THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Prom the Library 
 of the 
 
 Diocese of Springfield 
 Protestant Episcopal 
 Church 
 
 Presented 1917 
 
 3 
 
 U£23c*r* 
 
 J SSI 
 
Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. A 
 charge is made on all overdue 
 books. 
 
 U. of I. Library 
 

 /> Aj 
 
 Ip 7 
 
 Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
 
 IUN 
 
 L161 — H41 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ESIYEBSIH ftF 1IJLI850IS 
 
 
J 
 
 SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT, 
 
 OF RICHMOND, VA. 
 
 »*a quo hoc maximum est, quod neque ante ilium, quern ille imitarateur neque 
 ilium qui eum imitari poosset, inventus est.” — P aterc. lib. i. cap. v. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 ZEE CLAXTO:i5r & co., 
 930 Market Street. 
 
 1881 . 
 
DlST*I JT CF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT 
 
 Be it iiernemftered, Thai. «>n the twenty firsT clay of March, in the tortv-secord year 
 of the a Weinience ot the I inte«t States America, James Webster, o : tlie a* i Dis* 
 tri' t. na.n ’rposited in this office the title ~f a hook, the right whereof he claims % pro* 
 
 { r**ior in ,he words following, to wit : “ Sketches of the I.ifc am! Character of I atnek 
 lenry. By William Wirt, of Richmond. Virginia. Second **d'»i«n, corrected by the / uflior 
 in cpio hoc maximum est, <pod iieque ante ilium, quern i.le niiraretur. Deque post ilium, 
 qm eum imitari posset. inventus est. Paterc. lib. i. cap v.” In conformity to the act of 
 C ingress of tlie United States, entitled, “An act for the encouragement of learning hj se- 
 curing the copies of Maps. Charts, and Books, to tlie authors and proprietors of such 
 pies. hiring the lime therein mentioned:” and also loan ac^ entitled, k, An act suppien **»v 
 tarv t » an act, entitled. 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies 
 of Maps. Charts, ami Books, to the authors ami proprietors of such copies, during the 'imo 
 thc»«j n mentioned, ’ ami extending the benefits thereof to tlie arts of designing, eugi<wiag, 
 anu etching, Lustorical and other Prints.” L). Caldwell, 
 
 • Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania, 
 
 Re-entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1832, by M’Elrath S r . Banos. 
 tn the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of die Southern District of Nev7 Yost 
 
 Stereotyped hy Uedfield 4' Lindsay^ 
 
 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 V.-V-V -V- + 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The reader has a right to know what degree 
 of credit is due to the follow T ing narrative ; and 
 it is the object of tliis preface to give him that 
 satisfaction. 
 
 It w'as in the summer of 1805, that the design 
 of writing this biography was firsr. conceived. 
 It was produced by an incident of feeling, w hich, 
 however it affected the author at the time, might 
 now be thought light and trivial by the reader ; 
 and he shall not, therefore, be detained by the 
 recital of it. The author knew nothing of Mr. 
 Henry, personally. He had never seen him ; and 
 was of course compelled to rely wholly on the 
 information of others. As soon, therefore, as the 
 design w r as formed of writing his life, aw r are of 
 the necessity of losing no time in collecting, from 
 the few remaining coevals of Mr. Henry, that 
 personal knowledge of the subject which might 
 v*re long be expected to die w T ith them, the autlioi 
 despatched letters to every quarter of the state 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 in which it occurred to him as • probable that 
 interesting matter might be found ; and he was 
 gratified by the prompt attention which was paid 
 to his inquiries. 
 
 There were, at that time, living in the county of 
 Hanover, three gentlemen of the first respectability, 
 who had been the companions of Mr. Henry’s 
 childhood and youth; these were, Col. Charles 
 Dabney, Capt. George Dabney, and Col. William 
 O. Winston ; the two first of whom are still living. 
 Not having the pleasure of a personal acquaint- 
 ance with these gentlemen, the author interested 
 the late Mr. Nathaniel Pope in his object, and, 
 by his instrumentality, procured all the useful 
 information which was in their possession. Mr. 
 Pope is well known to have been a gentleman of 
 uncommonly vigorous and discriminating mind ; 
 a sacred observer of truth, and a man of the purest 
 sense of honour. The author cannot recall the 
 memory of this most amiable and excellent man, 
 to whom (if there be any merit in Ihis work) the 
 friends of Mr. Henry and the state of Virginia owe 
 so many obligations, without paying to that revered 
 memory the tribute of his respect and affection. 
 Mr. Pope was one of those ardent young Virginians, 
 
PREFACE 
 
 vii 
 
 who embarked before they had attained their ma- 
 turity, in the cause of the American revolution 
 he joined an animated and active corps of horse, 
 and signalized himself by an impetuous gallantry, 
 which drew upon him the eyes and the applause 
 of his commander. In peace, he was as mild as 
 he had been brave in war ; his bosom was replete 
 with the kindest affections; he was, in truth, one 
 of the best of companions, and one of the warmest 
 of friends. The fact that he was the acknow- 
 ledged head of the several bars at which he 
 practised in the country, may assure the reader 
 of his capacity for the commission which he so 
 cheerfully undertook, in regard to Mr. Henry , 
 and the unblemished integrity of his life may 
 assure him also of the fidelity with which that 
 commission was executed. So many important 
 anecdotes in the following work depend on the 
 credit of this gentleman as a witness, that the 
 slight sketch which has been given of his charac- 
 ter, will not, it is hoped, be thought foreign to the 
 purpose of this preface. Mr. Pope did not con- 
 fine his inquiries to the county of Hanover: he 
 was indefatigable in collecting information from 
 every quarter ; which he never accepted, how- 
 
riii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ever, but from the purest sources , and his au- 
 thority for every incident was given with the most 
 scrupulous accuracy. The author had hoped to 
 have had it in his power to gratify this gentleman, 
 by submitting to his view the joint result, of their 
 labours, and obtaining the benefit of his last cor- 
 rections; but he was disappointed by his untimely 
 and melancholy death. He fell a victim to that 
 savage practice, which, under the false name of 
 honour, continued to prevail too long ; and his 
 death is believed to have been highly instru- 
 mental in hastening that system of legislation in 
 restraint of this practice, which now exists in 
 Virginia. 
 
 Besides the contributions furnished by Mr. Pope, 
 the writer derived material aid from various other 
 quarters. The widow of Mr. Henry was still liv- 
 ing, and had intermarried with Judge Winston; 
 from this gentleman (who was also related tc Mr. 
 Henry by blood, and had been intimately acquainted 
 with him through the far greater part of his life,) 
 ll e author received a succinct, but extremely 
 accurate and comprehensive memoir. 
 
 Col. Meredith, of Amherst, was a few years 
 older than Mr. Henry, had been raised in the 
 
PREFACE is 
 
 same neighbourhood, and had finally married one 
 of his sisters. Having known Mr. Henry from his 
 birth to his death, he had it in his power to supply 
 very copious details, which were taken down from 
 his narration by the present Judge Cabell, and 
 forwarded to the author. 
 
 One of the most intimate and confidential friends 
 of Mr. Henry was the late Judge Tyler. The 
 judge had a kind of Roman frankness, and even 
 bluntness, in his manners, together with a decision 
 of character and a benevolence of spirit, which had 
 attached Mr. Henry to him, from his first appear- 
 ance on the public stage. They were, for a long 
 time, members of the House of Delegates together, 
 and their friendship continued until it was severed 
 by death. From Judge Tyler the author received 
 a very minute and interesting communication of 
 incidents, the whole of which had either passed in 
 his own presence, or had been related to him by 
 Mr. Henry himself. 
 
 The writer is indebted to Judge Tucker for 
 two or three of his best incidents ; one of them 
 will probably be pronounced the most interesting 
 passage of the work. He owes to the same gen- 
 tleman, too, the fullest and liveliest description of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 X 
 
 the person of Mr. Henry, which has been fur- 
 nished from any quarter; and he stands further 
 indebted to him for a rare and (to the purpose of 
 this work) a very important book — the Journals 
 of the House of Burgesses for the years 1763-4- 
 5-6 and 7. 
 
 From Judge Roane the author has received one 
 of the fairest and most satisfactory communications 
 that has been made to him ; and the vigour and 
 elegance with which that gentleman writes, has 
 frequently enabled the author to relieve the dulness 
 of his own narrative, by extracts from his statements. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, too, has exercised his well-known 
 kindness and candour on this occasion ; having not 
 only favoured the author with a very full com- 
 munication in the first instance ; but assisted him, 
 subsequently and repeatedly, with his able counsel, 
 in reconciling apparent contradictions, and clearing 
 away difficulties of fact. 
 
 Besides these statements, drawn from the memory 
 of his correspondents, the writer was favoured, by 
 the late Governor Page, with the reading of a 
 pretty extended sketch, which he had himself 
 prepared, of the life of Mr. Henry; and he has, 
 furthermore, availed himself of the kind permission 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 of Mr. Peyton Randolph, to examine an extremely 
 valuable manuscript history of Virginia, written 
 oy his father, the late Mr. Edmund Randolph ; 
 which embraces the whole period of Mr. Henry’s 
 public life. 
 
 In addition to these stores of information, the 
 author has had the good fortune to procure com- 
 plete files of the public newspapers, reaching from 
 the year 1765 down to the close of the American 
 revolution ; by these he has been enabled to correct, 
 in some important instances, the memory of his 
 correspondents, in relation not only to dates, but to 
 facts themselves. 
 
 He has been fortunate, too, in having procured 
 
 several original letters, which shed much light on 
 
 important and hitherto disputed facts, in the life of 
 
 Mr. Henrv. 
 
 •/ 
 
 The records of the General Court, and the 
 archives of the state, having been convenient to 
 the author, and always open to him, he has en- 
 deavoured assiduously and carefully to avail him- 
 self of that certain and permanent evidence which 
 they afford ; and has been enabled, by this means, 
 as the reader will discover, to correct some strange 
 mistakes in historical facts 
 
Xli PREFACE. 
 
 The author's correspondents will find, that he has 
 departed, in some instances, from their respective 
 statements ; and he owes them an explanation 
 for having done so : the explanation is this — their 
 statements were, in several instances, diametrically 
 opposed to each other; and were sometimes all 
 contradicted by the public prints, or the records 
 of the state. It ought not to be matter of surprise, 
 that these contradictions should exist, even among 
 those most respectable gentlemen, relying, as they 
 did, upon human memory merely; and speaking of 
 events so very remote, without a previous oppor- 
 tunity of communicating with each other. It will 
 be seen by them, that the author has been obliged, 
 in several instances, to contradict even the several 
 histories of the times, concerning which he writes ; 
 but this he has never done, without the most de- 
 cisive proofs of his own correctness, which he has 
 always cited; nor has he ever departed from the 
 narratives of his several correspondents, except 
 under the direction of preponderating evidence 
 As among those contradictory statements, all could 
 not be true, he has sought the correction by public 
 documents, when such correction was attainable ; 
 and when it was not, he has selected, among his 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ziii 
 
 narrators, those wlnse opportunities to know the 
 fact in question seemed to be the best. This he 
 has done, without the slightest intention to throw a 
 shadow of suspicion on the credit of any gentleman 
 who has been so obliging as to answer his inquiries ; 
 but merely from the necessity which he was under, 
 either of making some selection, or abandoning 
 the work altogether; and because he knew of no 
 better rule of selection, than that which he has 
 adopted. 
 
 Although it has been so long since the collection 
 of these materials was begun, it was not until 
 the summer of 1814 that the last communication 
 was received. Even then, when the author sat 
 down to the task of imbodying his materials, there 
 were so many intricacies to disentangle, and so 
 • many inconsistencies, from time to time, to explain 
 and settle, and that, too, through the tedious agency 
 of cross-mails, that his progress was continually 
 impeded, and has been, to him, most painfull} 
 retarded. 
 
 Other causes, too, have contributed to delay tiie 
 publication. The author is a practising lawyer; 
 and the courts which he attends, keep him per- 
 petually and exclusively occupied in that attendance 
 
Xlv PREFACE. 
 
 through ten months of the year ; nor does the 
 summer recess of two months afford a remission 
 from professional labour. In Virginia, the duties 
 of attorney, counsellor, conveyancer, and advocate, 
 are all performed by the same individual ; hence, 
 the summer vacation, instead of being a time of 
 leisure, is not only the season of preparation for the 
 approaching courts, but is subject, moreover, to a 
 perpetual recurrence of what are here called office 
 duties, which renders a steady application to any 
 other subject impossible. 
 
 These sketches are now submitted to the public, 
 with unaffected diffidence ; not of the facts which 
 they detail, for on them the author has the firmest 
 reliance ; but of the manner in which he has been 
 able to accomplish his undertaking. For (to say 
 nothing of his inexperience and want of ability for 
 such a work) he has been compelled to write 
 (when he was suffered to write at all) amidst that 
 incessant professional annoyance which has been 
 mentioned, and which is known by every man who 
 has ever made the trial, to forbid the hope of 
 success in any composition of this extent. Could 
 the writer have looked forward, with any reason- 
 able calculation, to a period of greater ease, his 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 ST 
 
 respect for the memory of Mr. Henry, as well as 
 his regard for himself, would have induced him to 
 
 O y 
 
 suspend this undertaking until that period should 
 have arrived. But having no ground for any hope 
 of this kind, he has thought it better to hazard even 
 these crude sketches, than to suffer the materials, 
 which he had accumulated with so much toil, and 
 for an object which he thought so laudable, to perish 
 on his hands. 
 
 These remarks are not made with the view of 
 deprecating the censures of critics by profession; 
 but merely to bespeak the candour of that larger 
 portion of readers, who are willing to be pleased 
 with the best efforts that can be reasonably ex- 
 pected trom the circumstances of the case. The 
 author, however, is well satisfied that the most 
 indulgent reader (although benevolently disposed 
 to overlook defects of execution) will be certainly 
 disappointed in the matter itself of this work ; for, 
 notwithstanding all his exertions, he is entirely 
 conscious that the materials, which he has been 
 able to collect, are scanty and meager, and utterly 
 disproportionate to the great fame of Mr. Henry. 
 It is probable, that much of what was once known 
 
 of him had perished, before the author commenced 
 
 2 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 svi 
 
 his researches ; and, it is very possible, that much 
 may still be known, which he has not been able to 
 discover ; because it lies in unsuspected sources, or 
 with persons unwilling, for some reason or other, 
 to communicate their information. It is the con- 
 viction, that he has not been able to inform himself 
 of the whole events of Mr. Henry’s life, and that 
 his collection can be considered only as so many 
 detached sketches. If, in this humble and un- 
 assuming character, it shall give any pleasure to 
 the numerous admirers of Mr. Henry, in Virginia, 
 the author will have attained all that he has a rigid 
 to expect. 
 
 Ricsmoxb, Va., £■*&%. i$I¥. 
 
W I R T’S 
 
 LIFE OF PATRICK IIENRY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 } atiick Henry, the second son of John and Saiah 
 Henry, and one of nine children, was born on the 29th of 
 May, 1736, at the family seat, called Studley, in the county 
 af Hanover and colony of Virginia. In his early childhood, 
 his parents removed to another seat, in the same county, then 
 called Mount Brilliant, now the Retreat; at which latter 
 place Patrick Henry was raised and educated. His pa- 
 rents, though not rich, were in easy circumstances; and, in 
 point of personal character, were among the most respectable 
 inhabitants of the colony. 
 
 His father, Col. John Henry, was a native of Aberdeen in 
 Scotland. He was, it is said, a first cousin to David Henry, 
 who was the brother-in-law and successor of Edward Cave, 
 in the publication of that celebrated work, The Gentle 
 man’s Magazine, and himself the author of several literary 
 tracts: John Henry is also said to have been a nephew, 
 in the maternal line, to the great historian Dr. William Ro- 
 bertson. He came over to Virginia, in quest of fortune, some 
 time prior to the year 1730, and the tradition is, that he en 
 (19) 
 
20 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 joyed the friendship and patronage of Mr. Dinwiddie, after 
 ward the governor of the colony. By this gentleman, it is 
 reported, that he was introduced to the elder Col. Syme of 
 Hanover, in whose family, it is certain, that he became do- 
 mesticated during the life of that gentleman; after whose 
 death he intermarried with his widow, and resided on the 
 estate which he had left. It* is considered as a fair proof of 
 the personal merit of Mr. John Henry, that, in those days, 
 when offices were bestowed with peculiar caution, lie was the 
 colonel of his regiment, the principal surveyor of the county, 
 and for many years, the presiding magistrate of the county 
 court. His surviving acquaintances concur in stating, that 
 he was a man of liberal education ; that he possessed a plain, 
 yet solid understanding; and lived long a life of the mast 
 irreproachable integrity, and exemplary piety. His brothei 
 Patrick, a clergyman of the church of England, followed 
 him to this country some years afterward ; and became, by 
 las influence, the minister of St. Paul’s parish in Hanover, 
 the functions of which office he sustained throughout life 
 with great respectability. Both the brothers were zealous 
 members of the established church, and warmly attached to 
 the reigning family. Col. John Henry w T as conspicuously 
 so. “ There are those yet alive,” says a correspondent,* “ who 
 have seen him at the head of his regiment, celebrating the 
 birthday of George the III. with as much enthusiasm as his 
 son Patrick afterward displayed in resisting the encroach 
 ments of that monarch ”! 
 
 * Mr. Pope, in 1S05. 
 
 t Mr. Burk’s account of Mr. Henry is extremely careless and full 
 of errors. He begins by making him the son of his uncle : — 4 Patrick 
 Henry, the son of a Scotch gentleman of the same name?' &c. — 3d 
 voi. of the History of Virginia, page 300. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 21 
 
 Mis. Henry, the widow of Col. Syme, as we have seen, 
 and the mother of Patrick Henry, was a native of Hanover 
 county, and of the family of Winstons. She possessed, in an 
 eminent degree, the mild and benevolent disposition, the 
 undeviating probity, the correct understanding, and easy elo- 
 cution by which that ancient family has been so long distin 
 guished. Her brother William, the father of the present 
 Judge Winston, is said to have been highly endowed with 
 that peculiar cast of eloquence, for which Mr. Henry became, 
 afterward, so justly celebrated. Of this gentleman, I have 
 an anecdote from a correspondent,* which I shall give in his 
 own words : “ I have often heard my father, who was in- 
 timately acquainted with this William Winston, say, that he 
 was the greatest orator whom he ever heard, Patrick Henry 
 excepted ; that during the last French and Indian w r ar, and 
 soon after Braddock’s defeat, when the militia were marched 
 to the frontiers of Virginia against the enemy, this William 
 Winston wai' the lieutenant of a company; that the men, 
 who were indifferently clothed, without tents, and exposed 
 to the rigour and inclemency of the weather, discovered great 
 aversion to the service, and were anxious and even clamor- 
 ous to return to their families; when this William Winston, 
 mounting a stump, (the common rostrum , you know, of the 
 field-orator of Virginia.) addressed them with such keenness 
 of invective, and declaimed with such force of eloquence, on 
 liberty and patriotism, that when he concluded, the general 
 cry was, ‘Let us march on; lead us against the enemy P and 
 they were now willing, nay, anxious to encounter all those 
 difficulties and dangers which, but a few moments before- 
 had a/ most produced a mutiny.” 
 
 * Mr. Pope. 
 
22 
 
 WIRT ! S LIFE OF 
 
 Thus much I have been able to collect of the parentage 
 and family of Mr. Henry ; and this, I presume, will be 
 thought quite sufficient, in relation to a man, who owed no 
 part of his greatness to the lustre of his pedigree, but was 
 in truth the sole founder of his own fortunes. 
 
 Until ten years of age, Patrick Henry was sent to a school 
 in the neighbourhood, where he learned to read and write, 
 and made some small progress in arithmetic. He was then 
 taken home, and under the direction of his father, who had 
 opened a grammar-school in his own house, he acquired a 
 superficial knowledge of the Latin language, and learned 
 to read the character, but never to translate Greek. At the 
 same time, he made a considerable proficiency in the mathema- 
 tics, the only branch of education for which, it seems, he dis- 
 covered, in his youth, the slightest predilection. But he 
 was too idle to gain any solid advantage from the opportuni 
 ties which were thrown in his way. He was passionately ad- 
 dicted to the sports of the field, and could not support the con- 
 finement and toil which education required. Hence, in- 
 stead of system or any semblance of regularity in his studies 
 his efforts were always desultory, and became more and 
 more rare ; until at length, when the hour of his school ex 
 ercises arrived, Patrick was scarcely ever to be found. He 
 was in the forest with his gun, or over the brook with his 
 angle-i od; and, in these frivolous occupations, when not con- 
 trolled by the authority of his father, (which w r as rarely ex- 
 erted,) he would, it is said, spend whole days and weeks, with 
 an appetite rather whetted than cloyed by enjoyment. His 
 school-fehows, having observed his growing passion for these 
 amusements, and having remarked that its progress was not 
 checked either by the want of companions or the want of suc- 
 cess, have frequently watched his movements to discover, if 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 23 
 
 they could, the secret source of that delight which they seem 
 ed to afford him. But they made no discovery which led 
 them to any other conclusion than (to use their own cxpres 
 sion) “ that he loved idleness for its ow T n sake.” They have 
 frequently observed him lying along, under the shade of some 
 tree that overhung the sequestered stream watching, fox 
 hours, at the same spot, the motionless cork of his fishing- 
 line, without one encouraging symptom of success, and with- 
 out any apparent source of enjoyment, unless he could find 
 it in the ease of his posture, or in the illusions of hope, or, 
 which is most probable, in the stillness of the scene and the 
 silent workings of his own imagination. This love of soli- 
 tude, in his youth, was often observed. Even when hunt- 
 ing with a party, his choice was not to join the noisy band 
 that drove the deer; he preferred to take his stand, alone, 
 where he might wait for the passing game, and indulge 
 himself, meanwhile, in the luxury of thinking. Not that he 
 was averse to society ; on the contrary, he had, at times, a 
 very high zest for it. But even in society, his enjoyments, 
 while young, were of a peculiar cast ; he did not mix in the 
 wild mirth of his equals in age ; but sat, quiet and demure, 
 taking no part in the conversation, giving no responsive smile 
 to the circulating jest, but lost, to all appearance, in silence 
 and abstraction. This abstraction, however, was only appa 
 rent ; for on the dispersion of a company, when interrogated 
 by his parents as to what had been passing, he was able, not 
 only to detail the conversation, but to sketch with strict fidel- 
 ity, the character of every speaker. None of these early de- 
 lineations of character are retained by his contemporaries , 
 and, indeed, they are said to have been more remarkable for 
 their justness, than for any peculiar felicity of execution. 
 
 I cannot learn that he gave, in his yoith, any evidence 
 
24 
 
 vvirt’s life of 
 
 of that precocity which sometimes distinguishes uncommon 
 genius. His companions recollect no instance of premature 
 wit, no striking sentiment, no flash of fancy, no icmarkable 
 beauty or strength of expression ; and no indication, however 
 slight, either of that impassioned love of liberty, or of that 
 adventurous daring and intrepidity, which marked, so strong- 
 ly, his future character. So far was he, indeed, from exhibit- 
 ing any one prognostic of this greatness, that every omen 
 foretold a life, at best, of mediocrity, if not of insignificance. 
 His person is represented as having been coarse, his manners 
 uncommonly awkward, his dress slovenly, his conversation 
 very plain, his aversion to study invincible, and his faculties 
 almost entirely benumbed by indolence. No persuasion 
 could bring him either to read or to work. On the contrary, 
 he ran wild in the forest, like one of the aborigines of the 
 country, and divided his life between the dissipation and up- 
 roar of the chase and the languor of inaction. 
 
 His propensity to observe and comment upon the human 
 character was, so far as I can learn, the only circumstance 
 which distinguished him, advantageously, from his youthful 
 companions. This propensity seems to have been born with 
 him, and to have exerted itself, instinctively, the moment 
 that a new subject was presented to his view. Its action 
 was incessant, and it became, at length, almost the only in- 
 tellectual exercise in which he seemed to take delight. To 
 this cause may be traced that consummate knowledge of the 
 human heart which he finally attained, and which enabled 
 linn, when he came upon the public stage, to touch the 
 springs of passion with a master-hand, and to control the 
 resolutions and decisions of his hearers, with a power, almc s? 
 more than mortal. 
 
 From what has been already stated, it will be seen how 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 25 
 
 little education had to do with the formation of this great 
 man s mind. He was, indeed, a mere child of nature, and 
 nature seems to have been too proud and too jealous of her 
 work, to permit it to be touched by the hand of art. She 
 gave him Shakspeare’s genius, and bade him, like Shak- 
 speare, to depend on that alone. Let not the youthful reader, 
 however, deduce, from the example of Mr. Henry, an argu 
 ment in favour of indolence and the contempt of study. Let 
 him remember that the powers which surmounted the dis- 
 advantage of those early habits, were such as very rarely 
 appear upon this earth. Let him remember, too, how long 
 the genius, even of Mr. Henry, was kept down and hidden 
 from the public view, by the sorcery of those pernicious ha- 
 bits ; through what years of poverty and wretchedness they 
 doomed him to struggle ; and, let him remember, that at 
 length, when in the zenith of his glory, Mr. Henry himself 
 had frequent occasions to deplore the consequences of his 
 early neglect of literature, and to bewail “ the ghosts of his 
 departed hours.” 
 
 His father, unable to sustain, with convenience, the ex- 
 pense of so large a family as was now multiplying on his 
 hands, found it necessary to qualify his sons, at a very early 
 age, to support themselves. With this view, Patrick was 
 placed, at the age of fifteen, behind the counter of a merchant 
 in the country. How he conducted himself m this situation, 
 I have not been able to learn. There could not, however, I 
 presume, have been any flagrant impropriety in his conduct, 
 since, in the next year, his father considered him qualified 
 to carry on business on his own account. Under this im- 
 pression, he purchased a small adventure of goods for his 
 two sons, William and Patrick, and, according to the lan- 
 guage of the country, “ set them up in trade ” William’s 
 D 3 
 
26 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 habits of idleness were, if possible, still more unfortunate than 
 Patrick’s. The chief management of their concerns devolv- 
 ed, therefore, on the younger brother, and that management 
 seems to huve been most wretched. 
 
 Left to himself, all the indolence of his character returned. 
 Those unfortunate habits which he had formed, and whose 
 spell was already too strong to be broken, comported very 
 poorly with that close attention, that accuracy and perseve- 
 ring vigour, which are essential to the merchant. The 
 drudgery of retailing and of book-keeping soon became in- 
 tolerable; yet he was obliged to preserve appearances by re- 
 maining continually at his stand. Besides these unpropi- 
 tious habits, there was still another obstacle to his success, 
 in the natural kindness of his temper. “ He could not find 
 it in his heart” to disappoint any one who came to him for 
 credit; and he was very easily satisfied by apologies for 
 non-payment. He condemned, in himself, this facility of 
 temper, and foresaw the embarrassments with which it 
 threatened him; but he was unable to overcome it. Even 
 with the best prospects, the confinement of such a business 
 would have been scarcely supportable ; but with those which 
 now threatened him, his store became a prison. To make 
 the matter still worse, the joys of the chase, joys now to him 
 forbidden, echoed around him every morning, and by their 
 contrast, and the longings which they excited, contributed 
 to deepen the disgust which he had taken to h : s employ- 
 ments. 
 
 From these painful reflections, and the gloomy forebodings 
 which darkened the future, he sought, at first, a refuge in 
 music, for which it seems he had a natural taste, and he 
 learned to play well on the violin and on the flute. From 
 music he passed to books, and, having procured a fw hfht 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 27 
 
 and elegant authors, acquired for the first time, a relish for 
 reading. 
 
 He found another relief, too, in the frequent opportunities 
 now afforded him of pursuing his favourite study of the hu- 
 man character. The character of every customer underwent 
 this scrutiny; and that, not with reference either to the in- 
 tegrity or solvency of the individual, in which one would 
 suppose that Mr. Henry would feel himself most interested ; 
 but in relation to the structure of his mind, the general cast 
 of his opinions, the motives and principles which influenced 
 his actions, and what may be called the philosophy of char- 
 acter. In pursuing these investigations, he is said to have 
 resorted to arts, apparently so far above his years, and which 
 looked so much like an afterthought, resulting from his future 
 eminence, that I should hesitate to make the statement, were 
 it not attested by so many witnesses, and by some who can- 
 not be suspected of the capacity for having fabricated the 
 fact. Their account of it, then, is this : — that whenever a 
 company of his customers met in the store, (which frequently 
 happened on the last day of the week,) and were themselves 
 sufficiently gay and animated to talk and act as nature 
 prompted, without concealment, without reserve, he would 
 take no part in their discussions, but listen with a silence as 
 deep and attentive as if under the influence of some potent 
 charm. If, on the contrary, they were dull and silent, he 
 would, without betraying his drift, task himself to set them 
 in motion, and excite them to remark, collision, and ex- 
 clamation. He was peculiarly jdelighted with ^comparing 
 l heir characters, and ascertaining how they^ would severally 
 act in given situations. With this view he would state a 
 hypothetic case and call for their opinions, one by one, as t? 
 
28 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 the conduct which would be proper in it. If they differed, 
 lie would demand their reasons, and enjoy highly the de- 
 bates in which he would thus involve them. By multiply- 
 ing and varying those imaginary cases at pleasure, he as- 
 certained the general course of human opinion, and formed, 
 for himself, as it were, a graduated scale of the motives and 
 conduct which a^e natural to man Sometimes he would 
 entertain them with stories, gathered from his reading, or, 
 as was more frequently the case, drawn from his own fancy, 
 composed of heterogeneous circumstances, calculated to ex- 
 cite, by turns, pity, terror, resentment, indignation, contempt; 
 pausing, in the turns of his narrative, to observe the effect; 
 to watch the different modes in which the passions expressed 
 themselves, and learn the language of emotion from those 
 children cf nature. 
 
 In these exercises, Mr. Henry could have had nothing in 
 view beyond the present gratification of a natural propensity. 
 The advantages of them, however, were far more perma 
 nent, and gave the brightest colours to his future life. For 
 those continual efforts to render himself intelligible to his 
 plain and unlettered hearers, on subjects entirely new to 
 them, taught him that clear and simple style which forms 
 the best vehicle of thought to a popular assembly ; while his 
 attempts to interest and affect them, in order that he might 
 hear from them the echo of nature’s voice, instructed him in 
 those topics of persuasion by which men were the most cer- 
 tainly to be moved, and in the kind of imagery and structure 
 of language, which were the best fitted to strike and agitate 
 their hearts. These constituted his excellencies as an orator; 
 and never w r as there a man, in any age, who possessed, m a 
 more eminent degree, the lucid and nervous style of argu- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 29 
 
 ment, the com nand of the most beautiful and striking im- 
 agery, or that language of passion which burns from soul 
 to soul. 
 
 In the meantime, the business of the store wa» rushing 
 headlong to^its catastrophe. One year put an end to it. 
 William was then thrown loose upon society, to wdiich he 
 was never afterward usefully attached;* and Patrick was 
 engaged for the two or three following years, in winding up 
 this disastrous experiment as well as he could. 
 
 His misfortunes, however, seem not to have had the effect 
 either of teaching him prudence or of chilling his affections 
 For, at the early age of eighteen, we find him married to a 
 Miss Shelton, the daughter of an honest farmer in the neigh 
 bourhood, but in circumstances too poor to contribute effec 
 tually to her support. By the joint assistance of their parents, 
 however, the young couple were settled on a small farm, and 
 here, with the assistance of one or two slaves, Mr. Henry had 
 to delve the earth, with his own hands, for subsistence. Such 
 are the vicissitudes of human life ! It is curious to contem- 
 plate this giant genius, destined in a few years to guide the 
 councils of a mighty nation, L at unconscious of the intellec- 
 tual treasures which he possessed, encumbered, at the early 
 age of eighteen, with the cares of a family; obscure, un- 
 known, and almost unpitied; digging, with wearied limbs 
 
 * I have seen an original letter from Col. John Henry to his son 
 William, in which he remonstrates with him on his wild and dissipa- 
 ted course of life. There is reason to believe, however, that at a later 
 period, he may have reformed, since a gentleman, to whom the manu- 
 script of this work was submitted, notes on this passage, that when 
 he was at college at Williamsburg, he recollects to have seen Wil- 
 liam Henry a member of the assembly, from the county of Fluvanna* 
 that he was called colonel, and was, he afterward understood, pretty 
 well nrovided as to fortune. 
 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 WIRT’S life of 
 
 and with an aching heart, a small spot of barren earth, for 
 bread, and blessing the hour of night which relieved hirn 
 from toil. Little could the wealthy and great of the land, 
 as they rolled along the highway in splendour, and beheld 
 the young rustic at work in the coarse garb of a labourer, 
 covered with dust and melting in the sun, have suspected 
 that this was the man who was destined not only to humble 
 their pride, but to make the prince himself tremble on his 
 distant throne, and to shake the brightest jewels from the 
 British crown. Little, indeed, could he himself have sus- 
 pected it; for amidst the distresses which thickened around 
 him at this time, and threatened him not only with obscurity 
 but with famine, no hopes came to cheer the gloom, nor did 
 their remain to him any earthly consolation, save that which 
 he found in the bosom of his own family. Fortunately for 
 him, there never was a heart which felt this consolation with 
 greater force. No man ever possessed the domestic virtues 
 in a higher degree, or enjoyed, more exquisitely, those ^ure 
 delights which flow from the endearing relations of conjugal 
 life. 
 
 Mr. Henry’s want of agricultural skill, and his uncon 
 querable aversion to every species of systematic labour, drove 
 him, necessarily, after a trial of two years, to abandon this 
 pursuit altogether. His next step seems to have been dictated 
 by absolute despair ; for, selling off his little possessions, at a 
 sacrifice for cash, he entered, a second time, on the inauspi- 
 cious business of merchandise. Perhaps he flattered himself 
 that he would be able to profit by his past experience, and 
 conduct this experiment to a more successful issue. But 
 if he did so, he deceived himself. He soon found that he had 
 not changed his character, by changing his pursuits. His 
 early habits still continued to haunt him. The same wan 
 
PATRICK HENRV 
 
 3i 
 
 of method, the same facility of temper, soon became apparent 
 by their ruinous effects. He resumed his violin, his flute, 
 his books, his curious inspection of human nature ; and nor 
 unfrequently ventured to shut up his store, and indulge him- 
 self in the favourite sports of his youth. 
 
 Qjfis^ reading, however, began to assume a more serious 
 character. He studied geography, in which it is said that he 
 became an adept.J He read, also, the charters and history 
 of the colony. He became fond of historical works generally, 
 particularly those of Greece and Rome ; and, from the tena- 
 city of his memory and the strength of his judgment, soon 
 made himself a perfect master of their contents. L Livy wa s 
 his favourit e^ and having procured a translation, he became 
 so much enamoured of the work, that he made it a standing 
 rule to read it through, once at least, in every year, during 
 the early part of his life.* Th e gr andeur of the Roman 
 character, so beautifully exhibited by Livy, filled him with 
 surp rise and admiration; and he was particularly enraptured 
 with those vivid descriptions and eloquent harangues with 
 which the work abounds. Fortune could scarcely have 
 thrown in his way, a book better fitted to foster his repub- 
 lican spirit, and awaken the still dormant powers of his„ ge- 
 nius jjnd it seems not improbable, that the lofty strain in 
 which he himself afterward both spoke and acted, was, if 
 not originally inspired, at least highly raised, by the noble 
 models set before him by this favourite author. J 
 
 This second mercantile experiment was still more un 
 fortunate than the first. In a few years it left him a bank 
 nipt, and placed him in a situation than which it is difficult 
 to conceive one more wretched. Every atom of his property 
 
 * Judge Nelson had this statement from Mr. Henry himself 
 
32 
 
 WIRT S LI* E OF 
 
 was now gone, his friends were unable to assist him any 
 further ; he had tried every means of support, of which he 
 could suppose himself capable, and every one had failed; 
 ruin was behind him ; poverty, debt, want, and famine, be- 
 fore; and, as if his cup of misery were not already full 
 enough, here were a suffering wife and children to make it 
 overflow. 
 
 But with all his acuteness of feeling, Mr. Henry possessed 
 great native firmness of character; and, let me add, great 
 reliance, too, on that unseen arm which never long deserts 
 he faithful. Thus supported, he was able to bear up under 
 the heaviest pressure of misfortune, and even to be cheerful, 
 under circumstances which would sink most other men into 
 despair. 
 
 It was at this period of his fortunes, that Mr. Jefferson be- 
 came acquainted with him ; and the reader, I am persuaded, 
 will be gratified with that gentleman’s own account of it. 
 These are his words : — “ My acquaintance with Mr. Henry 
 commenced in the winter of 1759-60. On my way to the 
 college, I passed the Christmas-holydays at Col. Dandridge’s, 
 in Hanover, to whom Mr. Henry was a near neighbour. 
 During the festivity of the season, I met him in society every 
 day, and we became well acquainted, although I was much 
 his junior, being then in my seventeenth year, and he a mar- 
 ried man. His manners had something of coarseness in 
 them ; his passion was music, dancing, and pleasantry. He 
 excelled in the last, and it attached every one to him. You 
 ask some account of his mind and information at this period ; 
 but you will recollect that we were almost continually en- 
 gaged in the usual revelries of the season. The occasion, 
 perhaps, as much as his idle disposition, prevented his en- 
 gaging in any conversation which might give the measurf 
 
✓ 
 
 PATRICK HENRY, 33 
 
 either of his mind or informatioi. . Opportunity was not, in- 
 deed, wholly wanting; because Mr. John Campbell was 
 there, who had married Sirs. Spotswood, the sister of Col. 
 Dandndge. He was a man of science, and often introduced 
 conversation on scientific subjects. Mr. Henry had, a little 
 before, broken up his store, or rather it had broken him up ; 
 but his misfortunes were not to be traced, either in his coun- 
 tenance or conduct.” 
 
 This cheerfulness of spirit, under a reverse of fortune so 
 severe, is certainly a very f stri king proof of the ma nliness of 
 liis charact&u ^ It is not, indeed, easy to conceive that a mind 
 like Mr. Henry’s could finally sink under any pressure of 
 adversity. Such a mind, although it may not immediately 
 perceive whither to direct its efforts, must always possess a 
 consciousness of power sufficient to buoy it above despon 
 dency. But, be this as it may, of Mr. Henry it was certain- 
 ly true, as Dr. Johnson has observed of Swift, that “he 
 was not one of those who, having lost one part of life in 
 idleness, are tempted to throw away the remainder in 
 despair.” 
 
 It seems to be matter of surprise, that even yet, amidst 
 all those various struggles for subsistence, the powers of his 
 mind had not so far developed themselves as to suggest to 
 any friend the pursuit for which he was formed. He seems 
 to have been a plant of slow growth ; but, like other plants 
 of that nature, formed for duration, and fitted to endure the 
 buffe tings of the rudest storm. 
 
 It was now, when all other experiments had failed, that, 
 as a last effort, he determined, of his own accord, to make a 
 'jriai of the law. No one expected him to succeed in any 
 eminent degree. His unfortunate habits were, by no means, 
 suited to so laborious a profession: and even if it were not 
 E 
 
34 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 too late in life for him to hope to master its learning, tne 
 situation of ms affairs forbade an extensive course of reading 
 In addition to these obstacles, the business of the profession, 
 in that quarter, was already in hands from which it was not 
 easily to be taken; for (to mention no others) Judge Lyons, 
 the late president of the court of appeals, was then at the bar 
 of Hanover, and the adjacent counties, with an unrivalled 
 reputation for legal learning; and Mr. John Lewis, a man, 
 also, of very respectable legal attainments, occupied the 
 whole field of forensic eloquence. Mr. Henry himself seems 
 to have hoped for nothing more from the profession than a 
 scanty subsistence for himself and his family, and his pre- 
 paration was suited to these humble expectations ; for to the 
 study of a profession, which is said to require the lucubrations 
 of twenty years, Mr. Henry devoted not more than six weeks.* 
 On this preparation, however, he obtained a license to prac- 
 tise the law. How he passed with two of the examiners, I 
 have no intelligence ; but he himself used to relate his inter- 
 view with the third. This was no other than Mr. John Ran- 
 dolph, who was afterward the king’s attorney-general for the 
 colony ; a gentleman of the most courtly elegance of person 
 and manners, a polished w r it, and a profound lawyer. At 
 first, he was so much shocked by Mr. Henry’s very ungainly 
 figure and address, that he refused to examine him : under- 
 standing, however, that he had already obtained two signa- 
 tures, he entered, with manifest reluctance, on the business. 
 A very short time was sufficient to satisfy him of the erro 
 neous conclusion which he had drawn from the exterior of 
 
 * So say Mr. Jefferson and Judge Winston. Mr. Pope says nine 
 months. Col. Meredith and Capt. Dabney, six or eight months. Judge 
 Tyler, one month ; and he adds: “ This I had from his own lips. In 
 this time, he read Coke upon Littleton, and the Virginia laws.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 35 
 
 the candidate. With evident marivs of increasing surmise 
 ^produced no doubt by the peculiar texture and strength of 
 
 combinations,) he continued the examination for several 
 hours : interrogating the candidate, not on the principles of 
 municipal law, in which he no doubt soon discovered his 
 deficiency, but on the laws of nature and of nations, on the 
 policy of the feudal system, and on general history, which 
 last he found to be his stronghold. During the very short 
 portion of the examination which was devoted to the common 
 law, Mr. Randolph dissented, or affected to dissent, from one 
 of Mr. Henry’s answers, and called upon him to assign the 
 reasons of his opinion. This produced an argument; and 
 Mr. Randolph now played off on him the same arts which 
 he himself had so often practised on his country customers ; 
 drawing him out by questions, endeavouring to puzzle him 
 by subtleties, assailing him with declamation, and watching 
 continually the defensive operations of his mind. After a 
 considerable discussion, he said : “You defend your opinions 
 well, sir ; but now to the law and to the testimony.” Here- 
 upon, he carried him to his. office, and opening the authori- 
 ties, said to him : “ Behold the face of natural reason ; you 
 have never seen these books, nor this principle of the law 
 yet you are right and I am wrong; and from the lesson 
 which you have given me (you must excuse me for saying 
 it) I will never trust to appearances again. Mr. Henry, if 
 your industry be only half equal to your genius, I augur that 
 you will do well, and become an ornament and an honour 
 to your profession.” It was always Mr. Henry’s belief that 
 Mr. Randolph had affected this difference of opinion, merely 
 to afford him the pleasure of a triumph, and to make some 
 atonement for the wound which his first renulse had inflicted. 
 
 boldness and originality of his 
 
36 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 Be this as it may, the interview was followed by the most mark- 
 ed and peimanent respect on the part of Mr. Randolph, and the 
 most sincere good-will and gratitude on that of Mr. Henry.* 
 
 it was at the age of four and twenty that Mr. Henry ob- 
 tained his license. Of the science of law, he knew almost 
 nothing : of the practical part he was so wholly ignorant, 
 *-hat he was not only unable to draw a declaration or a plea, 
 but incapable, it is said, of the most common or simple 
 business of his profession, even of the mode of ordering a suit, 
 giving a notice, or making a motion in court. It is not at 
 all wonderful, therefore, that such a novice, opposed as he 
 was by veterans, covered with the whole armoui of the law, 
 should linger in the background for three years, j 
 
 During this time, the wants and distresses of his family 
 
 * This account of Mr. ITenry s examination is given by Judge Ty- 
 ler, who states it as having come from Mr. Henry himself. It was writ- 
 ten before I had received the following statement from Mr. Jefferson ; 
 and although there is some difference in the circumstances, it has not 
 been thought important enough to make an alteration of the text neces- 
 sary. This is Mr. Jefferson’s statement : — “ In the spring of 1760, he 
 came to Williamsburg to obtain a license as a lawyer, and he called 
 on me at college. He told me he had been reading law only six weeks. 
 Two of the examiners, however, Peyton and John Randolph, men of 
 great facility of temper, signed his license with as much reluctance 
 as their dispositions would permit them to show. Mr. Wythe abso- 
 lute^ refused. Robert tJ. Nicholas refused also at first; but, on re- 
 peated importunities and promises of future reading, he signed. 
 These facts I had afterward from the gentlemen themselves ; the two 
 Randolphs acknowledging he was very ignorant of the law, but that 
 they perceived him to be a young man of genius, and did not doubt 
 that he would soon qualify himself.” 
 
 t “Fie was not distinguished at the bar for near four years.” — Judga 
 Winston : yet Mr. Burk intimates that he took the lead in hia pro- 
 fession at once. — Vol. 3d, 30 L 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 37 
 
 were extreme. The profits of his practice could not have 
 supplied them even with the necessaries of life ; and he seems 
 to have spent the greatest part of his time, both of his study 
 of the law and the practice of the first two or three years, 
 with his father-in-law, Mr. Shelton, who then kept the tavern 
 at Hanover court-house. Whenever Mr. Shelton was from 
 home, Mr. Henry supplied his place in the tavern, received 
 the guests, and attended to their entertainment. All this 
 was very natural in Mr. Henry’s situation, and seems to have 
 been purely the voluntary movement of his naturally kind 
 and obliging disposition. Hence, however, a story has arisen 
 that in the early part of his life, he was a barkeeper by pro 
 fession. The fact seems not to have been so : but if it had 
 been, it would certainly have redounded much more to his 
 honour than to his discredit; for as Mr. Henry owed no 
 part of his distinction either to birth or fortune, but wholly 
 lo himself, the deeper the obscurity and poverty from which 
 he emerged, the stronger is the evidence which it bears to his 
 powers, and the greater glory does it shed around him. 
 
 About the time of Mr. Henry’s coming to the bar, a con- 
 troversy arose in Virginia, which gradually produced a very 
 strong excitement, and called to it, at length, the attention 
 of the whole state. 
 
 This was the famous controversy between the clergy on 
 the one hand, and the legislature of the people of the colony 
 on the other, touching the stipend claimed by the former, 
 and as this was the occasion on which Mr. Henry’s genius 
 first broke forth, those who take an interest in his life, will 
 not be displeased by a particular account of the nature and 
 grounds of the dispute. It will be borne in mind, that the 
 church of England was at this period the established church 
 of Virginia ; and by an act of assembly, passed so far bad 
 
 4 
 
38 
 
 wjrt’s LIFE OF 
 
 as the year 1696, each minister of a parish had been provided 
 with an annual stipend of sixteen thousand pounds of to- 
 bacco. This act was re-enacted, with amendments, in 1748, 
 and in this form had received the royal assent. The price 
 of tobacco had long remained stationary at two pence in the 
 pound, or sixteen shillings and eight pence per hundred. 
 According to the provisions of the lav/, the clergy had the 
 right to demand, and were in the practice of receiving, pay 
 inent of their stipend in the specific tobacco ; unless they 
 chose, for convenience, to commute it for money at the mar- 
 ket-price. In the year 1755, however, the crop of tobacco 
 having fallen short, the legislature passed “ an act to enable 
 the inhabitants of this colony to discharge their tobacco-debts 
 in money for the present year:” by the provisions of which, 
 “ all persons, from whom any tobacco was due, were author 
 ized to pay the same either in tobacco or in money, after 
 the rate of sixteen shillings and eight pence per hundred , 
 at the option of the debtor” This act was to continue in 
 force for ten months and no longer, and did not contain the 
 usual clause of suspension, until it should receive the royal 
 assent . Whether the scarcity of tobacco was so general and 
 so notorious, as to render this act a measure of obvious hu 
 manity and necessity, or whether the clergy were satisfied 
 by its generality, since it embraced sheriffs, clerks, attorneys, 
 and all other tobacco-creditors, as well as themselves, or 
 whether they acquiesced in it as a temporary expedient, which 
 they supposed not likely to be repeated, it is certain, that no 
 objection was made to the law at that time. They could 
 not, indeed, have helped observing the benefits which the 
 rich planters derived from the act ; for they were receiving 
 from fifty to sixty shillings per hundred for their tobacco, 
 while they paid off their debts, due in that article, at the old 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 39 
 
 price of sixteen shillings and eight pence. Nothing, how- 
 ever, was then said in defence either of the royal prerogative 
 or of the rights of the clergy, but the law was permitted to 
 go peaceably through its ten months’ operation. The great 
 tobacco-planters had not forgotten the fruits of this act, when, 
 in the year 1758, upon a surmise that another short crop 
 was likely to occur, the provisions of the act of 1755 were 
 re-enacted, and the new law, like the former, contained no 
 suspending clause. The crop, as had been anticipated, did 
 fall short, and the price of tobacco rose immediately from 
 sixteen and eight pence to fifty shillings per hundred. The 
 clergy now took the alarm, and the act was assailed by an 
 indignant, sarcastic, and vigorous pamphlet, entitled, “ The 
 Two-Penny Act ” from the pen of the Rev. John Camm, 
 the rector of York-Hampton parish, and the Episcopalian 
 commissary for the colony.* He was answered by two 
 pamphlets, written, the one by Col. Richard Bland, and the 
 other by Col. Landon Carter, in both which the commissary 
 was very roughly handled. He replied, in a still severer 
 pamphlet, under the ludicrous title of “ The Colonels 
 Dismounted.” The Colonels rejoined; and this war of 
 pamphlets, in which, with some sound argument, there 
 was a great deal of what Dryden has called “ the horse- 
 play of raillery,” was kept up, until the whole colony, 
 which had at first looked on for amusement, kindled seri- 
 ously in the contest from motives of interest. Such was 
 the excitement produced by the discussion, and at length so 
 strong the current against the clergy, that the printers found 
 
 * The governor of Virginia represented the king; the council, the 
 house of lords , anu me Episcopalian commissary (a member of the 
 council) represented the spiritual part of that house ; the house of 
 burgesses was, of ccurse, the house of commons. 
 
40 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 t expedient to shut their presses against them in this colony 
 and Mr. Camm had at last to resort to xMaryianci for pub’i 
 cation. These pamphlets are still extant ; and it seems im 
 possible to deny, at this day, that the clergy had much the 
 best of the argument. The king in his council took up the 
 subject, denounced the act of 1758 as a usurpation, and 
 * declared it utterly null and void. Thus supported, the clergy 
 resolved to bring the question to a judicial test ; and suits 
 were accordingly brought by them, in the various county 
 courts of the colony, to recover their stipends in the specific 
 tobacco. They selected the county of Hanover as the place 
 of the first experiment ; and this was made in a suit insti- 
 tuted by the Rev. James Maury,* against the collector of that 
 county and his sureties. The record of this suit is now be- 
 fore me. The declaration is founded on the act of 1748, 
 which gives the tobacco ; the defendants pleaded specially the 
 act of 1758, which authorizes the commutation into money, 
 at sixteen and eight pence ; to this plea the plaintiff demur- 
 red ; assigning for causes of demurrer, first, that the act of 
 1758, not having received the royal assent, had not the force 
 of a law ; and, secondly, that the king, in council, had de- 
 clared the act null and void. The case stood for argument 
 on the demurrer to the November term, 1763, and was argu- 
 ed by Mr. Lyons for the plaintiff, and Mr. John Lewis fordthe 
 defendants ; when the court, very much to the credit of their 
 
 * Mr. Burk (vol. 3d, page 303) makes the Rev. Patrick Henry the 
 plaintiff in this cause ; in this he is corrected by the records of the 
 county. Mr. Burk also sets down “ The Two-Penny Act,^ to the 
 speculations of a man by the name of Dickinson ; in this he is confu- 
 ted by the act itself; the preamble expressly founding it on the short* 
 ness of the crop. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 41 
 
 candour and fineness, breasted the popular current by sus- 
 taining the demurrer. Thus far, the clergy^ sailed before the 
 wind, and concluded, with good reason, that their triumph 
 was complete : for the act of 1758 having been declared void 
 by the judgment on the demurrer, that of 1748 was left in 
 full force, and became, in law, the only standard for the find 
 ing of the jury. Mr. Lewis was so thoroughly convinced of 
 this, that he retired from the cause ; informing his clients 
 that it had been, in effect, decided against them, and that 
 there remained nothing more for him to do. In this despe- 
 rate situation, they applied to Patrick Henry, and he under- 
 took to argue it for them before a jury, at the ensuing term 
 Accordingly, on the first day of the following December, he 
 attended the court, and, on his arrival, found in the court- 
 yard such a concourse as would have appalled any other 
 man in his situation. They were not the people of the 
 county merely who were there, but visiters from all the 
 counties, to a considerable distance around. The decision 
 upon the demurrer had produced a violent ferment among 
 the people, and equal exultation on the part of the clergy ; 
 who attended the court in a large body, either to look down 
 opposition, or to enjoy the final triumph of this hard-fought 
 contest, which they now considered as perfectly secure. 
 Among many other clergymen, who attended on this occa- 
 sion, came the Reverend Patrick Henry, who was the plain- 
 tiff in another cause of the same nature, then depending in 
 court. When Mr. Henry saw his uncle approach, he walked 
 up to his carriage, accompanied by Col. Meredith, and ex- 
 pressed his regret at seeing him there. “ Why so ?” inquired 
 the uncle. “ Because, sir,” said Mr. Henry, “you know that 
 L have never yet spoken in public, and I fear that I shall be 
 F 4* 
 
42 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 too much overawed by your presence, to be able to do my 
 duty to my clients ; besides, sir, I shall be obliged to say some 
 hard things of the clergy, and I am very unwilling to give 
 pain to your feelings.” His uncle reproved him for having 
 engaged in the cause ; which Mr. Henry excused by saying, 
 that the clergy had not thought him worthy of being retained 
 on their side, and he knew of no moral principle by which 
 he was bound to refuse a fee from their adversaries ; besides, 
 he confessed, that in this controversy, both his heart and 
 judgment, as well as his professional duty, were on the side 
 of the people ; he then requested that his uncle would do 
 him the favour to leave the ground. “ Why, Patrick,” said 
 the old gentleman, with a good-natured smile, “ as to your 
 saying hard things of the clergy, I advise you to let that 
 a.one : take my word for it, you will do yourself more harm 
 than you w r ill them ; and as to my leaving the ground, I 
 fear, my boy, that my presence could neither do you harm 
 nor good in such a cause. However, since you seem to 
 think otherwise, and desire it of me so earnestly, you shall 
 be gratified.” Whereupon, he entered his carriage again, and 
 returned home. 
 
 Soon after the opening of the court, the cause was called 
 It stood on a writ of inquiry of damages, no plea having been 
 entered by the defendants since the judgment on the demur 
 rer. The array before Mr. Henry’s eyes was now most fear- 
 ful. On the bench sat more than twenty clergymen, the 
 most learned men in the colony, and the most capable, as 
 well as the severest, critics before whom it was possible for 
 him to have made his debut . The court-house was crowded 
 with an overwhelming multitude, and surrounded with an 
 immense and anxious throng, who, not finding room to enter 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 43 
 
 were endeavouring to listen without, in the deepest attention 
 But there was something still more awfully disconcerting 
 than all this ; for in the chair of the presiding magistrate 
 sat no other person than his own father. Mr. Lyons opened 
 the cause very briefly : in the way of argument he did no- 
 thing more than explain to the jury, that the decision upon 
 the demurrer had put the act of 1758 entirely out of the way, 
 and left the law of 1748 as the only standard of their dama 
 ges ; he then concluded with a highly- wrought eulogium 
 on the benevolence of the clergy. I And now c ? me on the 
 first trial of Patr ick Henry’s stre ngth. No one had eve r 
 heard him speak, and curiosity was on UjDtoe. He rose very 
 awkwardly, and faltered much in his exordiumTj The peo- 
 ple hung jhe ir heads at- s o_ unpromis ing a co mmenc ement ; 
 the cle rgy were ob served to exchange-'^fylooks with each 
 other ; and \hi s father is describe < d^ as having almost sunk 
 with confusion from his seat/^But^these feelings, were of 
 s hort duration, ^and soon gave place to others, of a very dif 
 ferent character/N^or now were those wonderful faculties 
 which he possessed^-for the first time, developed j^nd now 
 was first witnessed that mysterious and almost supernatural 
 transformation of appearance, which the fire of his own elo- 
 quence never failed to work in hiroj For as his mind rolled 
 along, and began to glow from its own action, all the eocuvia 
 of the clown seemed to shed themselves spontaneously. His 
 attitude, by degrees, became erect and lofty. \Tbe spirit of 
 his genius awakened all his features. His countenance 
 shone with a nobleness and grandeur which it had never 
 before exhibited. There was a lightning in his eyes which 
 seemed to rive the spectator. Hi s action became gra ceful, 
 bo Id, and commanding ; and in the tones of his voice, but 
 
 / 
 
4 * wirt’s life of 
 
 more espejcially in his emphasis, there was a peculiar charm 
 a magic^ of which any one who ever he^rd him will speak 
 as soon as he is named, but of which no one can give any 
 adequate description. They can only say that it struck 
 upon the ear and upon the heart, in a manner which lan- 
 guage cannot tell. Add to all these, his wonder-working 
 fancy, and the peculiar phraseology in which he clothed its 
 images ; for he painted to the heart with a force that almost 
 petrified it. In the language of those who heard him on this 
 occasion, “ he made their blood run cold, and their hair to 
 rise on end.” 
 
 It will not be difficult for any one who ever heard this 
 most extraordinary man, to believe the whole account of this 
 transaction, which is given by his surviving hearers ; and 
 from their account, the court-house of Hanover county must 
 have exhibited, on this occasion, a scene as picturesque, as 
 has been ever witnessed in real life. They say that the 
 people, whose countenance had fallen as he arose, had heard 
 but a very few sentences before they began to look up ; then 
 to look jat each other with surprise, as if doubting the evi 
 dence of their own senses; then, attracted by some strong 
 gesture, struck by some majestic attitude, fascinated by the 
 spell of his eye, the charm of his emphasis, and the varied 
 and commanding expression of his countenance, they could 
 look away no more. In less than twenty minutes, they 
 might be seen in every part of the house, on every bench, in 
 every window, stooping forward from their stands, in death- 
 ike silence ; their features fixed in amazement and awe ; 
 all their senses listening and riveted upon the speaker, as if 
 .o catch the last strain of some heavenly visitant. The 
 mockery of the cleigy was soon turned into alarm ; their 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 45 
 
 triumph into confusion and despair; and at one burst of bis 
 rapid and overwhelming invective, they fled from the bench 
 in precipitation and terror. As for the father, such was his 
 surprise, such his amazement, such his rapture, that, forget- 
 ting where he was, and the character which he was filling, 
 tears of ecstasy streamed down his cheeks, without the power 
 or inclination to repress them. 
 
 The jury seem to have been so completely bewildered, 
 that they lost sight, not only of the act of 1748, but that of 
 1758 also; for thoughtless even of the admitted right of the 
 plaintiff, they had scarcely left the bar, when they returned 
 with a verdict, of one penny damages. A motion was made 
 for a new trial ; but the court, too, had now lost the equipoise 
 of their judgment, and overruled the motion by a unani 
 mous vote. The verdict and judgment overruling the mo- 
 tion, were followed by redoubled acclamations, from within 
 and without the house. The people, who had with diffi- 
 culty kept their hands off their champion, from the moment 
 of closing his harangue, no sooner saw the fate of the cause 
 finally sealed, than they seized him at the bar, and fin spite 
 of his own- exertions, and the continued cry of “ order” from 
 the sheriffs and the court, they bore him out of the court- 
 house, and raising him on their shoulders, carried him about 
 the yard, in a kind of electioneering triumph. 
 
 0 ! what a scene was this for a father’s heart ! so sudden : 
 so unlooked for ; so delightfully overwhelming ! At the time, 
 tie was not able to give utterance to any sentiment; but, a 
 few days after, when speaking of it to Mr. Winston,* he said, 
 with the most engaging modesty, and with a tremour of 
 voice, which showed how much more he felt than he express 
 
 * The present J idge Winston. 
 
46 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 ed, “ Patrick spoke in this cause near an hour ! and in 
 a manner that surprised me ! and showed himself well-in- 
 formed on a subject, of which I did not think he had any 
 knowledge !” 
 
 I have tried much to procure a sketch of this celebrated 
 speech. But those of Mr. Henry’s hearers who survive, seem ! 
 10 have been bereft of their senses. They can only tell you, 
 in general, that they were taken captive ; and so delighted 
 with their captivity, that they followed implicitly, whitherso- 
 ever he led them : that, at his bidding, their tears flowed 
 from pity, and their cheeks flushed with indignation : that 
 when it was over, they felt as if they had iust awaked from 
 some ecstatic dream, of which they were unable to recall or 
 connect the particulars. It was such a speech as they be- 
 lieve had never before fallen from the lips of man ; and to 
 this day, the old people of that county cannot conceive that 
 a higher compliment can be paid to a speaker, than to say 
 of him, in their own homely phrase : — “ He is almost equal 
 to Patrick , when he plead against the parsons .” 
 
 The only topic of this speech of which any authentic ac- 
 count remains, is the order of the king in council, whereby 
 the act of 1758 had been declared void. This subject had 
 in truth been disposed of by the demurrer; and, in strictness 
 of proceeding, neither Mr. Henry nor the jury had any thing 
 to do with it. The laxity of the county-court practice, how 
 ever, indulged him in the widest career he chosw to take, 
 and he laid hold of this point, neither with a feeble nor hesi- 
 tating hand ; but boldly and vigorously pressed it upon the 
 jury, and that, too, with very powerful effect. He insisted 
 on the connexion and reciprocal duties between the king and 
 his subjects ; maintained that government was a conditional 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 47 
 
 compact, composed of mutual and dependent covenants, of 
 which a violation by one party discharged the other; and 
 intrepidly contended that the disregard which had been 
 shown, in this particular, to the pressing wants of the colony, 
 was an instance of royal misrule, which had thus far dis- 
 solved the political compact, and left the people at liberty to 
 consult their own safety ; that they had consulted it by the 
 act of 1758, which, therefore, notwithstanding the dissent of 
 the king and his council, ought to be considered as the law 
 of the land, and the only legitimate measure of the claims 
 of the clergy. 
 
 The nature of this topic, and the earnest and undaunted 
 manner in which Mr. Henry is said to have pursued and 
 maintained it, proves that even at this period, which has 
 been marked as the era of our greatest attachment and de- 
 votion to the parent country, his mind, at least, was disposed 
 to pry into the course of the regal administration, and to 
 speak forth his sentiments without any fear of the conse- 
 quences. The reception which the people gave to the argu- 
 ment, proves that they also had no superstitious repugnance 
 to the consideration of such topics, nor any very insuperable 
 horror at the idea of a separation. Not that there is ground 
 to suspect that any one had, at this time, realized such an 
 event, or even contemplated it as desirable. The suggestion, 
 therefore, which I have sometimes heard, that Mr. Henry was 
 already meditating the independence of the colonies, and 
 sowing the seeds of those reflections which he wished to 
 ripen into revolt, is, in my opinion, rather curious than just. 
 I believe that he thought of nothing beyond success in his 
 cause ; and since the desperate posture in which he found it 
 demanded a daring and eccentric course, he adopted lhaJ 
 
43 
 
 W IRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 which has been already stated. The character of his argu- 
 ment proves, indeed, that lie was naturally a bold and in- 
 trepid inquirer, who was not to be overawed from his pur- 
 pose by the name even of sovereignty itself; and of course 
 that he was made of good revolutionary materials. But an 
 adequate provocation had not at this time been given : and 
 it would be imputing to Mr. Henry a criminal ambition, of 
 which there is no proof, to suppose that he was meditating 
 the subversion of & government, against which the voice of 
 serious complaint had not yet been heard. Besides, Mr. 
 Henry’s standing in society was at this period so humble, as 
 to have rendered the meditation of such a purpose, on hi* 
 part, presumptuous in the extreme ; and equally inconsistent 
 both with his unassuming modesty, and that natural good 
 sense and accurate judgment which are, on all hands, as- 
 signed to him. 
 
 Immediately on the decision of this cause, he was retained 
 in all the cases, within the range of his practice, which de- 
 pended on the same question. But no other case was ever 
 brought to trial. They were, aril throughout the colony, dis- 
 nms^d by the plaintiffs ; nor was any appeal ever prosecuted 
 in the case of Mr. Maury. The reason assigned for this by 
 Mr. Camm is, that the legislature had voted money to sup- 
 port the appeal on the part of the defendants, and that the 
 clergy were not rich enough to contend against the whole 
 wealth and strength of the colony.* 
 
 The clergy took their revenge in an angry pamphlet from 
 the pen of Mr. Camm, in which a very contemptuous account 
 
 * Mr. Camm is right as to the interference of the legislature, 
 have not been able, however, to find any resolution of the legislature 
 to this effect, earlier than the 7th of April, 1767 : wneieas Mr. Maury’i 
 
Patrick henry. 
 
 49 
 
 is given botli of the advocate and the court. Mr. Henry is 
 stigmatized in it as an obscure attorney : and the epithet was 
 true enough as to the time past, but it was now true no 
 longer. His sun had risen with a splendour which had never 
 before been witnessed in this colony ; and never afterward 
 did it disgrace this glorious rising. 
 
 case was decided in Hanover, on the 1st December, 1763. The fol- 
 lowing is extracted from the journal of the day first mentioned 
 
 “ On a motion made — 
 
 “ Resolved, that the committee of correspondence be directed to 
 write to the agent, to defend the parish collectors from all appeals 
 from judgments here given, in suits brought by the clergy, for recov- 
 ering their salaries, payable on or before the last day of May, 1759 i 
 and that this house will engage to defray the expense thereof.” 
 
