The Capitol was brilliantly lighted, and already crowded to excess, when
our party arrived. The seats appropriated to the members of the expedition,
were already pre-occupied by ladies, and the galleries were crowded to suffocation
by many of the rank and file of the little army, who had crowded in to
hear their leaders talk of the campaign. There was a feverish anxiety and
restlessness already visible among the elite on the lower floor, and when Hall
followed the Governor's party into the midst of them, there was a general cessation
of the buz and hum of eager gossip, and all eyes were turned enquiringly
towards him. It seemed as it the public mind had been prepared to expect a
renewed encounter between him and his persecutors. Seats had been preserved
for the Governor's party, just in front of the Speaker's chair, but Hall
after waiting to see them all comfortably provided, did not assume so conspicuous
a place himself—he walked to one of the farthest and most obscure corners
of the room and seated himself, and rested his head upon his hand in a
meek meditative mood, and so as to elude the painful gaze of the multitude.
He had scarcely thus enscounced himself before the purient eyes of the people
were attracted by the entrance of the well known champion of the opposite
side—Mr. Henry Lee. He walked up the main vestibule, arm in arm with
young Carter, and holding quite ostentatiously a bundle of papers under his
arm. After he was seated near the centre of the room, and exactly in front of
the Governor's party, he cast his haughty eye round the hall in search of his
antagonist, but he was not successful in detecting his whereabouts, and he
doubtless concluded that he had not yet arrived—consequently he kept his eye
anxiously and eagerly upon the door. The room, however, was now as full
as it could hold, and by general consent they were ready to proceed to

[figure description] Page 162.[end figure description]

business. Dr. Blair rose up and said: “As this is a meeting for the purpose of
deciding the best means of advancing the cause of civilization and of carrying
the cross of our blessed Redeemer into unknown heathen lands, I propose
that it be opened with prayer!”

As this was one of those propositions which none in those days thought
unconstitutional, it was adopted nem. con. and the old prelate offered an
eloquent appeal to the throne of mercy, that the expedition might be crowned
with success and all its arrangements distinguished by that harmony and good
will to men, which should ever characterize missionary enterprises. After
the prayer was concluded he rose to his feet and addressed a few words to the
young gentry present, and distiuctly characterized them as young missionaries
about to herald the cross to heathen lands, and begged them to preserve
their characters and conduct pure and above reproach—that they might consistently
look to Heaven for its approbation upon their undertaking.

This proceding of the old Doctor took the sanguine and impatient youths
all aback. They had been dreaming of naught but military conquest, and
magnificent landed acquisitions, but this suddenly converting them all into
missionaries of the cross, was what they were not exactly prepared for.
Besides it seemed to awe into silence the turbulent passions which they had
expected to see burst into fierce and angry contention—it converted, as it
were, the arena of personal contention at once into a sacred place.”

However, some one rose and nominated Governor Spotswood to the Chair.
The question was put and carried unanimously, and two of the young gentlemen
escorted him to his seat. On assuming the chair, he stated that he
understood the meeting to consist only of the young gentry of the land who
intended to march on the morrow for the mountains—of such as had marched
their retainers or followers voluntarily to his standard—and that their object
was to adopt certain regulations and arrange preliminaries, so as best to
accomplish the noble ends of the enterprise, by such means as had been so
well set forth by his Reverend friend who had preceded him. He said he had
understood that it was to be proposed there, that none but those of gentle
blood should be admitted into this exclusive association. He hoped that no
such proposition would be offered. Let the noble objects of our ambition be
open to every gentleman of fair fame, and to all the officers of the Rangers.

Here he undertook to prove to them, that it was absolutely necessary for
the purposes of military discipline, that there should be but one order among
his subordinates in command, and therefore that the officers of the Rangers
must come into their association.

He sat down amidst no murmurs of applause; on the contrary, there was
marked disapprobation of his views on more than one countenance. Of this
party, Carter became the spokesman. He said, after the draft of the constitution
had been read, if the line already drawn by those appointed to that
duty was once broken down, there was no telling where it would stop—that
if they commenced with the officers of the Rangers, the non-commissioned
officers might come in under the same rule. He undertook also to rebut the
Governor's position as to military discipline—said that this was entirely a
private association of gentlemen, intended in no way to interfere with the
Governor's proper authority in the field or camp—that like all other chivalrous
asscciations which had gone forth to do battle, either in the cause of
religion, humanity, or the more general purposes of righting the wronged,
they were desirous of purifying themselves; and here he instanced the
prolonged fasts, vigils, and religious ceremonies preceding the outset of other
knightly bodies; and “though,” said he, “we may not yet have received the
acolade, who knows but our sovereign may honor many of these noble
youths here assembled upon our return. Like honors have often been
bestowed for less services.”

