despatched letters by expresses, to the Speakers of
all the other Assemblies. I remember that Mr.
Carr and myself, returning home together, and conversing
on the subject by the way, concurred in the conclusion,
that that measure must inevitably beget the meeting
of a Congress of Deputies from all the Colonies, for
the purpose of uniting all in the same principles and
measures for the maintenance of our rights. My
memory cannot deceive me, when I affirm that we did
it in consequence of no such proposition from any other
Colony. No doubt, the resolution itself, and the
journals of the day, will show that ours was original,
and not merely responsive to one from any other quarter.
Yet, I am certain I remember also, that a similar
proposition, and nearly cotemporary, was made by Massachusetts,
and that our northern messenger passed theirs on the
road. This, too, may be settled by recurrence
to the records of Massachusetts. The proposition
was generally acceded to by the other Colonies, and
the first effect, as expected, was the meeting of
a Congress at New York the ensuing year. The
committee of correspondence appointed by Massachusetts,
as quoted by you from Marshall, under the date of
1770, must have been for a special purpose, and functus
officio before the date of 1773, or Massachusetts
herself would not then have proposed another.
Records should be examined to settle this accurately.
I well remember the pleasure expressed in the countenance
and conversation of the members generally, on this
debut of Mr. Carr, and the hopes they conceived
as well from the talents as the patriotism it manifested.
But he died within two months after, and in him we
lost a powerful fellow-laborer. His character
was of a high order. A spotless integrity, sound
judgment, handsome imagination, enriched by education
and reading, quick and clear in his conceptions, of
correct and ready elocution, impressing every hearer
with the sincerity of the heart from which it flowed.
His firmness was inflexible in whatever he thought
was right: but when no moral principle stood
in the way, never had man more of the milk of human
kindness, of indulgence, of softness, of pleasantry
in conversation and conduct. The number of his
friends, and the warmth of their affection, were proofs
of his worth, and of their estimate of it. To
give to those now living, an idea of the affliction
produced by his death in the minds of all who knew
him, I liken it to that lately felt by themselves on
the death of his eldest son, Peter Carr, so like him
in all his endowments and moral qualities, and whose
recollection can never recur without a deep-drawn
sigh from the bosom of any one who knew him. You
mention that I showed you an inscription I had proposed
for the tomb-stone of your father. Did I leave
it in your hands to be copied? I ask the question,
not that I have any such recollection, but that I
find it no longer in the place of its deposite, and
think I never took it out but on that occasion.
Ever and affectionately yours.