 G 5 
 
SECTION If 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to state, that the display which 
 Mr. Henry had made in “ the parsons ’ cause” as it was 
 popularly called, placed him at once at the head of his pro- 
 fession, in that quarter of the colony in which he practised. 
 He became the theme of every tongue. He had exhibited 
 a degree of eloquence, which the people had never before 
 witnessed ; a species of eloquence, too, entirely new at the 
 bar, and altogether his own. He had formed it on no living 
 model, for there was none such in the country. He had not 
 copied it from. books, for they had described nothing of the 
 kind ; or if they had, he w r as a stranger to their contents. 
 Nor had he formed it himself, by solitary study and exercise; 
 for he was far too indolent for any such process. It was so 
 unexampled, so unexpected, so instantaneous, and so trans- 
 cendent in its character, that it had, to the people, very 
 much the appearance of supernatural inspiration. He was 
 styled “ the orator of nature and was, on that account , 1 
 much more revered by the people than if he had been formed 
 by the severest discipline of the schools ; for they considered 
 him as bringing his credentials directly from heaven, and 
 owing no part of his greatness to human institutions. 
 
 There were other considerations, also, which drew him 
 still more closely to the bosom of the people. The society of 
 Virginia was at that time pretty strongly discriminated. A 
 gentleman who lived in those days, and who had the best 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 51 
 
 opportunities of judging on the subject, has furnished the 
 following interesting picture of it: — 
 
 “To state the differences between the classes of society, 
 and the lines of demarcation which separated them, would 
 oe difficult. The law, you know, admitted none, except as 
 to the twelve counsellors. Yet in a country insulated 
 from the European world, insulated from its sister colonies, 
 with whom there was scarcely any intercourse, little visited 
 by foreigners, and having little matter to act upon withir 
 itself, certain families had risen to splendour by wealth, am 
 by the preservation of it from generation to generation, unde ; 
 the law of entails ; some had produced a series of men of 
 talents ; families in general had remained stationary on the 
 grounds of their forefathers, for there was no emigration to 
 the westward in those days ; the Irish, who had gotten pos 
 session of the valley between the Blue Ridge and the North 
 Mountain, formed a barrier over which none ventured to 
 leap ; and their manners presented no attraction to the low- 
 landers to settle among them. In such a state of things, 
 scarcely admitting any change of station, society would set- 
 tle itself down in 4 o several strata , separated by no marked 
 lines, but shading off imperceptibly from top to bottom, no- 
 thing disturbing the order of their repose. There were, then, 
 first, aristocrats^ composed of the great landholders, who had 
 seated themselves below tidewater on the main rivers, and 
 lived in a style of luxury and extravagance insupportable by 
 the other inhabitants, and which, indeed, ended in seve- 
 ral instances in the ruin of their own fortunes. Next to 
 these were what might be called half-breeds ; the descend- 
 ants of the younger sons and daughters of the aristocrats, 
 who inherited the pride of their ancestors, without their 
 wealth. Then came the pretenders, men, who, from vanity 
 
52 
 
 WtRT’s LIFE OF 
 
 or the impulse of growing wealth, or from that enterprise 
 which is natural to talents, sought to detach themselves from 
 the plebeian ranks, to which they properly belonged, and imi- 
 tated. at some distance, the manners and habits of the great. 
 Next to these, were a solid and independent yeomanry, 
 looking askance at those above, yet not venturing to jostle 
 them. And last and lowest, a feculum of beings, called 
 overseers, the most abject, degraded, unprincipled race ; al- 
 ways cap in hand to the dons who employed them, and fur- 
 nishing materials for the exercise of their pride, insolence, 
 and spirit of domination.” 
 
 It was from the body of the yeomanry, whom my corres- 
 pondent represents as “ looking askance” at those above 
 them, that Mr. Henry proceeded. He belonged to the body 
 of the people. His birth, education, fortune, and manners, 
 made him one of themselves. They regarded him, there- 
 fore, as their own property, and sent to them expressly for 
 the very purpose of humbling the pride of the mighty, and 
 exalting the honour of his own class. 
 
 Mr. Henry had too much sagacity not to see this advan- 
 tage, and too much good sense not to keep and to improve it. 
 He seems to have formed to himself, very early in life, just 
 views of society, and to have acted upon them with the most 
 laudable system and perseverance. He regarded governm ent 
 as instituted solely for the good of the people j._,and not for 
 the benefit of those who had contrived to make a job of it. 
 He looked upon the body of the people, therefore, as the ha 
 sis of society, the fountain of all power, and, directly or indi 
 rectly, of all offices and honours, which had been instituted 
 originally for thei r us e. He made it no secret, therefore ; nay 
 he made it his boast, that oil^Kery^occasion, “he bowed to 
 the majesty of the people.” With regard to himself, he 3aw 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 53 
 
 very distinctly that all his hopes .rested on the people’s, fa- 
 vour He therefore adhered to them with unshaken fidelity. 
 He retained their maru^rs, the ir, customs, all, their modes 
 of life, with religious caution. ..Hie dressed as~plainly as 
 the plat aest of them; ate only the homely fare, and drank 
 the simple beverage of the country; mixed with them on 
 a looting of the most entire and perfect equality, and con- 
 versed with them, even in their own vicious and depraved 
 pronunciation.* 
 
 If this last were the effect of artful compliance, as has 
 been strenuously affirmed, it was certainly carrying the sys- 
 tem farther than dignity would warrant. Mr. Henry should 
 have been the instructer as well as the friend of the people, 
 and, by his example, have corrected instead of adopting their 
 errors. It is very certain, that by this course he disgusted 
 many of those whom it was often his business to persuade , 
 not because they considered it as a proof of vulgarity and 
 ignorance, but because they regarded it as a premeditated 
 artifice to catch the favour and affections of the people. That 
 it was so, I am not disposed to believe. I think it much 
 more probable, that those errors of pronunciation were -the 
 effect of early and inveterate habit, which had become incu- 
 rable before he. was informed of his mistake. He had no 
 occasion to resort to such petty artifices, either to gain or to 
 hold the affections of the people. He held them by a much 
 
 * Governor Page relates, that he once heard him express the fol- 
 lowing sentiments, in this vicious pronunciation : — “ Naiteral parts 
 is better than all the larnin upon y earth;” but the accuracy of Mr. 
 Page’s memory is questioned in this particular, by the acquaintances 
 of Mr. Henry, who say, that he was too good a grammarian to have 
 uttered such a sentence, although they admit the inaecur?v,y of hi* 
 pronunciation, in some of the words imputed to him. 
 
54 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 higher and a much firmer title: the simplicity of his man 
 ners ; the benevolence of his disposition : the integrity of 
 his life ; his real devotion to their best interests ; that uncom 
 mon sagacity, which enabled him to discern those interests 
 in every situation ; and the unshaken constancy with which 
 he pursued them, in spite of every difficulty and danger that 
 could threaten him. From the point of time, of which we 
 are now speaking, it is very certain that he suffered no gale 
 of fortune, however high or prosperous, to separate him 
 from the people : nor did the people, on their part, ever de- 
 sert him.* He was the man to whom they looked in every 
 crisis of difficulty, and the favourite on whom they were 
 ever ready to lavish all the honours in their gift. 
 
 Middleton, in his life of Cicero, tells us, that the first great 
 speech of that orator, his defence of Roscius of Ameria, was 
 made at the age of tw^ntyrseveu^jhe same age, he adds, 
 at which the learned have remarked, that Demosthenes dis- 
 tinguished himself in the assembly of the Athenians : — “ as 
 if this were the age,” I quote his own words, “ at which 
 these great genios regularly bloomed toward maturity.” It 
 is rather curious, than important, to observe, that Mr. Henry 
 furnishes another instance in support of this theory ; since it 
 was precisely in the same year of his life, that his talents 
 first became known to himself and to the world. Nor let 
 the admirer of antiquity revolt at our coupling the name of 
 Henry with those of Cicero and Demosthenes : it can be no 
 degradation to the orator eitner of Greece or Rome* tl\at nis 
 name stands enrolled on the same page with that of a man 
 of whom such a judge of eloquence as Ml Jeffers op has 
 sakh thatA he was the greatest orator that ever lived.” 
 
 But the taste of professional fame which Mr. Henry nad 
 derived from the “ parsons’ cause,” evquisite as it must have 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 55 
 
 oeen, was not sufficient to inspire him with a thirst for the 
 learning of his profession. He had an insuperable aversion 
 to the old black-letter of the law-books , (which was often 
 a topic of raillery with him,) and he was never able to con- 
 quer it, except for preparation in some particular cause. No 
 love of distinction, no necessity, however severe, were strong 
 enough to bind him down to a regular course of reading. 
 He could not brook the confinement. The^reasoning^of the 
 law was too artificial, and too much cramped for him. 
 While unavoidably engaged in it, he felt as if manacled. 
 His mind wq# perpetually struggling to^reak away. His 
 genius delighted in liberty and space^jn which it might 
 roam at large, and feast on every variety of intellectual en- 
 joyment. Hence, he was never profound in the learning of 
 the law. On a question merely legal, his inferiors, in point 
 of talents, frequently embarrassed and foiled him ; and it 
 required all the resources of his extraordinary mind to sup- 
 port the distinction which he had now gained. 
 
 The most successful practice in the county courts was, in 
 those days, but a slender dependance for a family. Notwith- 
 standing, therefore, the great addition to his business, which 
 we have noticed, Mr. Henry seems still to have been pressed 
 by want. With the hope of improving his situation, he le 
 moved, ’n the year 1764, to the county of Louisa, and re- 
 sided at a place called the Roundabout. Here I have learned 
 nothing remarkable of him, unless it may be thought so, 
 that he pursued his favourite amusement of hunting with 
 increased ardour. “ After his removal to Louisa,” says my 
 informant, “ he has been known to hunt deer, frequently 
 for several days together, carrying his provision with him, 
 and at night encamping in the woods. After the hunt was 
 over he would go from the ground to Louisa court, clad in 
 
56 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 a coarse cloth coat, stained with all the trophies of the chase, 
 greasy leather breeches, ornamented in the same way, leg 
 gings for boots, and a pair of saddlebags on his arm. Thus 
 accoutred, he would enter the court-house, take up the first 
 of his causes that chanced to be called ; and if there was 
 any scope for his peculiar talent, throw his adversary into 
 the background, and astonish both court and jury, by the 
 powerful effusions of his natural eloquence. 
 
 / There must have been something irresistibly captivating 
 in Mr. Henry’s mode of spe aking, even on the most trivial 
 subjects. The late Judge Lyons has been heard to say of 
 himself, while practising with Mr. Henry, that “he could 
 write a letter, or draw a declaration or plea at the bar, with 
 as much accuracy , as he could in his office ^ unde r all circum- 
 stances, except when Patrick rose to speak; but that when- 
 ever he rose, although it might be on so trifling a subject as 
 a summons and petition for twenty shillings, he was obliged 
 to lay down his pen, and could not write another word, until 
 the speech was finished.” Suc h was the charm of his 
 
 voice and manner, and the interesting originality of his 
 conceptions ! 
 
 In the fall of 1764, Mr. Henry had an opportunity of ex- 
 hibiting himself on a new theatre. A contest occurred in 
 the house of burgesses, in the case of Mr. James Littlepage, 
 the returned member for the county of Hanover. The rival 
 candidate and petitioner was Nathaniel West Dandridge.* 
 
 The charge against Mr. Littlepage was bribery and corrup- 
 
 • 
 
 * Here is another mistake of Mr. Burk’s. He states the contest to 
 have been between Col. Synie (Mr. Henry’s half-brother) and Col. 
 Richard Littlepage. The journal contradicts him, and supports the 
 text. There was no such contest as that of which he speaks ; at teas? 
 between the years 1762 and 1768. 
 
PATRICK HENRA. 
 
 57 
 
 iion The parties were heard by their counsel, before the 
 committee of privileges and elections, and Mr. Henry was? 
 on this occasion employed by Mr. Dandridge. 
 
 Williamsburg, then the seat of government, was the /o- 
 cus of fashion and high life. The residence of the gov- 
 ernor, (the immediate representative of the sovereign,) the 
 royal state in which he lived, the polite and brilliant circle 
 which he always had about him, diffused their influen:e 
 through the city and the circumjacent country, and filled Wil- 
 liamsburg with a degree of emulation, taste, and elegance, 
 of which we can form no conception by the appearances of 
 the present day. During the session of the house of bur- 
 gesses, too, these stately modes of life assumed their richest 
 forms ; the town was filled with a concourse of visiters, as 
 well as citizens, attired in their gayest colours ; the streets 
 exhibited a continual scene of animated and glittering tu- 
 mult ; the houses, of costly profusion. 
 
 Such was the scene in which Mr. Henry was now called 
 upon, for the first time, to make his appearance. He made 
 no preparation for it, but went down just in the kind of 
 which he had been accustomed to exhibit all his life, and is 
 said to have worn on this occasion particularly, a suit which 
 had suffered very considerably in the service. The contrast 
 which he exhibited with th e gen eral elegance of the p lace, 
 was so striking, as to call upon him the eyes of all the curi- 
 ous .and the mischievous ; and, as he moved awkwardly 
 about, in his c oarse and th rejadbarn, dress, with a counte- 
 nance of abstracdon. and total unconcern as to what was 
 passing around him, (interesting as it seemed to every one 
 e^se,) he was stared at by some as a prodigy, and regarded 
 by others as an unfortunate being, whose senses were disor 
 Je**ed. When he went to attend the committee of privileges 
 H 
 
58 
 
 WIRT 3 LIFE OF 
 
 and elections, the matter was still worse. u The proud ails 
 of aristocracy,” says Judge Tyler, detailing this incident of 
 Mr. Henry’s life, “ added to the dignified forms of that truly 
 august body, were enough to have deterred any man posses- 
 sing less firmness and independence of spirit than Mr. 
 Henry. He was ushered with great state ana ceremony 
 into the room of the committee, whose chairman was Col. 
 Biana.* Mr. Henry was dressed in very coarse apparel ; no 
 one knew any thing of him ; f and scarcely was he treated 
 with decent respect by any one except the chairman, who 
 could not do so much violence to his feelings and principles, 
 as to depart, on any occasion, from the delicacy of the gen- 
 tleman. But the general contempt was soon changed into 
 as general admiration ; for Mr. Henry distinguished himself 
 by a copious and brilliant display on the great subject of the 
 rights of suffrage, superior to any thing that had been heard 
 before within those walls. Such a burst of eloqu ence, from 
 a man so very plain and ordinary in his appearance, struck 
 
 * Mr. Tyler says, “ that enlightened and amiable man, John Blair;’ 5 
 but in this he is corrected by the journal, which shows that Mr. Bland 
 was the chairman of the committee of privileges and elections for that 
 year. I should have thought, from the general accuracy of Mr. Ty- 
 ler’s statement, that Mr. Blair might have been officiating as chair- 
 man pro tempore , in the absence of Col. Bland ; but that Mr. Blair 
 does not appear, by the journal, to nave belonged to the committee 
 or even to have been a member of the house in 1764. His name does 
 not appear till 1766. 
 
 Mr. Tyler, reciting Mr. Henry’s own narrative, after a lapse of 
 several years, might very easily have confounded two names as sim- 
 ilar as those of Bland and Blair. 
 
 f That is, I presume, of his person ; for after the very splendid ex- 
 hibition which he made in the parsons’ cause, his name could not 
 nave been wholly unknown: the text, however, gives the words of 
 mv correspondent faithfully. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 59 
 
 the committee with amazement ; so that a deep and perfect 
 silence took place during the speech, and not a sound but 
 from his lips was to be heard in the room.” So far Judge 
 Tvler. Judge Winston, relating the same incident, says : 
 “ Some time after, a member of the house, speaking to me 
 of this occurrence, said, he had, for a day or two, observed 
 an ill-dressed young man sauntering in the lobby ; that he 
 seemed to be a stranger to every body, and he had not the 
 curiosity to inquire his name ; but that, attending when 
 the case of the contested election came on, he was surprised 
 to find this same person counsel for one of the parties ; and 
 still more so, when he delivered an argument superior to any 
 thing he had ever heard.” The case, according to the report 
 of the committee of privileges and elections, is not one which 
 seems to present much scope for a very interesting discussion ; 
 but Mr. Hen ry’s was one of those minds which impart inter 
 est to ever y subject they touch. 
 
 The same year, 1764, is memorable for the origination of 
 that great question which led finally to the independence of 
 the United States. It has been said by a gentleman, at 
 least as well qualified to judge as any other now alive,* that 
 “ Mr. Henry j^te inlr- g av cahe first impulse to the balLof .the 
 rev o l ution.” In order to show the correctness of this position, 
 it is proper to ascertain the precise point to which the contro- 
 versy with Great Britain had advanced, when Mr. Henrv 
 first presented himself in the character of a statesman. 
 
 In March, 1764, the British parliament had passed reso 
 utions, preparatory to the levying a revenue on the colonies 
 by a stamp tax. These resolutions were communicated to 
 the house of burgesses of Virginia, through their committee 
 
 * Mr. Jefferson. 
 
60 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 of correspondence, by the colonial agent; ana haying been 
 maturely considered, resulted in the appointment of a spe 
 cial committee to prepare an address to the king, a memo- 
 rial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the house of com 
 mons. On the 18th of December ^ 764 , these papers were 
 reported, and (after various amendments, which considerably 
 diluted their spirit) received the concurrence of the coun 
 cil. The reader will perceive, on perusing them/ that, 
 while they affirm, in clear and strong terms, the constitu- 
 tional exemption of the colony from taxation by the British 
 parliament, they breathe, nevertheless, a tone so suppliant, 
 and exhibit suck a picture of anticipated suffering from the 
 pressure of the tax on the exhausted resources of the colony, 
 as to indicate that no opposition beyond remonstrance was, 
 at this time, meditated. Remonstrance, however, was vain. 
 In January, 1765, the famous stamp act was passed, to take 
 effect in the colonies on the first of November following The 
 annunciation of this measure seems at first to have stunned 
 the continent from one extremity to the other. The presses, 
 which spread the intelligence among the people, were them- 
 selves manifestly confounded ; and so far from inspiring the 
 energy of resistance, they seemed rather disposed to have 
 looked out for topics of consolation, under submission.! The 
 truth is, that all ranks of society were confounded. No 
 one knew what to hope, what more to fear, or what course 
 
 * See Appendix. Note A. 
 
 t Thus in the Pennsylvania Gazette of the 30th of May, 1705: — 
 “We hear the sums of money arising from the new stamn duties id 
 North America, for the first five years, are chiefly to be applied toward 
 making commodious post-roads from one province to another, erect 
 ing bridges where necessary, and other measures equally importan 
 to facilitate an extensive trade.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 61 
 
 w is best m be taken. Some, indeed, were fond enough o 
 entertain hopes that the united remonstrances of the colonial 
 legislatures, the fate of which had not yet been heard, might 
 induce the mother-country to change her policy ; these hopes, 
 however, were faint ; and few there were that entertained 
 them Many considered submission, in the present state of 
 the colonies, as unavoidable ; and that this was the opinion 
 of Doctor Franklin himself, is apparent from the remark 
 with which he took leave of Mr. Ingersoll, on his departure 
 for America.* The idea of resistance, by force, was no where 
 glanced at in the most distant manner ; no heart seems to 
 have been bold enough, at first, to conceive it. Men, on other 
 occasions marked for intrepidity and decision, now hung 
 back, unwilling to submit, and yet afraid to speak out in 
 the language of bold and open defiance. It was just at this 
 moment of despondency in some quarters, suspense in others, 
 and surly and reluctant submission wherever submission ap- 
 peared, that Patrick Henry stood forth to raise the drooping 
 spirit of the peo ple* and to unite all hearts and hands in the 
 cause of his country. With the view of making way for 
 hiiR^.and placing him in the public councils of his country, 
 Mr. William Johnson, who had been elected a member of 
 the house of burgesses for the county of Louisa, vacated his 
 seat by accepting the commission of coroner. The writ of 
 election to supply his place was awarded on the first of May, 
 1765, and on the 20th day of that month, it appears by the 
 journals, that Mr. Henry was added to the committee for 
 courts of justice. 
 
 Here, again, he was upon a new theatre, and personally 
 unknown, except to those few who might have heard his 
 
 * “Go home, and tell your countrymen to get children as fast as 
 trey can,” — G ordon. 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 argument on the contested election of Mr. Littlepage, the 
 preceding winter. His dress and manners were still those 
 of the plain planter, and, in his personal appearance, there 
 was nothing to excite curi osity, or a waken expectation. 
 The forms of the house, of which he was now for the 
 first time a member, were, as has been stated, most aw- 
 fully dignified ; its active members were composed of the 
 landed aristocracy and their adherents ; and amongst them 
 were men to whose superiority of talents, as well as influence 
 and power, the yeomanry of the country had long been ac 
 customed to bow with tacit and submissive deference. 
 
 John Robinson, the speaker of the house, was one of the 
 most opulent men in the colony, and the acknowledged head 
 of its landed aristocracy. He had now filled the chair of the 
 house with great dignity, and without interruption, for five 
 and twenty years. He was, also, the colonial treasurer: 
 and from the high offices which he held, in connexion with 
 the regal government, was as warmly attached to its author- 
 ity by interest, as he was by taste and fashion to all the 
 grandeur of its forms. But, notwithstanding this close alli- 
 ance with the court, his personal influence, in every class of 
 society, was very great; and he held that influence by a 
 tenure far superior to any that his own vast wealth or the 
 power of the crown could confer. For he possessed a strong 
 and well-informed mind, enlarged and corrected by great 
 experience, and he united with it a benevolence of spirit 
 and a courtesy of manners which never failed to attach 
 every heart that approached him. The poor drewuieax to 
 him without awamr^embarrassment,; they came, indeed, with 
 filial confidence; for they never failed to find in him a sym- 
 pathetic friend and an able cou nsello r. The rich enjoyed 
 in him an easy, enlightened, and instructive companion 
 
Jt 
 
 PATRICK HENRY* 6ii 
 
 md, next to the governor, regarded him as the highest mod 
 el of elegance and fashion. An anecdote is related of this 
 gentleman, which displays in a strong and amiable light, 
 the exalted force of his feelings, and the truly noble cast of 
 his manners. When Col. Washington (the immortal saviour 
 of his country) had closed his career in the French and In- 
 dian war, and had become a member of the house of bur- 
 gesses, the speaker, Robinson, was directed, by a vote of the 
 house, to return their thanks to that gentleman, on behalf 
 of the colony, for the distinguished military services which 
 he had rendered to his country. As soon as Col. Washing 
 ton took his seat, Mr. Robinson, in obedience to this order, 
 and following the impulse of his own generous and grateful 
 heart, discharged the duty with great dignity ; but with 
 such warmth of colouring and strength of expression, as en- 
 tirely confounded the young hero. He rose to express his 
 acknowledgments for the honour ; but such was his trepida- 
 tion and confusion, that he could not give distinct utterance 
 to’ a single syllable. He blushed, stammered, and trembled, 
 for a second ; when the speaker relieved him by a stroke of 
 address that would have done honour to Louis XIV. in 
 his proudest and happiest moment. “ Sit down, Mr. Wash- 
 ington,” said he, with a conciliating smile ; “ your modesty 
 is equal to your valour ; and that surpasses the power of any 
 language that I possess.”* 
 
 Peyton Randolph, the king’s attorney-general, held the 
 next rank to the speaker. He was not distinguished for elo- 
 quence ; but he derived great weight from the solid powers 
 of his understanding, and the no less solid virtues of his 
 heart. He was well acquainted with all the forms of parlia* 
 
 * On the authority of Edmund Randolph. 
 
64 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 mentary proceeding ; was an eminent lawyer, and a well 
 informed and practical statesman. 
 
 Richard Bland was one of the most enlightened men in 
 the colony. He was a man of finished education, and of the 
 most unbending habits of application. His perfect mastery 
 of every fact connected with the settlement and progress of 
 the colony, had given him the name of the Virginian And 
 quary.* He was a politician of the first class : a profound 
 lo gician ^and was also considered as the first writer in the 
 colonv.f 
 
 Edmund Pendleton, the protege of the speaker Robin 
 son was also among the most prominent members in the 
 house. He had, in a great measure, overcome the disadvan- 
 tages of an extremely defective education, and, by the force 
 of good company and the study of correct authors, had attain- 
 ed to great accuracy and perspicuity of style. The patronage 
 of the speaker had introduced him to the first circles, and his 
 
 * Edmund Randolph. 
 
 f “He was, 5 ’ says a correspondent, “the mosy^arned an( l logical 
 man of those who took a prominent lead in public affairs ; profound 
 in constitutional lor e ; but a most ungraceful speaker in debate. He 
 wrote the first pamphlet on the nature of the connexion with Great 
 Britain, which had any pretensions to accuracy of view on that subject ; 
 but it was a singular one: he would set out on sound principles, pur- 
 sue them logically, till he found them leading to the precipice which 
 we had to leap ; start back, alarmed ; then resume his ground, go over 
 it in another direction, be led again, by the correctness of his reason- 
 ing, to the same place^and again tack about and try other processes to 
 reconcile right and wrong; but left his reader and himself bewildered 
 between the steady index of the compass in their hand, and the phan 
 tasm to which it seemed to point. Still, there was more sound matto 
 in this pamphlet than in the celebrated Farmer’s Letters, which wera 
 really but an ignis fatuus , misleading us fron true principle.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 6& 
 
 manners were elevated, graceful, and insinuating. His per 
 son was spare, but well-ptop^tiened ; and his countenance 
 one of the finest in the world ; serene — contemplative — be- 
 nignant — with that expression of unclouded intelligence^and 
 extensive research, which seemed to denote him capable of any 
 thing that could be effected by the power of the human 
 mind. His mind itself \yas of a very fine order. It was 
 clear, comprehensive, sagacious and correct4-with a most 
 acute and subtile faculty of discrimination ; a fertility of ex 
 pedient which could never be exhausted ; a dexterity of ad- 
 dress which never lost an advantage and never gave one ; 
 and a capacity for continued and unremitting application, 
 
 which was perfectly invincible. As a lawyer and a states- 
 , r J J 
 man, he hacf few equals ; no superiors. For parliamentary 
 
 management, he was without a rival. With all these ad- 
 vantages of prison, manners, address, and intellect, he was 
 also a speaker of distinguished eminence. He had that sil- 
 ver voice* of which Cicero makes such frequent and honour- 
 able mention — an articulation uncommonly distinct — a peren- 
 nial stream of transparent, cool, and sweet elocution i and 
 the power of presenting his arguments with great simplicity 
 and striking effect. He was always graceful, argumentative 
 persuasive ; never vehement, rapid, or abrupt^ He could 
 instruct and delight ; but he had no pretensions to those high 
 powers which are calculated to “ shake the human soul.” 
 George Wythe, also a member of the House, was confes- 
 sedly among the first in point of abilities. There is a story 
 circulated, as upon his own authority, that he was initiated 
 by his mother in the Latin classics.! Be this as it may, it ]s» 
 
 * Vox argentea. See the Brutus, passim. 
 t T heard it from die late Judge Nelson, his relation 
 
 I 6* 
 
66 
 
 wirt 7 s life of 
 
 certain Jiat he had raised upon the original foundation, 
 whencesoever acquired, a superstructure of ancient literature 
 which has been rarely equalled in this country. He was 
 perfectly familiar with the authors of Greece and Rome ; 
 read them with the same ease,' and quoted them with the 
 same promptitude that he could the authors in his native 
 tongue. He carried his love of antiquity rather too far ; for 
 he frequently subjected himself to the charge of pedantry ; 
 and his admiration of the gigantic writers of Queen Eliza 
 beth’s reign, had unfortunately betrayed him into an imita- 
 tion of their quaintness. Yet, with all this singularity of taste, 
 he was a man of great capacity ; powerful in argument ; 
 frequently pathetic ; and elegantly keen and sarcastic in re- 
 partee. He was long the rival of Mr. Pendleton at the bar, 
 whom he equalled as a common lawyer, and greatly sur- 
 passed as a civilian : but he was too open and direct in his 
 conduct, and possessed too little management, either with re- 
 gard to his own temper or those of other men, to cope with 
 so cool and skilful an adversary. Though a full match for 
 Mr. Pendleton in the powers of fair and solid reasoning, Mr 
 Pendleton could, whenever he pleased, and would, whenever 
 it was necessary, tease him with quibbles, and vex him with 
 sophistries, until he destroyed the composure of his mind, and 
 robbed him of his strength. No man was ever more entirely 
 destitute of art than Mr. Wythe. He knew nothing, even in 
 his profession, and never would know any thing of “ crooked 
 and indirect by-w T ays ” Whatever he had to do, was to be 
 done openly, avowedly, and above-board. He would not, 
 even at the bar, have accepted of success on any other terms. 
 This simplicity and integrity of character, although it some- 
 times exposed him to the arts and sneers of the less scrupu 
 lous, placed him before his countrymen on the ground which 
 
PATRICK HE NRY. 
 
 67 
 
 Cesar wished his wife to occupy ; he was not only pure, but 
 above all suspicion. The unaffected sanctity of his princi- 
 ples, united with his modesty and simple elegance of man- 
 ners, his attic wit, his stores of rare knowledge, his capacity 
 for business, and the real power of his intellect, not only 
 raised him to great eminence in public, but rendered him a 
 delightful companion, and a most valuable friend. 
 
 But Richard Henry JUg£ was the Cicero of the house. His 
 face itself was on the Roman model ; his nose Cesarean ; 
 the port and carriage of his head, leaning persuasively and 
 gracefully forward; and the whole contour noble and fine. 
 Mr. Lee was, by far, the most elegant scholar in the house. 
 He had studied the classics in the true spirit of criticism. His 
 taste had that delicate touch, which seized with intuitive cer- 
 tainty every beauty of an author, and his genius that native 
 affinity which combined them without an effort. Into every 
 walk of literature and science, he had carried this mind of 
 exquisite selection, and brought it back to the business of life, 
 crowned with every light of learning, and decked with every 
 wreath, that all the muses and all the graces could entwine. 
 Nor did those light decorations constitute the whole value of 
 its freight. He possessed a rich store of historical and political 
 knowledge, with an activity of observation, a ncT a certainty 
 of judgment, that turned that knowledge to the very best 
 account. He was nfft a lawyer by profession ; but he un- 
 derstood thoroughly the constitution both of the mother-coun- 
 try and her colonies ; and the elements also of the civil 
 and municipal lawr. Thus, while his effiquence - was free 
 from those stiff and technical restraints which the habits oL 
 for ensic speaking are so ap t, t,0 gP n ^ rQt£L , he had all the legal 
 learning which is necessary to a statesman. He reasoned 
 well, and declaimed freely and splendidly. The note of his 
 
G8 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 vo ice was, deeper and more melodious than that of Mr. Pen- 
 dleton. It was the canorous voice* of Cicero, tie had lost 
 the use of one of his hands, which he kept constantly covered 
 with a black-silk bandage, neatly fitted to the palm of his 
 hand, but leaving his thumb free ; yet, notwithstanding this 
 disadvantage, his gesture was so graceful and so highly finish- 
 ed, that it was said he had acquired it by practising before a 
 mirror.f Such was his promptitude, that he required no 
 preparation for debate. He was ready for any subject, as 
 soon as it was announced ; and his speech was so copious, 
 so rich, so mellifluous, set off with sucli bewitching cadence 
 of voice, and such captivating grace of action, that, while you 
 listened to him, you desired to hear nothing superior, and 
 mdeed thought him perfect. He had a quick sensibility and 
 a fervid imagination, which Mr. Pendleton wanted. Hence 
 his orations were warmer and more delightfully interesting , 
 yet still, to him those keys were not consigned which could 
 unlock the sources either of the strong or tender passions. 
 His defect was, that he was too smooth and too sweet. His 
 style bore a striking resemblance to that of Herodotus, as de 
 scribed by the Roman orator : “ He flowed on, like a quiet 
 and placid river, without a ripple. He flowed, too, through 
 banks covered with all the fresh verdure and variegated bloom 
 of the spring ; but his course was too subdued, and too beau- 
 tifully regular. A cataract, like that of Niagara, crowned 
 with overhanging rocks and mountains, in all the rude and 
 awful grandeur of nature, would have brought him nearer to 
 the standard of Homer and of Henry. 
 
 * Vox canora. See the Brutus, passim. 
 
 f Edmund Randolph. 
 
 X Sine ullis salebris , quasi sedatus amnis , flint . Orat. XII. 39. 
 
PATRICK HENRL 
 
 69 
 
 £ 
 
 * 
 
 These were some of the stars of first magnitude tha* 
 shone m the house of burgesses n the year 1765. There 
 was yet a cluster of minor luminaries, which it were endless 
 to delineate, but whose blended rays contributed to form that 
 uncommon galaxy in which the plebeian Henry was now 
 called upon to take his place. What had he to enable him 
 to cope with all this lustre of talents and erudition ? Very 
 little more than the native strength of his_chai:aQter ; a con- 
 stancy of soul, which no array of power could shake ; a ge- 
 nius that designed with all the boldness of Angelo, ancLan 
 imagination that coloured with all the felicity of Titian. 
 
 It has been already stated, that Mr. Henry was elected 
 with express reference to an opposition to the stamp act. It 
 was not, however, expected by his constituents, or meditated 
 by himself, that he should lead the opposition. The addresses 
 cf the preceding year, made to the king, lords, and commons, 
 in which so strong a truth had been stated, as that the stamp 
 act, if persisted in, would reduce the colony to a state of sla 
 very, founded a hope that those who had commenced the 
 opposition by remonstrance, would continue to give it- the 
 eclat of their high names, by resistance of a bolder character, 
 if bolder should be necessary. Mr. Henry waited, theiefore, 
 to file in under the, first ch ampion that should raise the ban- 
 ner of c olonial l iberty. In the meantime, another subject 
 unexpectedly occurred to call him up, and it was on, this 
 other that he made his debut in the house. 
 
 The incident has been stated to me in the following terms, 
 by a gentleman who heard the debate : — *“ The gentlemen 
 of this country had, at that time, become deeply involved in 
 lhat state of indebtment which has since ended in so general 
 
 * Mr. Jefferson. 
 
70 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 a crush of their fortunes^ Mr. Robinson, the speaker, was 
 also the treasurer, an officer always chosen by the assembly. 
 He was an -excellent man, liberal, friendly, and rich. He 
 had been drawn in to lend, on his own account, great sums 
 of money to persons of this description ; and especially those 
 who were of the assembly. He used freely for this purpose 
 the public money, confiding for its replacement in his own 
 means, and the securities he had taken on those loans. 
 About this time, however, he became sensible that his deficit 
 to the public was become so enormous, as that a discovery 
 must soon take place, for as yet the public had no suspicion 
 of it. He devised, therefore, with his friends in the assembly, 
 a plan for a public loan office, to a certain amount, from 
 which moneys might be lent on public account, and on good 
 landed security to individuals. I find, in Royle’s Virginia 
 Gazette of the 17th of May, 1765, this proposition for a loan 
 office presented, its advantages detailed, and the plan explain- 
 ed. It seems to have been done by a borrowing member, 
 from the feeling with which the motives are expressed, and 
 to have been preparatory to the intended motion. Between 
 the 17th and 30th, (the latter being the date of Mr. Henry’s 
 resolutions on the stamp act,) the motion for a loan office was 
 accordingly brought forward in the house of burgesses ; and 
 had it succeeded, the debts due to Robinson on these loans 
 would have been transferred to the public, and his deficit 
 tnus completely covered. This state of things, however, was 
 not yet known : but Mr. Henry attacked the scheme on other 
 general grounds, in that style of bold, grand, and over- 
 whelming eloquence, for which he became so justly celebrated 
 afterward. I had been intimate with him from the yeai 
 1759-60, and felt an interest in what concerned him; and 1 
 can never forget a particular exclamation of his in the deb ite 
 
PATRICK HENR*Y 
 
 71 
 
 which electrified his hearers. It had been urged, that, from 
 certain unhappy circumstances of the colony, men of sub- 
 stantial property had contracted debts, which, if exacted sud 
 denly, must ruin them and their families, but with a little 
 indulgence of time, might be paid with ease. ‘ What, sir ? * 
 exclaimed Mr. Henry, in animadverting on this, ‘ is it pro 
 posed then, to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and 
 extravagance, by filling his pockets with money V These 
 expressions are indelibly impressed on my memory. He laid 
 open with so much energy the spirit of favouritism, on which 
 the proposition was founded, and the abuses to which it would 
 lead, that it was crushed in its birth. He carried with him 
 all the members of the upper counties, and left a minority 
 composed merely of the aristocracy of the country. From 
 this time his popularity swelled apace ; and Mr. Robinson 
 dying the year afterward, his deficit was brought to light, 
 and discovered the true object of the proposition.”* 
 
 * In reply to this communication, I stated my surprise that no evi- 
 dence of this motion was to be found on the journals of the day, and 
 begged my correspondent to explain it, which he does very satisfacto- 
 rily in the following terms : — “Abortive motions are not always en- 
 tered on the journals, or rather they are rarely entered. It is the mo- 
 dern introduction of yeas and nays which has given the means oi 
 placing a rejected motion on the journals: and it is likely that the 
 speaker, who, as treasurer, was to be the loan officer, and had the di- 
 rection of the journals, would choose to omit an entry of the motion 
 in this case. This accounts sufficiently for the absence of any trace 
 of the motion on the journals. There was no suspicion then, (so fai 
 at least as I knew,) that Mr. Robinson had used the public money in 
 private loans to his friends, anl that the secret object of this scheme 
 was to transfer those debtors to the public, and thus clear his accounts. 
 I have diligently examined tne names of the members on the journals 
 of 1764, to see if any were stL. living, to whose memory we might re- 
 cur on this subject ; but I find not a single one now remaining in life. 
 
 / 
 
TZ 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 The exclamation above quoted by my correspondent as 
 having electrified Mr. Henry’s hearers, is a striking specimen 
 of one of his great excellences in speaking ; which was, the 
 nower of condensing the substance of a long argument, into 
 one short pithy question. The hearer was surprised, in 
 finding himself brought so suddenly and so clearly to a just 
 conclusion. He could scarcely conceive how it was effected ; 
 and could not fail to regard, with high admiration, the power 
 of that intellect which could come at its ends by so short a 
 course ; and work out its purposes with the quickness and 
 certainty of magic. 
 
 The aristocracy were startled at such a phenomenon 
 from the plebeian ranks. They could not be otherwise than 
 indignant at the presumption of an obscure and unpolished 
 rustic, who, without asking the support or countenance of 
 any patron among themselves, stood upon his own ground, 
 and bearded them even in their den. That this rustic 
 should have been able, too, by his single strength, to baffle 
 their whole phalanx and put it to rout, was a mortification too 
 humiliating to be easily borne. They affected to ridicule 
 his vicious and depraved pronunciation, the homespun 
 coarseness of his language, and his hypocritical canting in 
 relation to his humility and ignorance. But they could not 
 help admiring and envying his wonderful gifts ; that thor- 
 ough knowledge of the human heart which he displayed 
 that power of throwing his reasoning into short and cleai 
 aphorisms ; which, desultory as they were, supplied, in a 
 great degree, the place of method and logic ; that imagination 
 
 This debate must have been in 1765 instead of 1764. The only sur- 
 viving member of that year is Paul Carrington, sen., esq., who took 
 •us seat in the house after the debate in question. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 7‘J 
 
 go copious, poetic, and sublime ; the irresistible power with 
 which he caused every passion to rise at his bidding ; and 
 ail the rugged might and majesty of his eloquence. From 
 this moment, he had no friends on the aristocratic side of the 
 house. They looked upon him with envy and with terror 
 They were forced at length to praise his genius ; but than 
 praise was wrung from them, with painful reluctance. They 
 would have denied it if they could. They would have over- 
 shadowed it : and did at first try to overshadow it, by mag- 
 nifying his defects ; but it would have been as easy for them 
 to have eclipsed the splendour of the sun, by pointing to hi 3 
 spots. 
 
 If, however, he had lost one side of the house by his un- 
 daunted manner of blowing up this aristocratic project, he had 
 made the other side his fast friends. They had listened 
 with admiration, unmixed with envy. Their souls had been 
 struck with amazement and rapture, and thrilled with un 
 speakable sensations which they had never felt before. The 
 man, too, who had produced these effects, teas one of them- 
 selves. This was balm to them ; for there is a wide differ- 
 ence between that distant admiration, which we pay as a 
 tax, due to long-standing merit, in superior rank, and that 
 throbbing applause which rushes spontaneously and warm 
 from the heart, toward a new man and an equal. There it* 
 always something of latent repining, approaching to resent 
 ment, mingled with that respect which is exacted from u a 
 by rank ; and we feel a secret gratification in seeing it hum* 
 bled. In the same proportion, we love the man who ha?$ 
 given us this gratification, and avenged, as it were, our own 
 past indignities. Such was precisely the state of feeling which 
 Mr. Henry produced, on the present occasion. The lower 
 ranks of the house beheld and heard ban with gratitude ami 
 K 
 
74 
 
 av.rt’slife of 
 
 veneration. They regarded him as a sturdy and wide-spread 
 mg oak, beneath whose cool and refreshing shade they might 
 take refuge from those beams of aristocracy that had played 
 upon them so long, with rather an unpleasant heat. 
 
 After this victorious sally upon their party, the former lead- 
 ers of the house were not very well disposed to look with a 
 favourable eye on any proposition which he should make. 
 They had less, idea of contributing to foster the popularity 
 and pamper the power of a man, who seemed born to be 
 their scourge, and to drag down their ancient honours to the 
 dust. It was m this unpropitious state of things, after hav- 
 ing waited in vain for some step to be taken on the other 
 side of the house, and when the session was within three 
 days of its expected close, that Mr. Henry introduced his 
 celebrated resolutions on the stamp act. 
 
 I will not withhold from the reader a note of this transac- 
 tion from the pen of Mr. Henry himself. It is a curiosity, 
 and highly worthy of preservation. After his death, there 
 was found among his papers one sealed, and thus endorsed : 
 “ Enclosed are the resolutions of the Virginia assembly in 
 1765, concerning the stamp act. Let my executors open this 
 paper.” Within was found the following copy of the resolu- 
 tions, in Mr. Henry’s handwriting : — 
 
 “ Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this, 
 his majesty’s colony and dominion, brought with them, and 
 transmitted to their posterity, and all other his majesty’s sub- 
 jects, since inhabiting in this, his majesty’s said colony, all 
 the privileges, franchises, and immunities, that have at any 
 time been held enjoyed and possessed by the people ot 
 Great Britain. 
 
 “ Resolved, That by two royal charters, granted by King 
 lames the first, the colonists, aforesaid, are declared entitled 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 75 
 
 to all the privileges, liberties, and immunities uf denizens 
 and natural-born subjects, to all intents and purposes, as if 
 they had been abiding and born within the realm of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 “ Resolved, That the taxation of the people by themselves, 
 or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who 
 can only know what taxes the people are able to bear, and 
 the easiest mode of raising them, and are equally affected by 
 such taxes themselves, is the distinguishing characteristic of 
 British freedom, and without which the ancient constitution 
 cannot subsist. 
 
 “ Resolved, That his majesty’s liege people of this most 
 ancient colony, have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of be- 
 ing thus governed by their own assembly, in the article of 
 their taxes and internal police, and that the same hath never 
 been forfeited, or any other way given up, but hath been 
 constantly recognised by the king and people of Great Britain. 
 
 “ Resolved, therefore, That the general assembly of this 
 colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and im- 
 positions upon the inhabitants of this colony ; and that every 
 attempt to vest such power in any person or persons what- 
 soever, other than the general assembly aforesaid, has a mani- 
 fest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom.” 
 
 On the back of the paper containing those resolutions, is 
 the following endorsement, which is also in the handwriting 
 of Mr. Henry himself : — “ The within resolutions passed the 
 house of burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first op 
 oosition to the stamp act, and the scheme of taxing America 
 by the British parliament. All the colonies, either through 
 fear, or want of opportunity to form an opposition, or from in 
 fluence of some kind or other, fad remained silent. I had 
 been for the first time elected a ourgess, a few days before 
 
**6 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the forms oi 
 the house, and the members that composed it. Finding the 
 men of weight averse to opposition, and the commencement 
 of the tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step forth, 
 I determined to venture, and alone, unadvised, and unassist- 
 ed, on a blank leaf of an old law-book* wrote the within. 
 Upon offering them to the house, violent debates ensued. 
 Many threats were uttered, and much abuse cast on me, by 
 the party for submission. After a long and warm contest, 
 the resolutions passed by a very small majority, perhaps of 
 one or two only. The alarm spread throughout America 
 with astonishing quickness, and the ministerial party were 
 overwhelmed. The great point of resistance to British taxa- 
 tion was universally established in the colonies. This brought 
 on the war, which finally separated the two countries, and 
 gave independence to ours. Whether this will prove a bles- 
 sing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make of 
 the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If 
 they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of 
 a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness 
 alone can exalt them as a nation. 
 
 “ Reader ! whoever thou art, remember this ; and in thy 
 sphere, practise virtue thyself, and encourage it in others. — 
 P. Henry.” 
 
 Such is the short, plain, and modest account which Mr 
 Henry has left of this transaction. But other interesting par 
 ticulars have been handed down by tradition, and live still in 
 the recollection of one, at least, now in life, as the reader will 
 presently see by his own statement. 
 
 The resolutions having been prepared in the manner 
 
 v 
 
 ♦Judge Tyler says, “an old Coke upon Littleton v 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 77 
 
 / 
 
 which has been mentioned, were shown by Mr. Henry to 
 two members only, before they were offered to the house ; 
 these were John Fleming, a most respectable member for 
 the county of Cumberland, and George Johnston, for that 
 of Fairfax.”* 
 
 The reader will remark that the first four resolutions, as 
 left by Mr. Henry, do little more than reaffirm the principles 
 advanced in the address, memorial, and remonstrance of the 
 preceding year; that is, they deny the right assumed by 
 the British parliament, and assert the exclusive right of the 
 colony to tax itself. There is an important difference, how- 
 ever, between those state papers and the resolutions, in the 
 point of time and the circumstances under which they were 
 brought forward, for the address and other state papers were 
 prepared before the stamp act had passed ; they do nothing 
 more, therefore, than call in question, by a course of respect 
 ful and submissive reasoning, the propriety of exercising the 
 right, before it had been exercised ; and they are, moreover, 
 addressed to the legislature of Great Britain, by the way of 
 'prevention , and in a strain of decent remonstrance and ar- 
 
 * Judge Winston, on the authority of Mr. Henry himself. The re- 
 port of the day, that Mr. Johnston drew the resolutions, is certainly 
 unfounded. Mr. Johnston, now only known from the circumstance 
 of his having seconded Mr. Henry’s resolutions, is one of those many 
 friends of liberty who are sliding fast from the recollection of their 
 country, and who deserve to be rescued from oblivion, by a more par- 
 ticular notice than it is in my power to bestow upon them. Of Mr. 
 Johnston, I can learn only, that he was a lawyer in the Northern 
 Neck, highly respectable in his profession ; a scholar, distinguished 
 for vigour of intellect, cogency of argument, firmness of character 
 ove of order, and devotion to the cause of rational liberty — in short, 
 exactly calculated by his love of the cause, and the broad and 
 folia basis of his understanding to uphold the magnificent structure 
 of Henry’s eloquence. 
 
 7 * 
 
78 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 gument. But a<; the time when Mr. Henry offered his resolu 
 tions, the stamp act had passed ; and the resolutions were 
 intended for the people of the colonies. It will also be ob- 
 served, that the fifth resolution, as given by Mr. Henry, con 
 tains the bold assertion, that every attempt to vest the powei 
 of taxation over the colonies in any person or persons what- 
 soever, other than the general assembly, had a manifest ten- 
 dency to destroy British, as well as American freedom ; 
 which was asserting, in effect, that the act which had passed 
 was an encroachment on the rights and libertfes of the peo 
 pie, and amounted to a direct charge of tyranny and despo 
 tism against the British king, lords, and commons. 
 
 It is not wonderful that even the friends of colonial rights 
 who knew the feeble and defenceless situation of this coun 
 try, should be startled at a step so bold and daring. That 
 effect was produced ; and the resolutions were resisted, not 
 only by the aristocracy of the house, but by many of those 
 who were afterward distinguished among the brightest cham- 
 pions of American liberty. 
 
 The following is Mr. Jefferson’s account of this transaction 
 
 “ Mr Henry moved and Mr. Johnston seconded these re- 
 solutions successively. They were opposed by Messrs. Ran- 
 dolph, Bland, Pendleton, Wythe, and all the old members, 
 whose influence in the house had, till then, been unbroken 
 They did it, not from any question of our rights, but on the 
 ground that the same sentiments had been, at their preceding 
 session, expressed in a more conciliatory form, to which the 
 answeis were not yet received. But torrents of sublime elo- 
 quence from Henry, backed by the sc lid reasoning of John- 
 ston, prevailed. The last, however, and strongest resolution 
 was carried but by a single vote. The debate on it was 
 most bloody. I was then but a student, and stood at the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 floor of communication between the house and the lobby (foi 
 as yet there was no gallery) during the whole debate am' 
 vote ; and I well remember that, after the numbers on tl 
 division were told and declared from the chair, Peyton Ran 
 dolph (the attorney-generl) came out at the door where I 
 was standing, and said, as he entered the lobby : ‘ By God, l 
 would have given 500 guineas for a single vote for one 
 would have divided the house, and Robinson was in the 
 chair, who he knew would have negatived the resolution 
 Mr Henry left town that evening; and the next morning 
 before the meeting of the house, Col. Peter Randolph, then 
 of the council, came to the hall of burgesses, and sat at the 
 clerk’s table till the house-bell rang, thumbing over the vol 
 umes of journals, to find a precedent for expunging a vote of 
 the house, which, he said, had taken place while he was a 
 member or clerk of the house, I do not recollect which. 1 
 stood by him at the end of the table, a considerable part of 
 the time, looking on, as he turned over the leaves ; but I do 
 not recollect whether he found the erasure. In the mean 
 time, some of the timid members, who had voted for the 
 strongest resolution, had become alarmed ; and as soon as 
 the house met, a motion was made and carried to expunge 
 it from the journals. There being at that day but one printer, 
 and he entirely under control of the governor, I do not know 
 that this resolution ever appeared in print. I write this from 
 memory : but the impression made on me at the time was 
 such as to fix the facts indelibly in my mind. I suppose the 
 original journal was among those destroyed by the British 
 or its obliterated face might be appealed to And here I wil 
 state, that Burk’s statement of Mr. Henry’s consenting to with 
 draw two resolutions, by way of compromise with his oppo 
 nents, is entirely erroneous ” 
 
80 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 The manuscript journal of the day is not to be found 
 whether it was suppressed, or casually lost, must remain a 
 matter of uncertainty ; it disappeared, however, shortly after 
 the session,* and therefore could not have been among the 
 documents destroyed by the British during the revolutionary 
 war, as conjectured by Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 In the interesting fact of the erasure of the fifth resolution, 
 Mr. Jefferson is supported by the distinct recollection of Mr. 
 Paul Carrington, late a judge of the court of appeals of Vir- 
 ginia, and the only surviving member, it is believed, of the 
 house of burgesses of 1765. The statement is also confirmed, 
 if indeed further confirmation were necessary, by the circum- 
 stance, that instead of the five resolutions, so solemnly re- 
 corded by Mr. Henry, as having passed the house, the journal 
 of the day exhibits only the following four : — 
 
 “ Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this 
 his majesty’s colony and dominion of Virginia, brought with 
 them and transmitted to their posterity, and all others his 
 majesty’s subjects, since inhabiting in this his majesty’s said 
 colony, all the liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities, 
 that have at any time been held, enjoyed, and possessed bv 
 the people of Great Britain. 
 
 “ Resolved, That by two royal charters, granted by King 
 James I., the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all 
 liberties, privileges, and immunities of denizens and natural 
 subjects to all intents and purposes, as if they had been 
 abiding and born within the realm of England. 
 
 “ Resolved, That the taxation of the people, by themselves, 
 or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who 
 
 * “ The manuscript journal was missing ten years before nosti lilies 
 between the two countries ; therefer 0 'muld not have been destroyed 
 as you supposed probable. 55 — Paul Carrington, senr. 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 81 
 
 can omy know what taxes the people are able to bear, or the 
 easiest method of raising them ; and must, themselves, be 
 affected by every tax laid on the peopie, is the only security 
 against a burdensome taxation, and the distinguishing charac- 
 teristic of British freedom, without which the ancient con 
 Ktitution cannot exist. 
 
 “ Resolved, That his majesty’s liege people of this his most 
 ancient and loyal colony have, without interruption, enjoyed 
 the inestimable right of being governed by such laws respect- 
 ing their internal polity and taxation, as are derived from 
 their own consent, with the approbation of their sovereign, 
 or his substitute ; and that the same hath never been forfeited 
 or yielded up, but hath been constantly recognised by the 
 kings and people of Great Britain”* 
 
 * Such are the resolutions, as they were amended and passed by 
 the house, with the exception of that which was rescinded on the next 
 day. — Journals of 1765, page 150. Several historical mistakes have 
 been committed in relation to these resolutions. Judge Marshall, in 
 his life of Washington, (vol. 2d, note 4th, of the appendix,) gives an 
 erroneous copy of them, from the book called Prior Documents ; in 
 this, he is set right by the journals : he represents six as having been 
 offered, and two rejected ; his authority for this, again, is the Prior 
 Documents: but he is contradicted by Mr. Henry himself, who repre- 
 sents five only as having been offered and passed, and Mr. Henry’s 
 written statement accords with the clear and strong recollection both 
 of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Carrington. Mr. Burk gives the same erro- 
 neous copy with Judge Marshall, and adds to them several mistakes 
 of n.s own : he says the resolutions passed, by a large majority, forty 
 only having voted against them . Mr. Burk did not know the num- 
 ber of the members, or he would have known that a vote of forty, in 
 the negative, would not have left a large majority in favour of the 
 resolutions. But we have the authority of Mr. Henry himself, (as 
 we have seen,) of Mr. Jefferson, and of Mr. Carrington, for saying that 
 ire resolutions were carried by a majority of one only ; on what ail- 
 
 L 
 
82 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 i( By these ^solutions,” says Mr. Jefferson, “ and his man- 
 ner of supporting them, Mr. Henry took the lead out of the 
 hands of those who had, theretofore, guided the proceedings 
 of the house ; that is to say, of Pendleton, Wythe, Bland, 
 Randolph.” It was, indeed, the measure which raised him 
 to the zenith of his glory. He had never before had a sub- 
 ject which entirely matched his genius, and was capable of 
 drawing out all the powers of his mind. It was remarked 
 of him, throughout his life, that his talents never failed to rise 
 with the occasion, and in proportion with the resistance which 
 he had to encounter. The nicety of the vote, on his last 
 resolution, proves that this was not a time to hold in reserve 
 any part of his forces. It was, indeed, an Alpine passage, 
 under circumstances even more unpropitious than those of 
 
 thority Mr. Burk speaks, we are not informed. His whole account of Mr. 
 Henry’s proposal on the next day, to secede, and of his finally giving 
 up two resolutions, for the sake of unanimity, is contradicted again by 
 Mr. Henry, Mr. Jefferson, and Mr. Carrington ; there is no such state- 
 ment in the papers of the day, and the author does not condescend to 
 give us his authority. Mr. Burk’s skeleton of Mr. Henry’s speech, on 
 that occasion, is believed to be equally apocryphal ; the author of these 
 sketches has not been able to procure a single authentic trace of that 
 speech, except the anecdote presently given in the text. Mr. Burk 
 concludes his account of this affair thus : “ Struck with the alarming 
 tendency of these proceedings, the governor suddenly dissolved the 
 assembly,” &c. — Vol. 3d, page 310. In opposition to this statement, 
 we are told by Mr. Henry himself, that when he offered his resolu- 
 tions, the session was near its regular close ; and the journals prove 
 the fact to have been so. Mr. Henry left town for home on the even* 
 ing of the day on which his resolutions were adopted ; ;t was on the 
 next day (consequently in his absence) that the motion to rescind was 
 made; and the printed journals show that day and the day following 
 to have been occupied with the usual business which closes a legisla- 
 tive session 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 83 
 
 Hannibal ; for he had not only to fight, hand to hand, the 
 powerful party who were already in possession of the heights, 
 but at the same instant to cheer and animate the timid band 
 of followers, that were trembling, and fainting, and drawing 
 back below him. It was an occasion that called upon him 
 to put forth all his strength, and he did put it forth, in such 
 a manner as man never did before. | The cords of argument 
 with which his adversaries frequently flattered themselves 
 that they had bound him fast, became packthreads in his 
 hands. He burst them with as much ease as the unshorn 
 Samson did the bands of the Philistines. He seized the 
 pillars of the temple, shook them terribly, and seemed to 
 threaten his opponents with ruin. It was an incessant storm 
 of lightning and thunder, which struck them aghast. The 
 fainthearted gathered courage from his countenance, and 
 cowards became heroes while they gazed upon his exploits 
 It was in the midst of this magnificent debate, while he 
 was descanting on the tyranny of the obnoxious act, that he 
 exclaimed in a voice of thunder, and with the look of a god 1 
 “ Cesar had his Brutus — Charles the First, his Cromwell 
 and George the Third — (‘ Treason !’ cried the speaker — 4 Trea 
 son, treason !’ echoed from every part of the house. fi Tt was 
 one of those trying moments which is decisive of character.^ 
 Henry faltered not for an instant ; but rising to a loftier 
 attitude, and fixing on the speaker an eye of the most deter- 
 mined fire, he finished his sentence with the firmest empha- 
 »is)— may profit by their example. If this be treason, make 
 the most of it ”*3 
 
 * I had frequently heard the above anecdote of the cry of treason, 
 but with such variations of the concluding words, that I began to doubt 
 whether the whole might not be fiction. With a view to ascertain the 
 truth, therefore, I submitted it to Mr. Jefferson as it had been giver 
 
84 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 This was the only expression of defiance which escaped 
 him during the debate. He was, throughout life, one of the 
 most perfectly and uniformly decorous speakers that ever 
 took the floor of the house. He was respectful even to hu- 
 mility ; and the provocation must be gross indeed which 
 would induce him to notice it. Yet, when he did notice it, 
 better were it for the man never to have been born, than to 
 fall into the hands of such an adversary. One lash from his 
 scourge was infamy for life ; his look of anger or contempt 
 was almost death. 
 
 After this debate, there was no longer a question among 
 the body of the people, as to Mr. Henry’s being the first 
 statesman and orator in Virginia. Those, indeed, whose ranks 
 he had scattered, and whom he had thrown into the shade, 
 still tried to brand him with the names of declaim er and dem- 
 agogue. But this was obviously the effect of envy and 
 mortified pride. A mere declaimer and demagogue could 
 never have gained, much less have kept for more than thirty 
 years, that ground which Mr. Henry held ; with a people, too, 
 so cool, judicious, firm, and virtuous, as those who achieved 
 the American revolution. 
 
 From the period of which we have been speaking, Mr. 
 Henry became the idol of the people of Virginia; nor was his 
 name confined to his native state. His light and heat were 
 seen and felt throughout the continent ; and he was every 
 where regarded as the great champion of colonial liberty. 
 
 The impulse thus given by Virginia, was caught by the 
 
 to me by Judge Tyler, and this is his answer : — “ 1 well remember the 
 cry of treason, the pause of Mr. Henry at the name of George III., 
 and the presence of mind with which he closed his sentence, and 
 baffled the charge vociferated.” The incident, therefore, oecomes 
 authentic historv. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 85 
 
 other colonies. Her resolutions were every where adopted 
 with progressive variations. The spirit of resistance became 
 bolder and bolder, until the whole continent was in a flame 
 and by the first of November, when the stamp act was, ac- 
 cording to its provisions, to have taken effect, its execution 
 had become utterly impracticable.* 
 
 * The chronicles of the day exhibit, in a manner very curious and 
 interesting, the progress of these feelings. We have already given a 
 specimen of the drooping spirit of the Pennsylvania Gazette, on the 
 first annunciation of the stamp act ; but after Mr. Henry had touched 
 with his match the train of American courage, its scintillations were 
 seen, sparkling and flashing, on every page of this paper. Thus, in 
 the paper of June 20th, 1775: — {1 We learn from the northward, that 
 the stamp act is to take effect in America on All Saints’ day, tne first 
 of November next. In the year 1755, on the 1st of November hap- 
 pened that dreadful and memorable earthquake which destro* *d 
 city of Lisbon.” 
 
 8 
 
SECTION III 
 
 At the opening of the next session, the speaker an 
 nounced the repeal of the stamp act ; and the house of 
 burgesses, in a paroxysm of feeling, voted a statue to the 
 king, and an obelisk to the British patriots by whose exertions 
 the repeal had been effected. But before these monuments 
 of national gratitude could be executed the effervescence 
 subsided; and on the 9th of December, 1766, the bill which 
 had been prepared for that purpose, was postponed to the first 
 day of the next session ; after which, we hear of it no more. 
 
 At the session of 1766, a question of great interest in 
 those days, and one of real importance to the colony, came 
 on to be discussed in the house of burgesses. Mr. Robin 
 son, who had so long held the joint offices of speaker and 
 treasurer, was now dead. The general fact of his delin- 
 quency as treasurer was understood, although the sum was 
 not yet ascertained ; and that delinquency, whatever it 
 might be, was alleged to have arisen principally from loans 
 made to members of the house of burgesses. As the speaker, 
 although elected in the first instance by the house, could not 
 act until approved by the governor, and, when so approved 
 was in office for seven years, re-eligible indefinitely — and, as 
 in the recent instance of Mr. Robinson, it had been discov- 
 ered, that an office so held was too apt to generate a devotion 
 
 £6 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 87 
 
 to the purposes of the British court — it was considered by 
 the patriots in the house, as a measure of sound policy, to 
 take out of the hands of the speaker so formidable an engine 
 of corruption and power as the treasury of the colony.* A 
 motion was therefore made to separate the olfice of treasurer 
 f/om the speaker’s chair, which was supported by Mr. Henry 
 with his usual ability. An arduous struggle ensued. Inno- 
 vations, however correct in themselves, never fail to startle 
 those who have grown gray in a veneration for the existing 
 order of things. They fancy that they see in every impor- 
 tant change an indirect blow at the established government, 
 and at the foundations o’f their own property. This union 
 of the speaker’s chair with the office of treasurer, was one of 
 those errors in policy which time had consecrated, and it re 
 quired a hand both steady and skilful to remove the veil and 
 expose its deformity. That hand was furnished by Mr. Hen- 
 ry. The union of boldness and decency which composed 
 his character, of decisive energy in the support of his own 
 opinions, and respectful tenderness toward those of others, 
 fitted him peculiarly for the discharge of this duty. The 
 house admired, on this occasion, the facility with which he 
 could adapt himself to any subject. He had that founda- 
 tion of strong natural sense, without which genius is a mis- 
 fortune ; an instinctive accuracy of judgment, which always 
 
 * A correspondent furnishes the following note on this passage: — 
 “ There was but one clear and sound bottom on which the separator 
 of the chair and the treasury was decided. The legislature made all 
 the levies of money payable into the hands of their speaker, over whom 
 they had control. The only hold the governor had on him was, a 
 negative on his appointment as speaker at every new election, which 
 amounted, consequently, to a negative on him as treasurer, and dis- 
 posed him, so far, to be obsequious to the governor.” 
 
88 
 
 Wim b LIFE OF 
 
 proportioned his efforts to the occasion. He was never guilty 
 of the ridiculous and common error amongst young members, 
 of attempting to force the subject beyond its nature — of 
 swelling trifles into consequence, and working the ocean into 
 tempest, 
 
 “To waft a feather, or to drown a fly.” 
 
 It is almost superfluous to add, tnat such a cause, in the 
 hands of such an advocate, did not fail of success. The mo- 
 tion for separating the two offices being carried, a committee 
 was appointed to examine the accounts of the late treasurer, 
 and their report disclosed an enormous deficit , exceeding a 
 hundred thousand pounds. 
 
 On the separation of the offices of speaker and treasurer, 
 Peyton Randolph, the attorney-general, was elected to the 
 chair; and Robert C. Nicholas, an eminent lawyer and a 
 most virtuous man, to the office of treasurer. 
 
 After having tried his strength for several years on the 
 legislative floor, against some of the brightest champions of 
 the bar, Mr. Henry came, in the year 1769, to the bar itself 
 of the general court. “ The profits of his practice, thereto- 
 fore, (says my 'inform ant,) must have been very moderate. 
 For about this time, he informed me that he thought his prop- 
 erty was not worth more than fifteen hundred pounds ; ad 
 ding, that if he could only make it double that sum, he should 
 be entirely content.”* 
 
 At this bar, he entered into competition with all the first 
 legal characters in the colony, some of whom had teen edu 
 cated at the Temple. Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Wythe mve 
 been already mentioned : but, in addition to these, he had to 
 
 * Judge Winston. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 89 
 
 encounter Mr. John Randolph, Mr. Thompson Mason, Mr. 
 Robert C. Nicholas, Mr. Mercer, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Jefferson . 
 all of them masters of the learning of their profession, and ali 
 of them men of pre-eminent abilities. 
 
