
he pronounced decidedly for it.

Of the deputies from Virginia who signed the Constitution

in Philadelphia, September 17, 1787, were George Washington,
John Blair, James Madison, Jr. Those of the Virginia
delegation who did not then sign it, were Edmund Randolph,
George Mason, George Wythe, James McClurg. But the
Constitution was finally accepted by Virginia through her
Convention held at Richmond, and ratified June 25, 1788, by
a vote of 89 to 79.

Upon the resignation of Patrick Henry as Governor of
Virginia, Edmund Randolph was elected to succeed him,
December 1, 1786, and remained in this important office
until December, 1788. A glance at the Acts of Assembly
during this period will show the varied subjects which
claimed the attention of his administration, developing
through the laws enacted the gradual and intelligent progress
of a people in the difficult experiment of self-government.

In 1784 Edmund Randolph had been appointed Deputy-Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free, and
Accepted Masons of Virginia, and in 1786 he was elected
Grand Master of the same body, when he named the Honorable
John Marshall as his Deputy. His name is masonically
perpetuated in the Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19,
chartered October 19, 1787. It is also a matter of interest to
note, that Edmund Randolph, on the 28th April, 1788, at the
earnest desire of the members, named "our illustrious and
well-beloved brother, George Washington, Esquire, late
General and Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the United
States of America," as Master of the "Alexandria Lodge,
No. 22." After the death of Washington the name was
changed to the "Alexandria Washington Lodge, No. 22."

In 1790 Edmund Randolph was appointed by Washington
the first Attorney-General of the United States, a position
which, as a man of elegant manners and an accomplished
lawyer, he was well fitted to adorn. On August 2, 1794, he
succeeded Jefferson as Secretary of State, which office he
held until the 19th August, 1795, when he withdrew to private
life and resumed the practice of law. The fact that he
retired from the Cabinet of Washington was made the occasion

of much comment by his political antagonists. He
published a "Vindication" of his course, which ably and
effectually silenced the calumnies of his enemies.

Edmund Randolph spent the latter part of his life chiefly
with his daughter, Mrs. Bennett Taylor, of Frederick County,
and lies buried by her side in the old graveyard of that
parish. Bishop Meade, of Virginia, says of the latter days
of Mr. Randolph's life, viz.:

Mr. Randolph died at "Carter Hall," the seat of Colonel
Nathaniel Burwell, of Frederick County, on September 12,
1813, bringing to a close a life of honorable distinction and
wide-spread usefulness.