[37] W. W. Hening, Statutes at large 5: 94-96.
CHAPTER XII
AT STAKE—LIBERTY AND A CONTINENT
When Robert Dinwiddie stepped ashore at Yorktown on November 20, 1751, he was greeted by Secretary Thomas Nelson and two members of the Council—Colonel William Fairfax and William Nelson. Hastening on to Williamsburg, he was met on the road by Commissary William Dawson, John Blair, and Philip Ludwell. When the little cavalcade reached the outskirts of the town, they found the Mayor, Aldermen, and other prominent citizens waiting to welcome them. At the Palace, Dinwiddie took the oath of office. He and the members of the Council then went to Wetherburn's tavern for dinner, where they were guests of the town. As the cannons at the powder horn roared their approval, they lifted their glasses to drink the "royal healths."
The inauguration of Dinwiddie brought to an end the custom of appointing military officers as Governors or Lieutenant Governors of the colony. Nicholson, Andros, Spotswood, Hunter, Drysdale, and Gooch had all been soldiers. One wonders why the policy had persisted so long, for there would seem to be little in the training of an army officer to fit him for the duties of a colonial administrator. The habit of issuing commands and expecting instant obedience might easily cause failure in dealing with a liberty-loving people. Yet in practice, it seems to have been the personal character of the Governor, rather than his training, which determined his conduct. Nicholson and Spotswood were by nature dictators, Drysdale and Gooch had no desire for power for power's sake.
Yet the Virginians were no doubt pleased with the appointment of a man from civil life. Dinwiddie came from a family of Glasgow merchants, and as a young man had been engaged in the pottery business. At the age of twenty-eight he was made Collector of Customs in Bermuda, in which office he won the approval of the Lords of Trade by uncovering serious frauds in the collecting of customs in the West Indies. In 1738 he was advanced to the important post of Surveyor General of the southern ports of the North American continent. Additional responsibilities were placed upon him a few years later, when he was made Inspector General of the Customs. In 1749 he resigned this office, probably in order to engage in trade.
The painting of Dinwiddie in the National Portrait Gallery, London, shows a rather stout, middle-aged man. The face which looks out from beneath a large wig, despite the placid expression, shows strength in the lines of the mouth and the steady gaze of the eyes. Dinwiddie, throughout his career did not willingly provoke a conflict, but when the conflict was started he fought stubbornly. Yet when necessity dictated he knew how to yield. The first of these qualities made him an important factor in preserving the most important part of North America for British civilization. The other contributed greatly to the triumph of self-government in Virginia.
The new Lieutenant Governor's administration began auspiciously. In his opening address to the Assembly he expressed his pleasure at being in Virginia, where he had so many friends. He realized it would be difficult to equal the record of his predecessor, but he hoped, with the advice of the Council and the Burgesses, to serve the colony well. One wonders whether he had in mind some of the former Governors of Virginia when he pointed out that indolence, avarice, and ambition were responsible for many public calamities.
The spirit of good will to the Governor ripened into gratitude when he sided with the Assembly in their protest against an action of the King in Council. This was almost unprecedented, for a Governor was supposed to defend anything the royal government did, no matter how harmful to the colony or unjust.