 It cannot be expected from Mr. Henry’s legal preparation, 
 that he was able to contend with these gentlemen on a mere 
 question of law. He wanted that learning whose place no 
 splendour of genius can supply to the lawyer ; and he wanted 
 ihose habits of steady and persevering application, without 
 which that learning is not to be acquired. It is said, indeed, 
 that he was wofully deficient as a lawyer ; so little acquaint- 
 ed with the fundamental principles of his profession, and so 
 little skilled in that system of artificial reasoning on which 
 he common law is built, as not to be able to see the remote 
 oearings of the reported cases ; and hence, it has been said, 
 that it happened with him not unfrequently, whenever he 
 did attempt to argue a question of law, to furnish authorities 
 destructive to his own cause. Yet he never did and never 
 could vanquish his aversion to the systematic study of the 
 law. On questions turning on the laws of nations, and even 
 on the maritime law, whose basis is natural reason and jus- 
 tice, his vigour of mind made him occasionally very great 
 One of my correspondents, for example, relates to me an in- 
 stance of his appearing in the court of admiralty, under the 
 regal government, in behalf of a Spanish captain, whose 
 vessel and cargo had been libelJed. A gentleman who was 
 present, and who was very well qualified to judge, was heard 
 io declare, after the trial was over, that he never heard a 
 more eloquent or argumentative speech in his life ; that Mr 
 Henry was on that occasion greatly superior to Mr. Pendle- 
 ton, Mr. Mason, or any other counsel who spoke to the sub- 
 let ; and that he was astonished how Mr. Henry could have 
 M 
 
WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 90 
 
 acquired such a knowledge of the maritime law, to which, it 
 was believed, he had never before turned his attention. 
 
 Bui this special preparation on a given subject, and that 
 subject, too, depending on the liberal and equitable principles 
 ol the maritime law, is not at all at variance with the report 
 of his inefficiency, on questions to be decided by the com- 
 mon law merely. The power of arguing questions of the 
 latter description to advantage, requires the mind, in the 
 first place, to be deeply imbued with that peculiar spirit of 
 reasoning which reigns throughout the whole system of the 
 common law ; and, in the next, it requires a cool and clear 
 accuracy of thinking, and an elaborate exactness and nicety 
 in the deduction of thought, to which Mr. Henry’s early and 
 inveterate habits of indolence, as well as the sublime and ex- 
 cursive fervour of his genius, were altogether hostile. 
 
 It was on questions before a jury, that he was in his nat- 
 ural element. There, his intimate knowledge of human 
 nature, and the rapidity as well as justness of his inferences, 
 from the flitting expressions of the countenance, as to what 
 was passing in the hearts of his hearers, availed him full}'' 
 The jury might be composed of entire strangers, yet he 
 rarely failed to know them, man by man, before the evidence 
 was closed. There was no studied fixture of features that 
 could long hide the character from his piercing and experi- 
 enced view. The slightest unguarded turn of countenance, 
 or motion of the eye, let him at once into the soul of the man 
 whom he was observing. Or, if he doubted whether his con- 
 clusions were correct, from the exhibitions of countenance 
 during the narration of the evidence, he had a mode of play- 
 ing a prelude, as it were, upon the jury, in his exordium, 
 which never failed to “wake into life each silent string,” and 
 show him the whole compass as well as pitch of the instru 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 91 
 
 merit , and, indeed, (if we may believe all the concurrent 
 accounts of his exhibitions in the general court,) the most ex- 
 quisite performer that ever “ swept the sounding lyre” had 
 not a more sovereign mastery over its powers, than Mr. Henry 
 had over the springs of feeling and thought that belong to a 
 jury. There was a delicacy, a taste, a felicity in his touch, thac 
 was perfectly original, and without a rival. His style of ad- 
 dress, on these occasions, is said to have resembled very much 
 that of the scriptures. It was strongly marked with the same 
 simplicity, the. same energy, the same pathos. He sounded no 
 alarm ; he made no parade, to put the jury on their guard. It 
 was all so natural, so humble, so unassuming, that they were 
 carried imperceptibly along, and attuned to his purpose, until 
 some master-touch dissolved them into tears. His language 
 of passion was perfect. There was no word “ of learned 
 length or thundering sound,” to break the charm. It had 
 almost all the stillness of solitary thinking. It was a sweet 
 re very, a delicious trance. His voice, too, had a wonderful 
 effect. He had a singular power of infusing it into a jury, 
 and mixing its notes with their nerves, in a manner which 
 it is impossible to describe justly ; but which produced a thril- 
 ling excitement, in the happiest concordance with his designs. 
 No man knew so well as he did what kind of topics to urge 
 to their understandings ; nor what kind of simple imagery tc 
 present to their hearts. His eye, which he kept riveted upon 
 them, assisted the process of fascination, and at the same 
 time informed him what theme to press, or at what instant 
 to retreat, if by rare accident he touched an unpropitious 
 string. And then he had such an exuberance of appropriate 
 thoughts of apt illustrations, of apposite images, and such a 
 melodious and varied roll of the happiest words, that the 
 hearer was never wearied by repetition, and never winced 
 
WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 92 
 
 from an apprehension that the intellectual treasuies of the 
 speaker would be exhausted * 
 
 The defence of criminal causes was his great professional 
 forte. It seems that the eighth day of the general court was 
 formerly set apart for criminal business. Mr. Henry made 
 little or no figure during the civil days of the court ; but on 
 the eighth day he was the monarch of the bar. These causes 
 brought him into direct collision with Mr. John Randolph, 
 who had now succeeded Peyton as the attorney-general. 
 
 Mr. Randolph, it has been remarked, was, in person and 
 manners, among the most elegant gentlemen in the colony, 
 and in his profession one of the most splendid ornaments of 
 
 * A striking example of this witchery of his eloquence, even on com- 
 mon subjects, was related by a very respectable gentleman, the late 
 Major Joseph Scott, the marshal of this state. This gentleman had 
 been summoned, at great inconvenience to his private affairs, to attend 
 as a witness a distant court, in which Mr. Henry practised. The cause 
 which had carried him thither having been disposed of, he was setting 
 out in great haste to return, when the sheriff summoned him to serve 
 on a jury. This cause was represented as a complicated and impor 
 tant one ; so important as to have enlisted in it all the most eminen 
 members of the bar. He was therefore alarmed at the prospect of a 
 long detention, and made an unavailing effort with the court to get 
 himself dis arged from the jury. He was compelled to take his seat. 
 When his patience had been nearly exhausted by the previous speak- 
 ers, Mr. Henry rose to conclude the cause, and having much matter 
 to answer, the major stated that he considered himself a prisoner for 
 the evening, if not for the night. But, to his surprise, Mr. Henry 
 appeared to have consumed not more than fifteen minutes in the rep*y : 
 and he would scarcely believe his own watch, or those of the other 
 jurymen, when they informed him that he had in reality been speak- 
 ing upward of two hours. So powerful was the charm by which he 
 could bind the senses of his hearers, and make even the most impa 
 iea‘ unconscious of the lapse of time 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 93 
 
 the bar. He was a polite scholar, as well as a profound law- 
 yer, and his eloquence also was of a high order. His voice > 
 action, style, were stately, and uncommonly impressive ; but 
 gigantic as he was in relation to other men, he was but a 
 pigmy, when opposed in a criminal trial to the arch magician, 
 Henry. In those cases Mr. Henry was perfectly irresistible. 
 He adapted himself, without effort, to the character of the 
 cause ; seized, with the quickness of intuition, its defensible 
 point, and never permitted the jury to lose sight of it. Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds has said of Titian, that, by a few strokes 
 of his pencil, he knew r how to mark the image and character 
 of whatever object he attempted ; and produced by this means 
 a truer representation than any of his predecessors, who fin - 
 ished every hair. In like manner, Mr. Henry, by a few 
 master-strokes upon the evidence, could in general stamp 
 upon the cause whatever image or character he pleased ; and 
 convert it into tragedy or comedy, at his sovereign will, and 
 ■with a power which no efforts of his adversary could counter- 
 act. He never wearied the jury by a dry and minute analysis 
 of the evidence ; he did not expend his strength in finishing 
 the hairs ; he produced all his high effect by those rare 
 master-touches, and by the resistless skill with which, in a 
 very few words, he could mould and colour the prominent 
 facts of a cause to his purpose. He had wonderful address, 
 too., in leading off the minds of his hearers from the contem 
 plation of unfavourable points, if at any time they were to<\ 
 stubborn to yield to his power of transformation. He beguiled 
 the hearer so far from them, as to diminish them by distance, 
 and soften, if not entirely cast into shade, their too strong 
 natural colours. At this distance, too, he had a better op 
 portunity of throwing upon them a false light, by an appa- 
 rently casual rav of refraction from other points in the eri 
 
 ? 
 
94 
 
 Wirt’s life of 
 
 dence, whose powers no man better knew howto array and 
 concentrate, in order to disguise or eclipse an obnoxious fact. 
 It required a mind of uncommon vigilance, and most intract- 
 able temper, to resist this charm with which he decoyed 
 away his hearers ; it demanded a rapidity of penetiation 
 which is rarely, if ever, to be found in the jury-box, to detect 
 the intellectual juggle by which he spread his nets around 
 them ; it called for a stubbornness and obduracy of soul 
 which does not exist, to sit unmoved under the pictures of 
 norror or of pity which started from his canvass. They 
 might resolve, if they pleased, to decide the cause against him, 
 and to disregard every thing which he could urge in the de- 
 fence of his client. But it was all in vain. Some feint, in 
 an unexpected direction, threw them off their guard, and they 
 were gone; some happy phrase, burning from the soul, 
 some image fresh from Nature’s mint, and bearing her own 
 beautiful and genuine impress, struck them with delightful 
 surprise, and melted them into conciliation; and conciliation 
 toward Mr. Henry, was victory inevitable. In short, he un- 
 derstood the human character so perfectly; knew so well all 
 its strength and all its weaknesses, together with every path 
 and by-way which winds around to the citadel of the best 
 fortified heart and mind, that he never failed to take them, 
 either by stratagem or storm. Hence he was, beyond doubt, 
 the ablest defender of criminals in Virginia, and will probably 
 never be equalled again. 
 
 It has been observed, that Mr. Henry’s knowledge of the 
 common law was extremely defective ; but his attendance 
 upon the general court was calculated to cure that defect, in 
 a considerable degree. All legal questions of magnitude or 
 difficulty came before that tribunal, either originally or cy 
 appeal ; and he had continual opportunities of l earing them 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 9ft 
 
 d.scussed in the ablest manner, by the brightest luminaries o. 
 the American bar. His was a mind on which nothing was 
 lost ; on which no useful seed could be cast without shooting 
 into all the luxuriance of which its nature was susceptible 
 Thus improving every hint, and ramifying every principle 
 which was brought into his view, there is reason to believe 
 that a few years must have made him not only a master of 
 the general canons of property, but of the modifications and 
 exceptions of more frequent occurrence, by which those ca- 
 nons are restrained and governed. In support of this con- 
 clusion, I find that in January 1773, Robert C. Nicholas, 
 who had enjoyed the first practice at the bar, and who, by 
 virtue of his office of treasurer, was forced to relinquish that 
 practice, committed, by a public advertisement, his unfinish- 
 ed business to Mr. Henry ; a step which a man so remark- 
 ably scrupulous in the discharge of every moral duty would 
 not have taken, had there been any incompetency on the part 
 of his substitute. 
 
 The British ministry, however, did not permit Mr. Henry 
 to waste himself in forensic exertions. The joy of the Amer- 
 icans, on the repeal of the stamp act, was very short-lived. 
 That measure had not been, on the part of the British par- 
 liament, a voluntary sacrifice to truth and right. The min- 
 istry and their friends disavowed this ground ; and were 
 forward on every occasion, to convince the colonies that they 
 had nothing to expect, either from the clemency or the mag 
 nanimitv of the British cabinet. Thus on a question of sup- 
 plies for the army, in the session of parliament of 1766-7, a 
 motion was made in the house of commons, that the reve 
 nues arising and to arise in America, be applied to subsist 
 ing the troops now there, and those other regiments which ii 
 is proposed to send; in support of which, that brilliant po 
 
96 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 litical meteor, Charles Townsend, urged, among other things 
 ‘ the propriety of more troops being sent to America 
 and of their being quartered in the large towns . He 
 said, that he had a plan preparing, which he would lay be- 
 fore the house, for the raising of supplies in America . 
 That the legislative authority of Great Britain extended to 
 every colony in every particular . That the distinction 
 
 between internal and external taxes was nonsense ; and that 
 he voted for the repeal of the stamp act, not because it was 
 not a good act, but because, at that time, there appeared a 
 propriety in repealing it. He added, that he repeated the 
 sentence , that the galleries might hear him , and after that , 
 he did not expect to have his statue erected in America : in 
 all which, Mr. Grenville joined him fully ? 
 
 This temper soon manifested itself in open acts, and turned 
 the late joy of the colonies into mourning. 
 
 The first obnoxious measure was a stern demand of satis- 
 faction from the legislatures of the colonies, for the injuries 
 which had been done to the stamp officers and their ad- 
 herents.. The legislature of Massachusetts, of whom this 
 demand was first made, very respectfully, and with good 
 reason, questioned the propriety and justice of taxing the 
 whole colony for the excesses of a few individuals, which 
 they had neither prompted nor approved ; for the sake of 
 peace, however, and in the spirit of accommodation, that satis- 
 faction was given ; but they annexed to their vote of satisfac- 
 tion a grant of pardon to the rioters ; and, in England, ac- 
 cording to the usual courtesy of that country, nothing was 
 said of the satisfaction, while the pardon was treated as a most 
 insolent and impudent usurpation of the royal authority. 
 
 The next step was that suggested by Mr. Townsend, of 
 quartering large bodies of troops upon the chief towns in the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 97 
 
 colonies, ana demanding of the several colonial legislatures 
 i provision for their comfortable support and accommodation, 
 A measure more replete with exasperation could scarcely 
 have been devised. The very presence of those myrmidons 
 was an insult ; for it was a direct reflection on the fidelity of 
 the colonists. Their object was perfectly understood : it was 
 to curb the just and honourable spirit of the people ; to dragoon 
 them into submission to the parliamentary claim of taxation, 
 and reduce them to the condition of vassals, governed by 
 the right of conquest. The rudeness of the soldiery, too 
 was well calculated to keep up and increase the irritation, 
 which their presence alone would have been sufficient to ex- 
 cite. In Boston, they were in the habit of stopping the most 
 respectable citizens in the streets, and compelling them to 
 answer insulting inquiries, or committing them to confine- 
 ment on their refusal, assigning, as the ground of their con- 
 duct, that the town was a garrisoned town. In New York, 
 they provoked a contest with the people, by making war upon 
 a liberty pole, which was the first object of their earthly de- 
 votions, and which the soldiers continually destroyed or at- 
 tempted to destroy, as soon as it could be replaced. And, as 
 if all this insult and humiliation were not enough, the colo- 
 nies were to be constrained to tax themselves, to foster and 
 cherish those instruments of their degradation. 
 
 The legislature of New York, in atone at least sufficiently 
 submissive for the occasion, and on the false ground of the 
 inability of the colony, begged to be excused from making 
 the provision. For this high offence, the legislative power 
 of that colony was abolished by act of parliament, until they 
 should submit to make the provision which was required : 
 and they did submit. 
 
 N 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 WIRT’ S LIFE OF 
 
 A body of British troops, alleged to have been driven by 
 stress of weather into Boston, in the recess of the colonial 
 legislature, had been provided for out of the public moneys, 
 by the governor and his council. The legislature met shortly 
 afterward, and remonstrated against this unconstitutional ap- 
 propriation, with that Roman firmness and dignity which 
 marked the character of Massachusetts in every stage of the 
 contest. But Governor Bernard, highly indignant at whai he 
 affected to consider as presumption, made such a communica- 
 tion upon the subject to the British court, as could have had, 
 and could have been designed to have, no other effect than to 
 widen the breach, and inflame more highly those animosities 
 which already required no new aggravation. 
 
 These military preparations were well understood to be the 
 harbingers of some unconstitutional act, the execution of 
 which they were necessary to enforce. Why those prep 
 arations were restricted to the northern states, and more 
 particularly to Massachusetts, has never been satisfactorily 
 explained. There was no colony which resisted with more 
 firmness and constancy the pretensions of the British parlia- 
 ment than that of Virginia ; yet no military force was thought 
 necessary, during the lives of the governors Fauquier and 
 Bottetourt, to keep down the spirit of rebellion in this colony. 
 A solution of the difficulty may perhaps be found in the 
 character of the different governors. Virginia had the good 
 fortune, during this period, to be governed by enlightened 
 and amiable men, who saw and did justice to the motives 
 and measure of resistance which was meditated ; who were 
 both able and willing to distinguish between reason and 
 force, oetween remonstrance and rebellion ; who perceived 
 with pleasure, the spirit of genuine ana unaffected loyalty 
 and affection for the parent-country, which mingled itself 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 99 
 
 with every complaint ; and who, in their communications to 
 the British court, were disposed rather “ to extenuate,” than 
 “ to set down aught in malice.” Whereas Bernard, the gov- 
 ernor of Massachusetts, was the fit instrument and apt repre- 
 sentative of the masters whom he served : for he had all their 
 pride and unfeeling insolence, and seems to have enjoyed a 
 kind of fiend-like pleasure, in rendering his province hateful 
 at home, by the most virulent misrepresentations ; and in 
 drawing down upon her the accumulated curses and oppres- 
 sions of the parent-country.* 
 
 These preparatory steps having been taken, an act of par- 
 liament was passed, imposing certain duties on glass, white 
 and red lead, painters’ colours, tea, and paper, imported into 
 the colonies. This act was to take effect on the 20th of 
 November, 1767; and, to insure its operation, another act 
 authorized the king to appoint a board of trade to reside in 
 the colonies, and to instruct them at his pleasure and without 
 limit, as to the mode of executing their duties under this 
 law, A commission accordingly issued, by which the com- 
 missioners were armed with a power of search and seizure, 
 at their discretion ; with authority to call for aid upon the 
 naval and military establishments within the colony; and 
 with an exemption from prosecution or responsibility be 
 
 * Extract of a letter, dated London, June 5, 1770 : — “ The people of 
 England now curse Governor Bernard, as bitterly as those of America. 
 Bernard was drove out of the Smyrna coffee-house, not many days 
 since, by General Oglethorpe, who told him he was a dirty, factious 
 scoundrel, and smelled cursed strong of the hangman; that he had 
 better leave the room, as unworthy to mix with gentlemen of charac- 
 ter, but that he would give him the satisfaction of following him to 
 the door, had he any thing to reply. The governor left the house 
 like a guilty coward .”— Pennsylvania Gazette, August 30th, 1770 
 
100 
 
 YV I R T ’ S LIFE OP 
 
 f ore any of the king's courts, for ichat soever they might do, 
 by any construction of their commission . 
 
 Another measure which gave great offence to the colonies, 
 was the establishment of a board of admiralty, with exten 
 sive powers, supported by large salaries independent of the 
 colonies, yet drawn from the revenues compulsorily levied 
 upon them ; and the appointment, also, of common law 
 judges, to be paid by the 'crown out of the revenues of the 
 colony, and to hold their offices during the king’s pleasure. 
 
 To all these outrages the legislatures of the colonies an- 
 swered by petitions, memorials, remonstrances, and letters, 
 addressed to the friends of colonial liberty in England ; blend- 
 ing, with the strongest professions of loyalty, the expression 
 of their hope, that those obnoxious measures would be recon 
 sidered and reversed, and the colonies protected in their an 
 rient and unalienable rights. In reply, they received from 
 the kindest of their English friends, only exhortations to pa- 
 tience under their sufferings ; by the court-party, menaces 
 and anathemas were brandished over their heads ; and the 
 commissioners of the revenue, together with their auxiliaries, 
 the naval and military officers and soldiery, continued to out 
 rage and insult them, both in their persons and property. 
 
 The people of Massachusetts, with the view of frustrating 
 the new revenue bill, entered into an association, by which 
 they bound themselves not to import from Great Britain, or 
 use any of the articles taxed ; and included in the resolution 
 every article of British manufacture which was not of the 
 first and most indispensable necessity. The legislature of that 
 state also resolved on a circular-letter to their sister-colonies, 
 inviting their concurrence and co-operation toward procuring 
 relief, in a constitutional way, from the grievances under 
 which they were all suffering. This measure having beer 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 IC1 
 
 reported by Governor Bernard, with his usual embellishments, 
 to the Earl of Hilsborough, the British minister for the Amer- 
 ican department, that minister required the governor to de- 
 mand of the legislature an immediate rescission of their reso- 
 lution, on pain of being forthwith dissolved. They refused 
 to rescind, and were dissolved accordingly. The same min- 
 ister also addressed a circular-letter to the governors of the 
 other colonies, exhorting them to crush this correspondence 
 and concert amongst the colonial legislatures in the bud, by 
 exacting from them an assurance that they would not answer 
 the circular of Massachusetts. They refused to give such 
 assurance, and were in their turn dissolved. 
 
 These violent measures, however, produced an effect very 
 different from that which was expected to flow from them 
 The dissolution of their legislatures swelled the catalogue of 
 their wrongs, and ministered additional fuel to the resent- 
 ments of the people. The non-importation agreement be- 
 came general ; and, by means of committees established in 
 the several colonies, its execution was guarded with a vigilance 
 wfiich could, not be eluded. A breach of it was infamy, in- 
 evitable and unpardonable. Its observance was a badge of 
 honour, by which the patriot-colonist was proud to be dis- 
 tinguished. The privation was, indeed, in many respects 
 severe, but the sufferers were upheld by that kind of holy 
 fortitude which enabled the Christian martyrs to smile 
 amidst the flames, and to triumph, even in the agonies of 
 death. Every grade of society, all ages, and both sexes, 
 kindled in this sacred competition of patriotism. The ladies 
 of the colonies, in the dawn, and throughout the whole pro- 
 gress of the revolution, shone with pre-eminent lustre in this 
 war of fortitude and self-denial. They renounced, without 
 a sigh, the use of the luxuries an$ even of the comforts to 
 
 9 * 
 
(02 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 wliich they had been accustomed ; and felt a nobler pride in 
 appearing dressed in the simple productions of their own 
 looms, than they had ever experienced from glittering in the 
 brightest ornaments of the east. 
 
 The British court looked upon this trial of virtuous forti- 
 tude with surly and inexorable rigour. They seemed deter- 
 mined to carry the point, at every hazard. The sufferings 
 of their own merchants and manufacturers were forgotten, 
 in the barbarous pleasure with which they contemplated the 
 sufferings of the colonists. It is not in human nature to con 
 tiime long to return good for evil, affection for cruelty. The 
 admiration and devotion of the colonies for the parent-coun- 
 try became gradually weaker. This transition of feeling is 
 most interestingly marked in the chronicles of the day. The 
 epithets, “ our kind and indulgent mother,” with which she 
 was wont to be greeted, were progressively changed into 
 “ unnatural parent — cruel stepmother — proud, merciless op- 
 pressor — haughty, unfeeling, and unrelenting tyrant.” This 
 state of feeling was aggravated by the collisions which were 
 perpetually occurring between the king’s soldiery and the 
 people of the towns in which they were quartered. The 
 streets of New-York and of Boston were the theatres of con- 
 tinual riots, ending almost invariably in blood, and not unfre- 
 quently in death. The newspapers of the day teem with 
 the detail of scenes of this sort ; and from the effect which 
 they produce on the reader at this distance of time, it is not 
 very difficult to conceive what must have been their opera- 
 tion on the people of that day, already goaded to madness 
 by previous injuries. 
 
 It is not my purpose to record the series of measures which 
 led to the dismemberment of the British empire. This is the 
 function of the historian % My business is only with Mr 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 103 
 
 Henry ; and, for my purpose, nothing more is necessary tnan 
 to recall the general character of the contest, for ihe purpose 
 of showing the part which he bore in it. The revolution 
 may be truly said to have commenced with his resolutions 
 in 1765. From that period not an hour of settled peace had 
 existed between the two countries. It is true, that the erup- 
 tion produced by the stamp act had subsided with its repeal , 
 and the people had resumed their ancient settlements and 
 occupations ; but there was no peace of the heart or of the 
 mind. The rumbling of the volcano was still audible, and 
 the smoke of the crater continually ascended, mingled not 
 unfrequently with those flames and masses of ignited matter 
 which announced a new and more terrible explosion. 
 
 These were “ the times that tried the souls of men and 
 never, in any country or in any age, did there exist a race 
 of men whose souls were better fitted to endure the trial 
 Patient in suffering, firm in adversity, calm and collected 
 amid the dangers which pressed around them, cool in council, 
 and brave in battle, they were worthy of the cause, and the 
 cause was worthy of them. 
 
 The house of burgesses of Virginia, which had led the 
 opposition to the stamp act, kept their high ground during 
 the whole of the ensuing contest. Mr. Henry, having remov- 
 ed again from Louisa to his native county, in the year 1767 
 or 1768, continued a member of the public councils till the 
 close of the revolution ; and there could be no want of bold 
 ness in any body, of which he was a member. The session 
 of 1768-9 was marked by a set of resolutions so strong as to 
 have excited even the amiable and popular Bottetourt to dis- 
 pleasure. By those resolutions they reasserted, in the most 
 emphatic terms, the exclusive right of the colony to tax them 
 selves m all cases whatever ; complained of the recent act* 
 
i 04 
 
 wirt's life of 
 
 of parliament, as so many violations of the Biitish consti 
 tution ; and remonstrated, vigorously, against the right of 
 transporting the freeborn subjects of these colonies to Eng- 
 land, to take their trial before prejudiced tribunals, for of- 
 fences alleged to be committed in the colonies. The tradition 
 with regard to these resolutions is, that they were agreed to 
 in a committee of the whole on one day, but not reported to 
 the house, with the view of preventing their appearance on 
 the journal of the next day, before they could be completely 
 passed through the forms of the house ; apprehending, from 
 the fate of the Massachusetts legislature, that a knowledge of 
 these resolutions, on the part of the governor, would produce 
 an immediate dissolution of the house. When the house 
 rose for the evening, however, the fact of their having pass- 
 ed such resolutions was whispered to the governor; and he 
 endeavoured in vain to procure a copy of ~them from the 
 clerk.* On the next day, the house, foreseeing the event, 
 met on the instant of the ringing of the bell, and with closed 
 doors received the report of their resolutions, considered, 
 adopted, and ordered them to be entered upon their journals ; 
 which they had scarcely done when they were summoned 
 to attend the governor, and were dissolved. “ Mr. Speaker,’ 
 said he, “ and gentlemen of the house of representatives, 1 
 have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects ; 
 you have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are ac- 
 cordingly dissolved.” 
 
 But the dissolution of the house of burgesses did not 
 change the materials of which it had been composed. The 
 same members were re-elected without a single exception, 
 and the same determined spirit of resistance continued to dif- 
 
 * Mr. Wythe 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 105 
 
 fuse itself from the legislature over the colony which they 
 represented, and to animate by sympathy the neighbouring 
 colonies. This house had the merit of originating that pow 
 erful engine of resistance, corresponding committees between 
 the legislatures of the different colonies.* The measure was 
 brought forward by Mr. Dabney Carr, a new member from 
 the county of Louisa, in a committee of the whole house, on 
 the 12th of March, 1773; and the resolutions, as adopted, 
 now stood upon the journals of the day, in the following 
 terms : — 
 
 “Whereas, the minds of his majesty’s faithful subjects in 
 this colony have been much disturbed by various rumours 
 and reports of proceedings, tending to deprive them of their 
 ancient, legal, and constitutional rights ; 
 
 “ And whereas, the affairs of this colony are frequently con 
 nected with those of Great Britain, as well as the neighbour-* 
 ing colonies, which renders a communication of sentiments 
 necessary : in order, therefore, to remove the uneasiness, and 
 to quiet the minds of the people, as well as for the other good 
 purposes above mentioned : — 
 
 ‘ Be it resolved , That a standing committee of correspond- 
 ence and inquiry be appointed, to consist of eleven persons, 
 to wit : the Honourable Peyton Randolph, esquire, Robert C 
 Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard H. Lee, Benjamin Harri 
 son, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, 
 
 * The state of Massachusetts is entitled to equal honour : the mea- 
 sures were so nearly coeval in the two states, as to render it impossi- 
 ble that either could have borrowed it from the other. The messen- 
 gers, who bore the propositions from the two states, are said to have 
 crossed each other on the way. This is Mr. Jefferson’s acco, * of 
 it ; and Mrs. Warren, in her very interesting history of the revolution 
 admits, that the measure was original on the part of Virginia. See 
 tb^ note tc page 110 of her first volume. 
 
1 06 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson, 
 esquires, any six of whom to be a committee, whose busi- 
 ness it shall be to obtain the most early and authentic in- 
 telligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British par- 
 liament, or proceedings of administration, as may relate to, 
 or affect the British colonies in America ; and to keep up 
 and maintain a correspondence and communication w T ith out 
 sister-colonies, respecting those important considerations ; 
 and the result of such of their proceedings, from time to 
 time, to lay before this house. 
 
 “ Resolved, That it be an instruction to the said commit- 
 tee, that they do, without delay, inform themselves particu- 
 larly of the principles and authority on which was constitu- 
 ted a court of inquiry, said to have been lately held in Rhode 
 Island, with powers to transport persons accused of offences 
 'committed in America, to places beyond the seas, to be tried. 
 
 “ The said resolutions being severally read a second time, 
 were, upon the question severally put thereupon, agreed to 
 by the house, nemine contradicente. 
 
 “ Resolved, That the speaker of this house do transmit to 
 the speakers of the different assemblies of the British colonies 
 on ti e continent, copies of the said resolutions, and desire 
 that they will lay them before their respective assemblies, 
 and request them to appoint some person or persons of their 
 respective bodies, to communicate from time to time with 
 the said committee. ,, 
 
 In supporting these resolutions, Mr. Carr made his debut , 
 and a noble one it is said to have been. This gentleman 
 by profession a lawyer, had recently commenced his practice 
 at the same bars with Patrick Henry ; and although he had 
 not yet reached the meridian of life, he was considered by 
 far the most formidable rival in forensic eloquence that Mi 
 
PATRICK H E IN R Y . 
 
 107 
 
 Henry had ever yet had to encounter. He had the ad\an 
 tage of a person at once dignified and engaging, and the man 
 ner and action of an accomplished gentleman. His education 
 was a finished one ; his mind trained to correct thinking ; 
 his conceptions quick, and clear, and strong ; he reasoned 
 with great cogency, and had an imagination which enlight 
 ened beautifully, without interrupting or diverting the course 
 of his argument. His voice was finely toned ; his feelings 
 acute ; his style free, and rich, and various ; his devotion to 
 the cause of liberty verging on enthusiasm ; and his spirit 
 firm and undaunted, beyond the possibility of being shaken. 
 With what delight the house of burgesses hailed this new 
 champion, and felicitated themselves on such an accession to 
 their cause, it is easy to imagine. But what are the hopes 
 and expectations of mortals ! 
 
 “ Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra 
 “ Esse sinent — ” 
 
 In two months from the time at which this gentleman stood 
 before the house of burgesses, in all the pride of health, and 
 genius, and eloquence — he was no more : lost to his friends, 
 and to his country, and disappointed of sharing in that noble 
 triumph which awaited the illustrious band of his compa- 
 triots.* 
 
 Mr. Carr’s resolutions were supported successively by Mr. 
 Henry, and Mr. Richard Henry Lee, with their usual ability. 
 The reader will no doubt be gratified by a short sketch of 
 this assembly, as it presented itself to a gentleman who now 
 saw it for the first time, and who looked upon it with an 
 
 * I cannot withhold from the reader the following note of this trans- 
 action and of the character of Mr. Carr, from one who knew him web 
 
108 
 
 W I R T ? S LIFE OF 
 
 eye of taste and genius ; the writer who was ,hen in tno 
 anlour of youth, and a stranger in the colony, has since been 
 distinguished by holding and adorning some of the highest 
 offices of the state. 
 
 “ When I first saw Mr. Henry, which was in March, 1773 
 he wore a peach-blossom-coloured coat and a dark wig, which 
 tied behind, and I believe, a bag to it, as was the fashion of the 
 day. When pointed out to me as the orator of the assembly, 
 
 and heard this his first and last speech in the house of representatives ; 
 “ I well remember the pleasure expressed in the countenance and con- 
 versation of the members generally, on this debut of Mr. Carr, and 
 the hopes they conceived, as well from the talents as the patriotism it 
 manifested. But he died within two months after, and in him we lost 
 a powerful fellow-labourer. His character was of a high order : a 
 spotless integrity, sound judgment, handsome imagination, enriched 
 by education and reading, quick and clear in his conceptions, of correct 
 and ready elocution, impressing every hearer with the sincerity of the 
 heart from which it flowed. His firmness was inflexible in whatever 
 he thought right : but when no moral principle was in the way, never 
 had man more of the milk of human kindness, of indulgence, of soft- 
 ness, of pleasantry in conversation and conduct. % The number of his 
 friends, and the warmth of their affection, were proofs of his worth and 
 of their estimate of it. To give to those now living an idea of the 
 affliction produced by his death, in the minds of all those who knew 
 him, I liken it to that lately felt by themselves on the death of his 
 eldest son, Peter Carr ; so like him in all his endowments and moral 
 qualities, and whose recollection can never recur without a deep- 
 drawn sigh from the bosom of every one who knew him.” 
 
 Extract from the Virginia Gazette, of May 29, 1773. 
 
 u On Sunday, the 16th of May, died, at Charlotteville, in the 30th 
 year of his age, Dabney Carr, esquire, attorney at law, and member 
 of assembly for the county of Louisa. This excellent person possessed 
 a fine genius, and a benevolent heart, with a taste for all that was po- 
 lite, elegant, or social; and when occasion offered, displayed amascu 
 line eloquence, and an undaunted love of liberty.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 109 
 
 1 looked at him with no great prepossession. On the opposite 
 side of the house sat the graceful Pendleton, and the harmo 
 nious Richard Henry Lee, whose aquiline nose, and Roman 
 profile struck me much more forcibly than that of Mr. Henry, 
 his rival in eloquence. The distance from the gallery to the 
 chair, near which these distinguished members sat, did not 
 permit me m have such a view of their features and counte- 
 nances, as to leave a strong impression, except of Mr. Lee’s, 
 whose profile was too remarkable not to have been noticed at 
 an even greater distance. I was then between nineteen and 
 twenty, had never heard a speech in public, except from the 
 pulpit — had attached to the idea I had formed of an orator, 
 all the advantages of person which Mr. Pendleton possessed, 
 and even more — all the advantages of voice which delighted 
 me so much in the speeches of Mr. Lee — the fme polish of 
 language, which that gentleman united with that harmonious 
 voice, so as to make me sometimes fancy that I was listening 
 to some being inspired with more than mortal powers of 
 embellishment, and all the advantages of gesture which 
 the celebrated Demosthenes considered as the first, second, 
 and third qualifications of an orator. I discovered neither of 
 these qualifications in the appearance of Mr. Henry, or in the 
 few remarks I heard him deliver during the session. It was at 
 this time that Mr. Dabney Carr made a motion for appointing 
 a standing committee of correspondence with the other colo- 
 nies. I was not present when Mr. Henry spoke on this 
 question; but was told by some of my fellow-coilegians, that 
 he far exceeded Mr. Lee, whose speech succeeded the next 
 day. Never before had I heard what I thought oratory ; and 
 if his speech was excelled by Mr. Henry’s, the lattermust have 
 been excellent indeed. This was the only subject that I re 
 collect, '' r hich called forth the talents of the members during 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 that session, and there was too much unanimity to have 
 elicited all the strength of any one of them.” 
 
 My correspondent had an opportunity of seeing Mr. Henry 
 not long afterward, when speaking on a subject of the high 
 est moment to the liberties*of his country, and of witnessing 
 that almost supernatural transformation of appearance, which 
 has been already noticed as being invariably wrought by the 
 excitement of his genius. We shall have his own account 
 of it by and by ; and shall see that he no longer formed an 
 exception to the voice of his country, in assigning the palm 
 of popular eloquence to this most rare and extraordinary 
 favourite of nature. 
 
 It is not improbable, as it has been suggested, that the 
 strongly-marked distinction of ranks which prevailed in this 
 country, and the resentment, if not envy, with which the 
 poorer classes looked up to the splendour and ostentation of 
 the landed aristocracy, had a considerable agency in infla- 
 ming Mr. Henry’s hostility to the British court. He probably 
 regarded the untitled nobles of Virginia as a sort of spurious 
 emanation from the royal stock; connected them in his 
 resentments, and transferred from the effect to the cause, the 
 larger stream of his indignation. He had a rooted aversion 
 and even abhorrence to every thing in the shape of pride, 
 cruelty, and tyranny ; and could not tolerate that social in- 
 equality from which they proceeded, and by which they were 
 nourished. The principle which he seems to have brought 
 with him into the world, and which certainly formed the 
 guide of all his public actions, was, that the whole human 
 race was one family, equal in their rights, and their birthright 
 liberty. 
 
 The elements of his character were most happily mingled 
 for the great struggle which was now coming on. His views 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 were not less steady than they were bold. His vision pierced 
 deeply into futurity ; and long before a whisper of independ- 
 ence had been heard in this land, he had looked through the 
 whole of the approaching contest, and saw, with the eye and 
 the rapture of a prophet, his country seated aloft among the 
 nations of the earth. A striking proof of this prescience, is 
 given in an anecdote communicated to me by Mr. Pope. 
 These are his words: — “I am informed by Col. John Over- 
 ton, that before one drop of blood was shed in our contest 
 with Great Britain, he was at Col. Samuel Overton’s, m com- 
 pany with Mr. Plenry, Col. Morris, John Hawkins, and Col. 
 Samuel Overton, when the last-mentioned gentleman asked 
 Mr. Henry, 4 whether he supposed Great Britain would drive 
 her colonies to extremities? — And if she should, what he 
 thought would be the issue of the war ?’ When Mr. Henry 
 after looking round to see who were present, expressed him 
 self confidentially to the company in the following manner : — - 
 ‘She will drive us to extremities — no accommodation will 
 take place — hostilities will soon commence — and a desperate 
 and bloody touch it will be.’ 4 But,’ said Col. Samuel Ovei- 
 ton, 4 do you think, Mr. Henry, that an infant nation as we 
 are, without discipline, arms, ammunition, ships of war, o y 
 money to procure them — do you think it possible, thus cir 
 cumstanced, to oppose successfully the fleets and armies of 
 Great Britain?’ 4 1 will be candid with you,’ replied Mr 
 Henry. 4 1 doubt whether we shall be able, alone , to cope with 
 so powerful a nation. But,’ continued he, (rising from his 
 chair, with great animation,) ‘where is France? Where is 
 Spain ? Where is Holland ? the natural enemies of Great 
 Britain. — Where will they be all this while ? Do you suppose 
 they will stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the con- 
 test ? Wdl Louis XVI be asleep all this time ? Believe 
 
112 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 me, vo ! When Louis XYT. shall be satisfied by oui 
 serrms opposition, and our Declaration of Independence^ 
 that all prospect of a reconciliation is gone, then, and not 
 till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and 
 clothing; and not with these only, but he will send his 
 fleets and armies to fight our battles for us ; he will form 
 with us a treaty offensive and defensive, against our un- 
 natural mother. Spain and Holland will join the con- 
 federation ! Our independence will be established ! and 
 we shall take our stand among the nations of the earth!’ 
 Here he ceased ; and Col. John Overton says, he shall never 
 forget the voice and prophetic manner with which these pre 
 dictions were uttered, and which have been since so literally 
 verified. Col. Overton says, at the word independence , the 
 company appeared to be startled ; for they had never heard 
 any thing of the kind before even suggested.” 
 
 It was anticipated, that the establishment of corresponding 
 committees would lead eventually to a congress of the colo 
 nies, and that measure was brought about by the following 
 circumstances : — 
 
 The people of Boston having thrown into the sea a vessel 
 load of tea, which was attempted to be forced upon them, 
 were punished by an act of parliament, which shut up their 
 port, from and after the first day of June, 17 7 4. The house 
 of burgesses of Virginia being in session when this act 
 arrived, passed an order, which stands upon their journal in 
 the following terms : — 
 
 “ Tuesday , the 2\th of May , 14 Geo . III. 1774. 
 
 “ This house, being deeply impressed with apprehension of 
 the great dangers to be derived to British America, from the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 I J 3 
 
 hostile invasion of the city of Boston, in our sister-colony of 
 Massachusetts bay, whose commerce ard harbour are, on the 
 first day of June next, to be stopped by an armed force, deem 
 it highly necessary that the said first day of June next be set 
 apart, by the members of this house, as a day of fasting, hu- 
 miliation, and prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine inter- 
 position for averting the heavy calamity which threatens 
 destruction to our civil rights, and the evils of civil war ; to 
 give us one heart and one mind, firmly to oppose, by all 
 just and proper means, every injury to American rights ; 
 and that the minds of his majesty and his parliament may 
 be inspired from above with wisdom, moderation, and justice, 
 to remove from the loyal people of America all cause of 
 danger from a continued pursuit of measures pregnant with 
 their ruin. 
 
 “ Ordered , therefore, That the members of this house do 
 attend in their places, at the hour of ten in the forenoon, on 
 the said first day of June next, in order to proceed with the 
 speaker and the mace to the church in this city, for the pur- 
 poses aforesaid ; and that the Reverend Mr. Price be appoint- 
 ed to read prayers, and to preach a sermon suitable to the 
 occasion.” 
 
 In consequence of this order, Governor Dunmore, on the 
 following day, dissolved the house, with this speech : — 
 
 “ Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the house of burgesses : 
 I have in my hand a paper published by order of your house 
 conceived in such terms as reflect highly upon his majesty 
 and the parliament of Great Britain, which makes it aeces 
 ^ary to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly.” 
 
 The members immediately withdrew to the Raleigh tav 
 ern, where they formed themselves into a committee to con 
 sider of \he most expedient and necessary measures to guard 
 P 10* 
 
wirt’s life of 
 
 j 14 
 
 against the encroachments which so glar.nglv threatened 
 them ; and immediately adopted the following spirited asso- 
 ciation : — 
 
 “ An association, signed by 89 members of the late house 
 of burgesses. We, his majesty’s most dutiful and loyal sub- 
 jects, the late representatives of the good people of this coun- 
 try, having been deprived, by the sudden interposition of the 
 executive part of this government, from giving our country- 
 men the advice we wished to convey to them, in a legislative 
 capacity, find ourselves under the hard necessity of adopt- 
 ing this, the only method we have left, of pointing out to 
 our countrymen such measures as, in our opinion, are best 
 fitted to secure our dear rights and liberty from destruction, 
 by the heavy hand of power now lifted against North Amer- 
 ica. With much grief we find, that our dutiful applications 
 to Great Britain for the security of our just, ancient, and con- 
 stitutional rights, have been not only disregarded, but that a 
 determined system is formed and pressed, for reducing the 
 inhabitants of British America to slavery, by subjecting them 
 to the payment of taxes imposed without the consent of the 
 people or their representatives ; and that, in pursuit of this 
 system, we find an act of the British parliament, lately passed, 
 for stopping the harbour and commerce of the town of Bos- 
 ton, in our sister-colony of Massachusetts bay, until the peo- 
 ple there submit to the payment of such unconstitutional 
 taxes; and which act most violently and arbitrarily deprives 
 them of their property, in wharves erected by private persons, 
 at th^ir own great and proper expense ; which act is, in our 
 opinion, a most dangerous attempt to destroy the constitu- 
 tional liberty and rights of all North America. It is further 
 our opinion, that as tea, on its importation into America, is 
 charged with a duty imposed by parliament, for the purpose 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 115 
 
 of raising a revenue without the consent of the people, it 
 ought not to be used by any person who wishes well to the 
 constitutional rights and liberties of British America. And 
 whereas the India company have ungenerously attempted 
 the ruin of America, by sending many ships loaded with tea 
 into the colonies, thereby intending to fix a precedent in fa 
 vour of arbitrary taxation, we deem it highly proper and do 
 accordingly recommend it strongly to our countrymen, not to 
 purchase or use any kind of East India commodity whatso 
 ever, except saltpetre and spices, until the grievances of 
 America are redressed. We are further clearly of opinion, 
 that an attack made on one of our sister-colonies, to compel 
 submission to arbitrary taxes, is an attack made on all Brit 
 ish America, and threatens ruin to the rights of all, unless 
 the united wisdom of the whole be applied. And for this 
 purpose it is recommended to the committee of correspond- 
 ence , that they communicate with their several correspond 
 ing committees , on the expediency of appointing deputies 
 from the several colonies of British America , to meet in 
 general congress , at such place , annually , as shall be 
 thought most convenient ; there to deliberate on those general 
 measures which the united interests of America may from 
 time to time require . 
 
 “ A tender regard for the interest of our fellow-subjects, 
 the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain, prevents 
 us from going further at this time ; most earnestly hoping, 
 that the unconstitutional principle of taxing the colonies with- 
 out their consent will not be persisted in, thereby to compel 
 us, against our will, to avoid all commercial intercourse with 
 Britain. Wishing them and our people free and happy, we are 
 their affectionate friends, the late representatives of Virginia 
 
 4 The 27 th day of May , 1774.” 
 
116 
 
 WIR 1 ’S LIFE OF 
 
 To give effect to the recommendation of a congress on the 
 part of this colony, delegates were shortly after elected by 
 the several counties, to meet in Williamsburg on the first 
 of August following, to consider further of the state of public 
 affairs, and, more particularly, to appoint deputies to the gene 
 ral congress, which was to be convened at Philadelphia, bn 
 the 5th of September following. The clear, firm, and ani- 
 mated instructions given by the people of the several counties 
 to their delegates, evince the thorough knowledge of the 
 great parliamentary question which now pervaded the coun- 
 try, and the determined spirit of the colonists to resist the 
 claim of British taxation.* 
 
 * The following are the Instructions from the county of Hanover : — 
 To John Syme and Patrick Henry , Jun ., Esquires . 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 You have our thanks for your patriotic, faithful, and spirited con- 
 duct, in the part you acted in the late assembly, as our burgesses, and 
 as we are greatly alarmed at the proceedings of the British parliament 
 respecting the town of Boston, and the province of Massachusetts bay , 
 and as we understand a meeting of delegates from all the counties in 
 this colony is appointed to be in Williamsburg on the first day of next 
 month, to deliberate on our public affairs, we do hereby appoint you. 
 gentlemen, our delegates ; and we do request you, then and there, to 
 meet, consult, and advise, touching such matters as are most likely 
 to effect our deliverance from the evils witn which our country is 
 threatened. 
 
 The importance of those things which will offer themselves for your 
 deliberation is exceedingly great; and when it is considered that the 
 effect of the measures you may adopt will reach our latest posterity, you 
 will excuse us for giving you our sentiments, and pointing out some 
 particulars, proper for that plan of conduct we wish you to observe. 
 
 We are free men ; we have a right to be so ; and to enjoy all the priv- 
 ileges and immunities of our fellow-subjects in England; and while 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 in 
 
 On the first of August, accordingly, the first convention of 
 Vnginia delegates assembled in Williamsburg; and gave 
 •i new proof of the invincible energy by which they were 
 
 we retain a just sense of that freedom, and those rights and privileges 
 necessary for its safety and security, we shall never give up the 
 right of taxation. Let it suffice to say, once for all, we will never be 
 taxed but by our own representatives : this is the great badge of 
 freedom, and British America hath hitherto been distinguished by it; 
 and when we see the British parliament trampling upon that right, and 
 acting with determined resolution to destroy it, we would wish to see 
 the united wisdom and fortitude of America collected for its defence. 
 
 The sphere of life in which we move hath not afforded us lights 
 sufficient to determine with certainty, concerning those things from 
 which the troubles at Boston originated. Whether the people there 
 were warranted by justice, when they destroyed the tea, we know 
 not ; but this we know, that the parliament by their proceedings, have 
 made us and all North America parties in the present dispute, and 
 deeply interested in the event of it ; insomuch, that if our sister-colony 
 of Massachusetts bay is enslaved, we cannot long remain free. 
 
 Our minds are filled with anxiety when we view the friendly re- 
 gards of our parent state turned into enmity ; and those powers of 
 government, formerly exerted for our aid and protection, formed into 
 dangerous efforts for our destruction. We read our intended doom in 
 the Boston port bill, in that for altering the mode of trial in criminal 
 cases, and, finally, in the bill for altering the form of government in 
 the Massachusetts bay. These several acts are replete with injus- 
 tice and oppression, and strongly expressive of the future policy of 
 Britain toward all her colonies ; if a full and uncontrolled operation 
 is given to this detestable system in its earlier stages, it will probably 
 be fixed upon us for ever. 
 
 Let it, therefore, be your great object to obtain a speedy repeal of 
 those acts : and for this purpose we recommend the adoption of such 
 measures, as may produce the hearty union of all our countrymen 
 and sister-colonies. Unitfd we stand, divided we fall. 
 
 To attain this wished-for union, we declare our readiness to sacri 
 
118 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 actuated, in a series of resolutions, whereby they pledged 
 themselves to make common cause with the people of Bouton 
 m every extremity; and broke off all commercial connexion 
 with the mother country, until the grievances of which they 
 
 lice any lesser interest arising from a soil, climate, situation, or pro- 
 ductions peculiar to us. 
 
 We judge it conducive to the interests of America, that a general 
 congress of deputies from all the colonies be held, in order to form a 
 plan for guarding the claim of the colonists, and their constitutional 
 rights, from ftrure encroachment, and for the speedy relief of our suf- 
 fering brethren at Boston. For the present, we think it proper to form 
 a general association against the purchase of all articles of goods im- 
 ported from Great Britain, except negroes’ cloths, salt, saltpetre, 
 powder, lead, utensils and implements for handy-craftsmen and manu- 
 facturers, which cannot be had in America ; books, paper, and the like 
 necessaries; and not to purchase any goods or merchandise that shall 
 be imported from Great Britain, after a certain day that may be 
 agreed on for that purpose by the said general meeting of deputies at 
 Williamsburg, except the articles aforesaid, or such as shall be allow- 
 ed to be imported by the said meeting ; and that we will encourage 
 the manufactures of America by every means in our power. A regard 
 to justice hinders us at this time from withholding our exports; no- 
 thing but the direct necessity shall induce us to adopt that proceed- 
 ing, which we shall strive to avoid as long as possible. 
 
 The African trade for slaves we consider as most dangerous to 
 the virtue and welfare of this country ; we therefore most earnestly 
 wish to see it totally discouraged. 
 
 A steady loyalty to the kings of England has ever distinguished 
 our country ; the present state of things here, as well as the many 
 instances of it to be found in our history, leave no room to doubt it. 
 God grant that we may never see the time when that loyalty shall be 
 found incompatible with the rights of freemen. Our most ardent de- 
 sire is, that we and our latest posterity may continue to live under the 
 genuine, unaltered constitution of England, and be subjects, in the 
 true spirit of that constitution, to his majesty, and his illustxiouf 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 119 
 
 complained should be redressed. By their last resolution they 
 empowered their moderator, Mr. Peyton Randolph, or in case 
 of his death, Robert C. Nicholas, esquire, on any future oc- 
 casion that might in his opinion require it, to convene the 
 several delegates of the colony, at such time and place as he 
 Efright judge proper. 
 
 They then appointed as deputies to congress on the part 
 of this colony, Messrs. Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry 
 Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, 
 Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, and furnish- 
 ed them with the following firm and spirited letter of in 
 structions : — 
 
 “ Instructions for the Deputies appointed to meet in General 
 Congress , on the part of the Colony of Virginia . 
 
 “ The unhappy disputes between Great Britain and hei 
 American colonies, which began about the third year of the 
 reign of his present majesty, and since continually increas- 
 ing, have proceeded to lengths so dangerous and alarming, 
 as to excite just apprehensions in the minds of his majesty’s 
 
 house ; and may the wretches who affirm that we desire the contrary, 
 feel the punishment due to falsehood and villany. 
 
 While prudence and moderation shall guide your councils, we trust, 
 gentlemen, that firmness, resolution, and zeal, will animate you in the 
 glorious struggle. The arm of power, which is now stretched forth 
 against us, is indeed formidable ; but we do not despair. Our cause 
 is good; and if it is served with constancy and fidelity, it cannot fail 
 of success. We promise you our best support, and we will heartily 
 join in such measures as a majority of our countrymen shall adopt 
 or securing the public liberty. 
 
 Resolved, That the above address be transmitted to the printers* 
 to be published in the gazettes. 
 
 William Pollard, Clerk 
 
rzo 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 faithful subjects of the colony, that they are in danger of 
 oeing deprived of their natural, ancient, constitutional, and 
 chartered rights, have compelled them to take the same into 
 their most serious consideration ; and being deprived of their 
 usual and accustomed mode of making known their griev 
 ances, have appointed us their representatives, to consider 
 what is proper to be done in this dangerous crisis of Ameri- 
 can affairs. It being our opinion that the united wisdom of 
 North America should be collected in a general congress of 
 all the colonies, we have appointed the Honourable Pey- 
 ton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, 
 Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and 
 Edmund Pendleton, esquires, deputies to represent this 
 colony in the said congress, to be held at Philadelphia on the 
 first Monday in September next. And that they may be 
 the better informed of our sentiments touching the conduc 
 we wish them to observe on this important occasion, we 
 desire that they will express, in the first place, our faith and 
 true allegiance to his majesty, King George the Third, our 
 lawful and rightful sovereign ; and that we are determined, 
 with our lives and fortunes, to support him in the legal exer- 
 cise of all his just rights and prerogatives. And, however 
 misrepresented, we sincerely approve of a constitutional 
 connexion with Great Britain, and wish most ardently a return 
 of that intercourse of affection and commercial connexion 
 that formerly united both countries ; which can only be ef- 
 fected by a removal of those causes of discontent which have 
 of late unhappily divided us. 
 
 “ It cannot admit of a doubt, but that British subjects in 
 America are entitled to the same rights and privileges as theii 
 fellow-subjects possess in Britain ; and, therefore, that the 
 power assumed by the British parliament to bind America 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 121 
 
 by their statutes, in all cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional, 
 and the source of these unhappy differences. 
 
 “ The end of government would be defeated, by the 
 British parliament exercising a power over the lives, the 
 property, and the liberty of American subjects, who are not, 
 and from their local circumstances cannot, be there repre- 
 sented. Of this nature we consider the several acts of par 
 liament for raising a revenue in America, for extending the 
 jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty, for seizing American 
 subjects, and transporting them to Britain, to be tried for 
 crimes committed in America, and the several late oppressive 
 acts respecting the town of Boston, and province of Massa 
 chusetts bay. 
 
 “ The original constipation of the American colonies, pos 
 sossing their assemblies with the sole right of directing their 
 internal polity, it is absolutely destructive of the end of their 
 institution, that their legislatures should be suspended, or 
 prevented, by hasty dissolutions, from exercising their legis- 
 lative powers. 
 
 “ Wanting the protection of Britain, we have long acqui- 
 esced in their acts of navigation, restrictive of our commerce, 
 which we consider as an ample recompense for such protec- 
 tion ; but as those acts derive their efficacy from that found- 
 ation alone, we have reason to expect they will be restrain- 
 ed, so as to produce the reasonable purposes of Britain, and 
 not be injurious to us. 
 
 “ To obtain redress of these grievances, without wnich the 
 people of America can neither be safe, free, nor happy, they 
 are willing to undergo the great inconvenience that will be 
 derived to them, from stopping all impoits whatsoever from 
 Great Britain, after the first day of November next, and 
 also to cease exporting any commodity whatsoever to the 
 
 Q 11 
 
122 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 same place, after the 10th day of August, 1775. The earn- 
 est desire we have to make as quick and full payment as 
 possible of our debts to Great Britain, and to avoid the heavy 
 injury that would arise to this country from an earlier adop- 
 tion of the non-exportation plan, after the people have al- 
 ready applied so much of their labour to the perfecting of 
 the present crop, by which means they have been prevented 
 from pursuing other methods of clothing and supporting 
 their families, have rendered it necessary to restrain you in 
 this article of non-exportation ; but it is our desire that you 
 cordially co-operate with our sister-colonies in general con- 
 gress, in such other just and proper methods as they, or the 
 majority shall deem necessary for the accomplishment of 
 these valuable ends. 
 
 The proclamation issued by General Gage, in the govern- 
 
 • of the province of the Massachusetts bay, declaring it 
 treason for the inhabitants of that province to assemble them- 
 selves to consider of their grievances, and form associations for 
 their common conduct on the occasion, and requiring the civil 
 magistrates and officers to apprehend all such persons to be 
 tried for their supposed offences, is the most alarming process 
 that ever appeared in a British government ; the said General 
 Gage has thereby assumed and taken upon himself powers 
 denied by the constitution to our legal sovereign ; he not hav- 
 ing condescended to disclose by what authority he exercises 
 such extensive and unheard-of powers, we are at a loss tc 
 determine whether he intends to justify himself as the repre- 
 sentative of the king, or as the commander-in-chief of his 
 majesty’s forces in America. If he considers himself as act- 
 ing in the character *>f his majesty’s representative, we would 
 remind him that the statute 25th, Edward JILj has expressed 
 and defined all treasonable offences, and that the legislature 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 123 
 
 of Great Britain hath declared that no offence shall be con 
 strued to be treason, but such as is pointed out uy that statute , 
 and that this was done to take out of the hands of tyran- 
 nical kings, and of weak and wicked ministers, that deadly 
 weapon which constructive treason hath furnished them with, 
 and which had drawn the blood of the best and honestest 
 men in the kingdom ; and that the king of Great Britain hath 
 no right by his proclamation to subject his people to impris- 
 onment, pains, and penalties. 
 
 “ That if the said General Gage conceives he is empower- 
 ed to act in this manner, as the commander-in-chief of his 
 majesty’s forces in America, this odious and illegal procla- 
 mation must be considered as a plain and full declaration 
 that this despotic viceroy will be bound by no law, nor re- 
 gard the constitutional rights of his majesty’s subjects, when- 
 ever they interfere with the plan he has formed for oppres- 
 sing the good people of Massachusetts bay ; and, therefore, 
 that the executing, or attempting to execute, such proclama- 
 tion, will justify resistance and reprisal.” 
 
 On the fourth of September, 1774, that venerable body, 
 the old continental congress of the United States, (toward 
 whom every Ameriean heart will bow with pious homage 
 while the name of liberty shall be dear in our land,) met for 
 the first time at Carpenter’s Hall, in the city of Philadelphia. 
 Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was chosen president, and the 
 house was organized for business with all the solemnities of 
 a regular legislature.* 
 
 The most eminent men of the various colonies were now, 
 
 * Sallust, in his second oration to C. Cesar, De Republica Ordi - 
 nanda, gives a short and animated picture of their Roman ancestors, 
 which, with the change of a single word, ( libertate for imferio,) 
 
124 
 
 Tvirt’s life of 
 
 for the first time, brought together. They were known to 
 each other by fame; but they were personally strangers. 
 The meeting was awfully solemn. The object which had 
 called them together was of incalculable magnitude. The 
 liberties of no less than three millions of people, with that of 
 all their posterity, were staked on the wisdom and energy of 
 their councils. No wonder, then, at the long and deep 
 silence which is said to have followed upon their organiza- 
 tion ; at the anxiety with which the members looked around 
 upon each other ; and the reluctance which every individual 
 felt to open a business so fearfully momentous. In the midst 
 of this deep and deathlike silence, and just when it was 
 beginning to become painfully embarrassing, Mr. Henry arose 
 slowly, as if borne down with the weight of the subject. Af- 
 ter faltering, according to his habit, through a most impres- 
 sive exordium, in which he merely echoed back the con- 
 sciousness of every other heart, in deploring his inability to 
 do justice to the occasion, he launched gradually into a re- 
 cital of the colonial wrongs. Rising, as he advanced, with 
 the grandeur of his subject, and glowing at length with all 
 the majesty and expectation of the occasion, his speech seem- 
 ed more than that of mortal man. Even those who had 
 heard him in all his glory, in the house of burgesses of Vir- 
 
 describes so happily our old continental congress, that 1 am sure 1 
 shall gratify the classic reader by its insertion. 
 
 “ Itaque, majores nostri, cum bellis asperimis premerentur, equis, 
 viris, pecunia amissa, nunquam defessi sunt armati de libertate con- 
 tendere. Non inopia cerarii , non vis hostium , non adversa res , in* 
 gentem eorum animum subegit : quem , quce virtute ceperant , simul 
 cum anima retinerent. Atque ea, magis fortibus consiliis, quam 
 bonis praeliis, patrata sunt, duippe apud illos , una respublica erat * 
 ei consulebant ; f actio, contra hostes parabatur ; corpus atqm 
 ingenium, vatrice, non suce, quisque potentice exercitcibat 99 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 125 
 
 gima, weie astonished aj the manner in which his talents 
 seemed to swell and expand themselves, to ldl the vaster 
 theatre in which he was now placed. There w r as no rant — 
 no rhapsody — no labour of the understanding — no straining 
 of the voice — no confusion of the utterance. His counte 
 nance was erect — his eye, steady — his action, noble — his 
 enunciation, clear and firm — his mind poised on its centre— 
 his views of his subject comprehensive and great — and his 
 imagination coruscating with a magnificence and a variety, 
 which struck even that assembly with amazement and awe. 
 He sat down amidst murmurs of astonishment and applause ; 
 and as he had been before proclaimed the greatest orator of 
 Virginia, he was now, on every hand, admitted to be the first 
 orator of America. 
 
 He w r as followed by Mr. Richard Henry Lee, who charm- 
 ed the house with a different kind of eloquence — chaste — • 
 classical — beautiful — his polished periods rolling along with 
 out effort, filling the ear with the most bewitching harmony 
 and delighting the mind with the most exquisite imagery. 
 The cultivated graces of Mr. Lee’s rhetoric received and at 
 the same time reflected beauty, by their contrast with the 
 wild and grand effusions of Mr. Henry. Just as those noble 
 monuments of art which lie scattered through the celebrated 
 landscape of Naples, at once adorn, and are in their turn 
 adorned by the surrounding majesty of Nature. 
 
 Two models of eloquence, each so perfect in its kind, and 
 so finely contrasted, could not but fill the house with the 
 highest admiration ; and as Mr. Henry had before been pro- 
 nounced the Demosthenes, it was conceded on every hand, 
 that Mr. Lee was the Cicero, of America. 
 
 II* 
 
SECTION IV. 
 
 It is due, however, to historic truth to record that the 
 superior powers of these great men were manifested only in 
 debate. On the floor of the house, and during the first days 
 of the session, while general grievances were the topic, they 
 took the undisputed lead in the assembly, and were* confes- 
 sedly, primi inter pares . But when called down from the 
 heights of declamation, to that severer test of intellectual ex- 
 cellence, the details of business , they found themselves in a 
 body of cool-headed, reflecting, and most able men, by whom 
 they were, in their turn, completely thrown into the shade. 
 
 A petition to the king, an address to the people of Great 
 Britain, and a memorial to the people of British America, 
 were agreed to be drawn. Mr. Lee, Mr. Henry, and others, 
 were appointed for the first ; Mr. Lee, Mr. Livingston, and 
 Mr. Jay, for the two last. The splendour of their debut 
 occasioned Mr. Henry to be designated by his committee, to 
 draw the petition to the king, with which they were charged ; 
 and Mr. Lee was charged with the address to the people 
 of England. The last was first reported. On reading it, 
 great disappointment was expressed in every countenance 
 and a dead silence ensued for some minutes. At length, it 
 was laid on the table, for perusal and consideration, till the 
 next day : when first one member and then another arose, 
 
 126 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 m 
 
 and paying some faint compliment to the composition, ob- 
 served that there were still certain considerations not express 
 ed, which should properly find a place in it. The address 
 was, therefore, committed for amendment; and one pre- 
 pared by Mr. Jay, and offered by Governor Livingston, was 
 reported and adopted, with scarcely an alteration. These 
 facts are stated by a gentleman to whom they were commu- 
 nicated by Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Harrison, of the Virginia 
 delegation, (except that Mr. Harrison erroneously ascribed 
 the draught to Governor Livingston,) and to whom they were 
 afterward confirmed .by Governor Livingston himself. Mr. 
 Henry’s draught of a petition to the king was equally unsuc 
 oessful, and was recommitted for amendment. Mr. John 
 Dickinson (the author of the Farmer’s Letters) was added 
 to the committee, and a new draught, prepared by him, was 
 adopted.* 
 
 This is one of the incidents in the life of Mr. Henry to 
 which an allusion was made in a former page, when it was 
 observed, that notwithstanding the wonderful gifts which he 
 had derived from nature, he lived himself to deplore his early 
 neglect of literature. But for this neglect, that imperishable 
 trophy won by the pen of Mr. John Dickinson would have 
 been his ; and the fame of his genius, instead of resting on 
 tradition, or the short-lived report of his present biographer, 
 
 * The late Governor Tyler, a warm friend of Mr. Henry, used to 
 relate an anecdote in strict accordance with this statement : it was, 
 that after these two gentlemen had *n?de their first speeches, Mr. 
 Chase, a delegate from Maryland, walked across the house to the seat 
 of his colleague, and said to him, in an under voice : “We might as 
 well go home ; we are not able to legislate with these men.*’ But that 
 after the house came to descend to details, the same Mr. Chase was 
 Heard to remark: “ Well, after all, I find these are but men — and in 
 mere matters of business, but very common men .” 
 
t28 
 
 WIRTS LIFE OF 
 
 would have flourished on the immortal page of the American 
 history. 
 