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Here there was a general smile among the ladies, and the speaker himself
had a half serious half comic expression upon his face. He little knew then
what those services and hardships were to be. His speech was well received
by all the exclusives, those who were for confining the honors entirely among
the young gentry of the Colony. There was a large party, however, of opposite
views, and of these, Bernard Moore became the spokesman. He said,
“that this discussion was what might be called, in military language, firing
from a masked battery. That the gentlemen on the other side had certain
objects to attain by all this machinery—certain persons to exclude. Now he
could not see that they could attain more by one plan than the other. The
Governor's rule would exclude every improper person from the Tramontane
Order, and the other could do no more, while the latter was burdened with
odious features—it put every gentleman upon his pedigree—a matter not at
all times and places fit for public discussion and investigation. He called upon
the opposite side to come out manfully and show their hands—to say at what
they were aiming. He would not ask them to point out who it was they aimed
at, but their objects, if praise-worthy and legitimate, could be attained by general
regulations such as he before alluded to. He concluded by an earnest
appeal to their patriotism, and called upon all the real friends of the enterprise
and its distinguished author, to mark these initiatory proceedings by harmony;
assuring them, that should they commence with heart-burning and discord,
much of the pleasure which they all anticipated would be destroyed.”

These remarks called up Henry Lee. He said that for his part be had
nothing to conceal; that he wished to make the badge of the Tramontane
Order not only a distinction to be sought after, but to elevate the requisitions
for membership, so as to ensure its future honors. “If these rules and regulations
be adopted,” said he, “I predict that our order will be one that will live
in the future history of the Colony, and to have been a member of it, will
confer honors worthy of being transmitted to our descendants. The gentleman
who has just taken his seat calls upon our side of the house to come out
manfully, and show our hands. We are ready and willing to do so, as far as
the nature of the case will admit. It has been currently reported that a certain
individual who has now become quite notorious in the Colony will attempt to
force himself upon us, and I acknowledge frankly, for one, that my design is
to exclude him. I had hoped to have seen him present before I took the
floor.”

Here Hall rose—he said “not for the purpose of interrupting the gentleman,
but to show him that he was present and ready to meet him.”

Lee exclaimed, when Hall resumed his seat, “ah! I am g'ad of it, then we
have not been misinformed. The issue is now made up, and there can be no
more complaints of masked batteries. I leave the question with the meeting.”

Moore made the attempt to take the floor, as well as several others on the
same side, and the chairman became very restless, as if he too desired to take
a hand in the game, but all gave way to Hall, as soon as they saw that he
desired to speak. He said he had but few words to say—that he would not
have intruded at all at this stage of the proceedings, if he had not been so
pointedly alluded to, that he could not misunderstand it. He called upon his
friends to cease their opposition and suffer the regulations to be adopted, that
he was ready and willing to abide by them.

We have not given these regulations in detail, because we did not wish to
fatigue or readers with the whole constitution of a society, in much of which
they could feel no interest. The scope and object of it may be abundantly
gathered by what has been and will be said. There seemed now no longer
any neccessity for opposition, though the friends of the last speaker could
not tell what he was aiming at. They thought that by his easy acquiescence,
he was voluntarily entering into a snare, set for him by his enemies, but they

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could not very well hold out when he had yielded. The articles of association
were now read seriatim, and adopted nem. con. The first of these, of
any interest to our readers, required the unauimous election of six out of the
whole number of names handed in as candidates for admission, This was a
very difficult thing to accomplish, and consumed considerable time. The
whole six were ballotted for at once, after having been put in nomination by
their friends. It will be perceived that this plan required that each candidate
should receive every vote. Bernard Moore obtained this distinction at the
first ballot. Carter at the second, and so on, until the board was complete.
Harry Lee, after running the gauntlet of every trial, was excluded by two
votes only, much to his chagrin and disappointment. It had nearly upset
the whole scheme which he had so ingeniously concocted.

The candidates for admission were now to advance singly to the clerk's
table and record their names, provided there was no dissenting voice of the six
censors. If there should be—then the case was postponed to the last, when
it was to be decided by a vote of the whole association—two-thirds being
required to effect an admission.

The Tramontane order was now rapidly filling up its ranks, and nought
further had occured to disturb the harmony of the meeting, until Hall rose
from his secluded corner, and walked to the table of the Secretary, took up
the pen to record his name. Carter immediately rose and objected, and the
candidate fell back to bide his time. The proceedings went on smoothly
enough again, until Henry Lee approached to record his name, which he
had half accomplished before he could fully comprehend that there was objection
made. It was by Hall, of course, so that they stood as the challengers
of each other, in fact, for all understood who Carter's prompter was, and
were fairly pitted for the contest.

