eadful
political crime; and it is not hard to see how, when employed by one
person to describe the bestowment and acceptance of extraordinary
power,--implying a perfectly innocent proposition, it could be easily
taken by another person as describing the bestowment and acceptance of
unlimited power,--implying a proposition which among us, probably,
would always be a criminal one.

With the help which this discussion may give us, let us now return to
the General Assembly of Virginia, at Williamsburg, approaching the
close of its first session, in the latter part of December, 1776. It
was on the point of adjourning, not to meet again until the latter
part of March, 1777. At that moment, by the arrival of most alarming
news from the seat of war, it was forced to make special provision for
the public safety during the interval which must elapse before its
next session. Its journal indicates that, prior to the 20th of
December, it had been proceeding with its business in a quiet way,
under no apparent consciousness of imminent peril. On that day,
however, there are traces of a panic; for, on that day, "The Virginia
Gazette" announced to them the appalling news of "the crossing of the
Delaware by the British forces, from twelve to fifteen thousand
strong; the position of General Washington, at Bristol, on the south
side of the river, with only six thousand men;" and the virtual flight
of Congress from Philadelphia.[275] At this rate, how long would it be
before the Continental army would be dispersed or captured, and the
troops of the enemy sweeping in vengeance across the borders of
Virginia? Accordingly, the House of Delegates immediately resolved
itself into "a committee to take into their consideration the state of
America;" but not being able to reach any decision that day, it voted
to resume the subject on the day following, and for that purpose to
meet an hour earlier than usual. So, on Saturday, the 21st of
December, the House passed a series of resolutions intended to provide
for the crisis into which the country was plunged, and, among the
other resolutions, this:--

"And whereas the present imminent danger of America, and the
ruin and misery which threatens the good people of this
Commonwealth, and their posterity, calls for the utmost
exertion of our strength, and it is become necessary for the
preservation of the State that the usual forms of government
be suspended during a limite