 It is a trite remark, that the talents for speaking and foi 
 writing eminently are very rarely found united in the same 
 individual ; and the rarity of the occurrence has led to an 
 opinion, that those talents depend on constitutions of mind 
 so widely different, as to render their union almost wholly 
 unattainable. This was not the opinion, however, it is be- 
 lieved, at Athens and at Rome : it cannot, I apprehend, be 
 the opinion either in the United kingdom of Great Britain 
 There have been, indeed, in these countries distinguished 
 orators, who have not left behind them any proofs of their 
 eminence in composition ; but neither have they left behind 
 ihem any proofs of their failure in this respect: so tlx^t the 
 conclusion of their incompetency is rather assumed than es- 
 tablished. On the other hand, there have been, in all those 
 countries, too many illustrious examples of the union of those 
 talents, to justify the belief of their incongruity by any gene- 
 ral law of nature 
 
 That there have been many eminent writers who, from 
 physical defects, could never have .become orators, is very 
 certain : but is the converse of the proposition equally true ? 
 Was there ever an eminent orator who might not, by proper 
 discipline, have become, also, a very eminent writer ? What 
 are the essential qualities of the orator ? Are they not judg- 
 ment, invention, imagination, sensibility, taste, and expres- 
 sion, or the command of strong and appropriate language 1 
 If these be the qualities of the orator, it is very easy to un- 
 derstand how they may be improved by the discipline of the 
 closet ;* but not so easy to comprehend how they can pos 
 
 * Nulla enim res tantum ad dicendum proficit, quantum scriptio. - 
 Cic. Beut xxiv. 92. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 129 
 
 sibly be injured by it. Is there any danger that this discipline 
 will tame too much the fiery spirit, the enchanting wildness, 
 and magnificent irregularity of the orator’s genius ? The 
 example of Demosthenes alone is a sufficient answer to this 
 question ; and the reader will, at once, recall numerous other 
 examples, corroborative of the same truth, both in ancient 
 and modern times. The truth seems to be, that this rare 
 union of talents results, not from any incongruity in their 
 nature, but from defective education, taking this word in its 
 larger, Roman sense. If the genius of the orator has been 
 properly trained in his youth to both pursuits, instead of be- 
 ing injured, it will, I apprehend, be found to derive additional 
 grace, beauty, and even sublimity, from the discipline. His 
 flights will be at least as bold — they will be better sustained 
 — and whether he chooses to descend in majestic circles, or 
 to stoop on headlong wing, his performance will not be the 
 worse for having been taught to fly. 
 
 For Mr. Henry and for the world, it happened unfortu- 
 nately, that instead of the advantage jx ffiis Roman educa- 
 tion, of which we have spoken, the years of his youth had 
 been wasted in idleness. He had become celebrated as an 
 orator before he had learned to compose ; and it is not there 
 fore wonderful, that when withdrawn from the kindling pres- 
 ence of the crowd, he was called upon for the first time to 
 take the pen, all the spirit and flame of his genius were ex 
 tinguished.* 
 
 * On this subject, of the rare union of the talents of speaking and 
 . writing in the same man, Cicero has a parallel between Galba and 
 Laelius, which is not less just than it is beautiful. After having spoken 
 of Galba as one of those men of great but less cultivated natural pow- 
 ers, who were afraid of lowering the fame of their eloquence by sub 
 •nitting their writings to the world, he proceeds thus: — “ Quern (Gal 
 
 R 
 
130 
 
 WIR'l S LIFE OF 
 
 But while, with reference to his own fame and the lasting 
 benefits which he might have conferred on the world, we 
 
 bam) fortasse vis non ingenii solum , sed etiam animi , et naturalis 
 quidam dolor dicentem incendebat , efi'eciebatque , ut et incitata , 
 gravis , vehemens esset oratio : dein , cwm otiosus stilum prehen- 
 
 lerat , motusque omnis animi , tanquam ventus , hominem defecei at, 
 flacessebat oratio : quod iis , qui limatius dicendi consectantur ge- 
 nus , accidere non solet : propterea quod prudentia nunquam deficit 
 oratorem , qua ille utens , eodem modo possit et dicer e et scribere; 
 ardor animi non semper adest , isquecum cons edit, omnis ilia vis et 
 quasi fiamma oratoris extinguitur. Hanc igitur ob causam , videtur 
 Lcelii mens spirare etiam in scriptis , Galbce autem,, vis occidisse 
 Brutus, xxiv. 93. There seems to have been a strong resemblance 
 between the structure of Galba’s eloquence and character, and those 
 of Mr. Henry. In their habits, however, there was this striking dif- 
 ference, that Galba’s preparation for speaking was always most elabo- 
 rate ; Mr. Henry’s, generally, none at all. On this head, of Galba’s 
 anxious preparation, Cicero gives us a very interesting anecdote : 
 Laelius, it seems, was engaged in a great cause, in which he spoke 
 with the peculiar elegance which always distinguished him ; but not 
 having succeeded in convincing his judges, the case was adjourned to 
 another day, and a new argument was called for. Laclius again ap- 
 peared and surpassed his former exertions, but with the same result, of 
 another adjournment and a call for re-argument. His clients attendee 
 him to his house on the rising of the court, expressed their gratitude 
 in the strongest terms, and begged that he would not permit himself 
 to be wearied into a desertion of them. To this Laelius answered, that 
 what he had done for the support of the cause, had, indeed, been dili- 
 gently and accurately performed ; but he was satisfied that that cause 
 could be better defended by the more bold and vehement eloquence of 
 Galba. Galba w^as accordingly applied to ; but was, at first, startled 
 at the idea of succeeding such an orator as Laelius in any cause ; more 
 especially, on the short time for preparation that was then allowed him. 
 He yielded, however, to their importunities ; and employed the whole 
 of the intermediate day and the morning of that in which the court 
 was to sit, in studying and annotating, wit! the help of his araanu- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 13a 
 
 /ament his want of literary discipline, it is not impossible that, 
 for the times in which he lived, and for the more immediate 
 . purpose of the American revolution, the popular opinion may 
 be correct. The people seem to have admired him the more 
 for his want of discipline. “ His genius,” they say, “ was 
 unbroken, and too full of fire to bear the curb of composition. 
 He delighted to swim the flood, to breast the torrent, and to 
 scale the mountain : and supported as he was, in all public 
 bodies, by masters of the pen, they insist, that it was even 
 fortunate for the revolution, that his genius was left at large, 
 to revel in all the wildness and boldness of nature ; that it 
 enabled him to infuse, more successfully, his own intrepid 
 spirit into the measures of the revolution ; that it rendered 
 his courage more contagious, and enabled him to achieve 
 by a kind of happy rashness, what perhaps had been lost by 
 a better regulated mind.” 
 
 But to resume our narrative: congress arose in Octobei, 
 and Mr. Henry returned to his native county. Here, as was 
 natural, he was surrounded by his neighbours, who were 
 
 ensis. When the hour of court arrived, his clients called for him, and 
 Galba came out, “ with that complexion and those eyes,” says Cicero, 
 “ which would have led you to suppose that he had been engaged in 
 pleading a cause, and not in studying it.” Whence it appears that 
 Galba was not less vehement and inflamed in meditating, than in the 
 act of delivering a speech. His success was proportioned to his pre- 
 paration. “ In the midst of the greatest expectation, surrounded by a 
 vast concourse of hearers, before Lselius himself, he plead the cause 
 with so much force and so much power, that no part of his speech 
 passed without applause, and his clients were discharged, with the ap- 
 probation of every one.” What an impression does this give us of the 
 magnanimity of Lselius, as well as the abilities of Galba ! Mr. Henry 
 would not have taken the trouble of Galba’s preparation ; but he would 
 o*ve gained the cause, if human abilities could have gained it. 
 
132 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 eager to hear not only what had been done, but what kind 
 of men had composed that illustrious body. He answered 
 their inquiries with all his wonted kindness and candour ; 
 and having been asked by one of them, “ whom he thought 
 the greatest man in congress,” he replied : “ If you speak of 
 eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is by far the 
 greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid information and 
 sound judgment, Colonel Washington is, unquestionab’y, the 
 greatest man on that floor.” Such was the penetration which, 
 at that early period of Mr. Washington’s life, cou^ci pierce 
 through his retiring modesty and habitual reserve, and esti- 
 mate so correctly the unrivalled worth of his character. 
 
 On Monday, the 20th of March, 1775, the convention of 
 delegates, from the several counties and corporations of Vir 
 ginia, met for the second time. This assembly was held in 
 the old church in the town of Richmond. Mr. Henry was 
 a member of that body also. The reader will bear in mind 
 the tone of the instrnatiaiis^ given by the convention of the 
 preceding year to their deputies, in congress. -He will remem 
 ber t hat, wh ile they recite with great feeling the series of 
 grievances under which the colonies had laboured, and insist 
 with firmness^n their constitutional rights, they give, never 
 theless, the most explicit and solemn pledge of their faith and 
 true allegiance to his majesty King George III., and avow 
 their determination to support him with their lives and for- 
 tunes, in the legal exercise of all his just rights and preroga- 
 tive^. He will remember, that these instructions contain also, 
 an expression of their sincere approbation of a connexion 
 with Great Britain, and their ardent wishes for a returnT of 
 that friendly intercourse .from which this country had derived 
 so much prosperity and happiness. These sentiments stif j 
 influenced many ol the leading members of the convention 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 133 
 
 of 1775. They could not part with the fond hope that those 
 peaceful days would again return which had shed so much 
 light and warmth over the land ; and the report of the 
 Ring’s gracious reception of the petition from congress tend- 
 ed to cherish and foster that hope, and to render them averse 
 to any means of violence. But Mr. Henry saw things with 
 a steadier eye and a deeper insight. His judgment was toe 
 solid to be duped by appearances ; and his heart too firm 
 and manly to be amused by false and flattering hopes. He 
 had long since read the true character of the British court, 
 and saw that no alternative remained for his country but 
 abject submission or heroic resistance. It was not for a soul 
 like Henry’s to hesitate between these courses. He had 
 offered upon the altar of liberty no divided heart. The gulf 
 
 A - ■urn-"—'™ mJtuwmj. • ' ° 
 
 of war which yawned before him was indeed f^a^ 
 fu] ; but he saw that the awful plunge was inevitab le. The 
 body of the convent ioji, however, hesitated. They cast around 
 “a longings lingering look” on those flowery fields on which 
 peace, and ease, and joy, were still sporting; and it require I 
 all the energies of a Mentor like Henry to push them from 
 the precipice, and conduct them over the stormy sea of the 
 revolution, to liberty and glory. " 
 
 The convention being formed and organized for business, 
 proceeded, in the first place, to express their unqualified ap- 
 probation of the measures of congress, and to declare that 
 they considered “ this whole continent as under the highest 
 obligations to that respectable body, for the wisdom of their 
 counsels, and their unremitted endeavours to maintain and 
 preserve inviolate the just rights and liberties of his majesty’s 
 dutiful and loyal subjects in America.” 
 
 They next resolve, that “ the warmest thanks of the con 
 vention, and of all the inhabitants of this colony, were due 
 
 12 
 
34 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 and that this just tribute of applause be presented to the 
 worthy delegates, deputed by a former convention to repre- 
 sent this colony in general congress, for their cheerful under- 
 
 taking and faithful discharge of the very important trust 
 reposed in them.” 
 
 The morning of the 23d of March , was opened, by read- 
 ing a petition and memorial from the assembly of Jamaica, 
 to the king s most excellent majesty : whereupon it was — • 
 
 Resolved, That the unfeigned thanks and most grateful 
 acknowledgments of the convention be presented to that very 
 respectable assembly, for the exceeding generous and affec- 
 tionate part they have so nobly taken, in the unhappy contest 
 between Great Britain and her colonies ; and for their truly 
 patriotic endeavours to fix the just claims of the colonists 
 upon the most permanent constitutional principles that the 
 assembly be assured, that it is the most ardent wish of this 
 colony, [and they were persuaded of the whole continent 
 of North America,] to see a speedy return of those halcyon 
 days, when we lived a free and happy people'” 
 
 These proceedings we re not, a dapted to the taste of Mi- 
 Henry ; on the contrary, they were “ gall and wormwood” 
 to him. The house required to be wrought up to a bolder 
 tone. He rose, therefore, and moved the following manly 
 resolutions : — v 
 
 “Resolved, That a well-regulated mi|itia, composed of 
 gentlemen and yeomen, is the natural strength and only se- Tf ' < 
 curity of a free government ; that such a militia in this colony ‘ 
 would for ever reader it unnecessary for the mother-country 
 to keep among us, for the purpose of our defence, any stand- 
 ing army of mercenary soldiers, always subversive of the 
 quiet, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, and would 
 obviate the pretext of taxing us for their support. 
 
 
 * 
 
Patrick henry. 
 
 135 
 
 “That the establishment of such militia is, at this time , 
 peculiarly necessary, by the state of our laws, for the protec- 
 tion and defence of the country, some of which are already 
 expired, and others will shortly be so : and that the known 
 remissness of government in calling us together in legislative 
 capacity, renders it too insecure, in this time of danger and 
 distress, to rely that opportunity will be given of renewing 
 them, in general assembly, or making any provision to secure 
 our inestimable rights and liberties, from those further vio- 
 lations with which they are threatened. 
 
 “ Resolved, therefore, That this colony be immediately 
 put into a state of defence , and that 
 
 be a committee to prepare a plan for imbodying , arming , 
 and disciplining such a number of men , as may be sufficient 
 for that purpose .” 
 
 The alarm which such a proposition must have given to 
 those who had contemplated no resistance of a character 
 more serious than petition, non-importation, and passive for- 
 titude, and who still hung with suppliant tenderness on the 
 skirts of Britain, will be readily conceived by the reflecting 
 reader. The shock was painful. It was almost general. 
 The resolutions were opposed as not only rash in policy, but 
 as harsh and well nigh impious in point of feeling. Some 
 of the warmest patriots of the convention opposed them. 
 Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, 
 who had so lately drunk of the fountain of patriotism in the 
 continental congress, and Robert C. Nicholas, one of the 
 best as well as ablest men and patriots in the state, resisted 
 them with all their influence and abilities. 
 
 They urged the late gracious reception of the congression- 
 al petition by the throne. They insisted that national 
 comity, and much more filii*. respect, demanded the exercise 
 
136 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 of a more dignified patience. That the sympathies of tht 
 parent-country were now on our side. That the friends of 
 American liberty in parliament were still with us, and had, 
 as yet, had no cause to blush for our indiscretion. That the 
 manufacturing interests of Great Britain, already smarting 
 under effects of our non-importation, co-operated power- 
 fully toward ou: relief. That the sovereign himseff had 
 relented, and showed that he looked upon our sufferings with 
 an eye of pity. “ Was this a moment,” they asked, “to dis- 
 gust our friends, to extinguish all the conspiring sympathies 
 which were working in our favour, to turn their friendship 
 into hatred, their pity into revenge ? And what was there, 
 they asked, in the situation of the colony, to tempt us to 
 this? Were we a great military people? Were we ready 
 for war ? Where were our stores — where were our arms — 
 where our soldiers — where our generals — where our money, 
 the sinews of war? They were nowhere to be found. In 
 truth, we were poor — we were naked — we were defenceless. 
 And yet we talk of assuming the front of war ! of assuming 
 it, too, against a nation, one of the most formidable in the 
 world ! A nation ready and armed at all points ! Her navies 
 riding triumphant in every sea ; her armies never marching 
 but to certain victory ! What was to be the issue of the 
 struggle we were called upon to court ? What could be the 
 issue, in the comparative circumstances of the two countries, 
 but to yield up this country an easy prey to Great Britain, 
 and to convert the illegitimate right which the British par- 
 liament now claimed, into a firm and indubitable right, by 
 conquest ? The measure might be brave ; but it was the 
 bravery of madmen. It had no pretension to the char- 
 acter of prudence ; and as little to the grace of genuine 
 courage. It would be time enough to resort ffc> measurei 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 .31 
 
 of despair, when every well founded hope had entirely 
 vanished.” 
 
 To this strong view of the subject, supported as it was by 
 the stubborn fact of the well-known helpless condition of 
 the colony, the opponents of those resolutions superadded 
 every topic of persuasion which belonged to the cause. 
 
 “ The strength and lustre which we have derived from oui 
 connexion with Great Britain — the domestic comforts which 
 we had drawn from the same source, and whose value we 
 were now able to estimate by their loss — that ray of recon- 
 ciliation which was dawning upon us from the east, and 
 which promised so fair and happy a day : — with this they 
 contrasted the clouds and storms which the measure now 
 
 proposed was so well calculated to raise — and in which we 
 should not have even the poor consolation of being pitied by 
 the world, since we should have so needlessly and rashly 
 drawn them upon ourselves.” 
 
 These arguments and topics of persuasion were so well 
 justified by the appearance of things, and were moreover so 
 entirely in unison with that love of ease and quiet which is 
 natural to man, and that disposition to hope for happier times, 
 even under the most forbidding circumstances, that an ordi- 
 nary man, in Mr. Henry’s situation, would have been glad to 
 compound with the displeasure of the house, by being per- 
 mitted to withdraw his resolutions in silence/ 
 
 . 
 
 Not so Mr. Henry. His was a spirit fitted to raise the 
 whirlwind, as well as to ride in and direct it. His was that 
 comprehensive view, that unerring prescience, that perfect 
 command over the actions of men, which qualified him not 
 merely to guide, but almost to create the destinies of nations. 
 
 He rose at this time with a majesty unusual to him in an 
 exordium, and with all that self-possession by which he wii 
 
 "TT 12* 
 
138 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 so invariably distinguished. No man,” he said, “ thought 
 more highly than he did of the patriotism, as well as abili- 
 ties, of the very wortny gentlemen who had just addressed 
 the house. But different men often saw the same suoject in 
 different lights ; and, therefore, he hoped it would not be 
 thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as 
 he did, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, lie 
 should speak forth his sentiments freely, and- without reserve. 
 This,” he said, “ was ho time for ceremony. The question 
 before this house was one of awfful moment to the country. 
 For his own part, he considered it as nothing less than a 
 question of free dom or slavery. And in proportion to the 
 magnitude of the subject, ought to be the freedom of the 
 debate. It was only in this way that they could hope to ar- 
 rive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which they 
 held to God and their country. Should he keep back his 
 opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, he 
 should consider nimself as guilty of treason toward his coun- 
 try, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, 
 which He revered above all earthly kings.” 
 
 “ Mr. President,” said he, “ it is natural to man to indulge 
 m the illusions o f ho pe. We are apt to shut our eyes against 
 a painfuljruth — and listen to the song of that siren, till she 
 transforms us into beasts. Is this,” he asked, “ the part of 
 wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty ? 
 Were we disposed to be of the number of those, who having 
 eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which sc 
 nearly concern tHeir temporal salvation? For his part, what- 
 ever anguish of spirit it might cost, lie was willing to know 
 the whole truth ; to know the worst, and to provide for it” 
 ct He had,” he said, “ but one lamp by which his feet w^ere 
 guided; and that was the lamp of experience. H : knew 
 
14a 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming 
 on. We have petitioned — we have remonstrated — we have 
 supplicated — we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, 
 and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical 
 hands of the ministry and parliament Our petitions have 
 been slighted ; our remonstrances have produced additional 
 violence and insult ; our supplications have been disregard- 
 ed ; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the 5 foot 
 of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge 
 the fond hope of peace and reconcilation. There is no 
 longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free— if we 
 mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for 
 wind- we have been so long contending — if we mean not 
 basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been 
 so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never 
 to abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be 
 obtained— we must fight ! — I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! > 
 
 An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts, is all that is 
 left us !”* 
 
 “ They tell us, sir,” continued Mr. Henry, “ that we are 
 weak unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But 
 when shall we be stronger. Will it be the next week or 
 
 * “Imagine to yourself,” says my correspondent, (Judge Tucker.) 
 
 . 1 ls sentence delivered with all the calm dignity of Cato, of Utica 
 
 imagine to yourself the Roman senate, assembled in the capital, when 
 it was entered by the profane Gauls, who, at first, were awed bv their 
 presence, as if they had entered an assembly of the gods .'—imagine 
 that you heard that Cato addressing such a senate— imagine that vou 
 saw the handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar’s -alace— imagine 
 vou heard a voice as from heaven uttering tne .'torus. We must fishU 
 as the doom or fate, and you may have some idea of the speaker the 
 
 assembly to wnom he addressed himself, and the auditory, of which 
 l was one. ” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 139 
 
 ©f no way of judging of the future but by the past. And 
 judging by the past, he wished to know what there haq 1 
 been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten 
 years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen had been 
 pleased to solace themselves and the house ? Is it that in- 
 sidious smile with which our petition has been lately receiv- 
 ed ? Trust it not, sir ; it will prove a snare to your feet 
 Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask your 
 selves how this gracious reception of our petition comports 
 with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and 
 darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work 
 of love and reconciliation ? Have we shown ourselves so 
 unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to 
 win back our love ? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir 
 These are the implements of war and subjugation — the last 
 arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, 
 what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force 
 us to submission ? Can gentlemen assign any other possible 
 motive for it ? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quar- 
 er of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and 
 armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: 
 they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind 
 and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry 
 have been so long forging. And what have we oppose to 
 them ? Shall we try argument ? Sir, we have been trying 
 that for the last ten years. Have we any thing new to 
 offer upon the subject ? Nothing. We have held the sub- 
 ject up in every light of which it is capable ; but it has 
 been all in v lin Shall w^e resort to entreaty and humble 
 supplication? What terms shall we find, which have nor 
 been already exhausted ? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, } '■ 
 deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done every thing 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 141 
 
 the next year ? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, 
 and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house ? 
 Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction ? Shall 
 we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying su- 
 pinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of 
 hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot ? 
 Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those 
 means which the God of nature hath placed in our power 
 Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty 
 and in such a country as that which we possess, are invin- 
 cible by any force which our enemy can send against us. 
 Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is 
 a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, ana 
 who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The 
 battle, sir, is not to the strong alone ; it is to the vigilant, the 
 active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we 
 were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from 
 the contest There is no retreat but in submission and 
 slavery ! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be 
 heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable — and 
 let it come ! ! I repeat it, sir, let it come ! ! ! 
 
 “ It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may 
 cry, peace, peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually 
 begun ! The next gale that sweeps from the north will 
 bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Our breth- 
 ren are already in the field ! Why stand we here idle ? 
 What is it that gentlemen wish ? What would they have ? 
 Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the 
 price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God — I 
 kn (»w not what course others may take ; but as for me,” 
 cried lie, with both his arms extended aloft, his brows knit, 
 every feature marked with the resolute purpose of his soul 
 
142 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 and his voice swelled to its boldest note of exclamation— 
 “ give me liberty, or give me death !” 
 
 He took his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. Tne 
 effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several 
 members started from their seats. The cry, “ to arms P 
 seemed to quiver on every lip, and gleam from every eye* 
 Richard H. Lee arose and supported Mr. Henry, with his 
 usual spirit and elegance. But his melody was lost amid the 
 agitations of that ocean, which the master-spnit of the storm 
 had lifted up on high. That supernatural voice still sounded 
 in their ears, and shivered along their arteries. They heard, 
 in every pause, the cry of liberty or death. They became 
 impatient of speech — their souls were on fire for action.* 
 
 The resolutions were adopted ; and Patrick Henry, Rich- 
 ard H. Lee, Robert C. Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lem- 
 uel Riddick, George Washington, Adam Stevens, Andrew 
 
 * Mr. Randolph, in his manuscript history, has given a most elo- 
 quent and impressive account of this debate. Since these sheets were 
 prepared for the press, and at the moment of their departure from the 
 hands of the author, he has received from Chief Justice Marshall, a 
 note in relation to the same debate, which he thinks too interesting to 
 suppress. It is the substance oi a statement made to the chief justice 
 (then an ardent youth, feeling a most enthusiastic admiratiou of elo- 
 quence, and panting for war) by his father, who was a member of this 
 convention. Mr. Marshall, (the father,) after speaking of Mr. Henry’s 
 speech, “ as one of the most bold, vehement, and animated pieces of 
 eloquence that had ever been delivered,” proceeded to state, that “he 
 was followed by Mr. Richard H. Lee, who took a most interesting 
 view of our real situation. He stated the force which Britain could 
 probably bring to bear upon us, and reviewed our resources and means 
 of resistance. He stated the advantages and disadvantages of both 
 parties, and drew from this statement auspicious inferences. But he 
 concluded with saying, admitting the probable calculations to be 
 against us, we are assured in holy writ that £ the race is not to the 
 
143 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 Lewis, William Christian, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, and Isaac Zane, esquires, were appointed a commit- 
 tee to prepare the plan called for by the last resolution * 
 
 The constitution of this committee proves, that in {hose 
 days of genuine patriotism there existed a mutual and noble 
 confidence, which deemed the opponents of a measure no 
 less worthy than its friends to assist in its execution. A cor- 
 respondent,! who bore himself a most distinguished part in 
 our revolution, in speaking of the gentlemen whom I have 
 
 aS havin S °PP° sed Mr. Henry’s resolutions, and 
 of Mr. Wythe who acted with them, says: “These were 
 honest and able men, who had begun the opposition on the 
 same grounds, but with a moderation more adapted to theii 
 age and experience. Subsequent events favoured the bolder 
 spirits of Henry, the Lees, Pages, Mason, &c, with whom I 
 went, in all points. Sensible, however, of the importance of 
 unanimity among our constituents, although we often wished 
 
 swift nor the battle to the strong ; and if the language of genius may 
 be added to inspiration, I will say with our immortal bard _ 
 
 Thrice is he armed, who hath his quarrel just ' 
 
 And he but naked, though lock’d up in steel, 
 
 Whose conscience with injustice is oppress’d !’ '’ 
 
 * Colonel Robert Carter Nicholas (although opposed like all the 
 older patriots, from the considerations which have been stated in the 
 ’ f° r ® S ’f anCS at thls Particular point of time) was, nevertheless 
 
 “o? th f S ‘ SapP ° rterS ° f the Principles of the revolution. As 
 on therefore, as the measure of resistance was carried, in order to 
 e to it the greatest effect, he rose and moved to change the system 
 , instead of arming the militia, to raise ten thousand regulars for 
 war; but the motion was overruled. Chief Justice Marshal) 
 
 I have frequently heard my father speak of Colonel Nicholas’* 
 to raise ten thousand men for the war.” 
 
 t Mr. Jefferson. 
 
H4 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 to have gone on faster, we slackened our pace, that our less 
 ardent colleagues might keep up with us ; and they, on their 
 part, differing nothing from us in principle, quickened their 
 gait somewhat beyond that which their prudence might, 
 of itself, have advised, and thus consolidated the phalanx 
 which breasted the power of Britain. By this harmony of the 
 bold with the cautious, we advanced, with our constituents, 
 in undivided mass, and with fewer examples of separation 
 than perhaps existed in any other part of the union.” 
 
 The plan for imbodving, arming, and disciplining the mili- 
 tia, proposed by the committee which has just been men- 
 tioned, was received and adopted, and is in the following 
 erms : — 
 
 “ The committee propose that it be strongly recommended 
 to the colony, diligently to put in execution the militia law 
 passed in the year 1738, entitled, ‘An act for the better, regu- 
 lating of the militia,’ which has become in force by the expi- 
 ration of all subsequent militia laws. 
 
 “ The committee are further of opinion, that as, from the 
 expiration of the abovementioned laws, and various other 
 causes, the legal and necessary disciplining the militia has 
 been much neglected, and a proper provision of arms and 
 ammunition has not been made, to the evident danger of the 
 community, in case of invasion or insurrection ; that it be 
 recommended to the inhabitants of the several counties of, 
 this colony, that they form one or more volunteer companiei 
 of infantry and troops of horse in each county, and to be 
 constant training and readiness to act on any emergency. 
 
 “That it be recommended particularly to the coujj 
 of Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Chesterfield, Henrico, Hai 
 Spotsylvania, King George, and Stafford, and to all 
 below these, that, out of such of their volunteers, the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 145 
 
 each of them, one or more troops of horse ; and to all the 
 counties above these, it is recommended that they pay a more 
 particular attention to forming a good infantry. 
 
 “ That each company of infantry consist of sixty-eight, 
 rank and file, to be commanded by one captain, two lieuten- 
 ants, one ensign, four sergeants, and four corporals ; and 
 that they have a drummer, and be furnished with a drum 
 and colours ; that every man be provided with a good rifle, 
 if to be had, or otherwise with a common firelock, bayonet, 
 and cartouch-box, and also with a tomahawk, one pound of 
 gunpowder, and four pounds of ball at least, fitted to the bore 
 of his gun; that he be clothed in a hunting-shirt, by way of 
 uniform ; and that he use all endeavour, as soon as possible, 
 to become acquainted with the military exercise for infantry, 
 appointed to be used by his majesty in the year 1764. 
 
 “ That each troop of horse consist of thirty, exclusive 
 of officers ; that every horseman be provided with a good 
 horse, bridle, saddle, with pistols and holsters, a carbine 
 or other short firelock, with a bucket, a cutting-sword or 
 tomahawk, one pound of gunpowder, and four pounds of ball, 
 at least ; and use the utmost diligence in training and accus- 
 toming his horse to stand the discharge of firearms, and in 
 making himself acquainted with the military exercise for 
 cavalry. 
 
 “ That in order to make a further and more ample provis- 
 ion of ammunition, it be recommended to the committees of 
 the several counties, that they collect from their constituents 
 in such manner as shall be most agreeable to them, so much 
 money as will be sufficient to purchase half a pound of gun- 
 powder, one pound of lead, necessary flints and cartridge- 
 paper, for every titheable person in their county ; that they 
 immediately take effectual measures for the procuring such 
 T 13 
 
146 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 gunpowder, lead, flints, and cartridge-paper, and dispose 
 thereof, when procured, in such place or places of safety as 
 they may think best : and it is earnestly recommended to 
 each individual to pay such proportion of the money neces- 
 sary for these purposes, as by the respective committees shall 
 be judged requisite. 
 
 “ That as it may happen that some counties, from their 
 situation, may not be apprized of the most certain and speedy 
 method of procuring the articles before-mentioned, one gene- 
 ral committee should be appointed, whose business it should 
 be, to procure for such counties as may make application to 
 them, such articles, and so much thereof, as the moneys 
 wherewith they shall furnish the said committee will purchase, 
 after deducting the charges of transportation, and other neces- 
 sary expenses.” 
 
 At the same session of the convention, 1 find that the alert 
 and inquiring spirit of Mr. Henry laid hold of another in- 
 stance of royal misrule. Governor Dunmore, it seems, by a 
 recent proclamation, had declared, that his majesty had given 
 orders for all vacant lands within this colony to be put up in 
 lots at public sale ; and that the highest bidder for such lots 
 should be the purchaser thereof, and should hold the same, 
 subject to a reservation of one halfpenny per acre, by way of 
 annual quitrent, and of all mines of gold, silver, and precious 
 stones. These terms were deemed an innovation on the es- 
 tablished usage of granting lands in this colony ; and this sa- 
 gacious politician saw in the proceeding, not only an usurpa- 
 tion of power, but a great subduction of the natural wealth of 
 the colony, and the creation, moreover, of a separate band of 
 tenants and retainers, devoted to the vilest measures of the 
 crown. With a view, therefore, to defeat this measure, hs 
 moved the following resolution, which was adopted * — 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 1 17 
 
 “ Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire 
 whether his majesty may of right advance the terms of grant- 
 ing lands in this colony, and make report thereof to the next 
 general, assembly or convention ; and that in the meantime 
 it be recommended to all persons whatever, to forbear pui- 
 chasing or accepting lands on the conditions before mention- 
 ed.” Of this committee he was of course the chairman ; and 
 the other members were Richard Bland, Thomas Jefferson, 
 Robert C. Nicholas, and Edmund Pendleton, esquires. 
 
 The convention having adopted a plan for the encourage- 
 ment of arts and manufactures in this colony, and reappoint- 
 ed their former deputies to the continental congress, with the 
 substitution of Mr. Jefferson for Mr. Peyton Randolph, in 
 case of the non-attendance of the latter ;* and having also 
 provided for a re-election of delegates to the next convention 
 came to an adjournment.! 
 
 * He was speaker of the house of burgesses, a call of which was 
 expected, and did accordingly take place. 
 
 t It is curious to read in the file of papers from which the foregoing 
 proceedings are extracted, and immediately following them this pro- 
 clamation of his Excellency Lord Dunmore : — 
 
 “Whereas, certain persons, styling themselves delegates of several 
 of his majesty’s colonies in America, have presumed, without his 
 majesty’s authority or consent, to assemble together at Philadelphia, in 
 the months of September and October last, and have thought fit, 
 among other unwarrantable proceedings, to resolve that it will be 
 necessary that another congress should be held at the same place on the 
 10th of May next, unless redress of certain pretended grievances he 
 obtained before that time : and to recommend that all the colonies of 
 North America should choose deputies to attend such congress : I am 
 commanded by the Icing , and I do accordingly issue this my proclama- 
 tion, to require all magistrates and other officers to use their utmost 
 endeavours to prevent any such appointment of deputies, and to ex- 
 
148 
 
 IATRICK HENRY 
 
 hort all persons whatever within this government, to desist from such 
 an unjustifiable proceeding, so highly displeasing to his majesty/’ 
 This proclamation was published while the convention was in ses- 
 sion, and was obviously designed to have an effect on their proceed- 
 ings. It passed by them, however, “as the idle wind which they re- 
 garded not.” The age of proclamations was gone, and the glory of 
 regal governors pretty nearly extinguished for ever. 
 
 It ought not to be omitted, however, that this very convention pass- 
 ed resolutions complimentary to Lord Dunmore, and the troops which 
 he had commanded in an expedition of the preceding year against 
 the Indians : a compliment which, as we shall see, was afterward 
 found to be unmerited. As the resolution in regard to Lord Dunmore 
 does honour to the candour of the convention, and shows also how 
 little personality there was in the contest, I take leave to subjoin it : — 
 “ Resolved, unanimously , That the most cordial thanks of the peo- 
 ple of this colony are a tribute justly due to our worthy governor, Lord 
 Dunmore, for his truly noble, wise, and spirited conduct, on the late 
 expedition against our Indian enemy — a conduct which at once evinces 
 his excellency’s attention to the true interests of this colony, and a 
 zeal in the executive department which no dangers can divert, or dif- 
 ficulties hinder, from achieving the most important services to the 
 people who have the happiness to live under his administration.” 
 Lord Dunmore was not a man of popular manners ; he had nothing 
 of the mildness, the purity, the benevolence and suavity of his prede- 
 cessor. On the contrary, he is represented as having been rude and 
 offensive ; coarse in his figure, his countenance, and his manners. Yet 
 he received from the house of burgesses the most marked respect. 
 Thus, in 1774, while the liberties of the colonies were bleeding at 
 every pore, and while the house was smarting severely, under the re- 
 cent news of the occlusion of the port of Boston, they paid to Lady 
 Dunmore, who had just arrived at Williamsburg, the most cordial and 
 elegant attentions, congratulated his lordship on this increase to his 
 domestic felicity; and even, after their abrupt dissolution, compli- 
 mented the inhabitants of the palace with a splendid ball and enter- 
 tainment, in honour of the arrival of the Countess Dunmore and hef 
 .araily. 
 
SECTION 
 
 Tns storm of the revolution now began to tmcken. The 
 cloud of war had actually burst on the New England states, 
 while as yet the middle and southern colonies were in com 
 parative repose. The calm, however, was deceitful, and of 
 short duration ; and, as far as V irginia was concerned, had 
 been occasioned rather by the absence of Governor Dunmore 
 on an Indian expedition, than any disposition on his part to 
 favour the colony. His return to Williamsburg was the 
 signal for violence. 
 
 It seems to have been a matter of concert among the colo- 
 nial governors, if indeed the policy was not dictated by the 
 British court, to disarm the people of all the colonies at one 
 and the same time, and thus incapacitate them for united 
 resistance. 
 
 To give effect to this measure, the export of powder from 
 Great Britain was prohibited ; and an attempt was generally 
 made about the same period to seize the powder and arms 
 in the several provincial magazines. Gage, the successor of 
 Hutchinson in the government of Massachusetts, set the ex- 
 ample, by a seizure of the ammunition and military stores at 
 Cambridge, and the powder in the magazines at Charlestown, 
 and other places. His example was followed by similar 
 attempts in other colonies to the north. And on Thursday, 
 the 20th of April, 1775, Captain Henry Collins, of the arm- 
 ed schooner Magdalen, then lying at Burwell’s ferry, ou 
 James river, came up at the head of a body of marines 
 149 13* 
 
150 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 and, acting under the orders of Lord Dunmore, entered th* 
 city of Williamsburg in the dead of the night, and carried 
 off from the public magazine about twenty barrels of pow 
 der, which he placed on board his schooner before the break 
 of day. Clandestine as the movement had been, the alarm 
 was given to the inhabi^nts early on the next morning. 
 Their exasperation may be easily conceived. The town was 
 in tumult. A considerable body of them flew to arms, with 
 the determination to compel Capt. Collins to restore the pow- 
 der. With much difficulty, however, they were restrained 
 by the graver inhabitants of the town, and by the members 
 of the common council, who assured them that proper meas 
 ures should be immediately used to produce a restoration of 
 the powder, without the effusion of human blood. The coun- 
 cil, therefore, met in their corporate character, and addressed 
 the following letter to Governor Dunmore : — 
 
 1 To his Excellency the Right Hon. John, Earl of Dunmore, 
 his majesty’s lieutenant, governor-general, and commandei- 
 in-chief of the colony and dominion of Virginia : — The hum 
 ble address of the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common 
 council of the city of Williamsburg : — 
 
 “ My Lord — We, his majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects, 
 die mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council of the 
 city of Williamsburg, in common hall assembled, humbly 
 beg leave to represent to your excellency, that the inhabitants 
 of this city were this morning exceedingly alarmed by a report 
 that a large quantity of gunpowder was, in the preceding night, 
 while they were sleeping in their beds, removed from the 
 public magazine in this city, and conveyed, under an escort 
 of marines, on board one of his majesty’s armed vessels lying 
 at * ferry on James river. 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 151 
 
 “We jeg leave to represent to your excellency, that, a§ 
 the magazine was erected at the public expense of this 
 colony, and appropriated to the safe-keeping of such munition 
 as should be there lodged, from time to time, for the protec- 
 tion and security of the country, by arming thereout such of 
 the militia as might be necessary in cases of invasions and 
 nsurrections, they humbly conceive it to be the only proper 
 repository to be resorted to in times of imminent danger. 
 
 “We further beg leave to inform your excellency, that 
 from various reports at present prevailing in different parts 
 of the country, we have too much reason to believe that some 
 wicked and designing persons have instilled the most diabol- 
 ical notions into the minds of our slaves ; and that, therefore, 
 the utmost attention to our internal security is become the 
 more necessary. 
 
 “ The circumstances of this city, my lord, we consider as 
 peculiar and critical. The inhabitants, from the situation of 
 the magazine in the midst of their city, have for a long tract 
 of time, been exposed to all those dangers which have hap- 
 pened in many countries from explosions, and other acci- 
 dents. They have, from time to time, thought if incumbent 
 on them to guard the magazine. For their security they 
 have, for some time past, judged it necessary to keep strong 
 patrols on foot ; in their present circumstances, then, to have 
 the chief and necessary means of their defence removed, 
 cannot but be extremely alarming. 
 
 “ Considering ourselves as guardians of the city, we there 
 fore humbly desire to be informed by your excellency, upon 
 what motives, and for what particular purpose, the powder 
 has been carried off in such a manner ; and we earnestly 
 Entreat your excellency to order it to be immediately return 
 ed to the magazine.” 
 
*52 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 To which his excellency returned this verbal answer : — 
 
 “ That hearing of an insurrection in a neighbouring coun- 
 ty, he had removed the powder from the magazine, where 
 he did not think it secure, to a place of perfect security ; and 
 that, upon his word and honour , whenever it was wanted 
 on any insurrection, it should be delivered in half an hour ; 
 that he had removed it in the night-time, to prevent any 
 alarm, and that Captain Collins had his express commands 
 for the part he had acted ; he was surprised to hear the peo- 
 ple were under arms on this occasion, and that he should 
 not think it prudent to put powder into their hands in such 
 a situation.” 
 
 This conditional promise of the return of the powder, sup- 
 ported by the influence of Mr. Peyton Randolph, Mr. Robert 
 C. Nicholas, and other characters of weight, had the effect, 
 it seems, of quieting the inhabitants for that day. On the 
 succeeding night, however, a new alarm took place, on a 
 report that a number of armed men had again landed from 
 the Magdalen, about four miles below the city, with a view, 
 it was presumed, of making another visit of nocturnal plunder. 
 The inhabitants again flew to arms ; but, on the interposition 
 of the same eminent citizens, the ferment was allayed, and 
 nothing more was done than to strengthen the usual patrol 
 for the defence of the city. On the next day, Saturday 
 the 22d of April, when every thing was perfectly quiet, 
 Lord Dunmore, with rather more heat than discretion, sent a 
 message into the city, by one of the magistrates, and which 
 his lordship had delivered with the most solemn assevera- 
 tions, that if any insult were offered to Capt. Foy, (a British 
 captain residing at the palace, as his secretary, and consider- 
 ed to be the instigator of the governor to his viclences,) or 
 to Capt. Collins, he would declare freedom to the slaves , 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 155 
 
 *nd lay the town in ashes ; and he added, that he could 
 easily depopulate the whole country. At this time, both 
 Capt. Foy and Collins were and had been continually walk- 
 ing the streets, at their pleasure, without the slightest indi- 
 cation of disrespect. The effect of a threat, so diabolically 
 ferocious, directed towards the people who had ever shown 
 him and his family such enthusiastic marks of respect and 
 attention, and following so directly the plunder of the maga- 
 zine, will be readily conceived. Yet it broke not out into any 
 open act. His lordship remained unmolested even by a dis- 
 respectful look. The augmented patrol was kept up ; but 
 no defensive preparation was made by the inhabitants of 
 the city. 
 
 The transactions which were passing in the metropolis 
 circulated through the country with a rapidity proportioned 
 to their interest, and with this farther aggravation, which was 
 also true in point of fact, that in addition to the clandestine 
 removal of the powder, the governor had caused the muskets 
 in the magazine to be stripped of their locks. 
 
 In the midst of the irritation excited by this intelligence, 
 came the news of the bloody battles of Lexington and Con- 
 cord, resulting from an attempt of the governor-general Gage, 
 to seize the military stores deposited at the latter place. 
 The system of colonial subjugation was now apparent : the 
 effect was instantaneous. The whole country flew to arms. 
 The independent companies, formed in happier times for the 
 purpose of military discipline, and under the immediate aus 
 pices of Lord Dunmore himself, raised the standard of liberty 
 m every county. By the 27th of April, there was assembled 
 at Fredericksburg upwards of seven hundred men well-arm- 
 ed and discipline!, “ friends of constitutional liberty and 
 America.’ T^eii :narch, however, was arrested by ? lettei 
 U 
 
154 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 from Mr. Peyton Randolph, in reply to an express, and re- 
 ceived on the 29th, by which they were informed that the 
 gentlemen of the city and neighbourhood of Williamsburg, 
 nad had full assurance from his excellency, that the affair of 
 the powder should be accommodated, and advising that the 
 gentlemen of Fredericksburg should proceed no farther. — 
 On the receipt of this letter, a council was htid of one hun- 
 dred and two members, delegates of the provincial conven- 
 tion, and officers and special deputies of fourteen companies 
 of light-horse, then rendezvoused on the ground ; who, after 
 the most spirited expression of their sentiments on the con- 
 duct of the governor, and after giving a mutual pledge to 
 be in readiness at a moment’s warning, to reassemble, and 
 by force of arms to defend the laws, the liberty, and rights 
 of this or any sister-colony from unjust and wicked invasion, 
 advised the return of the several companies to their respec- 
 tive homes ; and also ordered that expresses should be de- 
 spatched to the troops assembled at the Bowling Green, and 
 also to the companies from Frederick, Berkley, Dunmore, 
 and such other counties as were then on their march, to re- 
 turn them thanks for their cheerful offers of service, and to 
 acquaint them with the determination then taken. By way 
 of parody on the governor’s conclusion of the proclamations, 
 by which he was striving to keep down the spirit of the 
 country, “ God save the king,” the council concluded their 
 address with “ God save the liberties of America.” 
 
 Mr. Henry, however, was not disposed to let this incident 
 pass off so lightly. His was a mind that watched events 
 with the coolness and sagacity of a veteran statesman. He 
 kindled, indeed, in the universal indignation which the con- 
 duct of the governor was so well calculated to excite ; seeing 
 clearly the inconvenience which the colony must experience 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 155 
 
 in tne approaching contest, from the loss of even that small 
 store of ammunition. This, however, was a minor object in 
 his esteem. What he deemed of much higher importance 
 was, that that blow , which must be struck sooner or later, 
 should be struck at once , before an overwhelming force should 
 enter the colony ; that that habitual deference and subjection 
 which the people were accustomed to feel toward the gover- 
 nor, as the representative of royalty, and which bound their 
 spirits in a kind of torpid spell, should be dissolved and dis- 
 sipated ; that the military resources of the country should 
 be developed; that the people might see and feel their 
 strength by being brought out together : that the revolution 
 should be set in actual motion in the colony ; that the martial 
 prowess of the country should be awakened, and the soldiery 
 animated by that proud and resolute confidence, which a sue 
 cessful enterprise in the commencement of a contest never 
 fails to inspire. These sentiments were then avowed by him 
 to two confidential friends ;* to whom he farther declared 
 that he considered the outrage on the magazine a most for- 
 tunate circumstance ; and as one which would rouse the peo 
 pie from north to south. “You may in vain talk to them,” 
 said he, “ about the duties on tea, &c. These things will 
 not affect them. They depend on principles too abstracted 
 for their apprehension and feeling. But tell them of the rob- 
 bery of the magazine, and that the next step will be to dis- 
 arm them, you bring the subject home to their bosoms, and 
 they will be ready to fly to arms to defend themselves.” 
 
 To make of this circumstance all the advantage which 
 he contemplated, as soon as the intelligence reached him 
 
 * Col. Richard Morris and Captain George Dabney; on th* 
 authority of Mr. Dabney. 
 
156 
 
 wirt’s life o * 
 
 from Williamsburg, he sent express riders to the members of 
 the Independent Company of Hanover, who were dispersed 
 and resided in different parts of the country, requesting them 
 to meet him in arms, at New Castle, on the second of May, 
 on business of the highest importance to American liberty 
 In order to give greater dignity and authority to the decisions 
 of that meeting, he convoked to the same place the county 
 committee. When assembled, he addressed them with an 
 the powers of his eloquence ; laid open the plan on which 
 the British ministry had fallen to reduce the colonies to sub- 
 jection, by robbing them of all the means of defending their 
 rights; spread before their eyes, in colours of vivid descrip- 
 tion, the fields of Lexington and Concord, still floating with 
 the blood of their countrymen, gloriously shed in the general 
 cause ; showed them that the recent plunder of the magazine 
 in Williamsburg was nothing more than a part of the gene- 
 ral system of subjugation ; that the moment was now come 
 in which they were called upon to decide, whether they 
 chose to live free, and hand down the noble inheritance to 
 their children, or to become hewers of wood, and drawers of 
 water to those lordlings, who were themselves the tools of a 
 corrupt and tyrannical ministry — he painted the country in a 
 state of subjugation, and drew such pictures of wretched de- 
 basement and abject vassalage, as filled their souls with hor- 
 ror and indignation — on the other hand, he carried them, by 
 the powers of his eloquence, to an eminence like Mount Pis- 
 gah ; showed them the land of promise, which was to be won 
 by their valour, under the support and guidance of Heaven , 
 and sketched a vision of America, enjoying the smiles of 
 liberty and peace, the rich productions of her agriculture 
 waving on every field, her commerce whitening every sea, 
 in teints so bright, so strong, so glowing, as set the *ou!s of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 15 ' 
 
 his hearers on fire. He had no doubt, he said, that that God, 
 who m former ages had hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he 
 might show forth his power and glory in the redemption of 
 his chosen people, had, for similar jmrposes, permitted the 
 flagrant outrages which had occurred in Williamsburg, and 
 throughout the continent. It was for them now to deter 
 mine, whether they were worthy of this divine interference 
 whether they would accept the high boon now held out to 
 them by Heaven — that if they would, though it might lead 
 them through a sea of blood, they were to remember that the 
 same God whose power divided the Red sea for the deliver- 
 ance of Israel, still reigned in all his glory, unchanged and 
 unchangeable — was still the enemy of the oppressor, and the 
 friend of the oppressed— that he would cover them from their 
 enemies by a pillar of cloud by day, and guide their feet 
 through the night by a pillar of fire — that for his own part, 
 he was anxious that his native county should distinguish 
 itself in this grand career of liberty and glory, and snatch the 
 noble prize which was now offered to their grasp — that no 
 time was to be lost — that their enemies in this colony were 
 now few and weak — that it would be easy for them, by a 
 rapid and vigorous movement, to compel the restoration of 
 the powder which had been carried off, or to make a reprisal 
 on the king’s revenues in the hands of the receiver-general, 
 which would fairly balance the account — that the Hanover 
 volunteers would thus have an opportunity of striking the 
 first blow in this colony, in the great cause of American 
 liberty, and would cover themselves with never-fading laurels. 
 
 These were heads of his harangue. I presume not to 
 give the colouring. That was Mr. Henry’s own, and beyond 
 the power of any man’s imitation. The effect, however, was 
 equal to hi? wishes. The meeting was in a flame, and 
 
 14 
 
*58 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 decision immediately taken, that the powder should be re 
 trieyed, or counterbalanced by a reprisal. 
 
 C-apt. Samuel Meredith, who had heretofore commanded 
 the Independent Company, resigned his commission in Mr. 
 Henry’s favour, and the latter gentleman was immediately 
 invested with the chief command of the Hanover volunteers. 
 Mr. Meredith accepted the commission of lieutenant ; and 
 the present Col. Parke Goodall was appointed the ensign of 
 the company. Having received orders from the committee, 
 correspondent with his own suggestions, Capt. Henry forth- 
 with took up his line of March for Williamsburg. Ensign 
 Goodall was detached, with a party of sixteen men, to cross 
 the river into King William county, the residence of Richard 
 Corbin, the king’s receiver-general ; to demand from him 
 three hundred and thirty pounds, the estimated value of the 
 powder ; and, in the event of his refusal, to make him a 
 prisoner. He was ordered, in this case, to treat his person 
 with all possible respect and tenderness, and to bring him to 
 Doncastle’s ordinary, about sixteen miles above Williams- 
 burg, where the ensign was required, at all events, to rejoin 
 the main body. The detachment, in pursuance of their or- 
 ders, reached the residence of the receiver-general some hours 
 after bedtime, and a guard was stationed around the house 
 until morning. About daybreak, however, the ladies of the 
 family made their appearance, and gave the commanding 
 officer of the detachment the firm and correct assurance, that 
 Col. Corbin was not at home ; but that the house, neverthe- 
 less, was open to search, if it was the pleasure of the officer 
 to make it. The manner of the assurance, however, was 
 too satisfactory to render this necessary, and the detachment 
 hastened to form the junction with the main body which had 
 been ordered. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 158 
 
 In the meantime, the march of his gallant corps, in arms, 
 headed by a man of Mr. Henry’s distinction, produced the 
 most striking effects in every quarter. Correspondent com- 
 panies started up on al] sides, and hastened to throw them* 
 selves under the banners of Henry. It is believed that five 
 thousand men at least, were in arms, and were crossing the 
 country to crowd around his standard, and support it with 
 their lives. The march was conducted in the most perfect 
 order, and with the most scrupulous respect to the country 
 through which they passed. The ranks of the royalists 
 were filled with dismay. Lady Dunmore, with her family, 
 retired to the Fowey man of war, then lying off the town of 
 Little York. Even the patriots in Williamsburg were daunt- 
 ed by the boldness, and, as they deemed it, the rashness of 
 the enterprise. Messenger after messenger was despatched 
 to meet Mr. Henry on the way, and beg him to desist from 
 his purpose, and discharge his men. It was in vain. He 
 was inflexibly resolved to effect the purpose of his expedition 
 or to perish in the attempt. The messengers were therefore 
 detained, that they might* not report his strength; and the 
 march was continued with all possible celerity. The gov- 
 ernor issued a proclamation, in which he denounced the 
 movement, and called upon the people of the country to 
 resist it. He could as easily have called “ spirits from the vasty 
 deep.” He seems not to have relied much, himself, on the 
 efficacy of his proclamation. The palace was therefore filled 
 with arms, and a detachment of marines ordered up from the 
 Fowey. Before daybreak, on the morning of the 4th of 
 May, Captain Montague, the commander of that ship, land- 
 ed a party of men, with the following, letter, addressed to 
 the Honourable Thomas Nelson, the president of his ma 
 estv’s ccunc 1 : — 
 
160 
 
 WIRT'S LiFE OF 
 
 “ Fowey, May 4th, 1775. 
 
 “ Sir 
 
 “ I have this morning received certain information that his 
 excellency Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, is threaten 
 ed with an attack at daybreak, this morning, at his palace 
 in Williamsburg, and have thought proper to send a detach- 
 ment from his majesty’s ship under my command, to sup- 
 port his excellency : therefore strongly pray you to make use 
 of every endeavour to prevent the party from being molested 
 and attacked, as in that case I must be under a necessity to 
 fire upon this town. From 
 
 “ George Montague.” 
 
 Lord Dunmore, however, thought better of this subject, 
 and caused Mr. Henry to be met at Doncastle’s, about sun- 
 rise on the same morning, with the receiver-general’s bill of 
 exchange, for the sum required. It was accepted as a satis- 
 faction for the powder, and the following receipt was passed 
 by Mr. Henry : — 
 
 “ Doncastle's Ordinary , New Kent , May 4, 1775. — Receiv 
 ed from the Hon. Richard Corbin, Esq., his majesty’s receiver- 
 general, 330Z. as a compensation for the gunpowder lately 
 taken out of the public magazine by the governor’s order; 
 which money I promise to convey to the Virginia delegates at 
 the general congress, to be, under their direction, laid out 
 in gunpowder for the colony’s use, and to be stored as they 
 shall direct, until the next colony convention, or general 
 assembly; unless it shall be necessary, in the meantime, to 
 use the same in the defence of this colony. It is agreed, that 
 in rase the next convention shall determine that a? y part of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 161 
 
 the said money ought to be returned to his majesty’s saic 
 receiver-general, that the same shall be done accordingly. 
 
 “ Patrick Henry, jun. 
 
 “ Test — Samuel Meredith, 
 
 Parke Goodall.” 
 
 The march of the marines from the Fowey had, however, 
 produced the most violent commotion both in York* and 
 
 * a The town of York being somewhat alarmed by a letter from 
 Captain Montague, commander of his majesty’s ship the Fowey, ad- 
 dressed to the Hon. Thomas Nelson, esquire, president of his ma- 
 jesty’s council in Virginia; and a copy of said letter being procured 
 a motion was made, that the copy should be laid before the committee 
 and considered. The copy was read, and is as follows : — 
 
 “ £ Fowey , May 4, 1775. 
 
 “ ‘ Sir, 
 
 “ C I have this morning received certain information that his excel- 
 lency the Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, is threatened with an 
 attack at daybreak this morning, at his palace in Williamsburg, anc 
 have thought proper to send a detachment from his majesty’s ship 
 under my command to support his excellency; therefore, strongly pray 
 you to make use of every endeavour to prevent the party from being 
 molested and attacked, as in that case I must be under the necessity 
 to fire upon this town. From George Montague. 
 
 “ ‘ To the Hon. Thomas Nelson .’ 
 
 “ The committee, together with Capt. Montague’s letter taking into 
 consideration the time of its being sent, which was too late to permit 
 the president to use his influence, had the inhabitants been disposed 
 to molest and attack the detachment ; and further considering that 
 Col. Nelson, who, had this threat been carried into execution, must 
 have been a principal sufferer, was at that very moment exerting his 
 utmost endeavours in behalf of government, and the safety of his ex- 
 cellency’s person, unanimously come to the following resolutions 
 
 “ Resolved, That Capt. Montague, in threatening to fire jpon a 
 defenceless town, in case of an attack upon the detachmeht, in which 
 
 X 14* 
 
162 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 Williamsburg, Mr. Henry himself seemed to apprehend that 
 the public treasury would be the next object of depredation, 
 and that a pretext would be sought for it in the reprisal 
 which had just been made. He therefore addressed, from 
 Doncastle’s, the following letter to Robert Carter Nicholas 
 esquire, the treasurer of the colony 
 
 “ May 4, 1775. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ The affair of the powder is now settled, so as to produce 
 satisfaction to me, and I earnestly wish to the colony in gene 
 ral. The people here have it in charge from Hanover com’ 
 mittee, to tender their service to you, as a public officer, for 
 the purpose of escorting the public treasury to any place in 
 this colony, where the money would be judged more safe 
 than in the city of Williamsburg. The reprisal now made 
 by the Hanover volunteers, though accomplished in a man- 
 ner less liable to the imputation of violent extremity, may 
 possibly be the cause of future injury to the treasury. If, 
 therefore, you apprehend the least danger, a sufficient guard 
 is at your service. I beg the return of the bearer may be 
 
 said town might not he concerned, has testified a spirit of cruelty un- 
 precedented in the annals of civilized times ; that, in his late notice to 
 the president, he has added insult to cruelty; and that, considering 
 the circumstances already mentioned, of one of the most consideraole 
 inhabitants of said town, he has discovered the most hellish princi- 
 ples that can actuate a human mind. 
 
 “ Resolved, That it be recommended to the inhabitants of this town, 
 and to the country in general, that they do not entertain or show any 
 other mark of civility to Capt. Montague, besides what common de- 
 cency and absolute necessity require. 
 
 “ Resolved, That the clerk do transmit the above proceeding? to 
 lie public printers to be inserted in the Virginia gazettes. 
 
 (A true copy.) 
 
 “William Russell, Clk. Com 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 1G3 
 
 instant, because the men wish to know their destination 
 With great regard, I am, sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 “ Patrick Henry, jun.” 
 
 To this letter an answer was received from Mr. Nicholas 
 importing that he had no apprehension of the necessity, or 
 propriety of the proffered service : and Mr. Henry under- 
 standing, also, that the private citizens of Williamsburg were 
 in a great measure quieted from their late fears for their per 
 sons and property, judged it proper to proceed no farther 
 Their expedition having been crowned with success, the 
 volunteers returned in triumph to their respective homes 
 The committee of Hanover again met ; gave them their 
 warmest thanks for the vigour and propriety with which they 
 had conducted the enterprise ; and returned their acknov. 
 ledgments, in suitable terms, to the many volunteers of th^ 
 different counties, who joined and were marching, and ready 
 to co-operate with the volunteer company of Hanover. 
 
 Two days after the return of the volunteers, and when all 
 was again quiet, the governor thundered the following ana- 
 thema from the palace : — 
 
 “ By his excellency, the Right Hon. John, Earl of Dun 
 more, his majesty’s lieutenant and governor-general of the 
 colony and dominion of Virginia, and vice-admiral of the 
 same : — 
 
 “a proclamation. 
 
 1 Virginia, to wit : — 
 
 “ Whereas, I have been informed, from undoubted authority 
 that a certain Patrick Henry , of the county of Hanover, 
 Rnd a number of deluded followers, have taken up arms 
 
164 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 chosen their officers, and styling themselves an Independen 
 Company, have marched out of their county, encamped and 
 put themselves in a posture of war ; and have written and 
 despatched letters to divers parts of the country, exciting 
 the people to join in these outrageous and rebellious prac 
 tices, to the great terror of all his majesty’s faithful subjects, 
 and in open defiance of law and government ; and have 
 committed other acts of violence, particularly in extorting 
 from his majesty’s receiver-general the sum of three hundred 
 and thirty pounds, under pretence of replacing the powder I 
 thought proper to order from the magazine : whence it unde- 
 niably appears, that there is no longer the least security for 
 the life or property of any man ; wherefore I have thought 
 proper with the advice of his majesty’s council, and in his 
 majesty’s name, to issue this my proclamation, strictly char- 
 ging all persons upon their allegiance, not to aid, abet, or give 
 countenance to the said Patrick Henry, or any other persons 
 concerned in such unwarrantable combinations ; but, on the 
 contrary, to oppose them and their designs by every means , 
 which designs must otherwise inevitably involve the whole 
 country in the most direful calamity, as they will call for the 
 vengeance of offended majesty, and the insulted laws, to be 
 exerted here to vindicate the constitutional authority of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 “ Given under my hand and the seal of the coiony, ai 
 Williamsburg, this Gth day of May, 1775, and in the 
 15th year of his majesty’s ^ign. 
 
 “ Dunmore. 
 
 “ God save the King.” 
 
 But Lord Dunm ore’s threats and denunciations had no 
 other effec* than to render more conspicuous and more hon- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 165 
 
 ourable the man who was the object of them. Mr. Henry, 
 who had been on the point of setting out for congress at the 
 time when he had been called off bv the intelligence from 
 Williamsburg, now resumed his journey, and was escorted 
 in triumph by a large party of gentlemen, as far as Hooe’s 
 ferry, on the Potomac. Messengers were sent after him 
 from all directions, bearing the thanks and the applauses of 
 his. assembled countrymen, for his recent enterprise ; and in 
 such throngs did these addresses come, that the necessity of 
 halting to read and answer them converted a journey of one 
 day into a triumph of many Thus, the sataie man, whose 
 genius had in the year 1765 given the first political impulse 
 to the revolution, had now the additional honoui of heading 
 the first military movement in Virginia, in support of the 
 came cause 
 
SECTION VI. 
 
 I cannot learn that Mr. Henry distinguished himself 
 peculiarly at this session of congress. The spirit of resistance 
 was sufficiently excited ; and nothing remained but to organ- 
 ize that resistance, and to plan and execute the details 
 which were to give it effect. In business of this nature, Mr* 
 Henry, as we have seen, was not efficient. It has been al- 
 ready stated that he was unsuccessful in composition, of 
 which much was done, and eminently done, at this session ; 
 and the lax habits of his early life had implanted in him an 
 insuperable aversion to the drudgery of details. He could not 
 endure confinement of any sort, nor the labour of close and 
 solitary tnmking. His habits were all social, and his mind 
 delighted in unlimited range. His conclusions were never 
 reached by an elaborate deduction of thought ; he gained 
 them as it were per saltum ; yet with a certainty not less 
 infallible than that of the driest and severest logician. It is 
 not wonderful, therefore, that he felt himself lost amid the 
 operations in which congress was now engaged, and that 
 he enjoyed the relief which was afforded him, by a military 
 appointment from his native state. It will be proper, how- 
 ever, to explain particularly the proceedings which led to 
 this incident in the life of Mr. Henry. 
 
 Shortly after the affair of the gunpowder, Lord Noith’s 
 toncihatory proposition, popularly called the Olive Branch 
 166 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 167 
 
 arrived in America. Hereupon the governor of Virginia 
 called a meeting of the house of burgesses ; and as if the 
 quarrel were now completely over, Lady Dunmore and her 
 family returned fiom the Fowey to the palace * 
 
 On Thursday, the first of June, the general assembly, ac- 
 cording to the proclamation of Lord Dunmore, met at the 
 capitol in the city of Williamsburg. He addressed them 
 with great earnestness on the alarming state of the colony ; 
 and exhibited the conciliatory proposition of the British 
 ministry, as an advance on the part of the mother-country 
 which it was the duty of the colonists to meet with gratitude 
 
 * If an estimate may be formed from the newspapers of the day, into 
 which the people seem to have poured their feelings without reserve, 
 that lady was eminently a favourite in this colony. Her residence 
 here had been short ; yet the exalted virtues which marked her char- 
 acter, and those domestic graces and attractions which shone with the 
 more lustre by contrast with his lordship, had already endeared her to 
 tne people ; and would have consecrated her person, and those of her 
 children, amid the wildest tumult to which this colony could possibly 
 be excited. The people had been extremely wounded by her late de- 
 parture for the Fowey : they considered it as a measure of his lord- 
 ship, and as an unjust reflection both upon the judgment and generos- 
 ity of the people of this country. They had told him intelligibly 
 enough, that they had formed a much more correct estimate of her 
 worth than he himself appeared to have done ; and that so far from 
 her being insecure in the bosom of a people who thus admired, re- 
 spected, and loved her, his lordship would have acted much more 
 wisely to have kept her near his person, and covered himself under 
 the sacred shield which sanctified her in the eyes of Virginians. In 
 proportion to their regret and mortification at her departure, was the 
 ardour of delight with which they hailed her return. A paragraph in 
 Purdie’s paper assured her, that “ her arrival at the palace was to the 
 great joy of the citizens of Williamsburg, and of the people of the 
 whole country, who had the most unfeigned regard and affection for 
 her ladyship, and wished her long to live amongst them.” 
 
