On the 26th of March, Congress published a complete preface to the declaration of independence, setting forth the contempt with which the petitions, remonstrances, and appeals for redress had been treated, and portraying in lively colours the constitutional and chartered rights of the American people, and the manner they were trampled under foot and steeped in blood by the British hirelings. The same document authorized the colonies to fit out vessels of war to meet the mistress of the seas on her own element. At the same time Mr. Harrison was appointed chairman of a committee to select and cause to be fortified one or more ports for the protection of these vessels and such prizes as they might take. In May, he was made chairman of the committee on the Canada expedition. After consulting Generals Washington, Gates, and Mifflin, he laid a plan of operations before Congress, which was approved. On the 26th of the same month he was appointed chairman of a committee of fourteen, directed to confer with the general officers of the army relative to a plan of operations for the ensuing campaign. When this was matured he laid it before Congress, and during its consideration was chairman of the committee of the whole. With some amendments the report of the committee was adopted. On the 15th of June a board of war was organized, of which Mr. Harrison became chairman, and continued to fill this important post until he retired from Congress. In the discharge of its duties the revered Judge Peters remarks of him, “He was a member, &c. when I entered upon the duties assigned me in the war department. This gave me an opportunity of observing his firmness, good sense and usefulness in deliberation and in critical situations, and much use indeed, was required of these qualities, when every thing around us was lowering and terrific.”
Mr. Harrison became very popular as chairman of the committee of the whole, and when in the house, uniformly presided when important questions were under discussion. He was in the chair during the discussion of the declaration of independence. He also brought up the resolution of the committee that recommended the formal preparation of that sacred instrument, and on the fourth of July reported it as sanctioned by Congress, and sealed his own approbation with his vote and signature. As a further evidence of his cheerfulness and good humour under all circumstances, at the thrilling moment when the members were signing what was by many considered their death warrant; as Mr. Gerry, who was a light slender man finished his signature, the robust Mr. Harrison remarked to him, “When the hanging scene comes to be exhibited, I shall have all the advantage over you. It will be all over with me in a minute, but you will be kicking in the air half an hour after I am gone.”
During the protracted discussions upon the articles of confederation, Mr. Harrison was uniformly in the chair if in the house. From August until the 5th of November, 1776, he was not a member of Congress, and was engaged in the service of his own state, having been appointed one of the counsellors of Virginia under the new form of government. He then succeeded Mr. Jefferson, and again assumed the important stations he had before so ably filled. He was also placed upon the committee to superintend the movements of the northern army. During the sad reverses of the winter of 1776–7, he remained firm at his post, whilst many had gone home disheartened and dejected, but not willing to abandon the cause of freedom. When Congress was compelled to fly from Baltimore to Lancaster, where they remained but for a day, and from there to Yorktown, he followed all its destinies. At one time, at the latter place, the number of members did not exceed twenty, but these few were rendered more zealous and strong from this very circumstance. When there were but twenty-eight, Samuel Adams said it was the truest Congress ever assembled; and when the number was reduced still lower, the amount of zeal manifested and labour performed was not diminished. Its enemies predicted its final dissolution, but proved themselves to be false prophets. They even reported that Mr. Harrison was about to desert the cause. The moderation of this patriot often interposed to soften proposed measures that were too hasty and harsh. When the question was agitated relative to the Quakers, (referred to in the biography of Mr. Chase,) he interfered in their behalf, and as one of their number often remarked, “He saved us from persecution. He had talents to perceive the right and firmness enough to pursue it however violently opposed.”
At the close of 1777, Mr. Harrison resigned his seat in Congress and returned to the bosom of his family. No one member had performed more labour than him, and no one was more highly esteemed and honoured. He was a colossus in the cause of liberty and human rights. He was emphatically a powerful working man.
On his return to his constituents he was not permitted to enjoy repose, but was immediately elected to the house of burgesses, and on taking his seat, was elevated to the dignified station of speaker, which he continued to fill for five successive years. During that period the revolutionary storm rolled its fury over Virginia, which before had experienced but little inconvenience within its own borders. Arnold the traitor and Cornwallis the tyrant, were tinging its streams and saturating its soil with the blood of her noble sons. Fire and sword, murder and rapine, ruin and destruction, marked their savage career. The house of burgesses was driven from Richmond to Charlottesville, to Staunton, and to the Warm Springs, and found but a transient resting place at either. Application was made to Washington, but he could afford no relief. During these rapid removes of the legislature, Mr. Harrison remained firm, and used every exertion to promote such measures as were best calculated to ward off impending dangers. He did much to rouse the people to action and dispel the terrors of their minds. He knew no fugitive fears; the opinion of another writer to the contrary notwithstanding, uttered without any foundation in truth, merely to raise his own hero above his proper level, by climbing upon the shoulders of the towering reputation of Mr. Harrison. This ruse de guerre will not answer even at this late day. Records speak for the dead in a voice that withers the slanderer like the hand writing that paralysed the sturdy frame of Belteshazzer.
In 1782, Mr. Harrison was elected governor of Virginia and assumed an herculean task. The recent devastations of the British army, and the efforts of internal enemies, had thrown every thing into one chaotic mass. He entered upon his duties with an energy and sagacity that showed no “fugitive fear,” and so well did he succeed, that he became one of the most popular chief magistrates that ever filled the gubernatorial chair of Virginia. He was re-elected twice, and then became ineligible by the constitution, and once more sought repose in retirement. Immediately after, he was nominated as a candidate for the legislature without his knowledge, and for the first time was unsuccessful. His election was defeated by a singular circumstance that was taken advantage of by his opponent. When governor, he had directed the militia to level the embankments at Yorktown, which was an unpopular measure. Without lamenting his defeat, effected entirely by intrigue, he removed into the adjoining county of Surrey, and was returned to the same legislature with his competitor; and to render his triumph more complete and the mortification of his opponents more galling, he was elected speaker of the house. Before the year expired his old constituents solicited him to return to his former residence. Old age and infirmity began to admonish him to retire, and he declined a re-election.
In 1788, he was a member of the convention of his state to which the federal constitution was submitted, and was appointed chairman of the first committee—that of privileges and elections. He opposed the document submitted as too indefinite in defining the powers of the general and state governments, and sanctioned it with certain amendments that were returned with it. So strong was the opposition to its adoption by nearly half of the delegates, that they held a private meeting in the night for the purpose of adopting plans of opposition that were calculated to produce the most fatal consequences. Fortunately, the deliberate old patriot, Mr. Harrison, gained admittance and prevailed upon them to submit to the majority of nine and pursue the legal remedy for obtaining amendments. This noble and patriotic act formed the crowning glory of his public career. In 1790 he was nominated chief magistrate, but declined serving, and used his utmost influence for Mr. Randolph and induced his own son to vote against him, who was then a member of the house, by which the governor was elected. Mr. Randolph had become unpopular with a part of the members, who were confident of defeating him could they prevail upon Mr. Harrison to consent to be used as a party man.
During the next year his health declined rapidly, and in April, shortly after his unanimous election to the legislature, he was prostrated by a severe attack of the gout, which terminated his long and useful life, leaving a large family of children to mourn the loss of a kind father, and his country to lament the exit of one of her noblest patriots. He was the father of General Harrison of Ohio, whose name is now before the public as a candidate for the next president of the United States. The private character of this zealous champion of liberty was without reproach. His wit and humour made him a pleasant companion, his intelligence and good sense made him an interesting one. His clear head, good heart, sound judgment and equable moderation, made him an important public servant, exactly suited to the times in which he lived.