Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/243

his early advancement, and perhaps his ultimate success. The civil life of Monroe began on his election in 1782 to a seat in the assembly of Virginia, and his appointment as a member of the executive council. He was next a delegate to the 4th, 5th and 6th congresses of the confederation, where, notwithstanding his youth, he was active and influential. Bancroft says of him that, when Jefferson embarked for France, Monroe remained “not the ablest but the most conspicuous representative of Virginia on the floor of congress. He sought the friendship of nearly every leading statesman of his commonwealth, and every one seemed glad to call him a friend.” On March 1, 1784, the Virginia delegates presented to congress a deed that ceded to the United States Virginia's claim to the northwest territory, and soon afterward Jefferson presented his memorable plan for the temporary government of all the western possessions of the United States from the southern boundary (lat. 31° N.) to the Lake of the Woods. From that time until its settlement by the ordinance of July 13, 1787, this question was of paramount importance. Twice within a few months Monroe crossed the Alleghanies for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the actual condition of the country. One of the fruits of his western observations was a memoir, written in 1786, to prove the rights of the people of the west to the free naviga-