168 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 and levotion. The council answered him in a manner per 
 fectly satisfactory ; but before he could receive the answer of 
 the house of b irgesses, an incident occurred, which drove 
 his lordship precipitately from his palace, and terminated for 
 ever all friendly relations between himself and the people of 
 Virginia. 
 
 It seems, that during the late ferment, produced by the 
 removal of the powder, and while Mr. Henry was on his 
 march toward Williamsburg, some of the inhabitants of the 
 town, to the great offence of the graver citizens, had pos- 
 sessed themselves of a few of the guns which still remained 
 in the magazine. This step gave great displeasure as well 
 as alarm to the governor; and although the mayor and 
 council, as well as all the more respectable inhabitants of 
 the town, condemned it in terms as strong as his own, and 
 sincerely united in the means which were used to recover 
 the arms, yet his lordship continued to brood over it in secret, 
 until, with the aid of the minions of the palace, he hatched a 
 scheme of low and cruel revenge, sufficient of itself to cover 
 him with immortal infamy. It was on Monday night, the 
 5th of June, that this scheme discovered itself. “Last 
 Monday night,” says Purdie, “ an unfortunate accident hap- 
 pened to two persons of this city, who, with a number of 
 others, had assembled at the magazine, to furnish themselves 
 with arms. Upon their entering the door, one of the guns, 
 which had a spring to it, and was charged eight fingers deep 
 with swan-shot, went off, and lodged two balls in one of their 
 shoulders, another entered at his wrist, and is not yet extract 
 ed : the other person had one of his fingers shot off, and 
 the next to it so much shattered as to render it useless, by 
 which sad misfortune he is deprived of the means of procur 
 ing a livelihood by his business. Spring-guns, it seems, were 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 1G9 
 
 placed at other parts of the magazine, of which the public 
 i vere totally ignorant; and certainly had any person lost 
 his life, the perpetrator or perpetrators of this diabolical in- 
 vention might have been justly branded with the opprobri- 
 ous title of murderers. 0 tempora ! 0 mores !” 
 
 The indignation naturally excited by this piece of delibe- 
 rate and barbarous treachery, which was at once traced to 
 Lord Dunmore, was farther aggravated by a discovery that 
 several barrels of powcler had been buried in the magazine, 
 \\ -ill the purpose, it was reasonably conjectured, of being 
 used as a mine, and thus producing still more fatal destruc 
 tion, when the occasion should offer. Early on the next morn 
 ing, JiOrd Dunmore with his family, including Captain Foy, 
 fled from the palace to return to it no more, and took shelter 
 on board the Fowey, from the vengeance which he knew 
 he so justly deserved. No commotion, however, had ensued 
 to justify his retreat. The people, indeed, were highly in 
 dignant, but they were silent and quiet. The suggestions 
 of his lordship’s conscience had alone produced his flight. 
 He left behind him a message to the speaker and house of 
 burgesses, in which he ascribed this movement to appre- 
 hensions for his personal safety ; stated that he should fix 
 his residence on board the Fowey; that no interruption 
 should be given to the sitting of the assembly; that he 
 should make the access to him easy and safe ; and thought 
 it would be more agreeable to the house to send to him, from 
 time to time, one or more of their members, as occasion 
 might require, than to put the whole body to the trouble of 
 moving to be near him. 
 
 On receiving this message, the house immediately resolved 
 tself into a committee of the whole, and prepared an an 
 swer, in which they expressed their deep concern at the step 
 Y 15 
 
70 
 
 WIRT’S life of 
 
 which lie bad taken — assuring him that his apprehensions 
 of personal danger were entirely unfounded ; regretting that 
 he had not expressed them to the house previous to his de 
 parture, since, from their zeal and attachment to the preser- 
 vation of order and good government, they should have judged 
 it their indispensable duty to have endeavoured to remove 
 any cause of disquietude. They express the anxiety with 
 which they contemplate the very disagreeable situation of 
 his most amiable lady and her family, and assure him, that 
 they should think themselves happy in being able to restore 
 their perfect tranquillity, by removing all their fears. They 
 regret his departure and the manner of it, as tending to keep 
 up the great uneasiness which had of late so unhappily pre- 
 vailed in this country ; and declare that they will cheerfully 
 concur in any measure that may be proposed, proper for the 
 security of himself and his family ; they remind him how 
 impracticable it will be to carry on the business of the session 
 with any tolerable degree of propriety, or with that despatch 
 which the advanced season of the year required, whilst his 
 lordship was so far removed from them, and so inconven- 
 iently situated ; and conclude with entreating him, that he 
 would be pleased to return with his lady and family to the 
 palace, which they say, they are persuaded will give the 
 greatest satisfaction, and be the most likely means of quiet 
 ing the minds of the people. 
 
 This communication was carried down to him by a depu 
 tation of two members of the council, and four of the house 
 of burgesses ; and in reply to language so respectful, and as- 
 surances so friendly and conciliatory, his lordship returned 
 an answer in which he charged them with having slighted 
 his offers ;of respect and civility, with giving countenance to 
 the violent and disorderly proceedings of the people, and 
 
I'ttiiViOft. n l i^i n i . i/i 
 
 with a usurpation of the executive power in ordering and 
 appointing guards to mount in the city of Williamsburg, 
 with the view, as was pretended , to protect the magazine, 
 but which might well be doubted, as there then remained 
 nothing therein which required being guarded; he exhorts 
 them to return within the pale of their constitutional power ; 
 to redress the many grievances which existed ; to open the 
 courts of justice ; to disarm the independent companies , 
 and what was not less essential, by their own example, and 
 every means in their power, to abolish the spirit of persecu- 
 tion which pursued, with menaces and acts of oppression, all 
 his majesty’s loyal and orderly subjects. For the accomplish- 
 ment of which ends, he invited them to adjourn to the town 
 of York, opposite to which the Fowey lay, where he promis 
 ed to meet and remain with them till their business should 
 be finished. But with respect to their entreaty that he would 
 return to the palace, he represents to them that unless they 
 closed in with the conciliatory proposition now offered to 
 them by the British parliament, his return to Williamsburg 
 would be as fruitless to the people, as possibly it might be dan- 
 gerous to himself. So that he places the event of his return 
 ing, on their acceptance of Lord North’s offer of concili- 
 ation. 
 
 The house of burgesses now took up that proposition ; and 
 having examined it in every light, with the utmost attention, 
 they conclude with a firm and dignified rejection of it and 
 an appeal “ to the even-handed justice of that Being who 
 doth no wrong; earnestly beseeching him to illuminate the 
 councils, and prosper the endeavours, of those to whom 
 America had confided her hopes, that, through their wise 
 direction, we may again see reunited the blessings of liberty 
 
172 wirt’s life of 
 
 and prosperity, and the most permanent harmony with Great 
 Britain.”* 
 
 A correspondence on another topic was now opened be 
 uveen the council and burgesses, and the governor. Dunmore 
 The former addressed him with a request, that he would 
 order a large parcel of arms which he had left in the palace 
 to be removed to the public magazine, a place of greater 
 safety. This he peremptorily refused ; and ordered that mose 
 arms, belonging to the king , should not be touched without 
 his express permission. In their reply, they say, that the arms 
 may in some sort be considered as belonging to the king, 
 as the supreme head of the government, and that they were 
 properly under his lordship’s direction; yet, they humbly 
 conceived, that they were originally provided, and had been 
 preserved for the use of the country in cases of emergency. 
 The palace, they say, had indeed been hitherto much re- 
 spected, but not so much out of regard to the building, as the 
 iesidence of his majesty’s representative. Had his lordship 
 thought fit to remain there, they would have had no appre 
 nensions of danger ; but considering these arms at present as 
 exposed to his lordship’s servants, and every rude invader 
 the security derived from his lordship’s presence could not 
 now be relied on. They, therefore, again entreat him to 
 order the removal of the arms to the magazine. They then 
 proceed to state, that they cannot decline representing to 
 him, that the important business of the assembly had been 
 much impeded by his excellency’s removal from the palace — 
 that this step had deprived them of that free and necessary 
 
 * This vigorous and eloquent production is from the same pen whicn 
 arew the declaration of American Independence. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 173 
 
 access to his lordship, to which they were entitled by the con 
 stitution of the country — that there were several bills of the 
 last importance to the country, now ready to be presented to 
 ins excellency for his assent. They complain of the incon- 
 venience to which they had been put in sending their mem- 
 bers twelve miles to wait on his excellency, on board of one 
 of his majesty’s ships of war, to present their addresses — they 
 state that they think it would be highly improper, and too 
 great a departure from the constitutional and accustomed 
 mode of transacting business, to meet his excellency at any 
 other place than the capitol, to present such bills as were 
 ready for his signature — and, therefore, beseech him to return 
 for this purpose. 
 
 To all this he gave a very short answer; that, as to the 
 arms, he had already declared his intention, and conceived 
 they were meddling with a subject which did not belong to 
 them ; he desired to know whom they designed by the term 
 rude invader ; that the disorders in Williamsburg and other 
 parts of the country, had driven him from the palace ; and 
 that, if any inconvenience had arisen to the assembly on that 
 account, he was not chargeable with it ; that they had not 
 been deprived of any necessary or free access to him ; that 
 the constitution undoubtedly vested him with the power of 
 calling the assembly to any place in the colony, which ex 
 igency might require ; that not having been made acquainted 
 with the whole proceedings of the assembly, he knew of no 
 bills of importance, which, if he were inclined to risk his 
 person again among the people, the assembly had to present 
 to him, nor whether they were such as he could assent to. 
 
 In the course of their correspondence he required the 
 house to attend him on board the Fowey, for the purpose of 
 
 15 * 
 
174 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 obtaining his signature to the bills ; and some of the mem 
 bers to prevent an actual dissolution of the government, and 
 to give effect to the many necessary bills which they had 
 passed, proposed to yield to this extraordinary requisition, 
 The project, however, was exploded by a member's rising 
 n his place, and relating the fable of the sick lion and the 
 ox. 
 
 The governor having thus virtually abdicated his office, 
 the government was, in effect, dissolved. The house here 
 upon resolved, “ That his Lordship’s message, requiring the 
 house to attend him on board one of his majesty’s ships of 
 war, is a high breach of the rights and privileges of this 
 house.” — 44 That the unreasonable delays thrown into the 
 proceedings of this house by the governor, and his evasive 
 answers to the sincere and decent addresses of the represent 
 atives of the people, give us great reason to fear, that a dan 
 gcrous attack may be meditated against the unhappy people 
 of this colony.” — 44 It is, therefore, our opinion, they say, that 
 they prepare for the preservation of their property, and their 
 inestimable rights and liberties with the greatest care and at- 
 tention.” — 44 That we do and will bear faith and true alle- 
 giance to our most gracious sovereign, George III., our 
 only lawful and rightful king: that we will, at all times, to 
 the utmost of our power, and at the risk of our lives and 
 properties, maintain and defend his government in this colony, 
 as founded on the established laws and principles of the 
 constitution : that it is our most earnest desire to preserve 
 and strengthen those bonds of amity, with all our fellow* 
 subjects in Great Britain, which are so very essential to the 
 prosperity and happiness of both countries.” Having adopt 
 ed these resolutions without a dissentirg voice they adjoiir rj 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 175 
 
 ea themseives to the 12th of October following; and the 
 delegates were summoned to meet in convention at the town 
 of Richmond, on the 17th of July.* 
 
 Immediately on the adjournment of the house of burgesses, 
 a very full meeting of the citizens of Williamsburg convened, 
 on the call of Peyton Randolph, at the court-house in that, 
 city, “ to consider of the expediency of stationing a number 
 of men there for the public safety ; as well to assist the citi- 
 zens in their nightly watches, as to guard against any sur- 
 prise from our enemies ; whereupon it was unanimously 
 agreed (until the general convention should meet) to invite 
 down from a number of counties, to the amount of two hun- 
 dred and fifty men. Meanwhile, until they arrived, the 
 neighbouring counties, they say, were kind enough to lend 
 them their assistance. 
 
 On the 29th of June, the Fowey ship, and Magdalen 
 schooner, sailed from York; on board the latter went Lady 
 Dunmore, and the rest of the governor’s family, bound for 
 England ; and the colony was for a short time relieved by 
 the report that the Fowey carried Lord Dunmore and Cap- 
 tain Foy on a visit to General Gage, at Boston. This re 
 port, however, was unfounded. The Fowey merely escorted 
 the Magdalen to the Capes, and then returned again to her 
 moorings, before York. The Otter sloop of war, commanded 
 by Captain Squire, thereupon fell down to the mouth of York 
 
 * On this occasion, Richard H. Lee, standing with two of the bur- 
 gesses in the porch of the capitol, inscribed with his pencil on a n’liai 
 of the capitol, these prophetic lines, from Shakspeare : — 
 
 “ When shall we three meet again ? 
 
 In tnunder, lightning, and in rain ; 
 
 When the hurly-burly’s done, 
 
 When the battle's lost and won ’ 
 
1/6 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 river, with the intention of cruising along the coast and seiz- 
 ing all provision vessels ; and soon became distinguished at 
 least for the malignity of her attempts. The Fowey was 
 relieved by the ship Mercury, of 24 guns, John Macartney 
 commander, and departed for Boston, carrying with her the 
 now obnoxious Captain Foy. The governor’s domestics left 
 the palace, and removed to his farm at Montibello, about six 
 miles below Williamsburg ; and the governor himself fixed 
 his station at the town of Portsmouth. In this posture of 
 things, on Monday, the 24th of July, 1775, the colonial con 
 vention met at the city of Richmond. 
 
 The proceedings of this convention were marked by a 
 character of great decision and vigour. One of their first 
 measures was an ordinance for raising and imbodying a 
 sufficient force for the defence and protection of the colony. 
 By this ordinance it was provided, that two regiments of 
 regulars, to consist of one thousand and twenty privates, rank 
 and file, should be forthwith raised and taken into the pay 
 of the colony ; and a competent regular force was also pro- 
 vided for the protection of the western frontier. The whole 
 colony was divided into sixteen military districts ; with a 
 provision, that a regiment of six hundred and eighty men, 
 rank and file, should be raised on the eastern shore district, 
 and a battalion of five hundred in each of the others ; to be 
 forthwith armed, trained, furnished with all military accou- 
 trements, and ready to march at a minute’s warning. 
 
 A committee, called the committee of safety, was also 
 organized, with functions and powers analogous to those of 
 the executive department and apparently designed to supply 
 the vacancy occasioned by the governor’s abdication of that 
 branch of the government. 
 
 The convention now proceeded to the appointment of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 177 
 
 officers to command the regular forces. The lofty stand 
 which Mr. Henry had taken in the American cause, his in- 
 creasing popularity, and the prompt and energetic movement 
 which he had made m the affair of the gunpowder, brought 
 him strongly before the view of the house ; and he was elect- 
 ed the colonel of the first regiment, and the commander of 
 all the forces raised , and to be raised , for the defence of 
 the colony . Mr. William Woodford, who is said to have 
 distinguished himself in the French and Indian war, was 
 appointed to the command of the second regiment. 
 
 The place of rendezvous for the troops was the city of 
 Williamsburg. Mr. Henry was at his post on the 20th of 
 September, examining the grounds adjacent to the city, for 
 the purpose of selecting an encampment ; and the place 
 chosen was at the back of William and Mary college. The 
 troops were recruited and poured in with wonderful rapidity. 
 The papers of the day teem with the annunciation of com- 
 pany after company, both regulars and minute-men, with 
 the highest encomiums on the appearance and spirit of the 
 troops ; and had the purpose been offensive war, Col. Henry 
 was soon in a situation to have annihilated any force that 
 Lord Dunmore could at that time have arrayed against 
 him. But there was, in truth, something extremely singular 
 and embarrassing in the situation of the parties in regard to 
 each other. It was not war, nor was it peace. The very 
 ordinance by which these troops were raised, was filled with 
 professions of allegiance and fidelity to George III. — pro- 
 fessions, whose sincerity there is the less reason to doubt, be- 
 cause they are confined to the exercise of his constitutional 
 Dowers, and stand connected with an expression of their firm 
 determination to resist any attempt on the liberties of the 
 r auntry. The only intelligible purpose, therefore, for which 
 Z 
 
178 
 
 wiut’s LIFE OF 
 
 these troops were raised, was a preparation for defence ; and 
 for defence against an attempt to enforce the parliamentary 
 taxes upon this colony. With respect to Lord Dunmore, he 
 was indeed considered as having al andoned the duties of his 
 office : yet still he was regarded as the governor of Virginia ; 
 and there seems to have been no disposition to offer violence 
 to his person. 
 
 Dunmore, on his part, considered the colony as in a state 
 of open and general rebellion ; not merely designing to resist 
 an attempt to enforce upon them an obnoxious tax, but to 
 subvert the regal government wholly and entirely; and had his 
 power been equal to his wishes, there is no reason to doubt 
 that he would have disarmed the colony, and hung up with- 
 out ceremony, the leaders of this traitorous revolt, as he af- 
 fected to consider it. His impotence, however, and the aver- 
 sion of the colonists to act otherwise than defensively, pro 
 duced a suspense full of the most painful anxiety. 
 
 In the meantime, Capt. Squire, commander of his ma 
 jesty’s sloop the Otter, had been labouring throughout the 
 summer with some success, to cho^ge the defensive attitude 
 of the colony. He was engaged in cruising continually in 
 James and York rivers, plundering the defenceless shores, 
 and carrying off the slaves, wherever seduction or force could 
 place them in his power. These piratical excursions had 
 wrought up the citizens who were not in arms to a very 
 high pitch of resentment ; and an accident soon gave them 
 an opportunity of partial reprisal, which they did not fail to 
 seize. On the 2d of September, the captain, sailing in a 
 tender, on a marauding expedition from James to York river, 
 was encountered by a violent tempest, and his tender was 
 driven on shore, upon Back river, near Hampton. It was 
 night, and the storm still raging: — the captain and hi* men. 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 179 
 
 vtiiK sting (unjustly, as it would seem from the papers) the 
 nosp.tality of the inhabitants, made their escape through the 
 woods ; the vessel was on the next day discovered and burnt 
 by the people of the neighbourhood. In consequence of this 
 act, the captain addressed the following letter to the commit 
 tee of the town of Hampton : — 
 
 “ Otter sloop , Norfolk river , Sept . 10, 1775. 
 
 “ Gentlemen. 
 
 “ Whereas, a sloop tender, manned and armed in his ma 
 jesty’s service, was, on Saturday the 2d instant, in a violent 
 gale of wind, cast on shore in Back river, Elizabeth county, 
 having on board the under-mentioned king’s stores, which 
 the inhabitants of Hampton thought proper to seize : I am 
 therefore to desire, that the king’s sloop, with all the stores 
 belonging to her, be immediately returned ; or the people of 
 Hampton, who committed the outrage, must be answerable 
 for the consequences. 
 
 “ I am. gentlemen, your humble servant, 
 
 “ Matthew Squire.” 
 
 This letter, with a catalogue of the stores, having been 
 communicated to the committee of Williamsburg, and by 
 them having been laid before the commanding officer of the 
 volunteers of that place, Major James Innes, at the head of a 
 hundred men, who courted the enterprise, flew to Hampton 
 to repel the threatened invasion. Squire, however, satisfied 
 himself for the present, by falling down to Hampton road, 
 where he seized the passage boats, with the negroes in them, 
 by way of reprisal, as he alleged, for the stores, &c., taken 
 out of his tender when driven ashore in the late storm 
 which boats and negroes,” adds Purdie’s paper of the dav 
 
180 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 4 it is likely he intends taking into the king's service, to send 
 out a pirating for hogs, fowls, &c A very pretty occupation 
 for the captain of one of his majesty s ships of war.” The 
 next paper announces the movements of Squire by a para- 
 graph, which I extract verbatim , as showing in an amusing 
 light, the spirit of the times, and as Camden says, 44 the plain 
 and jolly mirth of our ancestors,” even in the midst of mis- 
 fortunes : — 44 We hear that the renowned Captain Squire, of 
 his majesty’s sloop Otter, is gone up the bay for Baltimore in 
 Maryland; on his old trade , it is to be presumed, of negro 
 catching, pillaging the farms and plantations of their stock 
 and poultry, and other illustrious actions , highly becoming 
 a Squire in the king’s navy. Some say, his errand was tc 
 watch for a quantity of gunpowder intended for this colony 
 but that valuable is now safely landed where he dare no 1 
 come to smell it.” 
 
 The same paper contains the following answer from the 
 committee of Hampton to Squire’s letter : — 
 
 “To Matthew Squire, Esq., commander of his majesty’s 
 sloop Otter, lying in Hampton roads. 
 
 44 Hampton , September 16, 1775 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 44 Yours of the 10th instant, directed to the committee of 
 the town of Hampton, reciting, that a sloop tender on his 
 majesty’s service was, on the 2d instant, cast on shore near 
 this place, having on board some of the king’s stores, which 
 you say were seized by the inhabitants, and demanding an 
 immediate return of the same, or that the people of Hamp- 
 ton must answer the consequences of such outrage, was this 
 
PATRICK HENRI. 
 
 18 ) 
 
 day laid before them, who knowing the above recital to be 
 injurious and untrue, think proper here to mention the tacts 
 relative to this matter. The sloop, we apprehend, was not 
 in his majesty’s service, as we are well assured that you were 
 on a pillaging or pleasuring party ; and although it gives us 
 pain to use indelicate expressions, yet the treatment received 
 from you calls for a state of facts, in the simple language 
 of truth, however harsh it may sound. To your own heart 
 we appeal for the candour with which we have stated them 
 — to mat, heart which drove you into the woods in the most 
 tempestuous weather, in one of the darkest nights, to avoid 
 the much injured and innocent inhabitants of this county, 
 who had never threatened or ill used you — and who would 
 at that time have received you, we are assured, with human- 
 ity and civility, had you made yourself and situation known 
 to them. Neither the vessel nor stores were seized by 
 the inhabitants of Hampton ; the gunner, one Mr. Gray — 
 and the pilot, one Mr. Ruth — who were employed by you 
 on this party, are men, we hope, who will still assert the 
 truth. From them, divers of our members were informed that 
 the vessel and stores, together with a good seine, (which you, 
 without cause, so hastily deserted,) were given up as irrecov- 
 erably lost, by the officers, and some of the proprietors, to 
 one Finn, near whose house you were driven on shore, as 
 a reward for his entertaining you, &c., with respect and 
 decency. 
 
 “ The threats of a person whose conduct hath evinced 
 that he was not only capable, but desirous of doing us, in 
 our then defenceless state, the greatest injustice, we confess, 
 were somewhat alarming; but with the greatest pleasure 
 we can inform you, our apprehensions are now removed 
 
 " Although we know that we cannot legally be called tc 
 
 Ji 
 
182 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 account for that which you are pleased to style an outrage 
 and notwithstanding we have hitherto, by you, been treated 
 with iniquity, we will, as far as in our power lies, do you 
 right upon just and equitable terms. 
 
 “ First. We, on behalf of the community, require from 
 you the restitution of a certain Joseph Harris, the property 
 of a gentleman of our town, and all other our slaves whom 
 you may have on board ; which said Harris, as well as other 
 siaves, hath been long harboured, and often employed, with 
 your knowledge, (as appeared to us by the confession of 
 Ruth and others, and is well known to all your men,) in 
 pillaging us, under cover of night, of our sheep and other 
 live stock. 
 
 “ Secondly. We require that you will send on shore all 
 boats, with their hands, and every other thing you have 
 detained on this occasion. 
 
 “ And lastly. That you shall not, by your own arbitrary 
 authority, undertake to insult, molest, interrupt, or detain, 
 the persons or property of any one passing to and from this 
 town, as you have frequently done for some time past. 
 
 “ Upon complying with those requisitions, we will endeav- 
 our to procure every article left on our shore, and shall be 
 ready to deliver them to your pilot and gunner, of whose 
 good behaviour we have had some proofs 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
 “ The Committee of Elizabeth City county 
 and town of Hampton.” 
 
 [n the meantime, Squire’s threat against Hampton was 
 not an empty one, as is proven by the following account 01 
 the attempt to execute it the article is extracted from a sup 
 plement to Purdie’s paper of October 27th. 177£ — 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 183 
 
 u After Lord Dunmore, with his troops and the navy, had 
 been for several weeks seizing the persons and property of his 
 majesty’s peaceable subjects in this colony — On Wednesday 
 night, last, a party from an armed tender landed near Hamp* 
 ton, and took away a valuable negro slave and a sail from 
 the owner. Next morning there appeared off the mouth of 
 Hampton river, a large armed schooner, a sloop, and three 
 tenders, with soldiers on board, and a message was received 
 at Hampton from Captain Squire, on board the schooner, 
 that he would that day land and burn the town ; on which 
 a company of regulars, and a company of minute-men,* who 
 had been placed there in consequence of former threats de- 
 nounced against that place, made the best disposition to pre- 
 vent their landing, aided by a body of militia who were sud 
 denly called together on the occasion. The enemy accord- 
 ingly attempted to land, but were retarded by some boats 
 sunk across the channel for that purpose. Upon this they 
 fired several small cannon at the provincials without any 
 effect, who in return discharged their small arms so effect- 
 ually, as to make the enemy move off, with the loss ol 
 several men, as it is believed. But they had, in the mean- 
 time burnt down a house belonging to Mr. Cooper, on the 
 river. On intelligence of this reaching Williamsburg, about 
 nine o’clock at night, a company of riflemen was despatched 
 to the aid of Hampton, and the colonel of the 2 d regiment 
 sent to take the command of the whole ; who with the 
 
 * Captain George Nicholas commanded the regulars, and Captain 
 Lyne the minute-men ; Captain Nicholas, therefore, as being in the 
 regular service, had the command of the whole in the first skirmish. 
 This gentleman was the eldest son of Colonel Robert C. Nicholas, 
 and on the return of peace became highly distinguished both as a 
 politician and lawyer 
 
/ 84 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 company, arrived about eight o’clock next morning. The 
 enemy had in the night cut through the boats sunk, and 
 made a passage for their vessels, which were drawn close up 
 to the town, and began to fire upon it soon after the arrival of 
 the party from Williamsburg; but as soon as our men 
 were so disposed as to give them a few shot, they went off 
 so hastily that our people took a small tender, with five white 
 men, a woman, and two slaves, six swivels, seven muskets, 
 some small arms, a sword, pistols, and other things, and sev- 
 eral papers belonging to Lieutenant Wright, who made his 
 escape by jumping overboard and swimming away with 
 Mr. King’s man, who are on shore, and a pursuit it is hoped 
 may overtake them. There were two of the men in the 
 vessel mortally wounded ; one is since dead, and the othei 
 near his end. Besides which, we are informed, nine were 
 seen to be thrown overboard from one of the vessels. We 
 have not a man even wounded. The vessels went over tc 
 Norfolk, and we are informed the whole force from thence is 
 intended to visit Hampton this day. If they should, we hope 
 our brave troops are prepared for them ; as we can with 
 pleasure assure the public, that every part of them behav- 
 ed with spirit and bravery, and are wishing for anothei 
 skirmish.” 
 
 The next paper contains the following card to Captain 
 Squire, which is inserted merely as another specimen of the 
 character of the times: — 
 
 Williamsburg , November 3d. 
 
 “The riflemen and soldiers of Hampton desire their com- 
 pliments to Captain Squire and his squadron, and wish to 
 know how they approve the reception they met last Friday, 
 Should he incline to renew his visit, they will be glad to se# 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 . 85 
 
 him ; otherwise, in point of complaisance, they wil oe unaei 
 the necessity of returning the visit. If he cannot find the 
 ear that was cut off, they hope he will wear a wig to hide 
 the mark; for perhaps it may not be necessary that ail 
 should know chance haa effected that which the lavjs ought 
 to have done.” 
 
 In the meantime, Lord Dunmore, with a motley band of 
 tones, negroes, and recruits from St. Augustine’s, was “ cut- 
 ting such fantastic capers” in the country round about Nor- 
 folk, as made it necessary to crush him or drive him from the 
 state. With this view', the committee of safety (who, by their 
 constitution, were authorized to direct all military movements) 
 detached Colonel Woodford, at the head of about eight 
 hundred men to cross James river at Sandy Point, and go in 
 pursuit of his lordship. Colonel Henry himself had been anx- 
 ious for this service, and is said to have solicited it in vain 
 But the committee of safety* seem to have distrusted too 
 much his want of military experience, to confide to him so 
 important an enterprise. The disgust which Mr. Henry had 
 
 0 The committee of safety was composed of the following gentle- 
 men : — Edmund Pendleton, George Mason, Hon. John Page, Richard 
 Bland, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, Wil- 
 liam Cabell, Carter Braxton, James Mercer, and John Tabb, esquires. 
 
 The clause of the ordinance of convention which authorized this 
 committee to direct all military movements, is the following: — 
 
 “ And whereas it may be necessary for the public security, that the 
 forces to be raised by virtue of this ordinance should, as occasion may 
 require, be marched to different parts of the colony, and that the offi- 
 cers sh:tild be subject to a proper control, Be it ordained by the au- 
 thority aforesaid , That the officers and soldiers under such command 
 shall in all things, not otherwise particularly presided for by this ordi- 
 nance, and the articles established for their regulation, be under the 
 control, and subject to the order of the general committee of safety. 
 
 2 A 16 * 
 
186 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 conceived at the palpable reflection on his military capacity, 
 was increased by Colonel Woodford’s refusal to .acknowledge 
 hif superiority in command. This gentleman, after his de- 
 na ture from Williamsburg, on the expedition against Dun- 
 m re, considered himself as no longer under Mr. Henry’s 
 au hority ; and consequently addressed all his communica- 
 tions to the convention when in session, and when not so, 
 to the committee of safety. On the 6th December, 1775, 
 Mr. Henry sent an express to Col. Woodford, with the fol- 
 lowing letter : — 
 
 “ On Virginia service . 
 
 “ To William Woodford, Esq., colonel of the second regi- 
 ment of the Virginia forces. 
 
 “ Headquarters , Dec . 6, 1775 
 
 ‘ Sir, 
 
 “ Not hearing of any despatch from you for a long time, 
 I can no longer forbear sending to know your situation, and 
 what has occurred. Every one, as well as myself, is vastly 
 anxious to hear how all stands with you. In case you think 
 any thing could be done to aid and forward the enterprise 
 you have in hand, please to write it. But I wish to know 
 your situation, particularly with that of the enemy, that the 
 whole may be laid before the convention now here. The 
 number and designs of the enemy, as you have collected it, 
 might open some prospects to us, that might enable us to 
 form some diversion in your favour. The bearer has orders 
 to lose no time, and return with all possible haste. I am 
 sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry, jun 
 
 r P. S. Captain Alexander’s company is not yet come 
 “ Col Woodford.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 187 
 
 To this letter, on the next day, he received the following 
 answer from Col. Woodford : — 
 
 “ Great Bridge , 1th Dec ., 1775. 
 Sir, 
 
 “ I have received yours per express ; in answer to which 
 must inform you, that, understanding you were out of town, 
 I have not written you before last Monday, by the return of 
 the honourable the convention’s express, when I referred you 
 to my letter to them for every particular respecting mine 
 and the enemy’s situation. I wrote them again yesteiday 
 and this morning, which no doubt they will communicate to 
 you, as commanding officer of the troops at Williamsburg. 
 When joined, I shall always esteem myself immediately un- 
 der your command, and will obey accordingly; but when 
 sent to command a separate and distinct body of troops, under 
 the immediate instructions of the committee of safety — when- 
 ever that body or the honourable convention is sitting, I look 
 jpon it as my indispensable duty to address my intelligence 
 to them, as the supreme power in this colony. If I judge 
 wrong, I hope that honourable body will set me right. I would 
 wish to keep up the greatest harmony between us, for the 
 good of the cause we are engaged in ; but cannot bear to be 
 supposed to have neglected my duty, when I have done 
 every thing I conceived to be so. The enemy are strongly 
 fortified on the other side the bridge, and a great number of 
 negroes and tories with them ; my prisoners disagree as to 
 the numbers. We are situate here in mud and mire, expos 
 ed to every hardship that can be conceived, but the want of 
 provisions, of which our stock is but small, the men sutler 
 mg 4 ci shoes ; and if ever soldiers deserved a second blanket 
 m any service, they do in this ; our stock of ammunition 
 
IBS 
 
 v/irt’s life of 
 
 much reduced, no bullet-moulds that were good for airy 
 thing sent to run up our lead, till those sent the other 
 day by Mr. Page. If these necessaries and better arms had 
 been furnished in time for this detachment, they might have 
 prevented much trouble and great expense to this colony. 
 Most of those arms I received the other day from Williams- 
 burg are rather to be considered as lumber, than fit to be put 
 in men’s hands, in the face of an enemy : with much repair, 
 some of them will do ; with those, and what I have taken 
 from the enemy, hope to be better armed in a few days. I 
 have written to the convention, that it was my opinion, the 
 greatest part of the first regiment ought immediately to 
 march to the scene of action with some cannon, and a supply 
 of ammunition, and every other necessary for war that the 
 colony can muster, that a stop may be put to the enemy’s 
 progress. As to the Carolina troops and cannon, they are by 
 no means what I was made to expect: 60 of them are here, 
 and 100 will be here to-morrow ; more, it is said, will follow 
 in a few 7 days, under Col. Howe ; badly armed, cannon not 
 mounted, no furniture to them. How long these people will 
 choose to stay, it is impossible for me to say; 99 in 100 of 
 these lower people rank tories. From all these informations 
 if you can make a diversion in my favour, it will be of ser 
 vice to the colony, and very acceptable to myself and soldiers; 
 whom, if possible, I will endeavour to keep easy under their 
 hard duty, but begin to doubt wdie^ber it will be the case 
 long.” 
 
 In two days after the receipt of this letter, came the news 
 of the victory of the Great Bridge, by which Col. Woodford 
 at once threw into the shade the military pretensions of all 
 the other state officers ; a ciicumstance not very wol* cal- 
 culated to gild the pill of contumacy, which he han jus. 
 
r a i tut tv n Aiu , 
 
 rented to the commander-in-cif ef. The committee of safetv 
 had now a delicate part to act between these two officers ; 
 they were extremely anxious to avoid the decision of the 
 question which had arisen between them, seeing very dis- 
 tinctly that their decision could not but disappoint very pain- 
 fully that gentleman who was their favourite officer. They 
 seem to have been apprehensive that Col. Woodford would 
 be led, by that decision, to resign in disgust ; and were justly 
 alarmed at the idea of losing the services of so valuable an 
 officer, especially after the distinction which he had recently 
 gained at the Great Bridge. Mr. Henry, however, insisted 
 that the committee or convention should determine the ques- 
 tion, as being the only way to settle the construction of his 
 commission. It was accordingly taken up, and decided by 
 die following order of the committee : — 
 
 “ In committee — December , mdcclxxv. 
 
 “ Resolved, unanimously, That Colonel Woodford, although 
 acting upon a separate and detached command, ought to cor- 
 respond with Colonel Henry, and make returns to him at 
 proper times of the state and condition of the forces under 
 his command ; and also that he is subject to his orders, when 
 the convention, or the committee of safety, is not sitting, but 
 that while either of those bodies are sitting, he is to receive 
 his orders from one of them.” 
 
 The address which was thought necessary in communi 
 eating this resolution to Colonel Woodford, is a proof of the 
 very high estimate in which he was he'd by the committee; 
 and the same evidence furnishes very decisive proof that 
 Colonel Henry had not owed his military appointment to the 
 suffrage of tnose members of the committee who maintained 
 
190 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 the correspondence. Thus, on the 13th of December, 1775 
 a member of the convention addressed a letter to Colonel 
 Woodford, which seems to have been a preparative for the 
 resolution of the committee, and is certainly suited, with grea 
 dexterity, to that object ; the writer, after some introductory 
 observations, says ; — “ Whether you are obliged to make youi 
 returns to Colonel H — y, and to send your despatches through 
 him to the convention and committee of safety, and also from 
 those bodies through him to you, must depend upon the or- 
 dinance and the commission he bears. You will observe 
 his commission is strongly worded, beyond what I believe 
 was the intention of the person who drew it* — but the ordi- 
 
 * The committee appointed to draw up and report the forms of 
 commissions, for the officers of the troops to be raised by order of the 
 convention of the summer of 1775, were, Mr. Banister, Mr. Lawson, 
 Mr. Walkins, and Mr. Holt; and on the 26th of August, 1775, Mi 
 Banister from this committee reported the following : — 
 
 “ Form of a commission for the colonel of the first regiment , and 
 commander of the regular forces . 
 
 “ The committee of safety for the colony of Virginia, to Patrick 
 Henry, Esq. 
 
 “ Whereas, by a resolution of the delegates of this colony, in con- 
 vention assembled, it was determined that you, the said Patrick Henry, 
 Esq., should be colonel of the first regiment of regulars, and com- 
 mander-in-chief of all the forces to be raised for the protection and 
 defence of this colony ; and by an ordinance of the same convention 
 it is provided, that the committee of safety should issue ail military 
 commissions : Now, in pursuance of the said power to us granted, 
 and in conformity to the appointment of the convention, we, the said 
 committee of safety, do constitute and commission you, the said Pat- 
 rick Henry, Esq., colonel of the first regiment of regulars, and com- 
 mander-in-chief of all such other forces as may , by order of the 
 convention , or committee of safety , be directed to act in conjunction 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 191 
 
 nance, I think, clearly gives the convention, and c Dinmitteo 
 pi safety acting under their authority, the absolute direction 
 of the troops. The dispute between you must be occasioned, 
 i suppose, (for I have not seen your letter to the colonel,) by 
 disregard of him as a commander, after the adjournment of the 
 commiUee of safety, and before the meeting of the conven- 
 tion ; at which time, I am apt to think, though I am not 
 military man enough to determine, your correspondence 
 should have been with him as commanding officer. I have 
 talked with Colonel Henry about this matter ; he thinks he 
 has been ill-treated, and insists the officers under his com- 
 mand shall submit to his orders. I recommended it to him 
 to treat the business with caution and temper ; as a difference 
 
 with them; and with the said forces, or any of them, you are hereby 
 empowered to resist and repel all hostile invasions, and quell and sup- 
 press any insurrections which may be made or attempted against the 
 peace and safety of this his majesty’s colony and dominion. And we 
 do require you to exert your utmost efforts for the promotion of disci- 
 pline and order among the officers and soldiers under your command, 
 agreeable to such ordinances, rules, and articles, which are now or 
 hereafter may be, instituted for the government and regulation of the 
 army ; and that you pay due obedience to all orders and instructions, 
 which, from time to time, you may receive from the convention or 
 committee of safety ; to hold, exercise, and enjoy, the said office of 
 colonel and commander-in-chief of the forces, and to perform and 
 execute the power and authority aforesaid, and all other things which 
 are truly and of right incidental to your said office, during the pleasure 
 of the convention, and no longer. And we do hereby require and 
 command all officers and soldiers , and every person whatsoever , in 
 any way concerned , to be obedient and assisting to you in all 
 things , touching the due execution of this commission } according to 
 the purport or intent thereof 
 
 “ Given under 'our hands at th.s day of , A ju* 
 
 bom 177 
 
i if <it it « iv i i) ii * 1 L i’ 
 
 Jit this critical moment between our troops would be attendee" 
 with the most fatal consequences; and took the liberty to 
 assure him you. would, I was certain, submit to whate-ci 
 was thought just and reasonable. He has laid the let er 
 before the committee of safety, whose sentiments upon tho 
 subject I expect you must have received before this. I hope 
 it will not come before us,* but from what Colonel Henry 
 said, he intimated it must, as it could be no otherwise deter 
 mined. My sentiments upon that delicate point, I partly 
 communicated upon the expected junction of the Carolina 
 troops with ours, which I presume you have received. By 
 your letter yesterday to the president, I find you agree with 
 me. I very cordially congratulate you on the success at the 
 Bridge and the reduction of the fort, which will give our 
 troops the benefit of better and more wholesome ground. 
 Your letter came to the convention just time enough to read 
 it before we broke up, as it was nearly dark ; it was however 
 proposed and agreed, that the president should transmit you 
 the approbation of your conduct in treating with kindness 
 and humanity the unfortunate prisoners ; and that your 
 readiness to avoid dispute about rank with Colonel Howe, 
 they consider as a further mark of your attachment to the 
 service of your country. I have had it in contemplation 
 paying you a visit, but have not been able to leave the con 
 vention, as many of our members are absent, and seem to 
 be in continual rotation, some going, others returning. We 
 shall raise many more battalions, and, as soon as practi- 
 cable, arm some vessels. A commander or genera. I sup- 
 pose, will be sent us by the congress, as it is expected cur 
 troops will be upon continental pay. I pray God to proved 
 rou, and prosper all your endeavours.” 
 
 * The convention. 
 
PATRICK HENR\. 
 
 X 93 
 
 But the letter from the chairman of the committee, which 
 enclosed the resolution, is a masterpiece of address, so far 
 as relates to the feelings of Col. Woodford; though certainly 
 not well judged to promote the permanent harmony of those 
 officers, by inspiring sentiments of respect and subordination 
 'or the superior. The letter bears date on the 24th of Decem- 
 ber, 1775 , it is written in a strain of the most frank and 
 conciliatory friendship — full of deserved eulogy on Colonel 
 Woodford’s conduct — and very far from complimentary to 
 the colonel of the first regiment. In relation to this gentle- 
 man, (after having mentioned the resolution of raising other 
 regiments,) he says : — “ The field-officers to each regiment 
 will be named here, and recommended to congress ; in case 
 our army is taken into continental pay, they will send com- 
 missions. A general officer will be chosen there, I doubt not, 
 and sent us ; with that matter , I hope ice shall not inter- 
 meddle , lest it should he thought propriety requires our 
 calling or rather recommending our present first officer to 
 that station. Bef eve me, sir, the unlucky step of calling that 
 gentleman from our councils, where he was useful, into the 
 field, in an important station, the duties of which he must, in 
 the nature of things, be an entire stranger to, has given me 
 many an anxious' and uneasy moment. In consequence of 
 this mistaken step, which cannot now be retracted or remedied, 
 for he has done nothing worthy of degradation, and must 
 keep his rank, we must be deprived of the service of some 
 abie officers, whose honour and former ranks will not suffer 
 them to act under him in this juncture, when we so much need 
 their services ; however, 7 am told, that Mercer, Buckner, 
 Dai.gerfield, and Weedon, will serve, and are all thought of 
 r am also told, that Mr. Thurston and Mr. Millikin are can 
 didates for regiments . the latter, I believe, will raise, and hav$ 
 2 B 17 
 
194 
 
 wxrt’s LIFE OF 
 
 a German one. In the course of these reflections, my great 
 concern is on your account. The pleasure I have enjoyed 
 m finding your army conducted with wisdom and success, 
 and your conduct meet with the general approbation of the 
 convention and country, makes me more uneasy at a thought 
 that the country should be deprived of your services, or you 
 made uneasy in it, by any untoward circumstances. J had seen 
 your letter to our friend Mr. Jones, (now a member of the com- 
 mittee of safety,) and besides that, Col. Henry has laid before 
 the committee your letter to him, and desired our opinion, 
 whether he was to command you or not. We never deter- 
 mined this till Friday evening ; a copy of the resolution I en- 
 close you. If this will not be agreeable, and prevent future 
 disputes, 1 hope some happy medium will be suggested to 
 effect the purpose, and make you easy ; for the colony cannot 
 part with you, while troops are necessary to be continued.” 
 Mr. Henry had too much sagacity not to perceive the light 
 in which he was viewed by the committee of safety, and toe 
 much sensibility not to be wounded by the discovery. His 
 situation was indeed, at this time, most painfully embarras- 
 sing. The rank which he had held was full of the promise 
 of honour and distinction ; he was the first officer of the 
 Virginia forces ; the celebrity which he had aheady attained 
 among his countrymen, not only by his political resistance 
 to the measures of the British parliament, but by the bold 
 and daring military enterprise which he had headed the pre- 
 ceding year, in the affair of the gunpowder, led his country- 
 men to expect, that the appointment which he now held 
 would not be a barren one, but that he would mark it with 
 the characters of his extraordinary genius, and become as 
 distinguished in the field as he had been in the serate. He 
 knew that these expectations were entertained and had 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 193 
 
 every disposition to realize them; but his wishes and his 
 hopes were perpetually overruled by the committee of safety, 
 who commanded over him, and who gratuitously distrusting 
 his capacity for war, would give him no opportunity of mak- 
 ing trial of it. Yet Mr. Henry, untried, has been most 
 unjustly slighted as a soldier, and spoken of as a mere mili- 
 tary cipher ! If I have not been misinformed, some of those 
 who composed this very committee did, in aftertimes, fre- 
 quently allude to this period of his life, to prove the practical 
 inutility of his character, and have applied to him the saying, 
 which Wilkes applied to Lord Chatham, that “ all his power 
 and efficacy was seated in his tongue.” # What figure he 
 might have made in war, had the opportunity been allowed 
 him, can now be only matter of speculation. His personal 
 bravery, so far as I have heard, has never been called in 
 question ; or if it has, it has been without evidence : and 
 neither his ardour in the public cause, nor his strong natural 
 sense, can with any colour of justice be disputed. If we su- 
 peradd to these qualities that presence of mind, that promp- 
 titude, boldness, and novelty of view — that dexterous address, 
 and fertility of expedient, for which he was remarkable — I 
 can see no reason to doubt, that he would have justified the 
 highest expectations of his admirers, had he been permitted 
 to command the expedition which he courted. As to his 
 want of experience, the alleged ground for keeping him so 
 ignominiously confined to head-quarters, he possessed pretty 
 nearly as much experience as Colonel Washington had 
 whan he covered the retreat of Braddock’s routed forces; 
 
 * — homines inerlissimi , quorum omnis vis , virtusque in lingua 
 
 9 it a eat . 
 
 Sallust . Oratio sec . De Ref . Ord 
 
 16 
 
*96 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 as much, too, as those young generals of ours who have re« 
 cently covered themselves with so much glory on our north 
 ern frontier : nor would it seem to comport with that respect 
 which the committee owed to the convention, from whom 
 both Colonel Henry and themselves had received their re- 
 spective appointments, to arrogate the p nver of reversing 
 the decree of the convention, and practically degrading the 
 officer of their first choice. It is certain that the committee 
 were severely spoken of at the day, and that the people, as 
 well as the soldiery, did not hesitate openly to impute their 
 conduct toward Mr. Henry to personal envy. 
 
 Other humiliations yet awaited him. Shortly after the 
 affair of the Great Bridge, Colonel Howe, of North Carolina, 
 at the head of five or six hundred men of that state, joined 
 Colonel Woodford; and taking the command of the whole, 
 with the consent of the latter gentleman, who yielded to the 
 seniority of his commission, marched with their united 
 forces into Norfolk, which had been evacuated by the British. 
 From this post Colonel Howe continually addressed his com- 
 munications to the committee of safety, or to the convention • 
 and Colonel Henry, after having seen his lawful rights and 
 honours transferred, in the first instance, to an inferior officer 
 of his own, had now the mortification of seeing himself 
 completely superseded, and almost annihilated, by an officer 
 from another state of only equal rank. 
 
 But even this was not all : six additional regiments had 
 been raised by the convention, and congress had been solicit- 
 ed to take the Virginia troops on continental establishment 
 They resolved to take the six new regiments, passing by the 
 two first ; a discrimination which conveys so palpable a re- 
 flection on the two first regiments, that it is difficult to ac- 
 count foi it, except by the secret influence of that unfriendly 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 197 
 
 star, which had hitherto controlled and obscured Mr. Henry’s 
 military destinies. The measure was so exactly adjust- 
 ed to the wish expressed by Colonel Woodford’s correspond- 
 ent, that congress would not devolve the chief command of 
 the Virginia forces on Colonel Henry, that it is difficult to 
 avoid the suspicion that the suggestion came from the same 
 quarter. The convention, however, now interfered in behalf 
 of their favourite ; and remonstrated against this degradation 
 of the officers of their first choice ; earnestly recommending 
 it to congress, if they adhered to their resolution of taking 
 into continental pay no more than six regiments, to suffer 
 the two first to stand first in the arrangement. This course 
 was accordingly adopted ; but , at the same time , commissions 
 of brigadier -general were forwarded by congress to Colonel 
 Howe , and Colonel Andrew Lewis, 
 
 The reader, if he knows any thing of the scrupulous and 
 even fastidious delicacy with which military officers watch 
 the most distant reflection upon their competency, will nol 
 be surprised that Mr. Henry refused the continental commis 
 sion of colonel,* which was now offered to him, and imme 
 
 * The following is an exact copy of the commission sent from the 
 general congress to the committee of safety, appointing Colonel 
 Henry to the command of the first regiment, or battalion, in this colony, 
 taken upon the continental establishment, agreeable to the requisition 
 of the last convention : — 
 
 “ In Congress. 
 
 “The delegates of the United Colonies of New Hampshire, Massa 
 chusetts bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey 
 Pennsylvania, the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on 
 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina 
 and Georgia, to Patrick Henry, Esq. : — 
 
 “We, reposing espedal trust and confidence in your patriotism 
 valour, conduct, and fi lelity do by these presents constitute and ap 
 
 17 * 
 
198 
 
 wirt's life of 
 
 diately resigned that which he held from the state. ILs re- 
 signation produced a commotion in the camp, which wore at 
 first an alarming aspect; and would probably have had an 
 extremely unpropitious effect on the military efforts of the 
 state, had. it not been instantaneously quelled by his own 
 patriotic exertions. The following is the notice of 'his trans- 
 action from Purdie’s paper of March 1, 1776 : — 
 
 Yesterday morning, the troops in this city being inform- 
 ed that Patrick Henry, esquire, commander-in-chief of tha 
 Virginia forces, was about to leave them, the whole went 
 into deep mourning, and being under arms, waited on him 
 at his lodgings, when they addressed him in the following 
 manner : — 
 
 point you to be colonel of the first battalion of Virginia forces, in the 
 army of the United Colonies, raised for the defence of American lib 
 erty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof. You are, there- 
 fore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of colonel, by do- 
 ing and performing all manner <d things thereunto belonging. And 
 we do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under your 
 command to be obedient to your orders as colonel. And you are to 
 observe and follow such orders and directions, from time to time, as 
 you shall receive from this or a future congress of the United Colo- 
 nies, or committee of congress, for that purpose appointed, or com- 
 mander-in-chief for the time being of the army of the United Colonies 
 or any other superior officer, according to the rules and discipline of 
 war, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you. This commission to 
 continue in force until revoked by this or a future congress. 
 
 “ By order of the Congress, 
 
 “Jdhn Hancock, President.” 
 
 ‘ Attest, 
 
 “Charles Thomson, Secretary. 
 
 “ Philadelphia , Feb. YMh, 1776.” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 [99 
 
 “ To Patrick Henry, jun. Esquire. 
 
 6 Deeply impressed with a grateful sense of the obligations 
 wc he under to you, for the polite, humane, and tender treat- 
 ment manifested to us throughout the whole of your conduct, 
 while we had the honour of being under your command 
 permit us t.o offer you our sincere thanks, as the only tribute 
 we have in our power to pay to your real merits. Notwith- 
 standing your withdrawing yourself from the service fills 
 us with the most poignant sorrow, as it at once deprives 
 us of our father and general ; yet, as gentlemen , we are 
 compelled to applaud your spirited resentment to the most 
 glaring indignity . May your merit shine as conspicuous 
 to the world in general, as it hath done to us, and may Heav 
 en shower its choicest blessings upon you !’ 
 
 “ To which he returned the following answer:— 
 
 “ ‘ Gentlemen, 
 
 “ 1 1 am exceedingly obliged to you for your approbation of 
 my conduct. Your address does me the highest honour. 
 This kind testimony of your regard to me would have been 
 an ample reward for services much greater than those I have 
 hcd the power to perform. I return you, and each of you, 
 gentlemen, my best acknowledgments for the spirit, alacrity, 
 and zeal, you have constantly shown in your several stations. 
 [ am unhappy to part with you. I leave the service, but I 
 leave my heart with you. May God bless you, and give 
 you success and safety, and make you the glorious instru 
 ment of saving our country.’ 
 
 “After the officers had received Colonel Henry’s kind 
 answer tc their address, they insisted upon his dining with 
 
 N 
 
 9 
 
20 0 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 them at the Raleigh tavern, before his departure : and after 
 dinner a number of them proposed escorting him out of town, 
 but were prevented in their resolution by some uneasiness 
 getting among the soldiery, who assembled in a tumultuous 
 manner, and demanded their discharge, declaring their un- 
 willingness to serve under any other commander ; upon 
 which Col. Henry found it necessary to stay a night longer 
 in town ; which he spent in visiting the several barracks, 
 and used every argument in his power with the soldiery, to 
 lay aside their imprudent resolution, and to continue in the 
 service which he had quitted from motives in which his hon- 
 our alone was concerned; and that, although he was pre- 
 vented from serving his country in a military capacity, yet 
 his utmost abilities should be exerted for the real interest 
 of the united colonies, in support of the glorious cause in 
 which they have engaged. This, accompanied with the 
 extraordinary exertions of Col. Christian and other officers 
 piesent, happily produced the desired effect, the soldiers re- 
 luctantly acquiescing ; and we have now the pleasure to as- 
 sure the public, that those brave fellows are now pretty well 
 reconciled, and will spend the last drop of their blood in their 
 country’s defence.” 
 
 This is the man who has been sometimes branded as a 
 
 turbulent, seditious, factious demagogue ! Had he been of 
 
 this character, what an occasion was here to have provoked 
 
 it to action ! This love for the man and the officer, and this 
 
 > 
 
 resentment of the indignities to which he had been subjected, 
 was not confined to the camp at Williamsburg ; they per- 
 vaded the whole army, and were felt and expressed by the 
 following address, signed by upwards of ninety officers at 
 Kemp’s ianding and Suffolk (in Colonel Woodford’s camp,) 
 
PATRICK H E N R * . 
 
 20 i 
 
 ag well as at Williamsburg; and printed by their desire in 
 Purdie’s paper of the 22d March, 1775 : — 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ Deeply concerned for the good of our cpuntry, we sin- 
 cerely lament the unhappy necessity of your resignation, and 
 with all the warmth of affection assure you, that, whatever 
 may have given rise to the indignity lately offered to you. 
 we join with the general voice of the people, and think it car 
 duty to make this public declaration of our high respect for 
 your distinguished merit. To your vigilance and judgment 
 as a senator this united continent bears ample testimony ; 
 while she prosecutes her steady opposition to those destruc- 
 tive ministerial measures which your eloquence first pointed 
 out and taught to resent, and your resolution led forv'ard 
 to resist . To your extensive popularity the service also is 
 greatly indebted, for the expedition with which the troops 
 were raised ; and, while they were continued under your 
 command, the firmness, candour, and politeness, which form- 
 ed the complexion of your conduct toward them, obtained 
 the signal approbation of the wise and virtuous, and will leave 
 upon our minds the most grateful impression. Although 
 retired from the immediate concerns of war, we solicit the 
 continuance of your kindly attention. We know your at- 
 tachment to the best of causes ; we have the fullest confi- 
 dence in your abilities, and in the rectitude of your views ; 
 and however willing the envious may be to undermine an 
 established reputation, we trust the day will come, when 
 justice shall prevail, and thereby secure you an honourable 
 and happy return to the glorious employment of conducting 
 our councils, and hazarding your life in the defence of yoin 
 country. 
 
 2 C 
 
302 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 “ With the most grateful sentiments of regard and esteem 
 we are, sir, very respectfully, your most obliged and obedient 
 humble servants.” 
 
 If any doubt can be entertained as to the body to which 
 this imputation of envy pointed, it will be removed by ihe fol- 
 lowing defence of the committee of safety, extracted from the 
 supplement to Purdie’s paper of the 15th of March, 1776 ■ 
 
 “ Mr. Purdie, 
 
 “ I am informed a report is prevailing through the colony, 
 that the committee of safety were the cause of Col. Henry’s 
 resigning the command of his battalion ; which it is supposed 
 hath received confirmation from the address of the officers to 
 that gentleman, in which they speak of a glaring indig 
 nity having been offered him, if it was not wholly derived 
 from that source. That the good people of the country may 
 be truly informed in this matter, the following state of facts 
 is submitted, without comment, to the impartial judgment of 
 the public : — 
 
 u As soon as the last convention had voted the raising 
 seven new battalions of troops, besides augmenting the old 
 ones, the committee of safety informed our delegates to con- 
 gress of that vote, desiring they would use their best endeav 
 ours to have the whole supported at continental expense; 
 m answer to which, a letter was received from the delegates, 
 dated the 30th of December, of which the following is an ex* 
 trace The resolutions of congress for taking our six ad- 
 ditional (they would not agree to take our other two) battal- 
 ions, into continental pay, and for permitting an exportation 
 for supplying our countrymen with salt, are enclosed.’ 1: 
 was supposed from hence, an intention prevailed in congress 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 203 
 
 to pass by the two old battalions, and take six of the new 
 ones into continental pay ; which, as it was said those offi- 
 cers would take precedency of provincial ones of equal rank, 
 was generally thought wrong, since it would degrade the offi- 
 cers of the two first battalions : and, to avoid this, the con- 
 vention came to a resolution, the 10th of January, of which 
 the following is part : — 4 Should the congress adhere to their 
 resolution of taking into continental pay no more than six 
 battalions, let it be earnestly recommended to them to suffer 
 our two present battalions (to be completed as before men- 
 tioned) to stand first in the arrangement ; since, otherwise, 
 the officers first appointed by this convention, most of whom 
 have already gone through a laborious and painful service, 
 will be degraded in their ranks, and there is too much reason 
 o apprehend that great confusion will ensue.’ 
 
 “ The worthy gentleman ( not a member of the committee 
 of safety ) who proposed this resolution, informed the conven- 
 tion, he had consulted some of the officers of the first regi- 
 ment, who wished to have their rank preserved, though it 
 was foreseen the pay would be reduced. 
 
 “ The committee of safety, in a letter to the delegates, 
 dated the 25th of January, enclosing this resolution, thus 
 write : — ‘ You have a list of the field officers as they stand 
 recommended, and we doubt not receiving the commissions 
 in the like order, with blanks for the proper number of cap- 
 tains and subalterns. If, however, the resolution of congress 
 should be unalterably fixed to allow us but six battalions, you 
 will please to attend to that part of the resolve which re- 
 commends their being the first six, as a point of great conse 
 qvenoe to our harmony, in which may be involved the 
 good of the common cause.’ The committee of safety after- 
 ward leceived the commissions wholly filled up for the field 
 
204 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 officers of six battalions, in the rank they stood recommended 
 by the convention, beginning with Col. Henry, and ending 
 with Col. Buckner of the 6th battalion, with directions to 
 deliver them. Colonel Henry was accoidingly offered Ins 
 commission, which he declined accepting, and retired without 
 assigning any reasons. 
 
 “ As to the general officers, the convention left them en 
 tirely to the choice of the congress, without recommenda 
 tion ; nor did the committee of safety at all intermeddle in 
 that choice. 
 
 “ A Friend to Truth.” 
 
 Immediately following this defence of the committee, in 
 the same paper, are the two following articles : — 
 
 “ Mr. Purdie, 
 
 “ The address of the officers to Col. Henry, and the col. s 
 reply, has led some of our enemies to hope that there would, 
 be great discontent in the army, by which our military opera 
 tions would be retarded, and that there would be a consider- 
 able murmuring against the congress ; but they are much 
 mistaken. It is true the soldiers and officers were very un- 
 happy at parting with so amiable a commander as Colonel 
 Henry ; and might be a little imprudent in some expressions 
 on the occasion; but there is not a man of them who is not 
 so warmly attached to the glorious cause he is engaged in, 
 as to serve with alacrity under any commander, rather than 
 it should suffer. And Colonel Henry himself is a gentleman 
 of so much honour, and so true a patriot, that he will never 
 countenance a murmur against the congress ; nay so far from 
 it, that it is highly probable he will soon be found in that 
 august assembly, urging with his powerful eloquence. *he 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 205 
 
 necessity of prosecuting the war with redoubled vigour. I 
 am a sincere friend to the congress and to Colonel Henry.” 
 
 “Mr. Purdie, 
 
 “ 1 Envy will merit as its shade pursue : 
 
 But, like the shadow, proves the substance true/ 
 
 Pope. 
 
 “ I was not surprised to see, in your last week’s gazette 
 the resignation of Patrick Henry, esquire, late commander- 
 in-chief of all the Virginia forces, and colonel of the first 
 regiment. From that gentleman’s amiable disposition, his 
 invariable perseverance in the cause of liberty, we appre- 
 hend that envy strove to bury in obscurity his martial tal- 
 ents. Fettered and confined , with only an empty title , 
 ' the mere echo of authority , his superior abilities lay inac- 
 tive , nor could be exerted for his honour , or his country 1 s 
 good. 
 
 “ Virginia may truly boast, that in him she finds the able 
 statesman, the soldier’s father, the best of citizens, and liber- 
 ty’s dear friend. Clad with innocence, as in a coat-of-mail, 
 he is proof against every serpentile whisper. The officers 
 and soldiers, who know him, are riveted to his bosom ; when 
 he speaks, all is silence ; when he orders, they cheerfully 
 obey ; and in the field, under so sensible, so prudent an offi- 
 cer, though hosts oppose them, with shouts they meet their 
 armed foe, the sure presages of victory and success. 
 
 “ Let us, my countrymen, with grateful hearts, remember 
 that he carried off the standard of liberty, and defeated Gren 
 ville »n his favcurite stamp act. 
 
 18 
 
yvirt’s life of 
 
 266 
 
 u 4 While many dreaded, till with pleasing eye, 
 Saw tyranny before brave Henry fly.’ 
 
 “ I am, Mr. Purdie, your friend, and a well-wishei tc 
 Virginia. 
 
 “An Honest Farmer.” 
 
 It is very clear from the last piece, as well as from the ad 
 dress of the ninety officers, which has been already given, 
 and which was published by their desire in a paper subse- 
 quent to that which contains the defence of the committee , 
 that that defence had been by no means satisfactory ; and 
 that either the committee as a body, or what is more proba- 
 ble, some individual or individuals of it, were still believed to 
 have had a secret hand in planning and directing the series of 
 indignities which had driven Mr. Henry from a military life. 
 It would seem that the truly respectable and venerable chair- 
 man of that committee came in at the time for his full pro 
 portion of this censure, and that he smarted severely under 
 it : this I infer, from a letter of his to Colonel Woodford some 
 time afterward, in answer to one by which that gentleman 
 had consulted him as to the propriety of his resigning his 
 commission. After having dissuaded him from this step by 
 other topics, he proceeds thus : — “ I am apprehensive that 
 your resignation will be handled to your disadvantage, from 
 a certain quarter , where all reputations are sacrificed , 
 for the sake of one ; what does it signify, that he resigned 
 without any such cause, or assigning any reason at all ? it 
 is not without example , that others should be censured fo? 
 what he is applauded for” This acrimony, so unusual 
 fsom a man of Mr. Pendleton’s benevolence and courtesy 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 207 
 
 could have been t^rung from him only by the bitterest provo- 
 cations ; and renders it highly probable, that the numerous 
 and enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Henry had implicated this 
 gentleman deeply in the indignities which had recently been 
 offered to their favourite. 
 
 The necessity of placing this incident of Mr. Henry’s lift 
 in its true light, upon the evidence in my possession, has im- 
 posed upon me a very painful duty in regard to Mr. Pendle- 
 ton. With the justice or injustice of the construction placed 
 upon his conduct in relation to Mr. Henry, I have nothing to 
 do. Even if just, the infirmity of human nature may be 
 easily excused in feeling some uneasiness at the eclipsing 
 brightness with which Mr. Henry had rushed, like a comet, 
 to the head of affairs in Virginia. It demands, however, no 
 uncommon measure of charity to believe, that what was im- 
 puted to envy at the time, proceeded, so far as Mr. Pendleton 
 was concerned, from a single eye to the public good, and a 
 sincere belief on his part, (an opinion in which he was by no 
 means singular,) that Mr. Henry’s inexperience in military 
 affairs made it unsafe to commit to his management the in- 
 fancy of our war. The people required to be animated by 
 success in the onset ; and it was therefore very natural in the 
 committee of safety, on whom the responsibility for the man- 
 agement of the war devolved, to select, for the first enter- 
 prises, the most experienced commander. Mr. Pendleton was 
 too virtuous a man, and too faithful a patriot, to have yielded 
 consciously to any other motive of action than the public 
 good. His country has fixed its seal uj on his exalted charac- 
 ter, and the writer of these sketches is much more disposed 
 to brighten than to efface the impression. 
 
