sed
some of the leading measures of the administration of Washington. When
it was foreseen that a new treaty would be negotiated with England, it
was determined by them that, unless that measure made those concessions
and amendments of the treaty of 1783, which Virginia had striven so hard
to obtain, it should be opposed at every hazard; and John Taylor of
Caroline, happening to resign his seat in the Senate just at that time
(1795), Henry Tazewell, then on the bench of the Court of Appeals, was
elected to fill his place; and the first movement he made on taking his
seat in the Senate was to offer a series of resolutions pointing out the
defects of the new treaty with England, which had been negotiated by Mr.
Jay. It was natural that young Tazewell should embrace the doctrines of
the party in which his father held almost the chief place; and his
inclination in this respect was probably strengthened by the opinions of
Judge Pendleton and Chancellor Wythe, both of whom had voted for the
ratification of the federal constitution by Virginia, but who now sided
with his father. On the other hand, his friends Marshall and Wickham
were ranged on the federal side; and though Wickham at no time of his
life took an active part in politics, Marshall, in the House of
Delegates, and by popular addresses, was most active in the cause, and
was reputed the leader of the federal party in the State.

In the spring of 1796, when he had attained his one-and-twentieth year,
he was returned to the House of Delegates from the county of James City,
and continued a member of the body until the close of the century. In
that interval were discussed in the Assembly the leading measures of the
administrations of Washington and the elder Adams; and a better school
for a young politician cannot well be imagined. Of this period, the most
interesting sessions were those of 1798-99, and of 1799-1800. During the
first of these sessions, the famous resolutions of John Taylor of
Caroline, which, it afterwards transpired, were drafted by Mr. Madison,
were discussed with an ability which was honorable to both the great
parties of the day, and which, at this distance of time, is proudly
remembered; and in the last-named session was adopted that still more
celebrated paper, from the pen of Madison, now known and honored as the
Virginia Report. To both of these important papers Tazewell gave a
cordial assent. It was during these two sessions he met with several o