It was now incumbent on Lee to state his objections first, and make them
good. He rose, and stated to the meeting that he had objected, through his
friend, to the candidate, first, because of the general circumstances of mystery
and suspicion which attached to him, and now pretty generally known
throughout the Colony. This, he presumed, would be sufficient of itself, but
he would not leave the matter even doubtful and, therefore, he would state his
second objection to be, that he stood before the meeting under an assumed
name, and that name adopted for dishonest and disreputable purposes. Thirdly,
that he was an attainted rebel and an outlaw, with a price set upon his
head.

Hall rose up to answer to these grave charges, neither with an exulting nor
a desponding air, but quite calm and dignified. He repelled, indignantly, the
first charge, inasmuch as most of the suspicions which had been engendered
against him in the Colony, had been the coinage of his accuser's own brain—
on that very day he had, by an evident interposition of an all-wise and overruling
Providence, been triumphantly freed from the meshes of one of the most
ingenious plots ever contrived to destroy an innocent man. Such, said he,
are all the gentleman's suspicious circumstances. As for the second and
third counts, he put him upon his proofs. Lee beckoned to some one in the
gallery to come down, and for a few moments the whole assemblage were left
in breathless suspense, for it had somehow been rumored that Lee was to confront
Mr. Hall with the real personage whose name he had assumed. It was
not long before a young man, of elegant exterior and carriage, entered the
door of the lower floor, and walked up the passage towards the centre of the
room. Hall, so far from shrinking from the encounter, rose up also, and approached
the table, to which all eyes were now attracted. The stranger was
not quite so tall as Mr. Hall, nor of so large a frame, but the hair and whiskers
were exactly of the same color, and there was, besides, a striking general resemblance
in the two. Those on the back seats rose up, and those in front

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were pressed forward, and for an instant there was some confusion in the general
rush to see the strange encounter. Still they approached each other, and
many supposed they were bent only upon a rude and hostile encounter. But
what was the surprise and astonishment of the people, and of Henry Lee, in
particular, when the two rushed into each other's arms and embraced most
cordially. Both the young men seemed much affected by the meeting, and
each stood gazing upon the other, as if each waited for the other to speak.
Henry Lee, who was standing upon his feet, exclaimed in a hoarse and agitated
voice:

“Mr. President, this jugglery requires explanation!”

Hall waved his hand, and appealed by his looks for a moment's patience
and silence in the crowd, that he might be heard. In the mean time many
voices cried out, “which is the real Hall? Which is the real Hall?”

The President begged the members and the association to be seated, and
suffer the young gentlemen to explain their own mystery—that it was impossible
to hear amidst the present confusion. When order and silence were
once more restored—Hall, or the young gentleman who had assumed that
name, arose and taking the stranger by the hand, led him to the foot of the
table, and said:

“Mr. President, and good people all, I take pleasure in introducing to you
the real Henry Hall, whose name I have so long borne. The idea of first
assuming it was suggested by the resemblance in our persons, having often
been mistaken for each other. I took up another name because it had become
dangerous for me to wear my own. My offence, I acknowledge frankly, was
a grave one; but it was wholly political, and I am happy in being able, at the
same time, that I resume my own, to state to this enlightened meeting, that it
no longer rests under the proscription of our sovereign. I hold in my hand
a free pardon, one of the first acts of clemency of our new King, for I am
under the necessity of informing you at the same time, of the death of her
gracious and most excellent Majesty, the late Queen Ann. She died on the
first of last month.”

There was a general exclamation of surprise and regret, which was followed
by the buz and hum of conversation—carried on in an under tone
throughout the room, and during which the speaker temporarily resumed his
seat.

Silence being once more restored, the President reminded the gentleman
last on the floor, that he had not yet completed his explanation. He resumed.
“I have but few words more to utter, Mr. President, it only remains for me to
resume a name once honored in this Colony—Francis Lee!” Here a deafening
shout of applause shook the Capitol to its foundations, in the midst of
which, both the spokesman, together with Harry Lee, were seen wildly
gesticulating, but not a word could be heard for some moments from either.
Frank, (as we shall henceforth call him,) seeing his brother's frantic gestures,
ceased his own and stood back a moment to hear what it was he said. “I
protest, Mr. President, against this new phase of this arch impostor's jugglery—
I disclaim all kindred with him, and I call upon all those present who
remember my brother, boy as he was, whether he had not light hair.”

Frank stood forward, with a playful smile upon his countenance, and putting
his hand deliberately to his head, in a single instant denuded it of its dark
flowing locks, revealing at the same time a fine turned head, closely matted
over with short light curls. The transformation was instantaneous, and many
voices testified aloud, “it is Frank Lee! it is Frank Lee!” Old Dr. Evylin
rushed forward and seized his hand, but at the very same moment Ellen
fell over into the arms of one of her female friends. Frank's eye had hardly
ever for a moment been entirely removed from her eager and agitated countenance,
and quick as thought, he flew to where she had fallen, and bore her
out of the crowd in his arms.

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