 The motives of Mr. Henry’s resignation of his commission 
 which have been staled, are very easily and clearly deducible 
 
208 
 
 WIRT 7 S LIFE OF 
 
 from the papers of the day and were expressly avowed bv 
 him to his confidential friend and brother-in-law, Colone; 
 Meredith.* To other friends, however, he stated that he was 
 the more reconciled to the necessity which had compelled 
 him to resign, because he believed that he could perhaps 
 serve the cause of his country more effectually in the public 
 councils than in the field.! 
 
 Immediately upon his resignation he was elected a dele- 
 gate to the convention for the county of Hanover. The ses- 
 sion of that body, which was now coming on, was pregnant 
 with importance. Dunmore had abdicated the chair of gov- 
 ernment, and the royal authority in the colony was seen 
 and felt no longer, but in acts of hostility. The king had 
 declared from his throne, that the colonists must be reduced 
 by force to. submit to the British claim of taxation ; and the 
 colonists, on their part, had avowed that they never would 
 submit to this prostration of their rights ; but, on the contra- 
 ry, that they would hand down to their children the birth- 
 right of liberty which they had enjoyed, or perish in the at- 
 tempt. On this quarrel arms had been taken up on both 
 sides, and the appeal had been made to the God of battles. 
 The w r ar had assumed a regular and settled frw , blood had 
 
 * These are Colonel Meredith’s words : — “ P. H. in jicAromunica- 
 tion to Col. M. stated his motives for resigning his commission as col- 
 onel. He conceived himself neglected, by younger officers having been 
 put above him, and preferred to him ; particularly in the affair of the 
 Great Bridge, where he wished to have commanded ; but Colonel 
 Woodford received that appointment. He disliked his being kent 
 and about Williamsburg, and not appointed to some important post ot 
 expedition. He was thus induced to think he was neglected by th**** 
 who had the power of appointment. He therefore resigned.” 
 
 | Judge Tyler, and Captain George Dabney. 
 
PATRICK HENRTC. 
 
 2 OJ 
 
 ocen profusely shed in various parts of the continen , and re- 
 conciliation had become hopeless. 
 
 The people being thus abandoned by their king, put om 
 of his protection, declared in i state of open rebellion, and 
 treated as enemies, the social compact which had united the 
 monarch with his subjects was at an end; the colonial con- 
 stitution, which could be set and kept in motion only by 
 the presence and agency of the king or his representative 
 was of course dissolved ; and all the rights and powers of 
 government reverted, of necessity, to their source, the people 
 These causes produced the convention. It was the organ by 
 which the people chose to exercise the fundamental rights 
 thus thrown back upon them, by the dissolution of the regal 
 government. It was the substitute for the whole govern- 
 ment which had been withdrawn — legislative, executive, 
 and judiciary. It represented the whole political power of 
 the people ; and had been expressly elected to take care of 
 the republic. The means of accomplishing this object were 
 left to themselves, without limitation or restriction on the 
 part of the people. Hitherto, while any hope of a restora- 
 tion of the original government on just terms could be enter- 
 tained, the convention had been satisfied with temporary ex- 
 pedients ; the first convention, however, had exercised the 
 power of the people in their highest capacity, by adopting a 
 species of constitution, and organizing a government under 
 it ; thus they erected an executive, under the name of a com- 
 mittee of safety, which the people recognised as flowing di 
 rectly from themselves. Before the meeting of the conven 
 tion of 1776, however, it was seen and well understood on 
 every hand, that the contest* could not be maintained by the 
 people, without the aid of regular government ; and that the 
 political malady of which they complained, could be e vtir 
 2 D 1 8* 
 
210 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 pated in no other way than by applying, the knife to the root 
 The newspapers of the preceding year contain frequent sug- 
 gestions of this kind ; the impression had now become uni- 
 versal ; and the papers present specimens of explicit instTuc- 
 lions from the people to their delegates to this effect.* Tfus 
 
 * The following are the instructions from the freeholders of James' 
 city to their delegates : — 
 
 “ To Robert C. Nicholas , and William Norvell , Esquires : — 
 
 {C Gentlemen, 
 
 “ In vain do we congratulate ourselves on the impotency of the min- 
 ister to divide us, if our union amounts to nothing more than a union 
 in one common lethargy. War hath been brought into our houses, 
 heightened by terrors and cruelties which the justest cause wants even 
 palliatives for; but faint advances towards peace, insidiously urged, 
 have caught the ear of the credulous, and groundless hopes of accom- 
 modation deluded the timid, so that the free military system remains 
 untouched in most essential points. As if our inexperience, poverty 
 in warlike stores, and the infancy of our navy, were of trifling moment, 
 we have ventured to neglect resources in such difficulties, which 
 Heaven hath placed within our attainment. 
 
 “ Alliances may be formed at an easy price, capable of supplying 
 these disadvantages, but an independent state disdains to humble 
 herself to an equality in treaty with another, who cannot call her pol- 
 itics her own ; or, to be explicit, she cannot enter into a negotiation 
 with those who denominate themselves rebels, by resistance, and con- 
 fession of a dependancy. 
 
 “ Reasons, drawn from justice , policy , and necessity , are every 
 where at hand for a radical separation from Great Britain. From 
 Justice ; for the blood of those who have fallen in our cause cries 
 aloud , ‘ It is time to part. 5 From necessity , because she hath, of ner- 
 self, repudiated us by a rapid succession of insult , injury , robbery , 
 murder , and a formal declaration of war. These are but few, and 
 some of the weakest arguments which the great volume of our op- 
 pression opens to every spirited American. 
 
 “It cannot be a violation of our faith now to reject the terms of 
 1763. They are a qualified slavery at best, and were acceptable tc us 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 2 \\ 
 
 instructed in the sentiments of their constituents, and repre- 
 senting the people in their highest sovereign capacity, the 
 convention met on the 6t.h of May, 1776, in the old capitol 
 in the city of Williamsburg. Mr. Pendleton having been 
 elected president, after having thanked the house for the 
 honour done him, addressed them with great solemnity, in the 
 following terms : — “We are now met in general convention 
 according to the ordinance for our election, at a time truly 
 critical, when subjects of the most important, and interesting 
 nature require our serious attention. 
 
 “ The administration of justice, and almost all the powers 
 of government, have now been suspended for near two years. 
 It will become us to reflect whether we can longer sustain 
 the great struggle we are making in this situation.” Having 
 then directed their attention to certain specific subjects which 
 required attention, he concluded his short, but impressive ad- 
 dress, by exhorting the members to calmness, unanimity, and 
 diligence. 
 
 On the fifteenth of May, Mr. Cary reported from the com- 
 mittee of the whole house on the state of the colony, the fol- 
 lowing preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously 
 adopted : — 
 
 “Forasmuch as all the endeavours of the United Colonies, 
 by the most decent representations and petitions to the kmg 
 
 not as the extent of our right, but the probable cause of peace ; but 
 since the day in which they were most humbly offered as the end 
 of animosities, an interval hath passed, marked with tyranny iniol~ 
 enable. 
 
 “ We, therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do request 
 and instruct you, our delegates, (provided no just and honourable terms 
 are offered by the king,) to exert your utmost ability, in the next con- 
 vention, toward dissolving the connexion between America and 
 Great Britain , totally, finally, and irrevocably.’ 
 
212 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 and parliament of Great Britain, to restore peace and security 
 to America under the British government, and a reunion 
 with that people upon just and liberal terms, instead of a 
 redress of grievances, have produced, from an imperious and 
 vindictive administration, increased insult, oppression, and a 
 vigorous attempt to effect our total destruction. By a late 
 act, all these colonies are declared to be in rebellion, and out 
 of the protection of the British crown ; our properties sub- 
 jected to confiscation ; our people, when captivated, compelled 
 to join in the murder and plunder of their relations and coun- 
 trymen ; and all former rapine and oppression of Americans 
 declared legal and just. Fleets and armies are raised, and 
 the aid ot foreign troops engaged to assist these destructive 
 purposes. The king’s representative in this colony hath not 
 only withheld all the powers of government from opera- 
 ting for our safety, but, having retired on board an armed 
 ship, is carrying on a piratical and savage war against us 
 tempting our slaves, by every artifice, to resort to him, and 
 tiaining and employing them against their masters. In this 
 state of extreme danger, we have no alternative left, but an 
 abject submission to the will of those overbearing tyrants, 
 or a total separation from the crown and government of 
 Great Britain : uniting and exerting the strength of all 
 America for defence, and forming alliances with foreign 
 powers for commerce and aid in war. Wherefore, appealing 
 to the Searcher of hearts or the sincerity of former declara- 
 tions, expressing our desire to preserve the connexion with 
 that nation, and that we are driven from that inclination 
 by their wicked councils, and the eternal laws of self-preser- 
 vation. 
 
 u Resolved, unanimously , That the delegates appointed to 
 represent this colony in general congress, be instructed tc 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 213 
 
 propose to that respectable body, to declare the united 
 
 COLONIES FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, absolved from 
 
 all allegiance to, or dependance upon, the crown or par- 
 liament of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent 
 of this colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures 
 may be thought proper and necessary by the congress for 
 forming foreign alliances, and a confederation of the 
 colonies, at such time, and in the manner, as to them shall 
 seem best. Provided, that the power of forming government 
 for, and the regulation of, the internal concerns of each colony, 
 be left to the respective colonial legislatures. 
 
 “ Resolved, unanimously , That a committee be appointed 
 to prepare a declaration of rights, and such a plan 
 of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and 
 order in this colony, and secure substantial aid equal liberty 
 to the people.” 
 
 This measure was followed by the most lively demonstra 
 tions of joy. The spirit of the times, is interestingly mani 
 fested by the following paragraph from Purdie’s paper of 
 the 17th of May, which immediately succeeds the annuncia 
 tion of the resolutions : — 
 
 “ In consequence of the above resolutions, universally re 
 garded as the only door which will lead to safety and pros- 
 perity, some gentlemen made a handsome collection for the 
 purpose of treating the soldiery, who next day were paraded 
 in Waller’s grove, before Brigadier-General Lewis, attended 
 by the gentlemen of the committee of safety, the members 
 of the general convention, the inhabitants of this city, &c., 
 fee. The resolutions being read aloud to the army, the fol- 
 lowing toasts were given, each of them accompanied by a 
 discharge of the artillery and sina 11 arms, and the acclama- 
 tions of all present: — 
 
214 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 “ 1. The American Independent States. 
 
 “ 2. The grand Congress of the United States, and their 
 respective legislatures. 
 
 '■'3. General Washington, and victory to the American 
 arms. 
 
 “ The Union Flag of the American states waved upon the 
 capitol during the whole of this ceremony; which being 
 ended, the soldiers partook of the refreshments prepared for 
 them by the affection of their countrymen, and the evening 
 concluded with illuminations, and other demonstrations of 
 joy ; every one seeming pleased that the domination of Great 
 Britain was now at an end, so wickedly and tyrannically ex- 
 ercised for these twelve or thirteen years past, notwithstand- 
 ing our repeated prayers and remonstrances for redress.” 
 
 The committee appointed to prepare the declaration and 
 T lan of government, called for by the last resolution, were 
 the following : — Mr. Archibald Cary, Mr. Meriwether Smith 
 Mr. Mercer, Mr. Henry Lee, Mr. Treasurer, Mr. Henry, Mr 
 Dandridge, Mr. Gilmer, Mr. Bland, Mr. Digges, Mr. Carring 
 ton, Mr. Thomas Ludwell Lee, Mr. Cabell, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
 Blair, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Tazewell, Mr. Richard Cary, Mr 
 Bullitt, Mr. Watts, Mr. Banister, Mr. Page, Mr. Starke, Mr. 
 David Mason, Mr. Adams, Mr. Read, and Mr. Thomas 
 Lewis ; to whom were afterward successively added, Mr. 
 Madison, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Watkins, Mr. George Mason, 
 Mr. Harvie, Mr. Curie, and Mr. Holt. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 12th of June following, that declaia 
 tion of rights which stands prefixed to our statutes, was 
 reported and adopted without a dissenting v )ice ; as was 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 215 
 
 &lso, on Saturday, the 29th of the same month, the presen 4 
 plan of our government.* 
 
 The salary of the governor to be appointed under the new 
 constitution was immediately fixed by a resolution of the 
 house at one thousand pounds per annum ; and the house 
 proceeded to elect forthwith the first republican governor for 
 the commonwealth of Virginia. This was the touchstone of 
 public favour. The office was of the first importance ; and 
 the whole state was open to the choice of the house. The 
 question was decided on the first ballot. The vote stood 
 thus : — 
 
 For Patrick Henry, jun. Esq. - - 60 
 
 Thomas Nelson, Esq. - - - - 45 
 
 John Page, Esq. - - - 1 
 
 * The striking similitude between the recital of wrongs prefixed to 
 the constitution of Virginia, and that which was afterward prefixed 
 to the Declaration of Independence of the United States, is of itself 
 sufficient to establish the fact that they are from the same pen. But 
 the constitution of Virginia preceded the Declaration of Independence, 
 by nearly a month ; and was wholly composed and adopted while Mr. 
 Jefferson is known to have been out of the state, attending the session 
 of congress at Philadelphia. From these facts alone, a doubt might 
 naturally arise whether he was, as he has always been reputed, the 
 author of that celebrated instrument, the Declaration of American In- 
 dependence, or at least the recital of grievances which ushers it in ; or 
 whether this part of it, at least, had not been borrowed from the pre- 
 amble to the constitution of Virginia. To remove this doubt, it is pro- 
 per to state, that there now exists among the archives of this state 
 an original rough draught of a constitution for Virginia, in the hand- 
 writing of Mr. Jefferson, containing this identical preamble, and which 
 was forwarded by him from Philadelphia, to his friend Mr. Wythe, U 
 be submitted to the committee of the house of delegates. The body of 
 i he constitution is taken principally from a plan proposed by M 
 George Mason ; and had been adopted by the rommittep before tbs 
 
i 16 
 
 wikt’s life of 
 
 Whereupon it was “ Resolved, That the said Patrick 
 Henry, jun. Esq., be governor of this commonwealth, to con- 
 tinue in that office until the end of the succeeding session of 
 assembly after the last of March next ; and that Mr. Mason, 
 Mr. Henry Lee, Mr. Digges, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Dandridge, 
 be a committee to wait upon him, and notify such appoint 
 ment.” 
 
 On Monday, the 1st of July, Mr. George Mason, of this 
 committee, reported, that they had performed the duty as- 
 signed them, and that the governor had been pleased to re- 
 turn the following answer to the convention : — 
 
 “ To the Honourable the President and House of Convention . 
 “ Gentlemen, 
 
 “ The vote of this day, appointing me governor of the 
 commonwealth, has been notified to me in the most po 
 lite and obliging manner, by George Mason, Henry Lee, 
 Dudley Digges, John Blair, and Bartholomew Dandridge 
 esquires. 
 
 “ A sense of the high and unmerited honour conferred 
 upon me by the convention, fills my heart with gratitude, 
 which I trust my whole life will manifest. I take this earli- 
 est opportunity to express my thanks, which I wish to con- 
 vey to you, gentlemen, in the strongest terms of acknow- 
 ledgment. 
 
 “ When I reflect that the tyranny of the British king and 
 parliament hath kindled a formidable war, now raging 
 throughout this wide extended continent, and in the opera- 
 tions of which this commonwealth must bear so great a part ; 
 
 arrival of Mr. Jefferson’s plan : his preamble, however, was prefixed 
 to the instrument; and some of the modifications proposed by hia 
 introduced into the body of it. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 217 
 
 &nd that, from the events of this war, the lasting happiness 
 or misery of a great proportion of the human species will 
 finally result ; that, in order to preserve this commonwealth 
 from anarchy, and its attendant ruin, and to give vigour to 
 our councils, and effect to all our measures, government 
 hath been necessarily assumed, and new-modelled; that 
 it is exposed to numberless hazards, and perils, in its infan- 
 tine state; that it can never attain to maturity, or ripen into 
 firmness, unless it is guarded by an affectionate assiduity, 
 and managed by great abilities ; I lament my want of tal- 
 ents ; I feel my mind filled with anxiety and uneasiness, to 
 find myself so unequal to the duties of that important sta- 
 tion, to which I am called by the favour of my fellow-citizens 
 at this truly critical conjuncture. The errors of my conduct 
 shall be atoned, for, so far as I am able, by unwearied en- 
 deavours to secure the freedom and happiness of our com- 
 mon country. 
 
 “ I shall enter upon the duties of my office, whenever 
 you, gentlemen, shall be pleased to direct ; relying upon the 
 known wisdom and virtue of your honourable house to sup- 
 ply my defects, and to give permanency and success to 
 that system of government which you have formed, and 
 which is so wisely calculated to secure equal liberty, and ad- 
 vance human happiness. 
 
 I have the honour to be, gentlemen, 
 
 “ your most obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry, jun.” 
 
 Mr. Henry was also immediately greeted with the follow- 
 ing affectionate address, from the two regiments which he 
 had recently commanded : — 
 
 2 E 
 
 19 
 
218 
 
 WIRT’s LIFE OF 
 
 4 To his excellency Patrick Henry , jun . Esq., governor oj 
 the commonwealth of Virginia : — The humble address of 
 the first and second Virginia regiments : — 
 
 “ May it please your excellency, 
 
 “ Permit us, with the sincerest sentiments of respect and 
 joy, to congratulate your excellency upon your unsolicited 
 promotion to the highest honours a grateful people can be 
 stow. 
 
 “Uninfluenced by private ambition, regardless of sordid 
 interest, you have uniformly pursued the general good of 
 your country ; and have taught the world, that an ingenu- 
 ous love of the rights of mankind, an inflexible resolution, and 
 a steady perseverance in the practice of every private and 
 public virtue, lead directly to preferment, and give the best 
 title to the honours of our uncorrupted and vigorous state. 
 
 “ Once happy under your military command, we hope for 
 more extensive blessings from your civil administration. 
 
 “ Intrusted as your excellency is, in some measure, with 
 the support of a young empire, our hearts are willing, and 
 arms ready, to maintain your authority as chief magistrate; 
 happy that we have lived to see the day, when freedom and 
 equal rights, established by the voice of the people, shall pre- 
 vail through the land. We are, may it please your excel* 
 lency, your excellency’s most devoted and most obedient 
 servants.” 
 
 Tc which he returned the following exquisite answer .- 
 
 “ Genvlemen of the first and second Virginia regiments, 
 
 “ Your address does me the highest honour. Be pleased 
 o accept my most cordial thanks for your favourable and 
 kind sentiments of my principles and conduct. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 219 
 
 “The high appointment to which my fellow -citizens have 
 called me, was, indeed, unmerited , unsolicited. I am, there 
 fore, under increased obligations to promote the safety, dig- 
 nity, and happiness of the commonwealth. 
 
 “ While the civil powers are employed in establishing a 
 system of government, liberal, equitable, in every part of 
 which the genius of equal liberty breathes her blessed influ- 
 ence, to you is assigned the glorious task of saving, by your 
 valour, all that is dear to mankind. Go on, gentlemen, to 
 finish the great work you have so nobly and successfully be- 
 gun. Convince the tyrants again, that they shall bleed, that 
 America will bleed to her last drop, ere their wicked schemes 
 find success. 
 
 “ The remembrance of my former connexion with you 
 shall ever be dear to me. I honour your profession, I revere 
 that patriot virtue, which, in your conduct, hath produced 
 cheerful obedience, exemplary courage, and contempt of 
 hardship and danger. Be assured, gentlemen, I shall feel the 
 highest pleasure in embracing every opportunity to con- 
 tribute to your happiness and welfare ; and I trust the day 
 will come, when I shall make one of those that will hail you 
 among the triumphant deliverers of America. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, gentlemen, 
 
 “ Your most obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 “P. Henry, jun.’ s# 
 
 * When it is said that Mr. Henry was not successful as a writer, 
 the remark must be understood as applicable only to those extended 
 compositions in which it was necessary to digest and arrange a mass 
 of arguments with skill and effect, and to give them beauty as welt 
 as order. In his short effusions, when excited by strong feelings, he 
 was sometimes very happy ; of which the above answer is a veiv 
 j easing specimen 
 
220 
 
 PATRICK HKNRY. 
 
 The first council appointed under the constitution 
 John Page, Dudley Digges, John Taylor, John Blair, Ben- 
 jamin Harrison, of Berkeley, Bartholomew Dandridge, Thom- 
 as Nelson, and Charles Carter, of Shirley, esquires. Mr. 
 Nelson (the same gentleman who had received so honour- 
 able a vote as governor) declined the acceptance of the office, 
 on account of his age and infirmities ; and his place was 
 supplied by Mr. Benjamin Harrison, of Brandon. 
 
 The governor’s palace, together with the out-buildings be- 
 longing to it in Williamsburg, having, by a previous reso- 
 lution, been appropriated as a public hospital, was, by a reso- 
 lution of the first of July, restored to its original destination ; 
 and the committee who had been appointed to notify the 
 governor of his election, were now directed to inform him of 
 the desire of the convention, that he would make the palace 
 nis place of residence. On the fifth of July the sum of one 
 thousand pounds was directed by the house, to be laid out in 
 furniture for the palace , including the furniture already there, 
 belonging to the country ; and, on the same day, the govern- 
 or and members of the privy council took their respective 
 oaths of office, and entered at once upon the discharge of 
 iheir constitutional dutie?. 
 
SECTION VII 
 
 l 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Henry’s election as governor* Lord 
 Dunmore was driven from G winn’s island, and from the 
 state, to return to it no more ; and Virginia was left in repose 
 from every external enemy. No opportunity, therefore, was 
 afforded to the governor to distinguish himself in the exer- 
 cise of that important constitutional power which created 
 him the commander-in-chief of the forces of the state. Du- 
 ties, however, of more importance than lustre, remained for 
 the executive of the state — in keeping up the ardour of the 
 commonwealth in the public cause — in furnishing and for- 
 warding their quota of military supplies to the grand conti- 
 nental army — in awakening the spirit of the state to the 
 importance of discipline, and preparing the militia for the 
 effectual discharge of their routine of duty — in watching and 
 crushing the intrigues of the tories who still infested the state, 
 and went about clandestinely, preaching disaffection to the 
 patriot cause, and submission to Great Britain — in counter- 
 acting the schemes of speculating monopolists and extor- 
 tioners, who sought to avail themselves of the necessities of 
 the times, and to grow rich by preying on the misfortunes of 
 the people — in short, in eradicating and removing those 
 numerous moral diseases, which spring up with so much 
 fecundity, and flourish so luxuriantly, amid the calamities of 
 a revolution — and in keeping the body politic pure and 
 healthy in all its parts The numerous and well-directed 
 221 19 * 
 
222 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 proclamations with which the papers of the day abound, at 
 test the vigilance and energy with which these duties were 
 performed. Tc enter upon a detail of them, would be to 
 write the history of Virginia during this period, instead of the 
 life of Mr. Henry ; a v/ork wholly unnecessary, since it has 
 been already executed with minuteness and fidelity by ar 
 elegant writer,* whose work will probably see the light before 
 these sketches. I shall confine myself to a few prominent 
 incidents of Mr. Henry’s administration, on account of some 
 of which a degree of censure has been unjustly, I think, 
 attached to his character. 
 
 The fall of the year 1776 was one of the darkest and most 
 dispiriting periods of the revolution. The disaster at Long 
 Island had occurred, by which a considerable portion of the 
 American army had been cut off — a garrison of between 
 three and four thousand men had been taken at Fort Wash- 
 ington — and the American general, with the small remainder, 
 disheartened, and in want of every kind of comfort, was 
 retreating through the Jerseys before an overwhelming power, 
 which spread terror, desolation, and death, on every hand. 
 This was the period of which Paine, in his Crisis, used that 
 memorable expression : — “ These are the times which try the 
 souls of men !” For a short time the courage of the country 
 fell. Washington alone remained erect, and surveyed with 
 godlike composure the storm that raged around him. Even 
 the heroism of the Virginia legislature gave way; and, in a 
 season of despair, the mad project of a dictator was seriously 
 . meditated. That Mr. Henry was thought of for this office, 
 has been alleged, and is highly probable ; but that the pro- 
 ject was suggested by him, or even received his countenance. 
 
 ♦Mr. L. H. Girardin, the continuator of Burk’s History of Virginia 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 223 
 
 I have met with no one who will venture to affirm. There 
 is a tradition that Col. Archibald Cary, the speaker of the 
 senate, was principally instrumental in crushing this project ; 
 that meeting Col. Syme, the step-brothei of Col. Henry, in 
 the lobby of the house, he accosted him very fiercely in terms 
 like these : — “ I am told that your brother wishes to be dic- 
 tator. tell him from me, that the day of his appointment 
 shall be the day of his death — for he shall feel my dagger 
 in his heart before the sunset of that day and the tradition 
 adds, that Col. Syme, in great agitation, declared, “ that if 
 such a project existed, his brother had no hand in it, for that 
 nothing could be more foreign to him, than to countenance 
 any office which could endanger, in the most distant manner, 
 the liberties of his country.'” 
 
 The intrepidity and violence of Col. Cary’s character ren- 
 ders the tradition probable ; but it furnishes no proof of Mr. 
 Henry’s implication in the scheme. It is most certain, that 
 both himself and his friends have firmly and uniformly per- 
 sisted in asserting his innocence ; and there seems to be 
 neither candour or justice in imputing to him, without evi- 
 dence, a scheme which might just as well have originated in 
 the assembly itself. It was not more than a month after- 
 ward, that congress actually did, with relation to Geneial 
 Washington, very nearly what the Virginia legislature are 
 said to have contemplated in regard to Mr. Henry ; they 
 invested him with powers very little short of dictatorial : yet 
 no one ever suspected General Washington of having prompt- 
 ed the measure. Why then shall Mr. Henry be suspected ? 
 Neither General Washington himself, nor any other patriot, 
 had maintained the principles of the revolution with more 
 consistency ami uniformity than Patrick Henry ; and it will 
 
224 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 certainly never satisfy a fair inquirer, to attempt to balances 
 a suspicion, without the shadow of proof, against the whole 
 course of a long and patriotic life. The charge, moreover, 
 seems preposterous. What advantage could a rational man 
 promise himself from the dictatorship of a single state, eim 
 barked with twelve other sovereign and independent states, 
 in one common cause ; a cause, too, now so well understood 
 by the whole body of the American people, and in which 
 all their souls were so intensely engaged? The man who 
 was at the head of the armies of the union, might have 
 played the part of Cesar or Cromwell, had he possessed 
 their wicked spirit ; but what could the dictator of a single 
 state do, and that, too, a state of firm and enlightened 
 patriots ? « 
 
 It is impossible to believe that the legislature themselves 
 could have entertained a doubt of Mr, Henry’s innocence ; 
 since at the next annual election for governor, which took 
 place on the 30th of May, 1777, he was re-elected unani - 
 mously ; the house being composed of nearly the same 
 members, and the same Colonel Cary being speaker of the 
 senate. This honourable proof of confidence, by those who 
 best knew the whole case — who watched, with a scrutiny 
 so severely jealous, the conduct of our prominent men — and 
 among whom were some who derived no pleasure from the 
 public honours of Mr. Henry — will be decisive of this ques- 
 tion, with every man who is dispassionately searching for 
 the truth, and is willing to find it. 
 
 This very honourable mark of the confidence of the legis 
 lature, in re-electing him unanimously to the office of gover 
 nor, affected Mr. Henry most sensibly ; and to the committee 
 who announced it to 1km, he gave the following answer * — 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 22} 
 
 ‘ Gentlemen, 
 
 “The signal honour conferred on me by the general 
 assembly in their choice of me to be the governor of this 
 commonwealth, demands my best acknowledgments, which 
 1 beg the favour of you to convey to them in the most ac- 
 ceptable manner. 
 
 “ I shall execute the duties of that high station, to which 
 I am again called by the favour of my fellow-citizens, accord- 
 ing to the best of my abilities, and I shall rely upon the 
 candour and wisdom of the assembly, to excuse and supply 
 my defects. The good of the commonwealth shall be the 
 only object of my pursuit, and I shall measure my happiness 
 according to the success which shall attend my endeavours 
 to establish the public liberty. I beg to be presented to the 
 assembly ; and that they and you will be assured, that I am, 
 with every sentiment of the highest regard, their and yout 
 most obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry.” 
 
 It was in the course of this year’s administration of the 
 government by Mr. Henry, that that memorable plot which 
 disgraces our history, was formed to supplant General Wash- 
 ington. This is said to have proceeded from the glory which 
 General Gates had gained by the capture of Burgoyne and 
 his army at Saratoga, and was believed to have been sug- 
 gested by General Gates himself. The plot is said to have 
 been an extensive one, and to have embraced some of the 
 members of congress, and many officers of the army. The 
 high estimate which Mr. Henry had formed of the abilities 
 of General Washington, while that illustrious man was com 
 paratively unknown to his countrymen, has been already 
 stated. This estimate, instead of having been lowered haa 
 2 F 
 
226 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 been confirmed and raised by subsequent events. Mr. Henr 
 was too cool and judicious an observer of events, to have im 
 puted to the commander-in-chief the disasters of the autumn 
 of 1776. His masterly retreat through the Jerseys, the bril- 
 liant strokes of generalship exhibited at Trenton and Prince- 
 ton, and above all, that singular constancy of soul with 
 which he braved adversity, had excited his grateful admira- 
 tion, and established Washington in his heart as one of the 
 first of human beings. He not only admired him as a gem 
 eral, but revered him as a patriot, and loved him as a friend 
 Feeling for General Washington sentiments like these, the 
 reader may judge of the indignation and horror with which 
 he read the following anonymous letter, addressed to him by 
 one of the conspirators against that father of his country 
 
 “ Yorktown , January 12th , 1778 - 
 
 ‘ Dear Sir, 
 
 “ The common danger of our country first brought yov 
 and me together. I recollect with pleasure the influence o 
 your conversation and eloquence upon the opinions of thi 
 country, in the beginning of the present controversy. You 
 first taught us to- shake off our idolatrous attachment to 
 royalty, and to oppose its encroachments upon our liberties, 
 with our very lives. By these means you saved us from 
 ruin. The independence of America is the offspring of that 
 liberal spirit of thinking and acting which followed the 
 destruction of the sceptres of kings, and the mighty power 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 “But, sir, we have only passed the Bed sea. A dreary 
 wilderness is still before us, and unless a Moses or a Joshua 
 are raised up in our behalf, we must perish before we reach 
 the promised land We have nothing to fear from our 
 
PATRICK HENRY, 
 
 227 
 
 enemies on the way. General Howe, it is true, has taken 
 Philadelphia; but he has only changed his prison. Hia 
 dominions are bounded on all sides, by his out-sentries. 
 America can only be undone by herself. She looks up to 
 her councils and arms for protection ; but alas ! what art 
 they? Her representation in congress dwindled to onlj 
 twenty-one members — her Adams — her Wilson — her Henry, 
 are no more among them. Her councils weak — and partial 
 remedies applied constantly for universal diseases. Her 
 army — what is it? a major-general belonging to it, called it 
 a few days ago, in my hearing, a mob . Discipline unknown 
 or wholly neglected. The quarter-master and commissary’s 
 departments filled with idleness, ignorance, and peculation 
 --our hospitals crowded with six thousand sick, but half 
 provided with necessaries or accommodations, and more 
 dying in them in one month, than perished in the field during 
 the whole of the last campaign. The money depreciating, 
 without any effectual measures being taken to raise it — * 
 the country distracted with the Don Quixote attempts to 
 regulate the price of provisions — an artificial famine created 
 by it, and a real one dreaded from it — the spirit of the people 
 failing through a more intimate acquaintance with the causes 
 of our misfortunes — many submitting daily to General Howe 
 — and more wishing to do it, only to avoid the calamities 
 which threaten our country. But is our case desperate ? by 
 no means. We have wisdom, virtue, and strength enough to 
 save us, if they could be called into action. The northern 
 army has shown us what Americans are capable of doing, 
 with a general at their head. The spirit of the southern 
 army is no way inferior to the spirit of the northern. A 
 Gates, a Lee, or a Conway, would in a few weeks render 
 them an irresistible body of men The last of the above 
 
228 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 officers has accepted of the new office of inspector-general ol 
 our army, in order to reform abuses ; but the remedy is only 
 a palliative one. In one of his letters to a friend, he says, 
 ‘a great and good God hath decreed America to be free — oi 
 the ****** and W eak counsellors, would have 
 ruined her long ago.’ You may rest assured of each of the 
 facts related in this ?etter. The author of it is one of your 
 Philadelphia triends. A hint of his name, if found out by 
 the handwriting, must not be mentioned to your most inti 
 mate friend. Even the letter must be thrown in the fire. 
 But some of its contents ought to be made public, in order 
 to awaken, enlighten, and alarm our country. I rely upon 
 your prudence, and am, dear sir, with my usual attachment 
 to you , and to our beloved independence, yours sincerely. 
 
 “ His Excellency P. Henry” 
 
 Mr. Henry did not hesitate a moment as to the course 
 which it was proper for him to take with this perfidious let- 
 ter: he enclosed it forthwith to General Washington, in the 
 following frank and high-minded communication : — 
 
 “ Williamsburg , February 20, 1778. 
 
 “Dear Sir, 
 
 “You will, no doubt, be surprised at seeing the encloseu 
 letter, in which the encomiums bestowed on me are as un- 
 deserved, as the censures aimed at you are unjust. I am 
 sorry there should be one man who counts himself my friend, 
 who is not yours. 
 
 “ Perhaps I give you needless trouble in handing you this 
 paper. The writer of it may be too insignificant to deserve 
 any notice. If I knew this to be the case, I should not have 
 intruded on your time, which is so precious. But there may 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 229 
 
 possibly be some scheme or party forming to jour prejudice. 
 The enclosed leads to such a suspicion. Believe me, sir, I 
 have too high a sense of the obligations America has to you, 
 to abet cr countenance so unworthy a proceeding. The most 
 exalted merit hath ever been found to attract envy. But I 
 please myself with the hope, that the same fortitude and 
 greatness of mind which have hitherto braved all the diffi- 
 culties and dangers inseparable from your station, will rise 
 superior to every attempt of the envious partisan. 
 
 “I really cannot tell who is the writer of this letter, which 
 not a little perplexes me. The handwriting is altogether 
 strange to me. 
 
 “To give you the trouble of this gives me pain. It would 
 suit my inclination better to give you some assistance in the 
 great business of the war. But I will not conceal any thing 
 from you by which you may be affected; for I really think, 
 your personal welfare and the happiness of America are 
 intimately connected. I beg you will be assured of that high 
 regard and esteem, with which I ever am, dear sir, your 
 affectionate friend and very humble servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry. 
 
 “ His Excellency General Washington .” 
 
 Not having received any answer to this letter, and being 
 filled with solicitude by the wicked conspiracy, he again 
 wrote tt General Washington, as follows : — 
 
 “ Williamsburg , March 5th , 1778 . 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 
 
 “ By an express which Colonel Finnie sent to camp, I 
 enclosed you an anonymous letter, which I hope got safe to 
 hand. 1 am anxious to hear something that will serve te 
 
 20 
 
230 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 explain the strange affair, which I am now informed is taken 
 up respecting you. Mr. Custis has just paid us a visit, and 
 by him I learn sundry particulars concerning General Mifflin, 
 that much surprised me. It is very hard to trace the schemes 
 and windings of the enemies to America. I really thought 
 that man its friend : however, I am too far from him to 
 judge of his present temper. 
 
 “ .While you face the armed enemies 01 our liberty in the 
 field, and by the favour of God, have been kept unhurt, I 
 trust your country will never harbour in her bosom the mis- 
 creant w T ho would ruin her best supporter. I wish not to 
 flatter ; but when arts, unworthy honest men, are used to 
 defame and traduce you, I think it not amiss, but a duty, to 
 assure you of that estimation in which the public hold you. 
 Not that I think any testimony I can bear is necessary for 
 your support, or private satisfaction ; for a bare recollection 
 of what is past must give you sufficient pleasure in every 
 circumstance of life. But I cannot help assuring you, on 
 this occasion, of the high sense of gratitude which all ranks 
 of men, in this your native country, bear to you. It will give 
 me sincere pleasure to manifest my regards, and render my 
 best services to you or yours. I do not like to make a 
 parade of these things, and I know you are not fond of it : 
 however, I hope the occasion will plead my excuse. 
 
 “ The assembly have, at length, empowered the executive 
 here, to provide the Virginia troops serving with you with 
 clothes, &c. I am making provision accordingly, and hope 
 to do something toward it. Every possible assistance from 
 government is afforded the commissary of provisions, whose 
 department has not been attended to. It was ‘taken up by 
 me too late to do much. Indeed, the load of business de- 
 volved on me is too great to be managed well. A French 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 231 
 
 ship mounting thirty guns, that has been long chased by the 
 English cruisers, has got into Carolina, as I hear last night, 
 
 “Wishing you all possible felicity, I am, my dear sir, 
 
 “ Your ever affectionate friend, 
 
 “ And very humble servant, 
 
 “P. Henry. 
 
 “ His Excellency General Washington.” 
 
 In reply, Mr Henry receiv shortly afterward the two 
 following very cordial letters from the general : — 
 
 “ Valley Fojge, March 27th , 1778. 
 
 ‘ Dear Sir, 
 
 “About c’ght days past, I was honoured with your favour 
 of the 20th ultimo. Your friendship, sir, in transmitting me 
 the anonymous letter you had received, lays me under the 
 most grateful obligations ; and, if any thing could give a still 
 further claim to my acknowledgments, it is the very polite 
 and delicate terms in which you have been p to mak 
 
 the communication. 
 
 “I have ever been happy in supposing that I held a 
 place in your esteem, and the proof of it you have afforded 
 on this occasion makes me peculiarly so. The favourable 
 light in which you hold me is truly flattering; but I should 
 feel much regret if I thought the happiness of America so 
 intimately connected with my personal welfare, as you 
 obligingly seem to consider it. All I can say is, that she 
 has ever had, and I trust she ever will have, my honest 
 exertions to promote her interest. I cannot hope that my 
 services have been the best, but my heart tells me they 
 have been the best that I could render. 
 
 “That I may have erred in using the means in my power 
 
232 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 for accomplishing the objects of the arduous, exalted station 
 with which I am honoured, I cannot doubt ; nor do 1 wish 
 my conduct to be exempted from the reprehension it may 
 deserve Error is the portion of humanity, and to censire it, 
 whether committed by this or that public character, is the 
 
 prerogative of freemen. 
 
 # # # * 
 
 ****** 
 
 * * * * • 
 ****** 
 
 “ This is not the only secret, insidious attempt that has 
 been made to wound my reputation. There have been 
 others equally base, cruel, and ungenerous ; because con 
 ducted with as little frankness, and proceeding from views 
 
 perhaps, as personally interested. 
 
 “ I am, dear sir, &c. 
 
 “ Geo. Washington 
 
 “ To his Excellency Patrick Henry , Esq., 
 
 “ Governor of Virginia” 
 
 “ Camp , March 28 th. 1778. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 
 
 “ Just as I was about to close my letter of yesteiday 
 your favour of the 5th instant came to hand. I can only 
 thank you again in the language of the most undissembled 
 gratitude for your friendship, and assure you, the indulgent 
 disposition which Virginia in particular, and the states in 
 general, entertain towards me, gives me the most sensible 
 pleasure. The approbation of my country is what I wish ; 
 and as far as my abilities and opportunity will permit, I hope 
 I shall endeavour to deserve it. It is the highest reward to 
 
Patrick henry. 
 
 233 
 
 a feeling mind ; and happy are they who so conduct them- 
 selves as to merit it. 
 
 “The anonymous letter wilh which you were pleased to 
 favour me, was written by * * * * so far as I can 
 
 judge from the similitude of hands. * * * * 
 
 * # * * 
 
 44 My caution to avoid every thing that could injure the 
 service, prevented me from communicating, except to a very 
 few of my friends, the intrigues of a faction which I knew 
 was formed against me, since it might serve to publish oui 
 internal dissensions ; but their own restless zeal to advance 
 their views has too clearly betrayed them, and made conceal- 
 ment on my part fruitless. I cannot precisely mark the 
 extent of their views ; but it appeared, in general, that 
 General Gates was to be exalted on the ruin of my reputation 
 and influence. This I am authorized to say from undeniable 
 facts in my own possession — from publications, the evident 
 scope of which could not be mistaken — and from private 
 detractions industriously circulated. # * * * *, it is com 
 monly supposed, bore the second part in the cabal ; and 
 General Conway, I know, was a very active and malignant 
 partisan ; but I have good reason to believe, that their 
 machinations have recoiled most sensibly upon themselves. 
 
 4 1 am, dear sir, &c., 
 
 44 Geo. Washington. 
 
 £ His Excellency Patrick Henry , Esq., 
 
 44 Governor of Virginia .” 
 
 The plot did recoil on its contrivers, and left Genera* 
 Washington more firmly established than ever in the cor.fi 
 dence of his countrymen. 
 
 2 G 
 
 20 * 
 
234 
 
 WIRT ? S LIFE OF 
 
 At the spring session 1 of 1778, Mr. Henry was again 
 unanimously re-elected to the office of governor. Mr. Jef 
 ferson, Mr. Dandridge, and Mr. Page, the committee 
 appointed to announce to him that event, received and 
 reported the following answer: — 
 
 “ Gentlemen, 
 
 “ The general assembly in again electing me governor of 
 this commonwealth, have done me very signal honour. 1 
 trust that their confidence thus continued in me, will not be 
 misplaced. 
 
 “ I beg you will be pleased, gentlemen, to present me to 
 the general assembly, in terms of grateful acknowledgment 
 for this fresh instance of their favour toward me ; and to 
 assure them, that my best endeavours shall be used to pro- 
 mote the public good, in that station to which they have 
 once more been pleased to call me.” 
 
 At this same session an act was passed, on account of 
 which both Mr. Henry and the legislature have been, it is 
 thought, improperly censured. I mean the act to attaint 
 Josiah Philips. This man, in the summer of 1777, at the 
 head of a banditti, commenced a course of crimes in the 
 counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne, which spread terror 
 and consternation on every hand. Availing himself of the 
 disaffection which prevailed in that quarter, and taking 
 refuge from occasional pursuit in the fastnesses of the 
 Dismal Swamp, he had carried on a species of war against 
 the innocent and defenceless, at the bare mention of which 
 humanity shudders. Scarcely a night passed without wit- 
 nessing the shrieks of women and children, flying by the 
 light of their own burning houses, from the assaults of these 
 merciless wretches ; and every day was marked by the ieso- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 235 
 
 lation of some farm, by robberies on the highway, or cne 
 assassination of some individual whose patriotism had 
 incurred the displeasure of this fierce and bloody leader of 
 banlitti. Every attempt to take them had hitherto proved 
 abortive; when, in May, 1778, the governor received the 
 following letter from Col. John Wilson : — 
 
 “ Norfolk County , May 20 th, 1778. 
 
 “Honourable Sir, 
 
 “I received your letter the 14th inst. of the 12th April, 
 respecting the holding of the militia in readiness, and my 
 attention to the arms and accoutrements, which I shall 
 endeavour to comply with as far as in my power: that 
 much, however, may not be expected from this county, I beg 
 to observe, that the militia, of late, fail much in appearing at 
 musters, submitting to the trifling fine of five shillings, which, 
 they argue, they can afford to pay, by earning more at home ; 
 but I have reason to fear, through disaffection. With such 
 a set of men, it is impossible to render any service to country 
 or county. A few days since, hearing of the ravages com- 
 mitted by Philips and his notorious gang, I ordered fifty men 
 to be raised out of four companies, consisting of upward of 
 two hundred : of those only ten appeared, and it being at a 
 private muster, I compelled twenty others into duty, patting 
 them under the command of Capt. Josiah Wilson, who 
 immediately marched after the insurgents ; and that very 
 night, one fourth of his men deserted. Capt. "Wilson still 
 pursued, but to no purpose : they were either taken to their 
 secret places in the swamp, or concealed by their friends, 
 that no intelligence could be obtained. He then returned, 
 his men declaring they could stay no longer, on account 
 of their crops. I considered, therefore, that rather than 
 
236 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 that they should wholly desert, it might be bettei tn 
 discharge them, and wait the coming of the Nansemond 
 militia, when I trusted something might be done : but of 
 those men I can hear no tidings ; and unless they or some 
 other better men do come, it will be out of my power to 
 effect any thing with the militia of this county ; for such is 
 their cowardly disposition, joined to their disaffection, that 
 scarce a man, without being forced, can be raised to go after 
 the outlyers. We have lost Capt. Wilson since his return: 
 having some private business at a neighbour’s, within a mile 
 of his own house, he was fired on by four men concealed in 
 the house, and wounded in such a manner that he died in 
 a few hours ; and this will surely be the fate of a few others, 
 if their request of the removal of the relations and friends of 
 those villains be not granted, which I am again pressed to 
 solicit for, and in which case neither assistance, pay, nor 
 plunder, is expected ; conceiving that to distress their sup- 
 porters is the only means by which we can root those 
 wretches from us, and thereby establish peace and security 
 to ourselves and families. 
 
 “ I am, with great respect, 
 
 “ Honourable sir, 
 
 “ Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ John Wilson.” 
 
 “ May 24 . 
 
 “ A company of about fifty men are now come from Nan 
 semond; but I am informed by the captain, that they will 
 not be kept above two days, five having deserted already. 
 
 “ Jno. Wilson.” 
 
 The governor immediately enclosed this letter to the 
 house of delegates, with the following communication 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 237 
 
 “ Hit Honourable Benjamin Harrison , Esq , Speaker of 
 the House of Delegates. 
 
 “ Williamsburg , May 27, 1778. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I was always unwilling to trouble the general assembly 
 with any thing that seemed of too little consequence for 
 deliberation. In that view I have for some time considered 
 the insurrection in Princess Anne and Norfolk. I have from 
 time to time given orders to the commanding officers of those 
 counties, to draw from the militia a force sufficient to quell 
 it. These officers have often complained of the difficulty 
 of the business, arising partly from the local circumstances 
 attending it, but chiefly from the backwardness and even 
 disaffection of the people. In order to remove the latter 
 obstacle, I gave orders for one hundred men to be drawn out 
 into this service, from Nansemond county ; but I am sorry 
 to say, the almost total want of discipline in that and toe 
 many other militias in the state, seems to forbid the hope of 
 their doing much to effect. 
 
 “ Col. Wilson, whose letter I enclose, has several times 
 given me to understand, that, in his opinion, the removal of 
 such families as are in league with the insurgents, was a step 
 absolutely necessary, and has desired me to give orders 
 accordingly. But thinking that the executive power is not 
 competent to such a purpose, I must beg leave to submit the 
 whole matter to the assembly, who are the only judges Low 
 far the methods of proceeding directed by law are to be 
 dispensed with on this occasion. 
 
 “ A company of regulars, drawn from the several stations, 
 will be ordered to co-operate with the militia, though indeed 
 heir scanty numbers will not permit it to be done withou 
 
238 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 hazard But I cannot help thinking this ought to be 
 encountered ; for an apparent disposition to disturb the 
 peace of this state has been manifested by these people 
 during the whole course of the present war. It seems, 
 therefore, that no effort to crush these desperadoes should 
 be spared. 
 
 “ My duty would no longer suffer me to withhold these 
 several matters from the view of the general assembly, to 
 whom I beg leave to refer them through you. 
 
 “With great regard, 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, sir, 
 
 “Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry.” 
 
 This letter was communicated to the house on the day of 
 iU date, and was immediately referred to a committee of the 
 whole house, on the state of the commonwealth. That 
 committee was immediately formed ; but not having time to 
 go through the subject, had leave to sit again. On the next 
 day the house again resolved itself into a committee of the 
 whole, and after some time spent therein, the speaker re- 
 sumed the chair, and Mr. Carter reported on the subject of 
 Philips, as follows : — 
 
 “ Information being received, that a certain 
 Philips, with divers others, his associates and confederates 
 have levied war against this commonwealth within the counties 
 of Norfolk and Princess Anne, committing murders, burn- 
 ing houses, wasting farms, and doing other acts of enormity 
 in defiance of the officers of justice — 
 
 “ Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 if the said Philips, his associates, and confede- 
 
 rates, do not render themselves to some officer, civil or m id' 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 239 
 
 t&ry, within this commonwealth, on or before day 
 
 of June, in this present year, such of them as fail so to do, 
 ought to be attainted of high treason ; and that, in the mean- 
 time, and before such render, it shall be lawful for any 
 person, with or without orders, to pursue and slay, or other- 
 wise to take and deliver to justice, the said Philips, 
 
 his associates and confederates.” 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Tyler, were the com- 
 mittee appointed to prepare and bring in a bill, pursuant to 
 this resolution, which was reported on the same day, and 
 read the first time. On the two succeeding days it was 
 read a second and third time ; and thus regularly passed 
 through the forms of the lower house . It was communicated 
 to the senate by Mr. Jefferson, on the 30th *day of the 
 month, and returned, passed by them, without amendment, 
 on the first day of June, which was the last day of the 
 session. The act, as it stands upon the statute bctok of the 
 session, is as follows : — - 
 
 “An act to attaint Josiali Philips and others , unless they 
 render themselves to justice within a certain time . 
 
 “Whereas a certain Josiah Philips , laoourer, of the 
 parish of Lynhaven and county of Princess Anne , together 
 with divers others, inhabitants of the counties of Princess 
 Anne , and Norfolk , and citizens of this commonwealth, 
 contrary to their fidelity, associating and confederating 
 together, have levied war against this commonwealth, within 
 the same, committing murders, burning houses, wasting 
 farms, and doing other acts of hostility in the said counties 
 of P nncess Anne and Norfolk , and still continue to exercise 
 
240 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 the same enormities on the good peopie of this common- 
 wealth; a ad, whereas, the delays which would attend the 
 proceeding to outlaw the said offenders, according to the 
 usual forms and procedures of the courts of law, would leave 
 the said good people, for a long time exposed to murder and 
 devastation : — 
 
 <4 Be it , therefore , enacted by the general assembly , 
 That if the said Josiali Philips , his associates and confede- 
 rates, shall not, on or before the last day of June , in the 
 present year, render themselves to the governor, or to some 
 member of the privy council, judge of the general court, 
 justice of the peace, or commissioned officer of the regular 
 troops, navy, or militia of this commonwealth, in order to their 
 trials for the treasons, murders, and other felonies by them 
 committed, that, then, such of them, the said Josiah Philips , 
 his associates and confederates, as shall not so render him or 
 themselves, shall stand and be convicted and attainted of high 
 treason, and shall suffer the pains of death, and incur all for- 
 feitures, penalties, and disabilities, prescribed by the law 
 against those convicted and attainted of high treason; and that 
 execution of this sentence of attainder shall be done, by order 
 of the general court, to be entered so soon as may be conve- 
 niently, after notice that any of the said offenders are in cus- 
 tody of the keeper of the public jail. And if any person 
 committed to the custody of the keeper of the public jail, as 
 an associate or confederate of the said Josiah Philips , shall 
 allege that he hath not been of his associates or confederates, 
 at any time after the first day of July , in the year of our Lord 
 one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, at which 
 time the said murders and devastations were begun, a petit 
 jury shall be summoned and charged, according to the forms 
 s{ the law, to try, in the presence of the said court., the fact 
 
PA T RICK HENRY. 
 
 24 
 
 80 alleged ; and if it be found against the defendant, execution 
 of this act shall be done as before directed. 
 
 “ And that the good people of this commonwealth may 
 not, in the meantime, be subject to the unrestrained hostili- 
 ties of the said insurgents : Be it further enacted , That 
 
 from and after the passing of this act, it shall be lawful for 
 any person, with or without orders, to pursue and slay the 
 said Josiah Philips , and any others w T ho have been of his 
 associates or confederates, at any time after the said first day 
 of July aforesaid, and shall not have previously rendered him 
 or themselves to any of the officers, civil or military, before 
 described, or otherwise to take and deliver them to justice, to 
 be dealt with according to law. Provided , that the person 
 so slain be in arms at the time, or endeavouring to escape 
 being taken.” 
 
 Philips was apprehended in the course of the autumn, and 
 indicted by Mr. Edrhund Randolph, attorney-general, for 
 highway -robbery, simply. /On this charge he was tried 
 at the October term of the general court, convicted , and exe- 
 cuted : so that the act of attainder was never brought to bear 
 upon him at all. This is the whole case of Josiah Philips. 
 The reader will judge whether Mr. Henry deserves censure 
 for having communicated to the legislature the letter of 
 Col. Wilson; or whether that body acted with too much 
 severity toward a wretch, who had not only set the laws of 
 his country at defiance, but was waging a cruel and das- 
 tardly war upen men without arms, upon women and chil- 
 dren ; and acting, not the part of a brave and open enemy 
 but that of an enemy of the human family. 
 
 Just at the close of Mr. Henry’s administration, Virginia 
 suffered an invasion of a few days, under the British officers 
 Collm and Matthew They seized Fort Nelson, near Nor- 
 2 H ~~~~ 21 
 
242 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 folk, destroyed the naval stores at Gosport, burnt Suffolk, and 
 aisappeared before the militia could be rallied to chastise 
 their insolence. This occurred in the month of May, 1779; 
 and the facility and impunity with which the enterprise was 
 accomplished, very probably suggested the more serious 
 invasion of the state, which afterward took place under the 
 traitor Arnold. 
 
 It would seem, that a wish was entertained to re-elect Mr. 
 Henry to the office of governor a ffiurth time, although the 
 constitution declared him ineligible after the third year. The 
 impression seems to have been that his appointment for the 
 first year, not having been made by delegates who had them- 
 selves been elected under the constitution, ought not to be 
 counted as one of the constitutional years of service. Mr. 
 Henry, however, had too scrupulous a respect for that instru- 
 ment to accept the office, even in a doubtful case; and, 
 therefore, addressed the following letter to the speaker : — 
 
 “ May 28th , 1779. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ The term for which I had the honour to be elected 
 governor by the late assembly being just about to expire, and 
 the constitution, as I think , making me ineligible to that office, 
 I take the liberty to communicate to the assembly through 
 you, sir, my intention to retire in four or five days. 
 
 “ I have thought it necessary to give this notification of 
 my design, in order that the assembly may have the earliest 
 opportunity of deliberating upon the choice of a successor to 
 me in office. With great regard, 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, sir, 
 
 “ Your most obedient servant 
 
 “T\ Henry * 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 243 
 
 Thus closed Mr. Henry’s administration : and although he 
 had not an opportunity of distinguishing it by any splendid 
 achievements, it is honour enough that he had given univer- 
 sal satisfaction, and that he retired with a popularity 
 confirmed and increased. 
 
 It has been thought best not to break the chain of the 
 narrative, as to his public character, by noticing the changes 
 which had before this time occurred in his domestic relations. 
 It may be proper to pause here for the purpose of supplying 
 this omission. 
 
 His wife, the partner of his youth, and the solace of his 
 early adversities, had died in the year 1775, after having 
 made him the father of six children. The anguish of this 
 blow was mitigated by the circumstance of her having been, 
 for several years, in a state of ill health and of suffering, 
 from which there was no hope of recovery; and to her, 
 therefore, death indeed “ came like a friend to relieve hex 
 from pain.’ 
 
 Neither had the father lived to witness the promotion of 
 his son to the highest honours of the republic. He had lived 
 however, long enough to enjoy the first bloom of his fame, 
 and to see him the most celebrated and rising character in 
 the state. He had died about the year 1770, and left behind 
 him a name highly respectable for every private and social 
 virtue. 
 
 His uncle, for whom he seems to have had a strong affec- 
 tion, had died during his government, and in token of nis 
 affection and respect, had appointed him the executor of his 
 will. 
 
 His tender and indulgent mother still survived, and felt all 
 that pure and exquisite delight, which the well-deserved 
 honours of her son were calculated to inspire. 
 
244 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 Alter the death of his wife, Mr. Henry sold the farm called 
 Scotch Town, on which he had resided in Hanover, and 
 purchased eight or ten thousand acres of valuable land ill 
 the county of Henry; a county which had been erected 
 during his government, and which had taken its name from 
 him, as did afterwards its neighbouring county of Patrick . 
 In the year 1777, he intermarried with Dorothea, the daugh- 
 ter of Mr. Nathaniel W. Dandridge, with whom, after the 
 resignation or expiration of his office, he removed to his 
 newly-acquired estate, called Leatherwood, and there resumed 
 the practice of the law. In the year 1780, we find him again 
 in the assembly, and one of the most active members in the 
 house. 
 
 During the winter session of this year, General Gates 
 entered the city of Richmond from his southern campaign, 
 where he had most wofully fulfilled General Lee’s predic- 
 tion.* His total defeat at Camden, and a series of subse- 
 quent ill fortune, had left South Carolina completely in the 
 hands of the victorious British ; and to increase his humilia- 
 tion, congress had not only superseded him in that command, 
 by the substitution of General Greene, but had passed a 
 resolution requiring the commander-in-chief to order a court 
 of inquiry on his conduct. Under these accumulated dis- 
 graces, the unfortunate general entered the city of Richmond , 
 when Mr. Henry moved a resolution which displays, in a 
 most engaging light, the delicate and generous sensibility of 
 his character ; it was as follows : — 
 
 “ Resolved, That a committee of four be appointed to wan 
 
 * When Gen. Charles Lee heard of Gen. Gates’s appointment to the 
 command of the southern army, he foretold that tc his northern laurels 
 would be turned into southern willows 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 245 
 
 on Major-general Gates, and to assure him of the high 
 regard and esteem of this house ; that the remembrance of his 
 former glorious services cannot be obliterated by any reverse 
 of fortune ; but that this house, ever mindful of his great 
 merit, will omit no opportunity of testifying to the world, the 
 gratitude which, as a member of the American union, this 
 country owes to him in his military character.” 
 
 The author may be permitted to say of a state, which is 
 his only by adoption, that, in an assembly of Virginians, this 
 generous resolution could not fail to pass unanimously. The 
 committee appointed to communicate it to the general, were, 
 Mr. Henry, Mr. Richard H. Lee, Mr. Zane, and General 
 Nelson. We may be assured, that a committee, chosen 
 with so much judgment,* discharged their duty in a manner 
 the most grateful to the wounded feelings of the general * 
 and on the next day, Mr. Henry reported the following 
 answer, which was spread upon the journal : — 
 
 “ Richmond , December 28 th, 1780. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I shall ever remember with the utmost gratitude, the 
 high honour this day done me by the honourable the house 
 of delegates of Virginia. When engaged in the noble cause 
 of freedom and the United States, I devoted myself entirely 
 to the service of obtaining the great end of their union. That 
 
 * Mr. Henry, the mover, had recently closed his administration with 
 honour, as the first republican governor of Virginia, and was the most 
 considerable man in the commonwealth; Mr. Lee was a member of 
 th° congress, whose vote we have just mentioned; Mr. Zane repre- 
 sented the county in which Gen. Gates lived ; and Gen. Nelson was 
 the most popular military character in the state. 
 
 21 * 
 
246 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 I have been once unfortunate is my great mortification ; hut, 
 let the event of my future services be what they may, they 
 will, as they always have been, be directed by the most 
 faithful integrity, and animated by the truest zeal for the 
 honour and interest of the United States. 
 
 “Horatio Gates.” 
 
 The spring and summer of the next year presented a 
 period of even deeper darkness than the autumn of 1776. 
 Virginia, had not, hitherto, been the theatre of hostile opera- 
 tions of a very serious character ; her sufferings had been 
 rather those of sympathy with her northern and southern 
 sisters ; but in this year the calamities of -war were brought 
 home to her own bosom. Arnold’s invasion took place in 
 January: having carried his ravages as high up as Richmond 
 and Westham, he retired to Portsmouth, where he rested till 
 April, when General Philips succeeded to the command, and 
 paid another visit of desolation to Manchester. In the next 
 month came Lord Cornwallis, with his victorious army from 
 the south, driving every thing before him, and striking terror 
 into whatsoever quarter he* approached. Having formed a 
 junction between his forces and those under the command of 
 General Philips, there was no longer a military force in the 
 state wdiich had the power to resist him. The inferior body 
 of republican troops, under the Marquis la Fayette, moved 
 before him, without the ability to strike a blow ; and Corn- 
 wallis roamed at pleasure, and without any apprehension, 
 through the interior of the state. 
 
 The seventh of May was the day appointed by law for the 
 meeting of the assembly at Richmond. A few members met 
 ard took the oaths prescribed by law; but the number no* 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 247 
 
 Dcriiig sufficient to proceed to business, the house was 
 adjourned from day to day until the 10th; when, upon 
 information of the approach of the enemy, they adjourned 
 to the 24th, to meet at Charlottesville. It was not until the 
 28th, that a house was formed to proceed to business at this 
 place ; when Mr. Benjamin Harrison was elected speaker., 
 and after making the usual acknowledgments for that honour, 
 pro^eeued to address the following remarks to the house; 
 which I quote, not because they are a very favourable speci 
 men of Mr. Harrison’s oratory, but to show the panic which 
 prevailed even among the first men of the country:— “ The 
 critical and dangerous situation of our country leads me to 
 hope, that my recommending it to you to despatch the weighty 
 matters that will be under your consideration, with all conve- 
 nient speed , will not be taken amiss ; the people expect that 
 effectual and decisive measures will be taken to rid them of 
 an implacable enemy, that are now roaming at large in the 
 very bowels of our country, and I have no doubt of your 
 answering their expectations ; the mode of doing this may 
 indeed be difficult : but it not being my province to point it 
 out, I shall leave it to your wisdom, in full confidence that 
 every thing that is necessary for quieting the minds and 
 dispelling the fears of our constituents, will be done.” 
 
 Eight days after this address, Mr. John Jouett, a citizen o4 
 the place, entered the town on horseback, at full speed, an'* 
 announced the near and rapid approach of Tarlton, at the 
 head of three hundred cavalry and mounted infantry. Th« 
 
 * j 
 
 house had just met, and was about to commence business, 
 when the alarming cry of “ Tarlton and the British,” was 
 spread through the village ; and they had scarcely taken 
 bme to adjourn informally to Staunton, when Tarlton rushed 
 
 / 
 
248 
 
 wirt’s I I f e of 
 
 like a thunderbolt into the village, in the confident expecta- 
 tion of seizing the whole assembly ; but the birds had flown. 
 He made seven of them only prisoners. The rest reassem- 
 bled in Staunton, on the 7th of June. On the 10th of June, 
 a false report of his approach produced another panic ; and 
 the house having merely taken - time to resolve that they 
 would meet at the Warm Springs, if it should be found dan- 
 gerous to meet in Staunton on the next day ; and on their 
 failure so to do, that the speaker might call a meeting, when 
 and where he pleased, again broke up and dispersed. 
 
 It was at this period of almost hopeless darkness, when 
 the energies of the state seemed to have been pretty nearly 
 paralyzed, that the project of a dictator was again revived ; 
 and it is again highly probable, that Mr. Henry was the char 
 acter who was in view for that office. Inquiries have been 
 made of the surviving members of that assembly to ascertain 
 whether the project could be traced to him, or whether he 
 had any kind of participation in the proposal; but those 
 inquiries have resulted in a conviction of his entire innocence. 
 The project came from other quarters, and seems to have 
 been the last refuge of that general despair which for a short 
 time pervaded the whole commonwealth. 
 
 But this period of deep darkness was the harbinger of 
 breaking day. The morning dawned with the arrival of 
 those aids from France, which Mr. Henry had so long ago 
 predicted ; and the sun of American independence arose to 
 set no more. He lived to witness the glorious issue of that 
 revolution which his genius had set in motion ; and (to repeat 
 his own prophetic language, before the commencement of the 
 struggle) “to see America take her stand among the nations 
 of the earth.” The contest closed with the capture of Corn- 
 wallis, at Little York, on the 19th of October, 1781 ; and thus 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 249 
 
 the Dali of the revolution rested in the same state in waich it 
 had received the first impulse. 
 
 This enlightened and patriotic statesman, however, was 
 not yet inclined to indulge himself in that repose to which 
 he >vas so well entitled. ’ The constitution of the state had 
 as yet been tried only in war, when the sense of common 
 danger, and their ardour in the common cause, might of 
 themselves have been sufficient to keep the people together, 
 and to supply, in a good degree, the place of government. 
 
 It was necessary to see how the instrument would Jtvork 
 in peace ; what assurance it gave of public order and well- 
 regulated liberty ; or whether any, and what defects in the 
 plan required amendment. 
 
 There were other considerations, too, which called loudly 
 for attention. The war had left the country in a most 
 deplorable situation ; poor and in debt ; its warriors unre 
 quited ; its finances wholly deranged ; its jurisprudence 
 unsettled ; and all its faculties weak, disordered, and exhaust- 
 ed. This was no time for the patriot to quit his post. It 
 demanded all his vigilance to guard the infant republic against 
 the machinations of its enemies, both abroad and at home ; it 
 required all his care and all his skill to heal the numerous 
 disorders which had flowed from the war ; to nurse the new- 
 born nation into health and strength; to develop its resources, 
 moral and physical ; and thus to give security and perma- 
 nence to its liberties. 
 
