ry’s speeches, “He appeared to me to speak as Homer wrote.” (Brodie 24) Eventually, however, the two became bitter enemies after Henry instigated a legislative inquiry into Jefferson’s performance as governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War.
Madison’s relationship with Henry included family ties; one of his second cousins married Henry’s sister Susannah, and Dolley Madison’s mother was Henry’s cousin. (Ketcham 5, 376-77) Although Madison did not evince open hatred of Henry, as Jefferson did (Jefferson once sent a coded letter to Madison urging him to “devoutly pray” for Henry’s death), Madison and Henry parted political company shortly after the Revolution and disagreed vehemently about ratification of the Constitution and almost every important public issue thereafter.
Mason, the eldest and most patrician of the four statesmen, was prone to be gruff and to brook no nonsense, but his brilliance, industry and pragmatic acumen earned the profound respect of Jefferson, Madison and Henry, despite his tendency to shift his alliances among them depending on the particular controversy at hand.
* * * * * * * * * *
In May, 1776 delegates to the Virginia Convention gathered in Williamsburg to formulate a replacement for the defunct British colonial government. Henry, Madison and Mason were present; Jefferson was not, although he and other delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia sent proposals and suggestions. Both Henry and Madison were appointed to the large committee named to draft the convention documents, but Mason, who was already viewed as the rebellious colony’s most knowledgeable citizen with respect to governmental affairs, dominated the proceedings. His draft Declaration of Rights became the centerpiece of the convention’s discussions.
Mason’s draft included an article on religious beliefs stating that because religion “can be directed only by reason and conviction . . . all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience , unpunished and unrestrained by the magistrate unless, under color of religion, any man disturb the peace, the happiness , or safety of society.”
Mason’s language, which undoubtedly reflected the influence of John Locke’s Letter Concerning Toleration, did not satisfy Madison; in his view, “tolerance” implied the dispensation of a privilege that was susceptible to being withheld. Interlining his copy of the proposal, Madison struck out Mason’s “toleration” language and rewrote it to read that “all men are equally entitled to the full and free exercise of religion according to the dictates of Conscience; and therefore that no man or class of man ought, on account of religion, to be invested with peculiar emoluments or privileges.”
Presumably because he was one of the youngest and least known of the delegates, and perhaps because he possessed “a shy, retiring manner and a weak voice” (Mayer 303), Madison persuaded Henry to introduce his proposed amendment. Even so, it was defeated, because many delegates interpreted his second clause as tantamount to disestablishing the Anglican Church. Madison thereupon proposed another amendment declaring that “All men are equally entitled to enjoy the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, unpunished and unrestrained by the magistrate, unless the preservation of equal liberty and the existence of the state are manifestly endangered.”
As eventually adopted by the convention, Article 16 of the Virginia Declaration of Rights includes Madison’s language recognizing freedom of religion as a right and omits the clause referring to government authority:
“That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love and charity towards each other.”
Historians note that altho