 With the view of contributing his aid to those great 
 objects, Mr. Henry still continued to represent the county of 
 his residence, in the legislature of the state, and controlled 
 the proceedings of that body, with a weight of personal 
 authority, and a power of eloquence, which it was extremely 
 difficult, and indeed almost impossible to resist. A striking 
 
2M) 
 
 \V I R T ’ b LIFE OF 
 
 evidence of this power was given, immediately on the close 
 of the revolution, in his advocating the return of the British 
 refugees. The measure was most vehemently opposed, 
 There was no class of human beings against whom such vio- 
 lent and deep-rooted prejudices existed. The name of “ British 
 lory,” was of itself enough, at that period, to throw almost 
 any company in Virginia into flames, and was pretty generally 
 a signal for a coat of tar and feathers ; a signal which was 
 not very often disobeyed. Mr. Henry’s proposition in favour 
 of a class of people so odious could not fail to excite the 
 strongest surprise ; and was, at first, received with a repug- 
 nance apparently insuperable. 
 
 The late Judge Tyler, then the speaker of the house, 
 opposed it in the committee of the whole, with great warmth ; 
 and in the course of the discussion, turning from the chair- 
 man to Mr. Henry, he asked him, “ how he , above all other 
 men, could think of inviting into his family, an enemy, 
 from whose insults and injuries he had suffeied so severely ?” 
 To this Mr. Henry answered, that “the personal feelings of 
 a politician ought not to be permitted to enter those wails. 
 The question (he said) was a national one, and in deciding 
 it, if they acted wisely, nothing would be regarded but the 
 interest of the nation. On the altar of his country’s good 
 he was willing to sacrifice all personal resentments, all private 
 wrongs — and he flattered himself, that he was not the only 
 man in the house who was capable of making such a sacri- 
 fice. We have, sir, (said he,) an extensive country, without 
 population — what can be a more obvious policy than that 
 this country ought to be peopled ? — people , sir, form the 
 strength, and constitute the wealth of a nation. I want 
 to see our vast forests filled up by some process a little more 
 speedy than the ordinary course of nature I wish to see 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 251 
 
 chese spates rapidly ascending to that rank which their natura 1 
 advantages authorize them to hold among the nations of the 
 earth. Cast your eyes, sir, over this extensive country — 
 observe the salubrity of your climate ; the variety and 
 fertility of your soil — and see that soil intersected in every 
 quarter by bold, navigable streams, flowing to the east and 
 to the west, as if the finger of Heaven were marking out the 
 course of your settlements, inviting you to enterprise, and 
 pointing the way to wealth. Sir, you are destined, at some 
 time or other, to become a great agricultural and commercial 
 people ; the only question is, whether you choose to reach 
 this point by slow gradations, and at some distant period- 
 lingering on through a long and sickly minority — subjected 
 meanwhile, to the machinations, insults, and oppressions of 
 enemies, foreign and domestic, without sufficient strength to 
 resist and chastise them — or whether you choose rather to 
 rush at once, as it were, to the full enjoyment of those high 
 destinies, and be able to cope, single-handed, with the proud- 
 est oppressor of the old world. If you prefer the latter course, 
 as I trust you do, encourage emigration — encourage the 
 husbandmen, the mechanics, the merchants of the old world, 
 to come and settle in this land of promise — make it the home 
 of the skilful, the industrious, the fortunate and happy, as 
 well as the asylum of the distressed — fill up the measure of 
 your population as speedily as you can, by the means which 
 Heaven hath placed in your power — and I venture to pro- 
 phesy there are those now living, who will see this favoured 
 land amongst the most powerful on earth — able, sir, to take 
 care of herself, without resorting to that policy which is 
 always so dangerous, though sometimes unavoidable, of cal 
 ling in foreign aid. Yes, sir — they will see her great in arts 
 and in arms — her golden harvests waving over fields of 
 
252 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 immeasurable extent — her commerce penetrating the most 
 distant seas, and her cannon silencing the vain boasts of those 
 who now proudly affect to rule the waves. But, sir, you 
 must have men — you cannot get along without them — those 
 neavy forests of valuable timber, under which your lands are 
 groaning, must be cleared away — those vast riches which 
 cover the face of your soil, as well as those which lie hid in 
 its bosom, are to be developed and gathered only by the skill 
 and enterprise of men — your timber, sir, must be worked up 
 into ships, to transport the productions of the soil from which 
 it has been cleared — then, you must have commercial men 
 and commercial capital, to take off your productions, and find 
 the best markets for them abroad — your great want, sir, is 
 the want of men ; and these you must have, and will have 
 speedily, if you are wise. 
 
 “ Do you ask how you are to get them ? — Open your doors, 
 sir, and they will come in — the population of the old world 
 is full to overflowing— that population is ground, too, by the 
 oppressions of the governments under which they live. Sir, 
 they are already standing on tiptoe upon their native shores, 
 and looking to your coasts with a wishful and longing eye — 
 they see here a land blessed with natural and political advan- 
 tages, which are not equalled by those of any other country 
 upon earth — a land on which a gracious Providence hath 
 emptied the horn of abundance — a land over which peace 
 hath now stretched forth her white wings, and where content 
 and plenty lie down at every door ! Sir, they see something 
 still more attractive than all this — they see a land in which 
 liberty hath taken up her abode — that liberty, whom they had 
 considered as a fabled goddess, existing only in the fancies 
 of poets — they see her here a real divinity — her altars rising 
 on every hand throughout these happy states — her glorie* 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 253 
 
 chanted by three millions of tongues — and the whole region 
 smiling under her blessed influence. Sir, let but this our 
 celestial goddess, Liberty, stretch forth her fair hand toward 
 the people of the old world — tell them to come, and bid them 
 welcome — and you will see them pouring in from the north, 
 from the south, from the east, and from the west — your wil- 
 dernesses will be cleared and settled — your deserts will 
 smile — your ranks will be filled — and you will soon be in a 
 condition to defy the powers of any adversary. 
 
 “ But gentlemen object to any accession from Great 
 Britain — and particularly to the return of the British refugees. 
 Sir, I feel no objection to the return of those deluded people 
 •—they have, to be sure, mistaken their own interests most 
 wofully, and most wofully have they suffered the punishment 
 due to their offences. But the relations which we bear to 
 them and to their native country are now changed — their 
 king hath acknowledged our independence — the quarrel is 
 over — peace hath returned, and found us a free people. Let 
 us have the magnanimity, sir, to lay aside our antipathies 
 and prejudices, and consider the subject in a political light. 
 Those are an enterprising, moneyed people — they will be 
 serviceable in taking off the surplus produce of our lands, 
 and supplying us with necessaries, during the infant state of 
 our manufactures. Even if they be inimical to us in point 
 of feeling and principle, I can see no objection, in a political 
 view, in making them tributary to our advantage. And as I 
 have no prejudices to prevent my making this use of them, 
 so, sir, I have no fear of any mischief that they can do us. 
 Afraid of them! — what, sir,” — said he, rising to one of his 
 loftiest attitudes, and assuming a look of the most indignant 
 and sovereign contempt, — “ shall we, who have laid the proud 
 British lion at our feet, now be afraid of his vo helps ?” 
 
 22 
 
25 ^ 
 
 wirt’s LIFE uF 
 
 The force of this figure, and the energy with which it w as 
 brought out, are said to have produced an effect that made 
 the house start simultaneously. It continued to be admired, 
 long after the occasion which gave it birth had passed away 
 and was frequently quoted by Mr. Wythe to his students, 
 while professor of law at William and Mary college, as a 
 happy specimen of those valuable figures, which unite the 
 beauty of decoration with the effect of argument. 
 
 The gentleman to whom I am indebted for the preceding 
 incident,* has favoured me also . with the following one, 
 which I shall give m his own words : — - 
 
 “ Mr. Henry espoused the measure which took off the 
 xestraints on British commerce, before any treaty was 
 entered into ; in which I opposed him on this ground, that 
 that measure would expel from this country the trade of every 
 other nation, on account of our habits, language, and the 
 manner of conducting business on credit between us and 
 them : also on this ground, in addition to the above, that if we 
 changed the then current of commerce, we should drive away 
 all competition, and never perhaps should regain it, (which 
 has literally happened). In reply to these observations, he 
 was beyond all expression eloquent and sublime. After 
 painting the distresses of the people, struggling through a 
 perilous war, cut off from commerce so long that they were 
 naked, and unclothed, he concluded with a figure, or rather 
 with a series of figures, which I shall never forget, because, 
 beautiful as they were in themselves, their effect was height- 
 ened beyond all description, by the manner in which he acted 
 
 * Judge Tyler. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 255 
 
 wnat he spoke : — ‘ Why,’ said he, ‘ should we fetter com. 
 meree ? If a man is in chains, he droops and bows to the 
 earth, for his spirits are broken, (looking sorrowfully at his 
 feet:) but let him twist the fetters from his legs, and he will 
 stand erect,-- -straightening himself, and assuming a look of 
 proud defiance. — ‘Fetter not commerce, sir — let her be as 
 free as air — she will range the whole creation, and return on 
 the wings of the four winds of heaven, to bless the land with 
 plenty. ’ 
 
 In the fall session of 1784, Mr. Henry proposed and advo 
 cated several measures which deserve particular mention : — 
 one of them, on account of the originality and boldness ol 
 mind from which it proceeded , and others, because they 
 have sometimes been made the subjects of censure against 
 him. The first respects the Indians. Those unfortunate 
 beings, the natural enemies of ‘the white people, whom they 
 regarded as lawless intruders into a country set apart for 
 themselves by the Great Spirit, had continued, from their 
 first landing, to harass the white settlements, and hang, like 
 a pestilence on their frontier, as it advanced itself toward the 
 west. The story of their accumulated wrongs, handed down 
 by tradition from father to son, and emblazoned with all the 
 colours of Indian oratory, had kept their war-fires smoking 
 from age to age, and the hatchet and scalping-knife perpet- 
 ually bright. They had long since abandoned the hope of 
 being able, by their single strength, to exterminate the usur- 
 pers of their soil ; but either from the spirit of habitual and 
 deadly revenge, or from the policy of checking, as far as they 
 could, the perpetually extending encroachments of the white 
 men, they had waged an unremitting war upon their borders, 
 marked with horrors which eclipse the wildest fictions of 
 
25« 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 the legendary tale.* These people, too, besides the mis* 
 chiefs to which they were prompted by their own feelings 
 and habits, were an ever-ready and a most terriffic scourge, 
 in the hands of any enemy with whom this country might be 
 at variance. Dunmore, although thanked at the time for his 
 services, was afterward believed, by the house of burgesses, 
 to have made use of them in the years 1774-5, in order to 
 draw off the attention of the colonists from the usurpation of 
 the British court : and, in the recent war of the revolution, 
 that merciless enemy had been again let loose upon our 
 frontier, with all the terrors of savago warfare. The return 
 of peace with Britain had given us but a short respite from 
 their hostilities. I perceive, by the journal of the house of 
 delegates, that on the 5th of November, 1784, it was, on the 
 motion of Mr. Henry, 
 
 u Resolved, That the governor, with the advice of council, 
 be requested to adopt such measures as may be found neces- 
 
 *Tlie stories of these border skirmishes, which yet live in the tra- 
 ditions of the west, are highly worthy of collection. They exhibit 
 scenes of craft, boldness, and ferocity, on the part of the savages, and 
 of heroic and desperate defence by the semi-barbarous men, women, 
 and children, who were the objects of these attacks, which mark the 
 characters of both sides in a most interesting manner. Those tales 
 of the long, obstinate, and bloody defence of log-cabins; of the almost 
 incredible achievements of women and little boys ; of the sometimes 
 total and sometimes partial havoc of families; of the captivity, tor- 
 tures, and death of some ; and the miraculous escape, wanderings, 
 and preservation of others — would form a book of more interest than 
 any other that could be put into the hands of a Virginia reader; and 
 would furnish the subject of many a novel, drama, and painting. The 
 adventure of Captain Smith and Pocahontas, if you put aside the 
 dignity of their characters, is cold and tame, when compared witn 
 some which are related among the western inhabitants of this slate. 
 
 \ 
 
 %. N - * 
 
PAT HICK HENRT. 
 
 257 
 
 sary to avert the danger of hostilities with the Indians, and 
 to incline them to treat with the commissioners of congress ; 
 and for that purpose to draw on the treasury for any sum of 
 money not exceeding one thousand pounds, which shall stand 
 charged to the account of money issued for the contingent 
 charges of government.” 
 
 A treaty with the Indians, however, was well known to be 
 a miserable expedient ; the benefits of which would scarcely 
 last as long as the ceremonies that produced it. The reflect- 
 ing politician could not help seeing, that, in order to remove 
 the annoyance effectually, the remedy must go to the root of 
 the disease — that that inveterate and fatal enmity which 
 rankled in the hearts of the Indians must be eradicated — 
 that a common interest and congenial feelings between them 
 and their white neighbours must be created — and humanity 
 and civilization gradually superinduced upon the Indian 
 character. The difficulty lay in devising a mode to effect 
 these objects. The white people who inhabited the frontier, 
 from the constant state of warfare in which they lived with 
 the Indians, had imbibed much of their character; and 
 learned to delight so highly in scenes of crafty, bloody, and 
 desperate conflict, that they as often gave as they received 
 the provocation to hostilities. 
 
 Hunting, which was their occupation, became dull and 
 tiresome, unless diversified occasionally by the more ani- 
 mated and piquant amusement of an Indian skirmish ; just as 
 “ the blood more stirs to rouse a lion than to start a hare.” 
 The policy, therefore, which was to produce the deep and 
 beneficial change that was meditated, must have respect to 
 both sides, and be calculated to implant kind affections m 
 bosoms which at present were filled only with reciprocal and 
 2 K 
 
258 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 deadly hatred. The remedy suggested by Mr. Henry was 
 to encourage marriages between these conterminous enemies ; 
 and having succeeded, in the committee of the whole house, 
 m procuring the report of a resolution to this effect, he pre- 
 pared a bill which he is said to have advocated with irresist- 
 ible earnestness and eloquence.* The inducements held oat 
 
 * This bill, which is thought worthy of preservation, as a political 
 curiosity, is as follows : — 
 
 “A bill for the encouragement of marriages with the Indians. 
 
 “ Whereas, intermarriages between the citizens of this common- 
 wealth and the Indians living in its neighbourhood, may have great 
 effect in conciliating the friendship and confidence of the latter, where- 
 by not only their civilization may in some degree be finally brought 
 about, but in the meantime, then hostile inroads be prevented: for 
 ncouraging such intermarriages, Be it enacted by the General 
 Assembly, That if any free white male inhabitant of this common- 
 wealth shall, according to the laws thereof, enter into the bonds of 
 matrimony with an Indian female, being of lawful age, and under no 
 precontract to any Indian male, and shall thereby induce her to become 
 an inhabitant of this commonwealth, and to live with him in the char 
 acter of a wife, such male inhabitant, on producing a certificate of such 
 marriage, under the hand and seal of the person celebrating the same, 
 
 shall be entitled to receive a premium of pounds, out of any 
 
 unappropriated money which the treasurer may have in his hands, or 
 of such money as may hereafter be appropriated to such use ; shall, 
 
 over and above such premium, be entitled to the sum of pounds, 
 
 for every child proceeding from such marriage, on a certificate of the 
 birth thereof, and their apparent cohabitancy, under tne hand and seal 
 cf any one justice of the peace of the county in which he resides, and 
 shall, moreover, be exempted from all taxes on his person and property 
 for and during the time of such cohabitancy. 
 
 “ And be it further enacted, That if any free female inhabitant of 
 this commonwealth shall, in like manner, intermarry with any male 
 Indian of lawful age, they shall, on a certificate thereof, as aforesaid, 
 b^ entitled to pounds, to be pa b as aforesaid, and laid cut under 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 259 
 
 oy this bill, to promote these marriages, were, pecuniary 
 bounties to be given on the certificate of marriage, and to be 
 repeated at the birth of each child ; exemption from taxes ; 
 and the free use of a seminary of learning, to be erected for 
 the purpose, and supported at the expense of the state. 
 
 While Mr. Henry continued a member of the house, the 
 progress of this bill was unimpeded. It passed through a 
 first and second reading, and was engrossed for its final 
 passage, when his election as governor took effect, and dis 
 
 he direction of the court of the county within which such marriage 
 shall be celebrated, in the purchase of live stock, for his and her use, 
 and such male Indian shall be annually, on the first day of October, 
 
 entitled to pounds, to be paid as aforesaid, and laid out under 
 
 he direction of the said court, in the purchase of clothes for his use ; 
 and each male child proceeding from such intermarriage, shall, at the 
 
 age of be removed to such public seminary of learning, as the 
 
 executive may direct, and be there educated until the age of twenty- 
 one, at the public expense, to be defrayed out of such funds as may 
 hereafter be appropriated to the same. And the governor, with the 
 advice of council, is hereby authorized and desired to cause the benefit 
 of this provision to be extended to all such male children ; and if any 
 such male Indian shall become an inhabitant of this commonwealth, 
 he shall be moreover exempted from all taxes on his person or the 
 property he may acquire. 
 
 “ And be it further enacted, That the offspring of the intermarriages 
 aforesaid, shall be entitled, in all respects, to the same rights and 
 privileges, under the laws of this commonwealth, as if they had pro- 
 ceeded from intermarriages among free white inhabitants thereof. 
 
 “And be it further enacted, That the executive do take the mo« 
 effectual and speedy measures for promulgating this act to such tribe 
 or tribes of Indians as they may think necessary.” 
 
 On tne third reading of the bill, the first blank was filled with ten — 
 the second with five — the third w.th ten — the fourth with three — and 
 the fifth with ten years. 
 
260 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 placed him from the floor : on the third day after which event 
 the bill was read a third time and rejected. 
 
 It were a useless waste of time to speculate on the proba- 
 ble effects of this measure, had it succeeded. It is considered, 
 however, as indicative of great humanity of character, and as 
 marked with great boldness, if not soundness of policy. Mr. 
 Henry is said to have been extremely sanguine as to its effi- 
 cacy, and to have supported it by some of the highest 
 displays of his eloquence. 
 
 The other two measures to* which I have adverted, as 
 having been patronised by Mr. Henry, at this session, were, 
 the incorporation of the Protestant Episcopal church, and 
 what is called “ a general assessment.” These measures 
 have been frequently stated, in conversation, as proofs of a 
 leaning on the part of Mr. Henry, toward an established 
 church, and that, too, the aristocratic church of England. 
 To test the justness of this charge, the journals of the house 
 of delegates have been examined, and this is the result of the 
 evidence which they furnish: on the 17th of November, 
 1784, Mr. Matthews reported from the committee of the 
 whole house, on the state of the commonwealth, the following 
 resolution : — 
 
 “ Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 acts ought to pass for the incorporation of all societies of the 
 Christian religion , luhich may apply for the same .” 
 
 The ays and noes having been called for, on the passage 
 of this resolution, were, ays, sixty-two, noes, twenty-three ; 
 Mr. Henry being with the majority. 
 
 The principle being thus established in relation to all 
 religious societies, which should desire a legal existence fo* 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 2CV 
 
 the benefit of acquiring and holding propeity to the use of 
 their respective churches, leave was given, on the same day, 
 to bring in a bill to incorporate the clergy of the Protestant 
 Episcopal church, which had brought itself within that prin 
 ciple by having applied for an act of incorporation ; and Mr. 
 Henry was one, but not the chairman,* of the committee 
 appointed to bring in that bill. How a measure which holds 
 out to all religious societies, equally , the same benefit, can 
 be charged with partiality, because accepted by one only, it 
 is not very easy to discern. It would seem, to an ordinary 
 inind, that, on the same principle, the Christian religion itself 
 might be charged with partiality, since its offers, though 
 made to all, are accepted but by few : and it is very certain, 
 that if Mr. Henry is to be suspected of a bias toward an 
 established church, on account of this vote, the charge will 
 reach some of the foremost and best-established republicans 
 in the state, whose names stand recorded with Mr. Henry’s 
 on this occasion, and who hold to this day the undiminished 
 confidence of their countrymen. 
 
 The other measure, the general assessment, proceeded 
 from a number of petitions from different counties of the 
 commonwealth, which prayed, that as all persons enjoyed the 
 benefits of religion, all might be required to contribute to the 
 expense of supporting some form of worship or other . The 
 committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported a 
 bill whose preamble sets forth the grounds of the proceeding, 
 and furnishes a conclusive refutation of the charge of par- 
 tiality to any particular form of religion. The bill is entitled, 
 A bill, establishing a provision for teachers of the Christian 
 
 * The chairman was Mr. Carter H. Harrison ; the rest of the com 
 mittee were, Mr. Henry, Mr. Thomas Smith, Mr. William Anderson, 
 and Mr. Tazewell. 
 
262 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 religion and its preamble is in the following words 
 Whereas the general diffusion of Christian Knowledge hath 
 a natural tendency to correct the morals of men, restrain 
 their vices, and preserve the peace of society ; which cannot 
 be effected without a competent provision for learned teachers, 
 who may be thereby enabled to devote their time and atten- 
 tion to the duty of instructing such citizens as, from their 
 circumstances and want of education, cannot otherwise attain 
 such knowledge ; and it is judged such provision may be 
 made by the legislature, without counteracting the liberal 
 principle heretofore adopted and intended to be preserved , 
 by abolishing all distinctions of pre-eminence amongst the 
 different societies or communities of Christians” The pro- 
 visions of the bill are in the strictest conformity with the 
 principles announced in the close of the preamble ; the per- 
 sons subject to taxes are required, at the time of giving in a 
 list of their titheables, to declare to what particular religious 
 society they chose to appropriate the sums assessed upon 
 them, respectively; and, in the event of their failing or de- 
 clining to specify any appropriation, the sums thus circum- 
 stanced are directed to be paid to the treasurer, and applied 
 by the general assembly to the encouragement of seminaries 
 of learning , in the counties where such sums shall arise. 
 If there be any evidence of a leaning toward any particular 
 religious sect in this bill, or any indication of a desire for an 
 established church, the author of these sketches has not been 
 able to discover them. Mr. Henry w^as a sincere believer in 
 the Christian religion, and had a strong desire for the suc- 
 cessful propagation of the gospel, but there was no tincture 
 of bigotry or intolerance in his sentiments ; nor have I been 
 able to learn that he had a punctilious preference for any 
 particular form of worship. His faith regarded the vita] 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 2G3 
 
 spirit of the gospel, and busied itself not at all with external 
 ceremonies or controverted tenets. 
 
 Both these bills, “ for incorporating the Protestant Epis- 
 copal church,” and “ establishing a provision for teachers of 
 the Christiaan religion,” were reported after Mr. Henry had 
 ceased to be a member of the house ; but the resolutions on 
 which they were founded were adopted while he continued a 
 member, and had his warmest support. The first bill passed 
 into a law ; the last was rejected by a small majority, on the 
 third reading. 
 
 The same session afforded Mr. Henry a double opportunity 
 of gratifying, in the most exquisite manner, that naturally 
 bland and courteous spirit, which so eminently distinguished 
 his character. General Washington and the Marquis la 
 Fayette, both of them objects of the warmest love and grati- 
 tude to this country, visited Richmond in November. They 
 arrived on different days. The general entered the city on 
 the 15th, and the journal of the next morning exhibits the 
 following order : — 
 
 “ The house being informed of the arrival of General 
 Washington in this city, Resolved , nemine contradicente , 
 that as a mark of their reverence for his character, and affec- 
 tion for his person, a committee of five members be appointed 
 to wait upon him, with the respectful regard of this house, 
 to express to him the satisfaction they feel in the opportunity 
 afforded by his presence of offering this tribute to his merits ; 
 and to assure him, that as they not only retain the most 
 lasting impressions of the transcendent services rendered 
 in his late public character, but have, since his return to 
 private life, experienced proofs that no change of situation 
 can turn his thoughts from the welfare of his country, so hi? 
 
264 
 
 wiht’s LIFE OF 
 
 happiness can never cease to be an object of their mos? 
 devout wishes and fervent supplications. 
 
 “ And a committee was appointed of Mr. Henry, Mr. Jones 
 (of King George,) Mr. Madison, Mr. Carter H. Harrison 
 and Mr. Carrington.’’ 
 
 To this spontaneous and unanimous buist of feeling, 
 General Washington returned an answer marked with his 
 characteristic modesty, and full of the most touching sensi- 
 bility. It is worthy of insertion, as showing, in a soft and 
 winning light, a character with which we are apt to associate 
 only the images of a dignity and reserve, approaching to 
 sternness. “ Gentlemen,” said he, “ my sensibility is deeply 
 affected by this distinguished mark of the affectionate regard 
 of your honourable house. I lament, on this occasion, the 
 want of these powers which would enable me to do justice 
 to my feelings, and shall rely upon your indulgent report to 
 supply the defect ; at the same time, I pray you to present 
 for me, the strongest assurances of unalterable affection and 
 gratitude, for this last pleasing and flattering attention of my 
 country.” 
 
 The marquis, who had been to France since the close of 
 hostilities, made his entree on the morning of the 17 £h of 
 November; and the house, immediately on its meeting, 
 came to the following resolution 
 
 “ The house being informed of the arrival, this morning, 
 of the Marquis de la Fayette in this city, Resolved, nemine 
 contradicente , that a committee of five be appointed, to 
 present to him the affectionate respects of this house, to 
 signify to him their sensibility to the pleasing proof given 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 265 
 
 by this visit to the United States, and to this state in particu 
 iar, that the benevolent and honourable sentiments which 
 originally prompted him to embark in the hazardous fortunes 
 of America, still render the prosperity of its affairs an object 
 of his attention and regard; and to assure him, that they 
 cannot review the scenes of blood and danger through which 
 we have arrived at the blessings of peace, without being 
 touched, in the most lively manner, with the recollection, not 
 only of the invaluable services for which the United States 
 at large are so much indebted to him, but of that conspicuous 
 display of cool intrepidity and wise conduct, during his com- 
 mand in the campaign of 1781, which, by having so essen- 
 tially served this state in particular, have given him so just 
 a title to its particular acknowledgments. That, impressed 
 as they thus are with the distinguished lustre of his character, 
 they cannot form a wish more suitable, than that the lesson 
 it affords may inspire all those whose noble minds may 
 emulate his glory, to pursue it by means equally auspicious 
 to the interests of humanity. 
 
 ‘And a committee was appointed of Mr. Henry, Mr. 
 Madison, Mr. Jones, (of King George,) Mr. Matthews, and 
 Mr. Brent.” 
 
 To this address, the marquis made the following polite and 
 feeling answer : — 
 
 “ Gentlemen, 
 
 “ With the most respectful thanks to your honourable 
 body, permit me to acknowledge, not only the flattering 
 favour they are now pleased to confer, but also the constant 
 partiality, and unbounded confidence of this state, which in 
 trying times, 1 have so happily experienced. Through the 
 
 23 
 
266 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 continent, gentlemen, it is most pleasing for me to join with 
 my friends m mutual congratulations ; and I need not add 
 what my sentiments must be in Virginia, where step by step 
 have I so keenly felt for her distress, so eagerly enjoyed her 
 recovery. Our armed force was obliged to retreat, but your 
 patriotic hearts stood unshaken ; and, while either at that 
 period, or in our better hours, my obligations to you aro 
 numberless ; . I am happy in this opportunity to observe, 
 that the excellent services of your militia were continued 
 with unparalleled steadiness. Impressed with the necessity 
 of federal union, I was the more pleased in the command of 
 an army so peculiarly federal ; as Virginia herself freely bled 
 in defence of her sister states. 
 
 “ In my wishes to this commonwealth, gentlemen, I will 
 persevere with the same zeal, that once and for ever has 
 devoted me to her. May her fertile soil rapidly increase her 
 wealth— may all the waters which so luxuriantly flow within 
 her limits, be happy channels of the most extensive trade — 
 and may she in her wisdom, and the enjoyment of prosperity 
 continue to give the world unquestionable proofs of her phi 
 Janthropy and her regard for the liberties of all mankind. 
 
 “ La Fayette * 
 
 Time had now brought forward several new political char- 
 acters, who had risen high in the public estimation : but Mr. 
 Henry and Mr. Lee still kept their ground far in the van. A 
 gentleman of great distinction, who began his public career 
 in 1783, found both these eminent men in the house of dele- 
 gates, and heard them for the first time in debate : he served 
 through the two sessions of that and those of the following 
 year, and has communicated to me so vivid and interesting a 
 comparison of their merits, as they struck h’s young and 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 26? 
 
 ardent mind, that I cannot consent to withhold it from the 
 reader. 
 
 “ I met with Patrick Henry in the assembly in May, 1783. 
 I also then met with Richard H. Lee. I lodged with Mr. 
 Lee one or two sessions, and was perfectly acquainted with 
 him, while I was yet a stranger to Mr. Henry. These two 
 gentlemen were the great leaders in the house of delegates, 
 and were almost constantly opposed : there were many other 
 great men who belonged to that body ; but, as orators, they 
 cannot be named with Henry or Lee. Mr. Lee was a pol 
 ished gentleman : he had lost the use of one of his hands 
 out his manner was perfectly graceful. His language was 
 always chaste, and although somewhat too monotonous, his 
 speeches were always pleasing ; yet he did not ravish your 
 senses, nor carry away your judgment by storm. His was 
 the mediate class of eloquence described by Rollin in his 
 belles lettres ; he was like a beautiful river, meandering 
 through a flowery mead, but which never overflowed its 
 oanks. It was Henry who was the mountain torrent that 
 swept away every thing before it : it was he alone who thun- 
 dered and lightened : he alone attained that sublime species 
 of eloquence also mentioned by Rollin. 
 
 “ It has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life to 
 hear these two great masters, almost constantly opposed to 
 each other, for several sessions. I had no relish for any 
 other speaker. Henry was almost always victorious. He 
 was as much superior to Lee in temper as in eloquence ; fot 
 while, with a modesty approaching almost to humility, he 
 would apologise to the house for being so often “obliged to 
 differ from the honourable gentleman, which he assured them, 
 was from ro want of respect for him.” Lee was frequ 3 ntly 
 
268 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 much chafed by the opposition ; and I once heard him sa^y 
 aloud, and petulantly, after sustaining a great defeat, that c if 
 the votes were weighed instead of being counted, he should 
 not have lost it. )# 
 
 * Mr. Henry was inferior to Mr. Lee m the gracefulness 
 of his action, and perhaps also the chasteness of his language ; 
 yet his language was seldom incorrect, and his address always 
 striking. He had a fine blue eye, and an earnest manner 
 which made it impossible not to attend to him. His speaking 
 was unequal, and always rose with the subject and the exi- 
 gency. In this respect he differed entirely from Mr. Lee, 
 
 *This hit of Mr. Lee’s was thought a very happy one at the time. 
 I have heard it mentioned by several others who were members of the 
 house, particularly by Judge Tyler. This gentleman represented 
 as having occurred after a division and count of the house, and just as 
 the members were about to return to their seats. A member who was 
 in the majority, and who was not very remarkable either for inteilec 
 or urbanity, said, with a coarse laugh, to Mr. Lee, c Well, you see you 
 have lost it.” Upon which the latter, looking at him with rather a 
 contemptuous and sneering countenance, answered, “ Yes, I have lost 
 it, but if votes were weighed instead of being counted , I should not 
 have lost it.” 
 
 Was this thought original in Mr. Lee, or had he unconsciously 
 borrowed it from the yoiinger Pliny 1 “ Sed hoc pluribus [levins^ 
 visum est. Numeranhir enim sententice , non ponder antur : nec 
 aliud in publico consilio potest fieri, in quo nihil est tarn inaequale, 
 quam aequalitas ipsa; nan cum sit impar prudentia, par omnium jus 
 est.” — Pun. Epist. Lib. II. Epist. XII. 
 
 “Yet these reflections, it seems, made no impression upon the 
 majority. Votes go by number , not weight ; nor can it be otherwise 
 in assemblies of this kind, where nothing is more unequal than tha 
 equality which prevails in them; for though every member has the 
 same weight of suffrage, every member has not the same strength of 
 judgment.”— M elmoth’s Translation of Pliny. London. .1748. 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 259 
 
 who was always equal, and therefore less interesting A, 
 some tmes, Mr. Henry would seem to hobble, (especially at 
 the beginning of his speeches,) and at others, his tones would 
 be almost disagreeable : yet it was by means of his tones, 
 and the happy modulation of his voice, that his speaking had 
 perhaps its greatest effect. He had a happy articulation — a 
 clear, bold, strong voice — and every syllable was distinctly 
 uttered. He was always very unassuming, and very respect- 
 ful toward his adversaries ; the consequence was, that no 
 feeling of disgust or animosity was arrayed against him. He 
 w r as great at a reply, and greater in proportion to the pressure 
 which was bearing upon him ; and it seemed to me, from the 
 frequent opportunities of observation afforded me during the 
 period of which I have spoken, that the resources of his 
 mind ana of his eloquence were equal to any drafts which 
 could possibly be made upon them.” 
 
 This inequality in the speeches of Mr. Henry w r as imputed 
 by some of his observers to art. He always spoke, they say, 
 for victory, and wishing to carry every one with him, adapted 
 the different parts of his discourse to their different capacities 
 A critic of a higher order would sometimes think him trifling, 
 when in truth he was making a most powerful impression on 
 the weaker members of the house. By these means, it is 
 said, he contrived to worm his way through the whole body, 
 and to insinuate his influence into every mind. When he 
 hobbled, it was like the bird that thus artfully seeks to decoy 
 ‘ 7 aw r av the foot of the intruder from the precious deposite of 
 her brood ; and at the moment when it wmuld be thought 
 that his strength was almost exhausted, he w T ould spring 
 magnificently from the earth, and tower above the clouds. 
 
 He knew all the local interests and prejudices of every 
 quarter of the state, and of every county in it ; and whether 
 
 23 * 
 
270 
 
 W l K T ’ % LIFE OF 
 
 these prejudices were rational or irrational, it is said that he 
 would appeal to them without hesitation, and, whenever he • 
 found it necessary, enlist them in his cause. His address 
 on these occasions has been highly admired even by those 
 who have censured the course as deficient in dignity and 
 candour. It was executed -with so much delicacy and 
 adroitness, and covered under a countenance of such apos- 
 tolic solemnity, that the persons on whom he was operating 
 were unconscious of the design. Winding his way thus 
 artfully through the house, from county to county, from 
 prejudice to prejudice, with the power of moving them, when 
 he pleased, from tears to laughter, from laughter to tears, of 
 astonishing their imaginations, and overwhelming their 
 judgments and hearts, it is easy to conceive how irresistible 
 he must have been. When with these prodigious faculties 
 the reader connects his engaging deportment out of the 
 house — the uncommon kindness and gentleness of his nature 
 — the simplicity, frankness, and amenity of his manners— the 
 innocent playfulness and instruction of his conversation — the 
 integrity of his life — and the high sense of the services which 
 he had rendered to the cause of liberty and his country — he 
 will readily perceive, that the opinions and wishes of such a 
 man would be, of themselves, almost decisive of any question. 
 
 The artifice of resorting to erroneous local prejudices, in a 
 legislative debate, is certainly not to be commended. Trifh 
 stands in need of no such aids. It must be admitted that 
 there is more purity, as well as dignity, in supporting a sound 
 measure by sound arguments only : and we must he pre- 
 pared to become Jesuits, before we can justify a resort to 
 wrong means to promote even a right end. In excuse of 
 Mr. Henry, we have nothing to urge except immemoria. 
 and almost miversal usage ; and it is moreover highly prob« 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 2? I 
 
 t 'e, that many of the instances, in which he was accused 
 rf -esorting improperly to local prejudices, were cases in which 
 the questions were, from their nature, to be decided in a great 
 measure by local interests. Of this description is the follow- 
 ing one, now furnished, at my request, in writing, by Judge 
 Archibald Stuart, from whom I had the pleasure to hear it 
 in conversation several years ago: — 
 
 “At your request, I attempt a narrative of the extraordi 
 nary effects of Mr. Henry’s eloquence in the Virginia legis 
 lature, about the year 1784, when I was present as a member 
 of that body. 
 
 “ The finances of the country had been much deranged 
 during the war, and public credit was at a low ebb ; a party 
 in the legislature thought it then high time to place the char- 
 acter and credit of the state on a more respectable footing, 
 bv laying taxes commensurate with all the public demands. 
 With this view, a bill had been brought into the house, and 
 referred to a committee of the whole ; in support of which 
 the then speaker, (Mr. Tyler,) Henry Tazewell, Mann Page 
 William Ronald, and many other members of great respecta- 
 bility, (including, to the best of my recollection, Richard H 
 Lee, and, perhaps, Mr. Madison,) took an active part. Mr. 
 Henry, on the other hand, was of opinion that this was a 
 premature attempt ; that policy required that the people 
 should have some repose after the fatigues and privations to 
 which they had been subjected, during a long and arduous 
 struggle for independence. 
 
 “The advocates of the bill, in committee of the whole 
 house, used their utmost efforts, and were successful in con- 
 forming it to their views, by such a majority (say thirty) as 
 «*emed to ensure its passage. When the committee rose, the 
 
272 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 bill was .Instantly reported to the house; when Mr. Henry 
 who had been excited and roused by his recent defeat, came 
 forward again in all the majesty of his power. For seme 
 time after he commenced speaking, the countenances of his 
 opponents indicated no apprehension of danger to their 
 cause. 
 
 “The feelings of Mr. Tyler, which were sometimes warm, 
 could not on that occasion be concealed, even m the cnair 
 His countenance was forbidding, even repuisive, and his face 
 turned from the speaker. Mr. Tazewell was reading a 
 pamphlet: and Mr. Page was more than usually grave 
 After some time, however, it was discovered that Mr. Tyler’s 
 countenance gradually began to relax ; he would occasionally 
 look at Mr. Henry ; sometimes smile : his attention by degrees 
 became more fixed ; at length it became completely so: — he 
 next appeared to be in good humour; he leaned toward Mr 
 Henry — appeared charmed and delighted, and finally lost in 
 wonder and amazement. The progress of these feelings was 
 legible in his countenance. 
 
 “ Mr. Henry drew a most affecting picture of the state ot 
 poverty and suffering in which the people of the upper coun- 
 ties had been left by the war. His delineation of their wants 
 and wretchedness was so minute, so full of feeling, and with 
 al so true, that he could scarcely fail to enlist on his side 
 every sympathetic mind. He contrasted the severe tod by 
 which they had to gain their daily subsistence, with the 
 facilities enjoyed by the people of the lower counties. The 
 latter, he said, residing on the salt rivers and creeks,* could 
 draw their supplies at pleasure, from the waters that flowed 
 by their doors ; and then he presented such a ludicrous image 
 of the members who had advocated the bill, (the most of 
 whom were from the lower counties.) peeping and peering 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 27 ^ 
 
 Mong the shores of the creeks, to pick up their mess of crabs 
 cr addling off to the oyster-rocks, to rake for their daily 
 bread* as filled the house with a roar of merriment. Mr. 
 Tazewell laid down his pamphlet, and shook his sides with 
 laughter ; even the gravity of Mr. Page was affected ; a cor- 
 responding change of countenance prevailed through the ranks 
 of the advocates of the bill, and you might discover that they 
 had surrendered their cause. In this they were not disap- 
 pointed ; for on a division, Mr. Henry had a majority of 
 upward of thirty against the bill.” 
 
 If this be a fair specimen of the rases (as probably it is) in 
 which Mr. Henry was accused of appealing improperly to 
 local prejudices, the censure seems undeserved. It is obvious 
 that the considerations urged by him, on this occasion, 
 belonged properly to the subject, and that the appeal to local 
 circumstances was fairly made. Candour will justify us in 
 looking, with great distrust, to the censures cast on this 
 extraordinary man, by rivals whom he had obscured 
 
 On the 17th of November, 1784, Mr. Henry was again 
 elected governor of Virginia, to commence his service from 
 the 30th day of the same month. The communication made 
 by him to the first legislature which met after his election, is 
 inserted in the Appendix ; it is given at large, as a specimen 
 of Mr. Henry’s style in more extended compositions than 
 have yet been submitted to the reader, and for the furthei 
 purpose of showing, that the objects with which a governor 
 of Virginia, acting within the pale of the constitution, is con 
 versant in time of peace, are not such as to shed much lustra 
 
 * At that day, (and perhaps still,) the poorer peopfo a the sal 
 rreeks, lived almost exclusively on fish; passing who! r.ays, 
 sometimes weeks, without seeing a grain of bread. 
 
 2 M 
 
274 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 on his character, or to solicit very powerfully the attention of 
 iiis biographer.* 
 
 In examining the public archives of this date, there is a 
 circumstance whose frequent and indeed constant recurrence, 
 presses itself most painfully on the attention : I mean the 
 resignation of state officers, on the plea of a necessity to resoit 
 to some more effectual means of subsistence. It is not gene- 
 rally known, that the councils of Virginia were, during the 
 period of which we are now speaking, enlightened and adorned 
 by some of the brightest of her sons : much less is it known 
 that they were driven from those councils, by that wretched 
 policy which has always regulated the salaries of officers in 
 Virginia. The letters of resignation, during the years 1734, 
 1785, and 1786, which now stand on the public files, afford 
 the best comment on this policy. Virginia lost, during those 
 years, the services of such men as have rarely existed in this 
 or any other country ; and such as she can never hope to see 
 again in her councils, until the system of penury shall yield 
 to that of liberality. At the close of the war, indeed, there 
 was some apology for this penury , the country was wretch- 
 edly poor and in debt. But this cause has long since ceased, 
 and with it also should cease the effect. Virginia is now 
 rich, and may fill her offices with the flower of her sons ; but 
 can it be expected that men who wish to live free from debt, 
 and to leave their families independent at their deaths, will 
 relinquish the pursuits by which they are able to effect these 
 objects, and enter upon a service full of care, responsibility, 
 and anxiety ; a service whose certain fruits (if it be their only 
 dependance) must be a life of pecuniary embarrassment ; and 
 ( what is still worse) their wives and children, after then 
 
 * See Appendix. Note B. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 275 
 
 deaths, must be cast on the charity of a cold and unfeeling 
 world . Ought such a sacrifice to be expected ? and yet 
 must it not be the inevitable consequence of an exclusive de- 
 pendance on the salary of any office in Virginia, which re- 
 quires talents of the highest order ?* 
 
 These remarks are not foreign to our story : in the fall of 
 1786, while yet a year remained of his constitutional term, 
 Mr. Henry was under the necessity of retiring from the office 
 of governor. There never was a man whose style of living 
 was more perfectly unostentatious, temperate, and simple ; 
 yet the salary had been inadequate to the support of his fam- 
 ily ; and, at the end of two years, he found himself involved 
 in debts which, for the moment, he saw no hope of paying, 
 but by the sacrifice of a part of his estate. Let it be remem- 
 bered, that this occurred in the year 1786 ; and let it be fur- 
 ther remembered, that the salary was then very nearly what 
 it still remains ! 
 
 In consequence of Mr. Henry’s declining a re-election, the 
 
 * How affecting is that spectacle which we have seen of a public 
 officer, who, having worn out the prime and vigour of life in the ser- 
 vice of his country, instead of being enabled to retire, in old age, to the 
 repose and peace which he so justly deserved, is compelled to toil on 
 for subsistence, though trembling, perhaps, under the weight of eighty 
 winters, oppressed by debt, harassed by his creditors, with the cer- 
 tainty before him of dying poor and involved ; and leaving his pos- 
 terity, if he have any, on the parish ! How forcibly does it remind us 
 >f that pathetic exclamation of Wolsey : — 
 
 “ O Cromwell, Cromwell, 
 
 Had I but served my God, with half the zeal 
 I served my king, he would not, in mine age, 
 
 Have left me naked to my enemies !” 
 
 Is it in reference to the warm and generous state of Virginia, tha 
 hese reflections can be made and made too with truth and justice ! 
 
276 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 legislature proceeded to appoint ms successor ; and then, on 
 the succeeding 25th of November, the house of delegates 
 came to the following resolution : — 
 
 “ Resolved unanimously , That a committee be appointed 
 to wait on his excellency the governor, and present him the 
 thanks of this house, for his wise, prudent, and upright ad- 
 ministration, during his last appointment of chief magistrate 
 of this commonwealth, assuring him that they retain a per- 
 fect sense of his abilities, in the discharge of the duties of 
 that high and important office, and wish him all domestic 
 happmess, on his return to private life.” 
 
 To this resolution, Mr. Corbin, one of the committee, re- 
 ported the following answer from Mr. Henry: — 
 
 “ Gentlemen, 
 
 “ The house of delegates have done me distinguished hon- 
 our, by the resolution they have been pleased to communi- 
 cate to me through you. I am happy to find my endeavours 
 to discharge the duties of my station, have met with theii 
 favourable acceptance. 
 
 “ The approbation of my country is the highest reward 
 to which my mind is capable of aspiring, and I shall return 
 to private life, highly gratified in the recollection of this in- 
 stance of regard shown me by the house ; having only to 
 regret that my abilities to serve my country have come so 
 short of my wishes. 
 
 ‘•At the same time that I make my best acknowledgments 
 to the house for their goodness, I beg leave to express my 
 particular obligations to you, gentlemen, for the polite man 
 ner in which this communication is made to me ” 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 277 
 
 On the fourth of December, in the same year, Mr. Henry 
 was appointed by the legislature, one of seven deputies from 
 this commonwealth to meet a convention proposed to be held 
 m Philadelphia, on the following May, for the purpose of re- 
 vising the federal constitution. On this list of deputies, his 
 name stands next to that of him, who stood of right before 
 all others in America ; the order of appointment as exhibited 
 by the journals being as follows: George Washington,. Pat- 
 rick Henry, JEdmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison 
 George Mason, and George Wythe. „ 
 
 The same cause, however, which had constrained Mr 
 Henry’s retirement from the executive chair of the state, dis 
 abled him now from obeying this honourable call of his coun- 
 try. On his resigning the government, he retired to Prince 
 Edward county, and endeavoured to cast about for the means 
 of extricating himself from his debts. At the age of fifty 
 years, worn down by more than twenty years of arduous 
 service in the cause of his country, eighteen of which had 
 been occupied by the toils and tempests of the revolution, it 
 was natural for him to wish for rest, and to seek some secure 
 and placid port in which he might repose himself from the 
 fatigues of the storm. This however was denied him; and 
 after having devoted the bloom of youth and the maturity of 
 manhood to the good of his country, he had now in his old 
 age to provide for his family. 
 
 “ He had never” says a' correspondent,* “ been in easy 
 circumstances; and soon after his removal to Prince Ed- 
 ■ ward county, conversing with his usual frankness with one 
 of his ne'ghborrs,. he expressed his anxiety under the debts 
 which he was not able to pay; the reply was to dm* e/ket: 
 
 * Judge Winston. 
 
 24 
 
278 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 ‘ (J ^ back to the bar ; your tongue will soon pay your debts 
 If you will promise to go, I will give you a retaining fee on 
 the spot.’ 
 
 “ Tms blunt advice determined him to return to the prac- 
 tice of the law ; which he did in the beginning of 17«8 • and 
 during six years he attended regularly the district courts of 
 Prince Edward and New London.” 
 
 Direful must have been the necessity which drove a man 
 of Mr. Henry’s disposition and habits, at his time of life, and 
 tempest-beaten as he was, to resume the practice of such a 
 profession as the law. He would not, however, undertake 
 the technical duties of the profession; his engagements were 
 confined to the argument of the cause; and his clients had 
 of course, to employ other counsel, to conduct the pleadings, 
 and ripen their cases for hearing. Hence his practice was 
 restricted to difficult and important cases ; but his great rep- 
 utation kept him constantly engaged ; he was frequently 
 called to distant courts ; the light of his eloquence shone in 
 every quarter of the state, and thousands of tongues were 
 every where employed in repeating the fine effusions of his 
 genius. 
 
 The federal constitution, the fruit of' the convention at 
 Philadelphia, had now come forth, and produced an agitation 
 which had not been felt since the return of peace. The 
 friends and the enemies to its adoption were equally zealous 
 and active in their exertions to promote their respective 
 wishes ; the presses throughout the continent teemed with 
 essays on the subject ; and the rostrum, the pulpit, the field, 
 and the forest, rung with declamations and discussions of the 
 most animated character. Every assemblage of people, for 
 whatsoever purpose met, either for court or church, muster or 
 barbecue, presented an arena for the political combatants: 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 279 
 
 and in some quarters of the union, such was the public 
 anxiety of the occasion, that gentlemen in the habit of public 
 speaking, converted themselves into a sort of itinerant 
 preachers, going from county to county, and from state to 
 state, collecting the people by distant appointments, and 
 challenging all adversaries to meet and dispute with them the 
 propriety of the adoption of the federal constitution. All who 
 sought to distinguish themselves by public speaking, all can 
 didates for popular favour, and especially the junior members 
 of the bar, flocked to these meetings from the remotest dis 
 tances, and entered the lists with all the ardour, and gallantry 
 of the knights of former times at their tilts and tournaments. 
 Never was there a theme more fruitful of discussion, and 
 never was there one more amply or ably discussed. 
 
 Of the convention which was to decide the fate of this 
 instrument in Virginia, Mr. Henry was chosen a member fcr 
 the county of Prince Edward. Although the constitution 
 had come forth with the sanction of the revered name of 
 Washington, and carried with it all the weight of popularity 
 which that name could not fail to attach to any proposition, 
 *t had not the good fortune to be approved by Mr. Henry. 
 He was (to use his own expression) “most awfully alarme d” 
 1 at the idea of its adoption ; for he considered it as threatening 
 the liberties of his country; and he determined, therefore, to 
 buckle on once more the aimour which he had hung up in 
 the temple of peace, and try the fortune of this, the last of 
 ms political fieMs. 
 
SECTION VIII 
 
 The convention met in Richmond, on the 2d of June 
 1788, a nd exnibited such an array of variegated talents,, as 
 had never been collected before within the limits of the state 
 and such a one as it may well be feared we shall never see 
 again. *A few of the most eminent of these statesmen are 
 still alive ; of whom, therefore, delicacy forbids us to speak 
 as they deserve. Their powers, however, and the peculiar 
 characters of their intellectual excellence, are so well known, 
 that their names will be sufficient to speak their respective 
 eulogies. We may mention, therefore, Mr. Madison, the late 
 president of the United States; Mr. M arsh all, the chief-jus- 
 tice ; and Mr. Monroe, now the president. What will the 
 reader think of a body, in which men like these were only 
 among their equals! Yet such is the fact; for there were 
 those sages of other days, Pendleton and Wy the ; there was 
 seen displayed the Spartan vigour and compactness of George 
 Nicholas ; and there shone the radiant genius and sensibility 
 of Grayson ; the Roman energy and the Attic wit of George 
 Mason was there ; and there, also, the classic taste and har- 
 
 V — 
 
 mony of Edmund Randolph ; “ the splendid conflagration” 
 of the high-minded Innis; and the matchless eloquence of 
 the immorta l Henr y ! * 
 
 * The debates and proceedings, of this Convention, by Mr. David 
 Robertson, of Petersburg, have passed through two editions; yet it is 
 believed that their circulation has been principally confined to V ir- 
 ginia and even in this state, from the rapid progress of our ponul ition 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 28 a 
 
 It was not until the 4thj that the preliminary ai range men ts 
 for the discussion were settled. Mr. Pendleton had been 
 unanimously elected the president of the convention; but it 
 having been determined that the subject should be debated 
 in committee of the whole, the house on that day resolved 
 itself into committee, and the venerable Mr. Wythe was 
 called to the chair. In conformity with the order which 
 had been taken, to discuss the constitution, clause by clause, 
 the clerk now read the preamble, and the two first sections ; 
 and the debate was opened by Mr. George Nicholas. He 
 confined himself strictly to the sections under consideration, 
 and maintained their policy with great cogency of argument 
 /Mr. Henry rose next, and soon demonstrated that his excur 
 sions were not to be restrained by the rigour of rules. 
 Instead of proceeding to answer Mr. Nicholas, he commenced 
 by sounding an alarm calculated to produce a most powerful 
 impression. The effect, however, will be entirely lost upon 
 the reader, unless he shall associate with the speech which 
 
 that book is supposed to be in, comparatively, few hands. Hence it 
 has been thought proper to give a short sketch of Mr. Henry’s course 
 in this body. It ought to be premised, however, that the published 
 debates have been said, by those who attended the convention, to 
 present but an imperfect view of the discussions of that body. In rela- 
 tion to Mr. Henry, they are confessedly imperfect , the reporter having 
 sometimes dropped him in t hose passages in which the reader would 
 be most anxious to follow him. From the skill and ability of the 
 reporter, there can be no doubt that the substance of the debates, as 
 well as their general course, are accurately.. preserved. The work is 
 therefore, a valuable repository of the arguments by which the const! 
 /‘ution was opposed on one hand, and supported on the other; but il 
 must have been utterly impossible for a man who possesses the sensi- 
 bility and high relish for eloquence which distinguish the reporter, 
 not to have been so far transported by the excursions of Mr. HenrvN 
 genius, as sometimes, unconsciouslv, to have laid down his pen. 
 
 2 N 24* 
 
wirt’s life of 
 
 
 I am about to lay before him, that awful solemnity and looh 
 of fearful portent, by which "Mr. Henry could imply ever 
 more than he expressed ; and that slow T , distinct, emphatic 
 enunciation, by which he never failed to move the souls of 
 
 his hearers. 
 
 “ Mr. Chairman — The public mind, as well as my own, 
 is extremely uneasy at the proposed change of government 
 Give me leave to form one of the number of those who wish 
 to be thoroughly acquainted with the reasons of this perilous 
 and uneasy situation — and why we are brought hither to 
 decide on this great national question. I consider myself as 
 the servant of the people of this commonwealth — as a sentinel 
 over their rights, liberty, and happiness. I represent theii 
 feelings when I say, that they are exceedingly uneasy, being 
 brought from that state of full security which they enjoyed, 
 to the present delusive appearance of things . A year ago, 
 the minds of our citizens were at perfect repose. Before 
 the meeting of the late federal convention at Philadelphia, a 
 general peace and a universal tranquillity prevailed in this 
 country — but since that period, they are exceedingly uneasy 
 and disquieted. When I wished for an appointment to this 
 convention, my mind was extremely agitated for the situation 
 of public affairs. I conceive the .republic to be in extreme 
 danger. ,- If our situation be thus uneasy, whence has arisen 
 this fearful jeopardy ? It arises from this fatal system — it 
 arises from a proposal to change our government — a propo 
 sal that goes to the utter annihi lation of the most solemn 
 engagements of the states — a proposal of establishing nine 
 states into confederacy, to the eventual exclusion of four 
 slates. It goes to the annihilation of those solemn treaties 
 we have formed with foreign nations. The present circum- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 283 
 
 stances of France — the good offices rendered us by that 
 kingdom, require our nost faithful and most punctual adhe- 
 rence to our treaty with her. We are in alliance with the 
 Spaniards, the Dutch, the Prussians : those treaties bound 
 us as thirteen states, confederated together. Yet here is a 
 proposal to sever that confederacy. Is it possible that we 
 shall abandon all our treaties and national engagements? 
 And for what? I expected to have heard the reasons of 
 an event, so unexpected to my mind and many others. 
 Was our civil polity or public justice endangered or sapped ? 
 W as the real existence of the country threatened — or was 
 this preceded by a mournful progression of events ? This 
 proposal of altering our federal government is of a most 
 alarming nature. Make the best of this new government — 
 say it is composed by any thing but inspiration — you ought 
 to be extremely cautious, watchful, jealous of your liberty : 
 for instead of securing our rights, you may lose them for ever. 
 If a wcong step be now made, the republic may be lost for 
 ever. -If this new government will not come up to the expec- 
 tation of the people, and they should be disappointed, their 
 liberty will be lost, and tyranny must and will arise^ji repeat 
 it again, and I beg gentlemen to consider, that a wrong step 
 made now, will plunge us into misery, and our republic will 
 be lost, jit will be necessary for this convention to have a 
 faithful historical detail of the facts that preceded the session 
 of the federal convention, and the reasons that actuated its 
 members in proposing an entire alteration of government, 
 and to demonstrate the dangers that awaited us : if thev 
 were of such awful magnitude, as to warrant a proposal sc 
 extremely perilous as tins, I must assert, that this convention 
 has an absolute right to a thorough discovery of every cir- 
 ctim stance relative to this great event. And here I woul 
 
284 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 make this inquiry of those worthy characters who composed 
 a part of the late federal convention. I am sure they were 
 fully impressed with -the necessity of forming a great conso- 
 lidated government, instead of a confederation. That this 
 is a consolidated government is demonstrably clear ; and the 
 danger of such a government is to my rnind very striking. 
 I have the highest veneration for those gentlemen : but, sir, 
 give me leave to demand, what right had they to say, we , 
 the people ? 
 
 “My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude 
 for the public welfare, leads me to ask, who authorized them 
 t.o speak the language of, we , th e peop le , instead of, we, th& 
 states ? States are the characteristics, and the soul of a 
 confederation . If the states be not the agents of this com 
 pact, it must be one great , consolidated , national , govern 
 ment of the peojyle of all the states. I have the highes 
 respect for those gentlemen who formed the convention ; and 
 were some of them not here, I would express some testimo- 
 nial of esteem for them. America had, on a former occasion, 
 put the utmost confidence in them ; a confidence which was 
 well-placed ; and I am sure, sir, I would give up any thing 
 to them ; I would cheerfully confide in them as my represen- 
 tatives. But, sir, on this great occasion, I would demand the 
 cause of their conduct. Even from that illustrious man, who 
 saved us by his valour, I would have a reason for his conduct 
 — that liberty which he has given us by his valour, tells me 
 to ask this reason — and sure I am, were he here, he would 
 give us that reason : but there are other gentlemen here who 
 can give us this information. The people gave them no 
 power to use their name. That they exceeded their power is 
 perfectly clear. It is not mere curiosity that actuates me — 
 I wish to hear the real, actual, existing danger, which should 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 283 
 
 ead us to take those steps so dangerous in my conception. 
 Disorders have arisen in other parts of America ; but here, 
 sir, no dangers, no insurrection, or tumult, has happened — 
 every thing has been calm and tranquil. But, notwithstanding 
 this, we are wandering on the great ocean of human affairs . 
 / see no landmark to guide us. We are running roe know 
 not whither. Difference in opinion has gone to a degree of 
 inflammatory resentment, in different parts of the country 
 which has been occasioned by this perilous innovation. The 
 federal convention ought to have amended the old system — 
 for this purpose they were solely delegated : the object of 
 their mission extended to no other consideration. You must 
 therefore forgive the solicitation of one unworthy member, to 
 know what danger could have arisen under the present con- 
 federation, and what are the causes of this proposal to change 
 our government ?” 
 
 This inquiry was answered by an eloquent speech from 
 Mr. Randolph ; and the debate passed into other hands ; until 
 on the next day, General Lee, in reference to Mr. Henry’s 
 opening speech, addressed the chair, as follows : — 
 
 “ Mr. Chairman — I feel every power of my mind moved 
 by the language of the honourable gentleman, yesterday. 
 The eclat and brilliancy which have distinguished that gen- 
 tleman, the honours with which he has been dignified, and 
 the brilliant talents which he has so often displayed, have 
 attracted my respect and attention. On so important an 
 occasion, and before so respectable a body, I expected a new 
 display of his powers of oratory : but, instead of proceeding 
 to investigate the merits of the new plan of government, the 
 worthy character informed us of horrors which he felt, of 
 
286 
 
 r 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 apprehensions in his mind, which made him tremblir gly 
 fearful of the fate of the commonwealth . Mr. Chairman, 
 was it proper to appeal t<> -the fear of this house? The 
 question before us belongs to the judgment of this house ; 
 ~ trust he is come to judge and not to a larm . I trust that 
 he, and every other gentleman in this house, comes with a 
 firm resolution, coolly and calmly to examine, and fairly and 
 impartially to determine.” 
 
 T i "he further progress of his speech, General Lee again 
 said, rather tauntingly, of Mr. Henry — “ The gentleman sat 
 down as he began, leaving us to ruminate on the horrors 
 with which he opened.” 
 
 Mr. Henry, rising immediately after these sarcastic remarks, 
 gave a striking specimen of that dignified self-comrnand, and 
 that strict and uniform decorum ^ by which he was so pre- 
 eminently distinguished in debate. Far from retorting the 
 sarcasms of his adversary, he seemed to have heard nothing 
 but the compliments with which they stood connected, and 
 rising slowly from his seat, with a countenance expressive 
 of unaffected humility, he began with the following modest 
 and disqualifying exordium : “"Mr. Chairman — I am much 
 obliged to the very worthy gentleman for his encomium. I 
 wish I was possessed of talents, or possessed of any thing , 
 that might enable me to elucidate this great subject. I own, 
 sir, I am not free from suspicion. I am apt to entertain 
 doubts. I rose, on yesterday, not to enter upon the discussion 
 out merely to ask a question which had arisen in my own 
 mind. When I asked that question, I thought the meaning 
 of my interrogation was obvious. The fate of America may 
 depend on this question. Have they said, we the stites f 
 
Have they made a proposal of a compact between Jitates ? 
 If they had , this would be a confederation ; it is, otherwise, 
 most clearly, a consolidated government . The whole ques- 
 tion turns, sir, on that poor little thing , the expression, we 
 the veovle ? instead of, the states of America.” 
 
 He then proceeded to set forth, in terrible array, his various 
 objections to the constitution; not confining himself to the 
 clauses under debate, but ranging through the whole instru 
 ment, and passing from objection to objection, as they fol- 
 lowed each other in his mind. This departure from the rule 
 of the house, although at first view censurable, was insisted 
 upon by himself and his colleagues, as being indispensable 
 to a just examination of the particular clause under conside- 
 ration • because the policy or impolicy of any provision did 
 not always depend upon itself alone, but on other provisions 
 with which it stood connected, and, indeed, upon the whole 
 system of powers and checks that were associated with it 
 in the same instrument, and thus formed only parts of one 
 entire whole. The truth of this position, in relation to 
 some of the provisions, could not be justly denied; and a 
 departure once made from the rigour of the rule, the debate 
 became at large, on every part of the constitution; the dis- 
 putants at every stage looking forward and backward 
 throughout the whole instrument, without any control other 
 than their own discretion. Thus freed from restraints, under 
 which his genius was at all times impatient, uncoupled and 
 let loose to range the whole field at pleasure, Mr. Henry 
 seemed to have recovered, and to luxuriate in all the powers 
 of his youth. He had, indeed, occasion for them all; for 
 while he was supported by only three effective auxiliaries 
 opposed to him stood a phalanx, most formidable both for 
 
288 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 talents and weight of character' and several of whom it 
 might be said, with truth, that each was “ in himself a 
 host for at the head of the opposing ranks stood Mr. Pen- 
 dleton — Mr. Wythe — Mr. Madison — Mr. Marshall — -Mr. Ni- 
 cholas — Mr. Randolph — Mr. Innis — Mr. Henry Lee — and 
 Mr. Corbin. Fearful odds! and such as called upon him 
 for the most strenuous exertion of all his faculties. Nor did 
 
 ' -A*V. 
 
 he sink below the occasion. For twenty days, during which 
 this great discussion continued without intermission, his efforts 
 were sustained, not only with undiminished strength, but 
 with powers which seemed to gather new force from every 
 exertion. All the faculties useful for debate were found united 
 in him, witli a degree of perfection, in which they are rarely 
 seen to exist, even separately, in different individuals : irony 
 ridicule, the purest wit, the most comic humour, exclamations 
 that made the soul start, the most affecting pathos, and the 
 most sublime apostrophes, lent their aid to enforce his- reason- 
 ing, and to put to flight the arguments of his adversaries. 
 
 The objection that the constitution substituted a consol- 
 idated in lieu of a confederated government, and that this 
 new consolidated government threatened the total annihila- 
 tion of the state sovereignties, was pressed by him with 
 most masterly power : he said there was no necessity for a 
 change of government so entire and fundamental — and no 
 inducement to it, unless it was to be found in this splendid 
 government , which we were told was to make us a great 
 and mighty people . “ We have no detail,” said he, 4 of 
 
 those great considerations, which, in my opinion, ought tc 
 nave abounded , before we should recur to a government of 
 this kind. Flere is a revolution as radical as that which 
 separated us from Great Britain. It is as radical, if in this 
 transition our rights and privileges are endangered, and the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 289 
 
 sovereignty of the states be relinquished : arid cannot we 
 plainly see, that this is actually the case ? k The rights of 
 conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press, all your immu- 
 nities and franchises, all pretensions to human rights and 
 privileges, are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change 
 so loudly talked of by some, and so inconsiderately by 
 others. ”* Is this tame relinquishment of rights worthy of 
 freemen ? Is it worthy of that manly fortitude that ought 
 10 characterize republicans? It is said eight states have 
 adopted this plan : I declare, that if twelve '"states and a 
 half had adopted it, I would with manly firmness, and in 
 spite of an erring world, reject it. You are not to inquire 
 how your trade may be increased, nor how you are to be- 
 come a great and powerful people , but how your liberties 
 can be secured ; for liberty ought to be the direct end of 
 your government. Is it necessary for your liberty , that 
 you should abandon those great rights by the adoption of 
 this system? Is the relinquishment of the trial by jury, and 
 the liberty of the press, necessary for your liberty ? Will 
 the abandonment of your most sacred rights tend to the 
 security of your liberty ? Liberty, the greatest of ail earthly 
 blessings — give us that precious jewel , and you may take 
 every thing else ! But I am fearful I have lived long 
 enough to become an old-fashioned fellow. Perhaps an 
 invincible attachment to the dearest rights of man, may, in 
 these refined , enlightened days, be deemed old-fashioned: 
 if so, I am contented to be so : I say, the time has been, 
 when every pulse of my heart beat for American liberty, 
 and which, I believe, had a counterpart in the breast of 
 every true American ; but suspicions have gone forth — sus- 
 picions of my integrity — publicly reported that my profes- 
 sions are not real — twenty-three years ago was I supposed 
 2 0 25 
 
290 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 a traitor to my country : I was then said to be a bane of 
 sedition because I supported the rights of my country . 1 
 may be thought suspicious, when I say our privileges and 
 rights are in danger : but, sn, a number of the people of 
 this country are weak enough to think these things are too 
 true. I am happy to find, that the gentleman on the other 
 side declares they are groundless : but, sir, suspicion is a 
 virtue, as long as its object js_ the preservation of the public 
 good,, and as long as it stays within proper bounds : should 
 it fall on me, I am contented ; conscious rectitude is a pow- 
 erful consolation : I trust there are many who think my 
 
 professions for the public good to be real. Let your suspi- 
 cion look to both sides : there are many on the other side, 
 who possibly may have been persuaded of the necessity of 
 these measures, which I conceive to be dangerous to your 
 liberty. Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. 
 Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortu 
 nately, nothing will preserve it but downright force : when- 
 ever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined. I 
 am answered by gentlemen, that though I might speak of 
 terrors, yet the fact was, that we were surrounded by none 
 of the dangers I apprehended. I conceive this new govern- 
 ment to be one of those dangers : it has produced those 
 horrors which distress many of our best citizens. We are 
 come hither to preserve the poor commonwealth of Virginia, 
 if it can be possibly done : something must be done to pre- 
 serve your liberty and mine. The confederation, this same 
 despised government, merits, in my opinion, the highest 
 encomium: it carried us through a long and dangerous war : 
 it rendered us victorious in chat bloody conflict with a power- 
 ful nation : it has secured us a territory greater than any 
 European monarch possesses : and shall a government woich 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 29 i 
 
 has heen thus strong and vigorous, be accused of imbecility, 
 and abandoned for want of energy ? Consider what you 
 are about to do, before you part with this government. Take 
 longer time in reckoning things ; revolutions like this have 
 happened in almost every country of Europe : similar exam- 
 ples are to be found in ancient Greece and ancient Rome : in- 
 stances of the people losing their liberty by their own careless- 
 ness and the ambition of a few. We are cautioned, by the hon- 
 ourable gentleman who presides, against faction and turbu- 
 lence : I acknowledge that licentiousness is dangerous, and 
 that it ought to be provided against : 1 acknowledge, also, the 
 new form of government may effectually prevent it : yet there 
 is another thing it will as effectually do — it will oppress and 
 ruin the people. There are sufficient guards placed against 
 faction and licentiousness : for when power is given to this 
 government to suppress these, or for any other purpose, the 
 language it assumes is clear, express, and unequivocal : but 
 when this constitution speaks of privileges, there is an am- 
 biguity, Sir, a fatal ambiguity , an ambiguity which is 
 very astonishing !” 
 
 The adoption of the instrument had been maintained 
 ^ upon the ground that it would increase our military strength, 
 and enable us to resist the lawless ambition of foreign princes : 
 it had been urged, too, that if the convention should rise 
 without adopting the instrument, disunion and anarchy 
 would be the certain consequences. In answer to these topics 
 he said — “ Happy will you be, if you miss the fate of those 
 nations, who, omitting to resist their oppressors, or negligently 
 suffering their liberty to be wrested from them, have groaned 
 under intolerable despotism ! Most of the human race are 
 jow in this deplorable condition. And those nations who 
 
293 
 
 VV I R T * S LIFE OF 
 
 have gone in search of grandeur , power , and splendour 
 have also (alien a sacrifice, and been the victims of their own 
 folly. While they acquired those visionary blessings, they 
 lost their freedom. 
 
 “ My great objection to this government is, that it does not 
 leave us the means of defending our rights, or of waging 
 war against tyrants. It is urged by some gentlemen, that 
 this new plan will bring us an acquisition of strength, an 
 army, and the militia of the states. This is an idea ex- 
 tremely ridiculous : gentlemen cannot be in earnest This 
 acquisition will trample on your fallen liberty ! Let my 
 beloved Americans guard against that fatal lethargy that has 
 pervaded the universe. Have we the means of resisting 
 disciplined armies, when our only defence, the militia, is 
 put into the hands of congress ? The honourable gentle- 
 man said, that great danger would ensue, if the convention 
 rose without adopting this system. I ask, where is that dan- 
 ger ? I see none. Other gentlemen have told us within 
 these walls, that the union is gone — or, that the union will 
 be gone Is not this trifling with the judgment of their 
 fellow-citizens ? Till they tell us the ground of their fears, I 
 will consider them as imaginary. I rose to make inquiry 
 where those dangers were ; they could make no answer : I 
 believe I never shall have that answer. Is there a disposi- 
 tion in the people of this country to revolt against the domin- 
 ion of laws ? Has there been a single tumult in Virginia ? 
 Have not the people of Virginia, when labouring under the 
 severest pressure of accumulated distresses, manifested the 
 most cordial acquiescence in the execution of the laws 1 
 What could be more lawful than their unanimous acquies- 
 cence under general distresses ? Is there any revolution 
 in Virginia 9 Whither is the spirit if America gone f 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 293 
 
 Whither is the genius of America fled ? It was but 
 yesterday when orr enemies marched in triumph though 
 our country . Yet the people of this country could not 
 
 be ajipalled by their pompous armaments : they stopped 
 their career , and victoriously captured them ! Where is 
 the peril now compared to that ? Some minds are agitated 
 by foreign alarms. Happily for us, there is no real danger 
 from Europe : that country is engaged in more arduous busi- 
 ness : from that quarter there is no cause of fear : you may 
 sleep in safety for ever for them. Where is the danger ? If 
 Sir, there was any, I would recur to the American spirit to 
 defend us — that spirit which has enabled us to surmount the 
 greatest difficulties : to that illustrious spirit I address my 
 most fervent prayer, to prevent our adopting a system de- 
 structive to liberty. Let not gentlemen be told that it is not 
 safe to reject this government. Wherefore is it not safe ? 
 We are told there are dangers ; but those dangers are ideal ; 
 they cannot be demonstrated. To encourage us to adopt it, 
 they tell us that there is a plain, easy way of getting amend- 
 ments. When I come to contemplate this part, I suppose 
 that I am mad, or, that my countrymen are so. The way 
 to amendment is, in my conception, shut. Let us consider 
 this plain , easy way .” 
 
 He then proceeds to demonstrate, that as the constitution 
 required the concurrence of three-fourths of the states t( any 
 amendment, it followed that six-tenths of the people, in four 
 of the smallest states, (not containing collectively one-te/ th 
 part of the population of the United States,) would have it in 
 their power to defeat the most salutary amendments ; and 
 then asks, “ Is th*s, Sir, an easy mode of securing the public 
 liberty ? It is, S’r, a most fearful situation, when the me*'* 
 
 25 * 
 
294 
 
 wirt’s ’life of 
 
 contemptiole minority can prevent the alteration of the most 
 oppressive government: for it may, in many respects, prove 
 to be such. Is this the spirit of repub .icanism ? What, Sir, 
 is the genius of democracy ? Let me read that clause of the 
 bill of rights of Virginia, which relates to this : 3d Art. 
 
 ‘ That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the com- 
 mon benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or 
 community ; of all the various modes and forms of govern- 
 ment, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest 
 degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured 
 against the danger of mal-administration ; and that when- 
 ever any government shall be found inadequate, or contrary 
 to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an 
 indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, 
 alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most 
 conducive to the public weal.’ This, Sir, is the language of 
 democracy, that a majority of the community have a right 
 to alter their government when found to be oppressive ; but 
 how different is the genius of your new constitution from 
 this ? How different from the sentiments of freemen, that a 
 contemptible minority can prevent the good of the majority 1 
 If, then, gentlemen, standing on this ground, are come to 
 that point, that they are willing to bind themselves and their 
 posterity to be oppressed, I am amazed , and inexpressibly 
 astonished ! If this be the opinion of the majority, I must 
 submit ; but to me, Sir, it appears perilous and destructive ; 
 I cannot help thinking so ; perhaps it may be the result of 
 my age ; these may be feelings natural to a man of my 
 years, when the American spirit has left him, and his mental 
 powers, like the members of the body, are decayed. If, Sir, 
 amendments are left to the twentieth, or to the tenth part, of 
 the people of America, your liberty is gone for ever, We 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 295 
 
 nave heard that there is a great deal of bribery practised in 
 t»ie house of commons in England ; and that many of the 
 memoers raised themselves ;o preferments by selling tne 
 rignts of the people. But, sir, the tenth part of that bodv 
 cannot continue oppressions on the rest of the people. Eng- 
 lish liberty is, in this case, on a firmer foundation than 
 American liberty. It will be easily contrived to procure the 
 opposition of one tenth of the people to any alteration, how- 
 ever judicious.” 
 
 Mr. Pendleton had repelled the idea of danger from the 
 adoption of the constitution, on the ground of the facility 
 with which the people could recall their delegated pow r ers, 
 and change their servants. — “We will assemble in conven- 
 tion,” said Mr. Pendleton, “wholly recalLoui^djeIegate<Lpow- 
 ers, or reform them so as to prevent such abuse, and punish * 
 our servants.” In reply to this, Mr. Henry said : — “ The 
 honourable gentleman who presides told us, that, to prevent 
 abuses in our go vernm ent, we will„_assemble in convention, 
 recall our delegated powers, and punish oui servants for abu- 
 sing the trust reposed in them. Oh , sir , we should have 
 fine times, indeed, if to punish tyrants, it were only necessary 
 to assemble the people ! Your arms, wherewith you could 
 defend yourselves, are gone ! and you have no longer an 
 aristocratical, no longer a democratical spirit. Did you ever 
 read of any revolution in any nation, brought about by the 
 punishment of those in power , inflicted by those who had no 
 power at all? You read of a riot act in a country which 
 is called one of the freest in the world, where a few neigh 
 hours cannot assemble, without the risk of being shot by a 
 hired soldiery, the engines of despotism. We may see 
 such an act in America . A standing army we shall have 
 also, to execute the execrable commands of tyranny ; and 
 
296 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 how are you to punish them ? Will you order them to be 
 punished ? Who shall obey these orders ? Will your 
 mace bearer be a match for a disciplined regiment ? In 
 what situation are we to be ? The clause before you gives 
 a power of direct taxation, unbounded and unlimited ; exclu- 
 sive power of legislation, in all cases whatsoever, for ten 
 miles square ; and over all places purchased for the 
 erection of forts , magazines , arsenals , dock-yards , §c. 
 What resistance could be made, ? The attempt would 
 be madness . You will find all the strength of this country 
 in the hands of your enemies; those garrisons will naturally 
 be the strongest places in the country. Your militia is given 
 up to congress, also, in another part of this plan ; they will, 
 therefore, act as they think proper; all power will be in 
 their own possession ; you cannot force them to receive 
 their punishment.” 
 
 He continued to ridicule very successfully the alluring idea 
 of the expected splendour of the new government, and the 
 imaginary checks and balances which were said to exist in 
 this constitution : “ If we admit,” said he, “ this consolidated 
 government, it will be because we like a great splendid one . 
 Some way or other we must be a : great and mighty empire , 
 we must have an army , and a navy , and a number of things ! 
 When the American spirit was in its youth, the language 
 of America was different : liberty , sir, was then the primary 
 obje ct And again : “ This constitution is said to have 
 beautiful features ; when 1 come to examine these features, 
 sir, they appear to me homhly frightful ! Among other 
 deformities, it has an awful squinting: it squints towards 
 mona rchy ! And does not this raise indignation' in the 
 breast of every true American? Your jpre&ident mav 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 21T 
 
 easily become^ king; your senate is so imperfectly con- 
 structed, that your dearest rights m ay be sacrificed by what 
 may be a small minority ; and a very small minority may 
 continue, for ever , unchangeable , this government, although, 
 horridly defective ; where are your checks in this govern 
 inent ? Your strong holds will be in the hands of youi 
 enemies ; it is on a supposition that your American 
 governors shall be honest, that all the good qualities of this 
 government are founded ; but its defective and imperfect 
 construction puts it in their power to perpetrate the worst of 
 mischiefs, should they be bad men ; and, sir, would not all 
 the world, from the eastern to the western hemisphere, blame 
 our distracted folly in resting our rights upon the contin- 
 gency of our rulers being good or bad, ? Show me that 
 age and country, where the rights and liberties of the peo- 
 ple were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good 
 men, without a consequent loss of liberty? I say, that, the 
 loss of that dearest privilege has ever followed, with absolute 
 certainty, every such mad attempt. If your American chief 
 be a man of ambition and abilities, how easy is it for him 
 to render himself absolute ! The army is in his hands ; and, 
 if he be a man of address, it will be attached to him ; and 
 it will be the subject of long meditation with him to seize the 
 first auspicious moment to accomplish his design ; and, sir, 
 will the American spirit, solely, relieve you when this hap- 
 pens ? I would rather infinitely , and I am sure most of 
 this convention are of the same opinion, have a king, lords, 
 and commons, than a government so replete with such 
 insupportable evils. If we make a king, we' may prescribe 
 the rules by which he shall rule his people, and interpose 
 such checks as shall prevent him from infringing them : but 
 the president in the field, at the head of his army, can prescribe 
 2 P 
 
29a 
 
 wirt’s ljfe of 
 
 the terms on which he shall reign master, so far that it will 
 puzzle any American ever to get his neck from under the 
 galling yoke. I cannot, with patience, think of this idea. 
 
 If ever he violates the laws, one of two things will happen : 
 he will come at the head of his army to carry every thing 
 before him; or he will gne bail, or do what Mr. Chief-Jus- 
 tice will order him. If he be guilty, will not the recollection 
 of his crimes teach him to make one bold push for the Amer- 
 ican throne ? Will not the immense difference between 
 being master of every thing, and being ignominiously tried 
 and punished, powerfully excite him to make this bold push 1 
 But, sir, where is the existing force to punish him ? Can 
 he not, at the head of his army, beat down every opposition ? 
 Away with your president ; we shall have a king : the 
 army will salute him monarch ; your militia will leave you 
 and assist in making him king, and fight against you : and 
 what have you to oppose this force ? What will then become 
 of you and your rights ? Will not absolute despotism ensue ?” /( 
 [H ere Mr. Henry strongly and pathetically expatiated ori^ 
 the probability of the president’s enslaving America, and 
 the horrid consequences that must result.] £ 
 
 After the frank admission of the reporter, exhibited by the 
 words contained within those brackets, that he had not 
 attempted to follow Mr. Henry in this pathetic excursion, the 
 reader will perceive, that it would be doing injustice to the 
 memory of that eminent man, to multiply extracts from this 
 book, as specimens of his eloquence. / The stenographer 
 who should be able to take down Mr. Henry’s speeches, 
 word for word, must have other qualities besides the perfect 
 mastery of his art : he must have the perfect mastery of 
 himself, &nd be able, for the momei t, to play the mere 
 automaton ; for without such self-commjind, no man, who 
 

 PATRICK HENRY. 299 
 
 iiad a human heart in his bosom, could listen. to his startling 
 exclamations, or horror-breathing tones, without keeping his 
 eyes immoveably riveted upon the speaker. His dominion 
 over his hearers was so absolute,” That it was idle to think 
 of resisting him ; you would as soon think of resisting the 
 lightning of heaven. The very tone of voice, in which he 
 would address the chairman, when he felt the inspiration 
 of his genius rising — “ Mr. Chairman !”■ — and the awful 
 pause which followed this call — fixed upon him at once 
 every eye in the assembly : and then his own rapt 
 countenance ! — those eyes which seemed to beam with light 
 from another world, and under whose fiery glance the crest 
 of the proudest adversary fell ! his majestic attitudes, and that 
 bold, strong, and varied action, which spoke forth, with so 
 mucn power, the energies of his own great spirit, rendered his 
 person a spectacle so sublime, and so awfully interesting, that 
 to look in any other direction when the spell was upon him 
 was not to be expected from any man who had eyes to see 
 and ears to hear. \ Little cause have we, therefore, to wonder 
 or to complain, that a gentleman of Mr. Robertson’s lively 
 admiration of genius, and of his quick and kindling sensi 
 pility, was sometimes bedimmed by his own tears, and a 
 others torn from his task by those master-flights, which 
 rushed like a mighty whirlwind from the earth, and carriee 
 up every thing in their vortex. 
 
 The chief objections taken to 4he constitution are reduci 
 ble to the following heads : — 
 
 I. That it was a consolidated, instead of a confederated 
 government : that in making it so, the delegates at Philadel 
 phia had transcended the limits of their commission : changed 
 fundamentally the relation^ which the states had c losen ta 
 Hear to each other r annihilated their respec/ive sovereignties 
 
300 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 destroyed the barriers which divided them and converted 
 the whole into one solid empire. To this leading objection, 
 almost all the rest had reference, and were urged principally 
 with the view to illustrate and enforce it. 
 
 JI. The vast and alarming array of specific powers given 
 to the general ^government, and the wide door opened for an 
 unlimited extension of those powers, by the clause which 
 authorized congress to pass all laws necessary to carry 
 the given powers into effect . It was urged, that this clause 
 rendered the previous specification of powers an idle illusion ; 
 since, by the force of construction arising from that clause, 
 •ongress might easily do any thing and every thing it chose, 
 inder the pretence of giving effect to some specified power, 
 
 III. The unlimited powe r of taxation of all kinds : the 
 states w'ere no longer to be required, in their federative 
 characters, to contribute their respective proportions toward 
 the expenses and engagements of the general government : 
 but congress were authorized to go directly to the pockets 
 of the people, and to sweep from them en masse , from north 
 to south, wdiatever portion of the earnings of the industrious 
 poor the rapacity of the general government, or their schemes 
 of ambitious grandeur, might suggest. It was contended, 
 that such a power could not be exercised, without just com- 
 plaint, over a country so extensive, and so diversified in its 
 productions and the pursuits of its people : that it was im- 
 possible to select any subject of general taxation wdiich 
 would not operate unequally on the different sections of the 
 union, produce discontent and heart-burnings among the 
 people, and most probably terminate in open resistance to 
 the law r s : that the representatives in :ongress were too few 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 301 
 
 •o carry with them a knowledge of the wants and capacities 
 of the people in the different parts of a large state, and that 
 the representation could not be made full enough to attain 
 that object, without becoming oppressively expensive to 
 the country : that hence taxation ought to be left to the 
 states themselves, whose representation was full, who best 
 knew the habits and circumstances of their constituents, and 
 on what subjects a tax could be most conveniently laid. Mr. 
 Henrv said that he was willing to grant this power condi- 
 tionally; that is, upon the failure of the states to comply 
 with requisitions from congress : but that the absolute and 
 unconditional grant of it, in the first instance, filled his mind 
 with the most awful anticipations. It was resolved, he saw 
 dearly, that we must be a great and splendid people ; and 
 that in order to be so, immense revenues must be raised from 
 the people : the people were to be bowed down under the 
 load of their taxes, direct and indirect; and a swarm of 
 federal tax-gatherers were to cover this land, to blight every 
 blade of grass, and every leaf of vegetation, and consume its 
 productions for the enrichment of themselves and their mas- 
 ters : it was not contended, he supposed, but that the state 
 legislature, also, might impose taxes for their own internal 
 purposes : thus the people were to be doubly oppressed, and 
 between the state sheriffs and the federal sheriffs to be ground 
 to dust: on this subject he drew such a vivid and affecting 
 picture of these officers, entering in succession the cabin of 
 the broken-hearted peasant, and the last one rifling the poor 
 remains which the first had left as is said to have drawn 
 tears from every eye. 
 
 IV. The power of raising armies and building nayies, and 
 still more emphatically the control given to the 
 
 26 
 
302 
 
 vvirt’s life of 
 
 government over the militia of the states, was most strenu- 
 ously opposed. The power thus given was a part of the 
 means of that aggrandizement which was obviously medi- 
 tated, and there could be no doubt that it would be exercised : 
 so that this republic, whose best policy was peace, was to be 
 saddled with the expense of maintaining standing armies 
 and navies, useless for any other purpose than to insub ner 
 citizens, to afford a pretext for increased taxes, and an aug- 
 mented public debt, and finally to subvert the liberties of her 
 people : her militia, too, her last remaining defence, was gone. 
 “ Congress,” said Mr. Henry, “ by the power of taxation — 
 by that of raising an army and navy — and by their control 
 over the militia — have the sword in the one hand, and the 
 purse in the other. Shall we be safe without either ? Con- 
 gress have an unlimited power over both ; they are entirely 
 given up by us. Let him (Mr. Madison) candidly tell me 
 where and when did freedom exist, when the sword and 
 purse were given up from the people ? Unless a miracle 
 in human affairs shall interpose, no nation ever did or ever 
 can retain its liberty, after the loss of the sword and the purse.” 
 The unlimited control over the militia was vehemently 
 opposed, on the ground, that the marching militia from dis 
 tant states to quell insurrection, and repel invasions, and 
 keeping the free yeomanry of the country under the lash of 
 martial law, would, in the first instance, produce an effect 
 extremely inimical to the peace and harmony of the union ; 
 and in the next, harass the agricultural body of the people 
 so much, as to reconcile them, as a less evil, to that curse of 
 nations, and bane of freedom, a standing army : — and sec 
 ondly, tilts power was opposed, on the ground that congress, 
 under the boundless charter of constructive power which it 
 possessed, might transfer to the president the power of call* 
 
PATRICK HENRV. 
 
 803 
 
 mg forth the militia, and thus enable him to disarm ah oppo- 
 sition to his schemes 
 
 V. The several clauses providing for the federal judiciary 
 were objected to, on the ground of the clashing jurisdictions 
 of the state and federal courts ; and secondly, because infinite 
 power was given to congress to multiply inferior federal courts 
 at pleasure ; a power which they would not fail to exercise, 
 in order to swell the patronage of the president, to their own 
 emolument ; and thus enable him to reward their devotion to 
 his views, by bestowing on them and their dependants those 
 offices which they had themselves created. 
 
 YI. It was contended that the trial by jury was gone_ in 
 civil cases, by that clause which gives to the supreme court 
 
 appellate power over the law and the fact in e very case": 
 
 and which thereby enabled that tribunal to annihilate both 
 the verdict and judgment of the inferior courls : and that in 
 criminal cases also, the trial by jury was worse than gone, 
 because it was admitted, that the common law, which alone 
 gave the challenge for favour, would not be in force as to the 
 federal courts ; and hence a jury might, in every instance, be 
 packed to suit the purpose of the prosecution. 
 
 VII. The authority of the president to take the command 
 of the armies of the United States, in person, was warmly 
 resisted, on the ground, that if he were a military character, 
 and a man of address, he might easily convert them into an 
 engine for the worst of purposes. 
 
 VIII. The cession of the whole treaty making power to 
 the president and senate, was considered as one of the rno&j 
 
304 
 
 VV IE r’s LIFE OW 
 
 formidable features in the instrument, inasmuch as it put it 
 in tlfepower of the president and any ten senators, who might 
 represent the five smallest states, to enter into the most ruin- 
 ous foreign engagements, and even to cede away by treaty 
 any portion of the territory of the larger states : it was in- 
 sisted, that the lower house, who were the immediate repre 
 sentatives of the people, instead of being excluded as they 
 were by the constitution from all participation in the treaty 
 making power, ought at least to be consulted, if not to have 
 the principal agency in so interesting a national act. 
 
 IX. The immense patronage of the president was objected 
 to : because it placed in his hands the meftfts of corrupting 
 the congress, the navy, and army, and of distributing, more- 
 over, throughout the society, a band of retainers in the shape 
 of judges, revenue officers, and tax-gatherers, which would 
 render him irresistible in any scheme of ambition that he 
 might meditate against the liberties of his country. 
 
 X. The irresponsibility of the \v\\o\e£anjr of federal offi- 
 cer&~(as they were called) was objected to : there was indeed, 
 in some instances, a power of impeachment pretended to be 
 given, but it was mere sham artd mockery; since, instead of 
 being tried by a tribunal, zealous and interested to bring them 
 to justice, they were to try each other for offences, in which, 
 probably, they were all mutually implicated. 
 
 XT. It was insisted, that if we must adopt a constitute 
 ceding away such vast powers, express and implied, and sc 
 fraught with danger to the liberties of the people, it ought at 
 least to be guarded by a bill of rights : that in all free gov 
 cnunents, and in the estimation of all men attached to liberty, 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 305 
 
 there were certain rights unalienable — imprescriptible — and 
 of so sacred a character, that they could not be guarded with 
 too much caution : among these were the liberty of speech 
 and of the press — what security had we, that even these sa- 
 cred privileges would not be invaded ? Congress might think 
 it necessary, in order to carry into effect the given powers, 
 to silence the clamours and censures of the people ; and, if 
 they meditated views of lawless ambition, they certainly will 
 so think : what then would become of the liberty of speech 
 and of the press ? 
 
 Several objections of a minor character were urged, such as : 
 
 1. That the ambiguity with which the direction for pub- 
 lishing the proceedings of congress was expressed, (“ from 
 time to time,”) put it in their power to keep the people in 
 utter ignorance of their proceedings ; and thus to seize the 
 public liberties “ by ambuscade.” 
 
 2. That the 9th section of the 1st article, professing to set 
 out restrictions upon the power of congress, gave them, by 
 irresistible implication, the sovereign power over all subjects 
 not excepted, and thus enlarged their constructive powers, 
 ad infinitum . 
 
 3. That congress had the power of involving the southern 
 states in all the horrors which would result from a total eman- 
 cipation of their slaves ; and that the northern states, unin- 
 terested in the consequences of such an act, had a controlling 
 n ajority, which possessed the power, and would not probably 
 wan the inclination to effect it. 
 
 4. That the pay of the members was by the constitution 
 o be fixed bv themselves, without limitation or restraint 
 
 2 Q 26* 
 
306 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 “ They may, therefore,” said Mr. Henry, “ indulge them- 
 selves in the fullest extent. They will make their compen- 
 sation as high as they please. I suppose, 'f they be good 
 men, their own delicacy will lead them to be satisfied with 
 moderate salaries . But there is no security for this, should 
 they be otherwise inclined.” 
 
 These objections, and many others which it were tedious 
 to enumerate, were pressed upon the house day after day, 
 with all the powers^ of reasoning a nd of eloque nce: and 
 where argument and declamation were found unavailing, the 
 force of ridicule was freely resorted to. Thus, m relation 
 to the objection of consolidation, Mr. Madison had^ said : — 
 “ There are a number of opinions as to the nature of the 
 government ; but the principal question is, whether it be a 
 federal or consolidated government. In order to judge prop- 
 erly of the question before us, we must consider it minutely 
 m its principal parts. I conceive, myself, that it is of a mixed 
 nature : — it is, in a manner, unprecedented : we cannot 
 find one express example in the experience of the world — it 
 stands by itself. In some respects, it is a government of a 
 federal nature ; in others, it is of a consolidated nature.” He 
 then proceeds to point out and discriminate its federal from 
 its national features. Mr. Corbin, on the same side, expressed 
 himself satisfied with Mr. Madison’s definition of the instru- 
 ment ; but begged leave to call it by another name, viz., “ a 
 representative federal government , as contradistinguished 
 from a confederacy.” 
 
 Mr. Henry, in replying to these gentlemen, says: — “ This 
 government is so t new, it wxiMs^a name 1 I wish its other 
 novelties were as harmless as this . We are told, however 
 that, collectively taken , it is without an example ! — that i 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 307 
 
 is national in this part, and federal An that part, &c. We 
 mav be amused, if we please, by a trea tise of political anat 
 omy. In the brain it is national: the stamina are federal — 
 some limbs are federal , others national. The senators 
 are voted for by the state legislatures — so far it is fe deral . 
 Individuals choose the members of the first branch — here 
 it is national . It is federal in conferring general pow- 
 
 ers ; but national in retaining them. It is not to be sup- 
 ported by the states — the pockets of individuals are to be 
 searched for its maintenance. Wliat signifies it to me, 
 that you have the most curious anatomical description of 
 it in its creation ? To all the common purposes of legisla- 
 tion, it is a great cons olidation of government. You are not 
 to have the right to legislate in any but trivial cases ; you 
 are not to touch' private contracts : you are not to have the 
 right of having armies in your own defence : you cannot be 
 trusted with dealing out justice between man and man. 
 What shall the states have to do ? Take care of [j]ie 
 poor — rejmir and make highways — erect bridges — and so 
 on, and so on ! Abolish the state legislatures at^once. 
 Wliat purposes should they be continued for ? Our legisla- 
 ture will indeed be a ludicrous spectacle — 180 men, march- 
 ing in solemn farcical procession, exhibiting a mournful 
 proof of the lost liberty of their country, without the power 
 of restoring it. But, sir, we have the consolation, that it is 
 a mixed government ! that is, it may work sorely in your 
 neck ; but you will have some comfort by saying, that it was 
 a federal government in its origin !” 
 
 Notwithstanding this ridicule, however, thrown on some 
 of their arguments, Mr. Henry did not fail, on every proper 
 occasion, to do justice to the great abilities and merits of his 
 °dversarhs. To the eloquence of Col. Innis he paid * 
 
808 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 memorable tribute ; and in one short sentence sketched a 
 picture of it so vivid, and so faithful, that it would be in- 
 justice to both gentlemen not to give it a place : — u That 
 honourable gentleman is endowed with great eloquence- 
 eloquence splendid, magnificent, and suflicient to shake the 
 human mind !” No circumlocution could have described 
 with half the spirit and truth, that rare union of pomp and 
 power which distinguished Col. Innis ; whose car of triumph 
 was always a chariot of war ; pugnee vel pompee , pariter 
 aptus . 
 
 One of die most singular instances on record of the fallacv 
 ol the human memory, occurred in the course of these de- 
 bates : this was in relation to the case of Josiah Philips, 
 which has been already mentioned. Mr. Randolph, in an- 
 swer to Mr. Henry’s panegyrics on the constitution of the 
 state of Virginia, brought forward that case in the following 
 terms : — “ There is one example of this violation (of the 
 state constitution) in Virginia, of a most striking and shock- 
 ing nature ; an example so horrid, that if I conceived my 
 country would passively permit a repetition of it, dear as it 
 is to me, I would seek means of expatriating myself from 
 it. A man, who was then a citizen, was deprived of his life 
 thus : — from a mere reliance on general reports, a gentleman 
 in the house of delegates informed the house , that a 
 certain man (Josiah Philips) had committed several crimes, 
 and was running at large perpetrating other crimes ; he, 
 therefore, moved for leave to attaint him ; lie obtained that 
 leave instantly ; no sooner did he obtain it, than he drew 
 from his pocket a bill ready written for that effect ; it was 
 read three times in one day, and carried to the senate ; 1 will 
 not say that it passed the same day through the senate ; but 
 he was attainted very speedily and precipitately, without auv 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 309 
 
 proof better than vague reports ! Without being confronted 
 with his accusers and witnesses ; without the privilege of 
 calling for evidence in his behalf, he was sentenced to death, 
 and was afterwards actually executed. Was this arbitrary 
 deprivation of life, the dearest gift of God to man, consistent 
 with the genius of a republican government ? Is this com- 
 patible with the spirit of freedom ? This, sir, has made the 
 deepest impression in my heart, and I cannot contemplate it 
 without horror.” Now the reader, by adverting to the state- 
 ment which has been already given of Philips’s case, and 
 which is founded on record, will find that there is not one 
 word of this eloquent invective that is consistent with the 
 facts. What makes the case still more strange is, that Mr. 
 Randolph, at the happening of the occurrence to which he 
 alludes, held the double office of clerk of the house of dele 
 gates, and attorney-general of the commonwealth ; in the 
 first character, he had, only ten years before, been officially 
 informed, that the bill of attainder had not been founded on 
 report, but on a communication of the governor, enclosing 
 the letter of the commanding officer of the militia in the 
 quarter which was the theatre of Philips’s ravages ; that that 
 k tter had been in due form committed to the whole house on 
 tl e state of the commonwealth, whose resolutions led to the 
 bi 1 in question; and that the bill, instead of being read three 
 tir. les in one day, had been regularly, and according to the 
 foi ais of the house, read on three several days; while in his 
 £hi jacter of attorney-general, he had himself endicted and 
 prosecuted Philips for highway robbery — confronted him 
 will the witnesses, whose names are given at the foot of 
 the endictment, still extant among ou>- records, and endorsed 
 rn Mr. Randolph’s own hand- writing ; convicted . him cr, 
 that charge , on which charge , and which alone , Philips 
 
SI 0 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 was regularly sentenced and executed . Yet, not only Mi 
 Randolph, but all the othei members who had occasion tu 
 advert to the circumstance, and even Mr. Henry, on whom 
 it is supposed to have been designed to bear, proceed in 
 their several criminations and defences, upon the admission 
 that Philips had fallen a victim to the bill of attainder. Had 
 the incident been of a common character, there would have 
 been nothing strange in its having been forgotten ; but it is 
 one of so singular and interesting a nature, that this total 
 
 O O 1 
 
 oblivion of it by the principal actors themselves becomes a 
 matter of curious history.* 
 
 The convention had been attended, from its commence- 
 ment, by a vast concourse of citizens of all ages and condi 
 lions. The interest so universally felt in the question itself, 
 and not less the transcendent talents which were engaged in 
 its discussion, presented such attractions as could not be resist- 
 ed. Industry deserted its pursuits, and even dissipation gave 
 up its objects, for the superior enjoyments which w r ere pre- 
 sented by the hall of the convention. Not only the people 
 of the town and neighbourhood, but gentlemen from every 
 quarter of the state, were seen thronging to the metropolis, 
 and speeding their eager way to the building in which the 
 convention held its meetings. Day after day, from morning 
 till night, the galleries of the house were continually filled 
 with an anxious crowd, who forgot the inconvenience of 
 their situation in the excess of their enjoyment ; and far 
 from giving any interruption to the course of the debate, in- 
 creased its interest and solemnity by their silence and at, ten 
 tion. No bustle, no motion, no sound was heard amorg 
 them, save only a slight movement when some new speaker 
 
 * See Appendix. Note 0. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 311 
 
 arose, whom they were all eager to see as well as tc hear; 
 or when some masterstroke of eloquence shot thrilling along 
 their nerves, and extorted an involuntary and inarticulate 
 murmur. Day after day was this banquet of the mind and 
 of the heart spread before them, with a delicacy and variety 
 which could never cloy. There every taste might find its 
 peculiar gratifications — the man of wit — the man of feeling 
 — the critic — the philosopher — the historian — the metapliy . 
 sician — the lover of logic — the admirer of rhetoric — every 
 man who had an eye for the beauty of action, o r an ear foi 
 the harmony of sound, or a soul for the charm s of poetic 
 fancy— in short, every one who could see, or hear, or feei, or 
 understand, might find in the wanton profusion and prodi 
 gality of that attic feast, some delicacy adapted to his peculiar 
 taste. Every mode of attack and of defence, of which the 
 human mind is capable, in decorous debate — every species 
 of weapon and armour, offensive and defensive, that could be 
 used with advantage, from the Roman javelin to the Par- 
 thian arrow, from the cloud of iEneas to the shield of 
 Achilles — all that could be accomplished by human strength 
 and almost more than human activity, was seen exhibited on 
 that celebrated floor. Nor did the debate become oppres 
 sive by its unvarying formality. The^stateliness and stern- 
 ness of extended argument were frequently relieved by quick 
 and animated dialogue. Sometimes the conversation would 
 oecome familiar and friendly. The combatants themselves 
 would seem pleased with this relief ; forget that they were 
 enemies, and by a sort of informal truce put off their armour, 
 and sit down amicably together to repose, as it were, in the 
 shade of the same tree. By this agreeable intermixture of 
 £®lloquial sprightliness and brilliancy with profound, and 
 learned, and vigorous argument — of social courtesy with 
 
312 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 heroic gallantry, the audience, far from being fatigued wilh 
 the discussion, looked with regret to the hour of adjournment. 
 
 In this great competition of talents, Mr. Henry’s powers 
 of debate still shone pre-eminent. They were now exhib- 
 iting themselves in a new aspect. Hitherto his efforts, 
 nowever splendid, had been comparatively short and occa- 
 sional. In the house of burgesses in 1765, in the congress 
 of 1774, and the state convention of 1775, he had exhibited 
 the impetuous charge of the gallant Francis the First : but 
 now, in combination with this fiery force, he was displaying 
 all the firm and dauntless constancy of Charles the Fifth. 
 No shock of his adversaries could move him from his ground. 
 His resources never failed. His eloquence was poured from 
 inexhaustible fountains, and assumed every variety of hue 
 and form and motion, which could delight or persuade, in- 
 struct or astonish. Sometimes it was the limpid rivulet 
 sparkling down the mountain’s side, and winding its silver 
 course between margins of moss — then gradually swelling 
 to a bolder stream, it roared in the headlong cataract, and 
 spread its rainbows to the sun — now, it flowed on in tran- 
 quil majesty, like a river of the west, reflecting from its pol 
 ished surface, forest, and cliff, and sky — anon, it was the 
 angry ocean, chafed by the tempest, hanging its billows, 
 with deafening clamours, among the cracking shrouds, or 
 hurling them in sublime defiance at the storm that frowned 
 above, p 
 
 Toward the close of the session, an incident occurred of 
 % a diameter so extraordinary as to deserve particular notice. 
 The question of adoption or rejection was now approaching. 
 The decision was still uncertain, and every mind and every 
 heart was filled with anxiety. Mr. Henry partook most 
 deeply of this feeling ; and while engaged, as it were in his 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 313 
 
 ast effort, availed himself of the strong sensations which he 
 knew to pervade the house, and made an appeal to it which, 
 in point of sublimity, has never been surpassed in any age 
 or country of the world. After describing, in accents which 
 spoke to the soul, and to which every other bosom deeply 
 responded, the awful immensity of the question to the present 
 and future generations, and the throbbing apprehensions with 
 which he looked to the issue, he passed from the house and 
 from the earth, and looking as he said, “ beyond that hori 
 zon which binds mortal eyes,” he pointed — with a counte- 
 nance and action that made the blood run back upon the 
 aching heart — to those celestial beings who were hovering 
 over the scene, and waiting with anxiety for a decision which 
 involved the happiness or misery of more than half the hu 
 man race. To those beings — with the same thrilling looK 
 and action — he had just addressed an invocation that made 
 every nerve shudder with supernatural horror — when, lo ! a 
 storm at that instant arose, which shook the whole building, 
 and the spirits whom he had called seemed to have come at 
 his bidding. Nor did his eloquence, or the storm, imme- 
 diately cease — but availing himself of the incident, with a 
 master’s art, lie seemed to mix in the fight of his ethereal 
 auxiliaries, and “ rising on the wings of the tempest, to seize 
 upon the artillery of Heaven, and direct its fiercest thunders 
 against the heads of his adversaries.” The scene became 
 insupportable ; and the house rose without the formality of 
 adjournment, the members rushing from their seats with pre- 
 cipitation and confusion.* 
 
 * The words above quoted are those of Judge Archibald Stcwari, 
 ft gentleman who was present, a member of the convention, and one 
 of those who voted against the side of the question supported by Mr. 
 Henry. The incident, as given in me text, is wholly founded on the 
 2 R 27 
 

 314 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 But all his efforts were in vain; Either the justice of the 
 opposing cause, or the powers of his adversaries, or the pre- 
 judged opinions and instructions of the members, rendered 
 his reasoning and his eloquence equally unavailing. Out 
 of a house, composed of one hundred and sixty-eight mem 
 bers, the question of ratification was carried by a majority 
 of ten. Mr. Henry himself seemed to have a presage of this 
 result. After the storm which has been mentioned, Colonel 
 Innis, who, in his character of attorney-general, had been 
 hitherto attending a court of oy&r and terminer , came into 
 the house, and the debate was renewed. Mr. Henry, in an- 
 swering him, closed the last speech which he delivered on the 
 floor, with the following remarks : — 
 
 1 1 beg pardon of this house for having taken up more time 
 in an came to my share; and I thank them for the patience 
 and polite attention with which I have been heard. If I 
 shall be in the minority, I shall have those painful sensa 
 tions which arise from a conviction of being overpowered in 
 a good cause. Yet, I will be a peaceable citizen ! My head, 
 my hand, and my heart, shall be free to retrieve the loss of 
 liberty, and remove the defects of that system, in a constitu- 
 tional way . I wish not to go to violence, but will wait 
 with hopes that the spirit which predominated in the revolu- 
 tion is not yet gone : nor the cause of those who are attached 
 to the revolution yet lost — I shall therefore patiently wait, 
 in expectation of seeing that government changed, so as to 
 be compatible with the safety, liberty, and happiness of the 
 people.” 
 
 statements of those who were witnesses ot the scene; ana by com- 
 paring it with the corresponding passage in the printed debates, tb® 
 reader may decide how far these are to be relied on as specimens of 
 Mr. Henry’s eloquence. 
 
PATRICK HENRY* 
 
 315 
 
 The objections, however, which had been urged, and the 
 arguments by which they had been supported, although they 
 had not succeeded in preventing the ratification of the con- 
 stitution, had produced a very serious effect on the h ouse. 
 Before their final dissolution, they agreed to a bill of rights, 
 and a series of amendments (twenty in number) embracing 
 and providing for the objections of Mr. Henry and his asso- 
 ciates. A copjTbFlfTSse amendments, engrossed on pareh- 
 nent, and signed by the president of the convention, was 
 ordered to be transmitted to congress, together with the in- 
 strument of ratification. Similar copies were ordered to be 
 transmitted to the executives and legislatures of the several 
 
 states ; and fifty copies of the ratification and proposed 
 amendments were ordered to be struck for the use of each 
 county in this commonwealth. 
 
 Mr. Henry lost no ground with the people, at the time, for 
 the part which he had taken on this occasion ; and when 
 afterward the constitution began to develop its tendencies by 
 practical operation, so many of his predictions were believed 
 by a majority of the people of Virginia to be fulfilled, and so 
 many more in a rapid progress of fulfilment, that his charac 
 ter for political penetration rose higher than^ever. That he 
 had lost no ground at the time, two signal proofs were given 
 in the session of assembly immediately following that of 
 the convention. The latter body rose on the 2?th of June, 
 and the assembly met on the 20th of October following. 
 This interval had been too short to permit the subsidence of 
 tha high excitement, which the canvass of the constitution 
 had provoked ; and the assembly was consequently discrim 
 mated by feelings of party as strong and determined, as 
 those wnich had characterized the convention itself. 
 
 The constitution having been adopted by a sufficient num 
 
316 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 ber of states to carry it into effect, it became necessary at 
 this session to provide for its organization, and, among other 
 measures, to choose t wo se nators to represent this state, in 
 the congress of the United States. For this office, Mr. Mai 
 ison was presented by those who were at that time distin 
 guished by the appellation of federalists ; by which nothing 
 more was then meant, than that they were advocates for 
 the adoption of the new federal constitution. The anti-fede- 
 ralists, on the contrary, who were alarmed by the vast pow- 
 ers which they considered as granted by the constitution, re- 
 garded it as a salutary check on the constructive extension 
 of those powers, and as the best means of securing those 
 amendments which they deemed essential to the liberties of 
 the people, that the first congress should be composed of 
 men of their own sentiments. In opposition to Mr. Madison, 
 therefore, Mr. Henry took the unusual liberty of nominating 
 two candidates, Mr. Richard H. Lee and Mr. Grayson ; and, 
 notwithstanding the great accession of character which Mr. 
 Madison had acquired by the ability with which he had 
 espoused the ratification of the constitution, those gentlemen 
 were elected by a considerable majority. 
 
 At the same session of the assembly, Mr. Henry whose 
 mind seems to have been filled with the most oppressive soli- 
 citude by the unconditional adoption of the constitution, and 
 who brooded with correspondent anxiety over the most effec- 
 tive means of procuring amendments, moved, in the com- 
 mittee of the whole house, the following preamble and re- 
 solutions * — 
 
 “ Whereas the convention of delegates of the people ot 
 this commonwealth did ratify a constitution or form of gov 
 eminent for the United States, referred tc them for tnei" 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 31 ? 
 
 consideration, and did also declare that sundry amendments 
 to exceptionable parts of the same ought to be adopted; 
 and whereas the subject-matter of the amendments agreed to 
 by the said convention involves all die great, essential, and 
 unalienable rights, liberties, and privileges of freemen; many 
 of which, if not cancelled, are rendered insecure under the said 
 constitution, until the same shall be altered and amended : — 
 
 <k Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that, 
 for quieting the minds of the good citizens of this common- 
 wealth — *and securing their dearest rights and liberties — and 
 preventing those disorders which must arise under a govern- 
 ment not founded in the confidence of the people — application 
 be made to the congress of the United States, as soon as they 
 shall assemble under the said constitution, to cull a convention 
 for proposing amendments to the same, according to the mode 
 therein directed. 
 
 “ Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 a committee ought to be appointed to draw up and report to 
 the house, a proper instrument of writing, expressing the sense 
 of the general assembly, and pointing out the reasons which 
 induce them to urge their application thus early, for the calling 
 the aforesaid convention of the states. 
 
 •“ Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that 
 the said committee ought to be instructed to prepare the draft 
 of a letter, in answer to one received from his excellency 
 George Clinton, Esq., president of the convention of New 
 York — and a circular letter, on the aforesaid subject, to the 
 other states in the union, expressive of the wish of the genera / 
 assembly of this commonwealth, that they may join in an 
 application to the new congress, to appoint a convention of 
 the states, so soon as the congress shall assemble under 
 the new constitution.” 
 
 27 * 
 
318 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 These weio carried in committee, and immediately re- 
 ported to the house ; when a motion was made to amend 
 them, by striking out from the word “ whereas,” and substi- 
 tuting, in lieu of the original, the following preamble and 
 resolutions : — 
 
 “ Whereas, the delegates appointed to represent the good 
 people of this commonwealth, in the late convention held in 
 the month of June last, did, by their act of the 25th of the 
 same month, assent to and ratify the constitution, recom- 
 mended on the 17th day of September, 1787, by the federal 
 convention for the government of the United States, de 
 daring themselves, with a solemn appeal to the Searcher 
 ol hearts for the purity of their intentions, under the con- 
 viction, ‘ that whatsoever imperfections might exist in the 
 constitution, ought rather to be examined in the mode 
 prescribed therein, than to bring the Union into danger 
 by a delay, with a hope of obtaining amendments previous 
 to the ratification.’ And whereas, in pursuance of the 
 said declaration, the same convention did, by their sub- 
 sequent act of the 27th June, aforesaid, agree to such 
 amendments to the said constitution of the government for 
 the United States, as were by them deemed necessary 
 to be recommended to the consideration of the congress 
 which shall first assemble under the said constitution, to 
 be acted upon according to the mode prescribed in the 
 fifth article thereof; at the same time enjoining it upon 
 their representatives in congress, to exert all their influence, 
 and use all reasonable and legal methods, to obtain a 
 ratification of the foregoing alterations and provisions, in the 
 manner provided by the fifth article of the said constitution, 
 and in all congressional laws to be passed in the meantime 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 319 
 
 to conform to the spirit of those amendments as far as the 
 said constitution would admit. 
 
 “ Resolved, therefore, that it is the opinion of this commit 
 tee, that an application ought to be made, in the name and 
 on the behalf of the legislature of this commonwealth, to the 
 congress of the United States, so soon as they shall assemble 
 under the said constitution, to pass an act recommending to 
 the legislatures of the several states, the ratification of a bill 
 of rights, and of certain articles of amendment, proposed by 
 the convention of this state, for the adoption of the United 
 States ; and that, until the said act shall be ratified in pur- 
 suance of the fifth article of the said constitution of the 
 government for the United States, congress do conform 
 their ordinances to the true spirit of the said bill of rights 
 and articles of amendment. 
 
 “ Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, thai 
 the executive ought to be instructed to transmit a copy of 
 die foregoing resolution to the congress of the United States, 
 fij soon as they shall assemble, and to the legislatures and 
 executive authorities of each state in the union.” 
 
 On this proposal of amendment a very animated debate 
 ensued, which resulted in its rejection, and the adoption of 
 the original report, by a majority of more than two for one. 
 
 These two measures — the election of the senators named 
 by Mr. Henry, in opposition to so formidable a competitor as 
 Mr. Madison — and the carrying so strong a measure as the 
 call of a new continental convention, for the purpose of 
 revising and altering the constitution — certainly furnish the 
 most decisive proof, , that his influence remair ed unimpaired 
 by the part which he had taken in the convention of lh« 
 ?tate. - 
 
320 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 It was in the course of the debate which has been just 
 mentioned, that Mr. Henry was driven from his usual deco - 
 rum into a retaliation, that became a theme of great public 
 merriment at the time, and has continued ever since one of 
 the most popular anecdotes that relate to him. He had 
 insisted, it seems, with great force, that the speedy adoption 
 of the amendments was the only measure that could secure 
 the great and unalienable rights of the freemen of this country 
 — that the people were known to be exceedingly anxious for 
 this measure — that it was the only step which could reconcile 
 them to the new constitution— and assure that public content- 
 ment, security, and confidence, which were the sole objects 
 of government, and without which no government could 
 stand — that whatever might be the individual sentiments of 
 gentlemen, yet the wishes of the people, the foundation of all 
 authority, being known, they were bound to conform to those 
 wishes — that, for his own part, he considered his opinion as 
 nothing, when opposed to those of his constituents ; and that 
 he was ready and willing at all times and on all occasions , 
 “ to Low , with the utmost deference , to the majesty of the 
 people” — A young gentleman, on the federal side of the 
 house, who had been a member of the late convention, and 
 had in that body, received, on one occasion, a slight touch 
 of Mr. Henry’s lash, resolved now, in an ill-fated moment, to 
 make a set charge upon the veteran, and brave him to the 
 combat. He possessed fancy, a graceful address, and an 
 easy, sprightly elocution ; and had been sent by his father 
 (an opulent man, and an officer of high rank and trust under 
 the regal government) to finish his education in the colleges 
 of England, and acquire the polish of the court of St. James ; 
 where he had passed the whole period of the American revo- 
 lution, Returning with advantages which were rare in 
 
P A. T RICK HENRY. 
 
 322 
 
 this country, and with the confidence natural to his years 
 presuming a little too far upon those advantages, he seized 
 upon the words, “bow to the majesty of the people,” which 
 Mr. Henry had used, and rung the changes upon them 
 with considerable felicity. He denied the solicitude of 
 the people for the amendments, so strenuously urged on 
 the other side ; he insisted that the people thought then 
 “ great and unalienable rights” sufficiently secured by the 
 constitution which they had adopted : that the preamble 
 of the constitution itself, which was now to be considered as 
 the language of the people, declared its objects to be, 
 among others, the security of those very rights ; the people 
 then declare the constitution the guarantee of their rights, 
 while the gentleman, in opposition to this public declaration 
 of their sentiments, insists upon his amendments as furnish 
 mg that guarantee ; yet the gentleman tells us, that “he bows 
 to the majesty of the people :” these words he accompanied 
 with a most graceful bow. “ The gentleman,” he proceeded, 
 “had set himself in opposition to the will of the people, 
 throughout the whole course of this transaction : the people 
 approved of the constitution : the suffrage ol their constitu 
 ents in the last convention had proved it — the people wished 
 most anxiously wished, the adoption of the constitution, as 
 the only means of saving the credit and the honour of the 
 country, and producing the stability of the union : the gen 
 tleman, on the contrary, had placed himself at the head 
 of those who opposed its adoption — yet , the gentleman is 
 ever ready and willing , at all times and on all occasions , tc 
 bow to the majesty of the people ,” (with another profound 
 and graceful bow.) Thus he proceeded, through a number 
 of animated sentences, winding up each one with the same 
 •vords, sarcastically repeated, and the accompaniment of 
 2 S 
 
322 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 the same graceful obeisance. Among other things, he sanl 
 “ it was of little importance whether a country was ruled 
 by a despot, with a tiara on his head, or by a demagogue in 
 a red cloak, a caul-bare wig,” &c, (describing Mr. Henry’s 
 dress so minutely, as to draw every eye upon him,) “although 
 he should projess on all occasions to bow to the majesty of 
 the people .” 
 
 A gentleman who was present, and who, struck with 
 the singularity of the attack, had the curiosity to number 
 the vibrations on those words, and the accompanying 
 action, states, that he counted thirteen of the most grace- 
 ful bows he had ever beheld. The friends of Mr. Henry 
 considered such an attack on a man of his years and 
 high character as very little short of sacrilege ; on the 
 other side of the house, there was, indeed, a smothered 
 sort of dubious laugh, in which there seemed to be at 
 least as much apprehension as enjoyment. Mr. Henry 
 had heard the whole of it without any apparent mark of 
 attention. 
 
 The young gentleman having finished his philipic, 
 very much at least to his own satisfaction, took his seat, 
 with the gayest expression of triumph in his countenance — 
 “ Heu ! Nescia mens hominum fati , sortisque future !* 
 Mr. Henry raised himself up, heavily, and with affected 
 awkwardness — “ Mr Speaker,” said he. “ I am a plain 
 man, and have been educated altogether in Virginia. 
 My whole life has been spent among planters, and other 
 plain men of similar education, who have never had the 
 advantage of that polish which a court alone can give, 
 and which the gentleman over the way has so happily 
 acquired; indeed, sir, the gentleman’s employments and 
 oiine (in common with the great mass of his countrymen) 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 323 
 
 lave been as widely different as our fortunes , for while that 
 gentleman was availing himself of the opportunity whicn a 
 splendid fortune afforded him, of acquiring a foreign educa 
 tion, mixing among the great, attending levees and courts, 
 basking in the beams of royal favour at St. James’, and 
 exchanging courtesies with crowned heads, I was engaged in 
 the arduous toils of the revolution ; and was probably as 
 far from thinking of acquiring those polite accomplishments 
 which the gentleman has so successfully cultivated, as that 
 gentleman tlieyi was from sharing in the toils and dangers in 
 which his unpolished countrymen were engaged. I will 
 not, therefore, presume to vie with the gentleman in those 
 courtly accomplishments, of which he has just given the 
 house so agreeable a specimen; yet such a bow as I can 
 make, shall be ever at the service of the people.” — Herewith, 
 although there was no man who could make a more grace- 
 ful bow than Mr. Henry, he made one so ludicrously awk- 
 ward and clownish, as took the house by surprise, and put 
 them into a roar of laughter. — “ The gentleman, I hope, will 
 commiserate the disadvantages of education under which I 
 have laboured, and will be pleased to remember, that I have 
 never been a favourite with that monarch, whose gracious 
 smile he has had the happiness to enjoy.” He pursued this 
 contrast of situations and engagements, for fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, without a smile, and without the smallest token of 
 resentment, either in countenance, expression, or manner. 
 “You would almost have sworn,” says a correspondent, u that 
 he thought himself making his apology for his own awk 
 wardness, before a full drawing-room at St. James’. I be 
 lieve there was not a person that heard him, the sufferer 
 himself excepted, who did not feel every risible nerve affect 
 ed. His adversary meantime hung down his head, and 
 
324 
 
 WIRT’s LIFti OF 
 
 sinking lower and .ower, until he was almost concealed be- 
 hind the interposing forms, submitted to the discipline as 
 quietly as a Russian malefactor, who had been beaten witn 
 the knout, till all sense of feeling was lost.” 
 
 The documents reported and adopted by the house of del- 
 egates, in consequence of the foregoing resolutions, are the 
 following — which are given because they are said to be from 
 the pen of Mr. Henry : — 
 
 “ Resolved, That it is the opinion ol this committee, that 
 an application ought to be made, in the name and on behalf 
 of the legislature of this commonwealth, to the congress of 
 the United States, in the following words, to wit : — 
 
 “ The good people of this commonwealth, 
 
 “ In convention assembled, having ratified the constitution 
 submitted to their consideration, this legislature has, in con 
 forrnity to that act, and the resolutions of the United States 
 in congress assembled, to them transmitted, thought proper 
 to make the arrangements that were necessary for carrying 
 it into effect. Having thus shown themselves obedient to the 
 voice of their constituents, all America will find that so far 
 as it depends on them, that plan of government will be car 
 ried into immediate operation. But the sense of the people 
 of Virginia would be but in part complied with, and but 
 little regarded, if we went no further. In the very moment 
 of adoption, and coeval with the ratification of the new flax? 
 of government, the general voice of the convention of this 
 state pointed to objects no less interesting to the people we 
 represent, and equally entitled to your attention. At the 
 same time that, from motives of affection for out sister states 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 325 
 
 the com ention yielded their assent to the ratification, they 
 gave the most unequivocal proofs that they dreaded its ope* 
 ration under the present form. 
 
 “ In acceding to a government under this impression, pain- 
 ful must have been the prospect, had they not derived con- 
 solation from a full expectation of its imperfections being 
 speedily amended. In this resource, therefore, they placed 
 their confidence — a confidence that will continue to support 
 them, while they have reason to believe they have not cal 
 culated upon it in vain. 
 
 “ In making known to you the objections of the people of 
 this commonwealth to the new plan of government, we deem 
 it unnecessary to enter into a particular detail of its defects, 
 which they consider as involving all the great and unalien- 
 able rights of freemen : For their sense on this subject, we 
 refer you to the proceedings of their late convention, and the 
 sense of this general assembly, as expressed in their resolu- 
 tions of the day of . 
 
 “ We think proper, however, to declare that, in our opin 
 ion, as those objections were not founded on speculative 
 theory, but deduced from principles which have been estab- 
 lished by the melancholy example of other nations, in dif 
 ferent ages — so they never will be removed, until the cause 
 itself shall cease to exist. The sooner, therefore, the public 
 apprehensions are quieted, and the government is possessed 
 of the confidence of the people, the more salutary will be its 
 operations, and the longer its duration. 
 
 “ The cause of amendments we consider as a common 
 cause ; and since concessions have been made from political 
 motives, which we conceive may endanger the republic, we 
 trust that a commendable zeal will be shown for obtaining 
 tnose provisions, which experience has taught us are neces 
 
 28 
 
i26 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 sary to secure from danger the unalienable rights of human 
 nature. 
 
 “The anxiety with which our countrymen press for the 
 accomplishment of this important end, will ill admit of 
 delay. The slow forms of congressional discussion and re- 
 commendation, if indeed they should ever agree to any 
 change, would we fear be iess certain of success. Happily 
 for their wishes, the constitution hath presented an alterna 
 tive, by submitting the decision to a convention of the states. 
 To this, therefore, we resort, as the source from whence they 
 are to derive relief from tneir present apprehensions. We 
 do, therefore, in behalf of our constituents, in the most ear- 
 nest and solemn manner, make this application to congress, 
 that a convention be immediately called, of deputies from 
 the several states, with full power to take into their conside- 
 ration the defects of this constitution that have been sug- 
 gested by the state conventions, and report such amendments 
 thereto as they shall find best suited to promote our common 
 interests, and secure to ourselves, and our latest posterity, the 
 great and unalienable rights of mankind.” 
 
 Draft of a letter to Governor Clinton on the same subject * — 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ The letter from the convention of the state of New 
 York hath been laid before us since our present session 
 The subject which it contemplated was taken up, and we 
 have the pleasure to inform you of the entire concurrence in 
 sentiment, between that honourable body and the represen- 
 tatives in senate and assembly of the freemen of this com 
 monwealth. The propriety of immediately calling a con- 
 tention of the states, to take into consideration the defects 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 327 
 
 oi the constitution was admitted; and in consequence 
 thereof, an application agreed to, to be presented to the con- 
 gress, so soon as it shall be convened for the accomplish- 
 ment of that important end. We herewith transmit to your 
 excellency, a copy of this application, which we request may 
 be laid before your assembly at their next meeting. \\ e 
 take occasion to express our most earnest wishes that it may 
 obtain the approbation of New-York, and of all other sister 
 states/’ 
 
 Draft of a letter to the several states on the same subject : — 
 
 The freemen of this commonwealth, in convention as- 
 sembled, having, at the same time that they ratified the fede- 
 ral co stitution, expressed a desire that many parts, which 
 they considered as exceptionable parts, should be amended — 
 the general assembly, as well from a sense of duty as a con- 
 viction of its defects, have thought proper to take the earliest 
 measures in their power, for the accomplishment of this im- 
 • portant object. They have accordingly agreed upon an ap- 
 plication to be presented to tRe congress, so soon as it shall 
 be assembled, requesting that honourable bodv to call a con- 
 vention of deputies from the several states, to take the same 
 into their consideration, and report such amendments as thev 
 shall find best calculated to answer the purpose. As we 
 conceive that all the good people of the United States are 
 equally interested in obtaining those amendments that have 
 been proposed, we trust that there will be a harmony in 
 their sentiments and measures, upon this very interesting 
 subject We herewith transmit to you a copy of this appli 
 cation and take the liberty to subjoin our earnest wishes 
 \liat it xiiay have your concurrence.” 
 
328 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 In the two remaining years during which Mr. Henry 
 continued a member of the assembly, I find nothin" worthy 
 of particular remark. In the spring of 1791, he declined a 
 re-election, with the purpose of bidding a fiual adieu to 
 public life: and although the tender of the most honourable 
 appointments, the solicitations of his numerous friends and 
 admirers, and ultimately his own wishes conspired *o draw 
 in m from his retreat, he never again made his appearance in 
 a public character. 
 
 
SECTION IX. 
 
 Henry still continued, however, miner through ne 
 guy than choice, the practice of the law : and in the 
 fall of this year, 1791, a cause came on to be argued before 
 the circuit court of the United States, in which lie made 
 what has been considered his most distinguished display of 
 professional talents. This was the celebrated case of the 
 British debts; a case in which, from its great and extensive 
 interest, the whole power of the bar of Virginia was era 
 barked, and which was discussed with so much learning, ar 
 gument, and eloquence, as to have placed that bar, in the esti 
 nation of the federal judges, (if the reports of the day may 
 )e accredited,) above all others in the United States. 
 
 The cause was argued first in 1791, before Judges John- 
 son and Blair, of the supreme court, and Griffin, judge of 
 the district; and afterwards in 1793, before Judges Jay and 
 Iredell, and the same district judge. Mr. Henry was one of 
 the counsel for the defendant, and argued the cause on both 
 occasions. The deep interest of the question, in a national 
 point of view', and the manner in which it involved more par- 
 ticularly the honour of the state of Virginia, and the fortunes 
 of her citizens, had excited Mr. Henry to a degree of prepa 
 ration which he had never before made; and he cam.; forth, 
 on this occasion, a perfect master of every principle law 
 national and municipal, which touched the subject of mve^ 
 gation m the most distant point. 
 
 2 T 28* 
 
830 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 Of the first argument, a manuscript report is still extant, 
 taken in shorthand by Mr. Robertson, the same gentleman 
 who reported the debates of the convention of Virginia in 
 1788. The second argument was not reported; because, 
 as Mr. Robertson states, he was informed by the counsel, 
 that at would be nothing more than a repetition of the first ; 
 and he adds, that he was afterward told it was much inferior. 
 What must we conclude, then, as to the powers displayed by 
 Mr. Henry in the first argument, when, in the course of the 
 second and inferior one, he extorted from Judge Iredell, as he 
 sat on the bench, the exclamation : “ Gracious God ! — He is 
 an orator indeed /” 
 
 The report of the first argument, as deciphered by Mr. 
 Robertson, from his stenographic notes, has been obligingly 
 submitted to the author of these sketches, and he has ex 
 tracted from it an imperfect analysis of Mr. Henry’s speech. 
 The report may unquestionably be relied on, so far as it 
 professes to state the principles of law, and the substance 
 of the arguments urged by the very eminent counsel engaged 
 in the cause ; and in this point of view, it is to be la- 
 mented that so valuable a work should still exist only in the 
 form of a manuscript. But, as a sample of Mr. Henry’s 
 peculiar and inimitable eloquence, it is subject to all the ob 
 jections which have been already urged to the printed de- 
 bates of the Virginia convention. This manuscript report 
 bears upon its face the most conclusive proof of its inaccuracy 
 in those passages in which it attempts to exhibit either the 
 captivating flights of Mr. Henry’s fancy, or those unexpected 
 and overwhelming assaults which he made upon the hearts 
 of his judges ; for in all such passages, (it is believed, with- 
 out an exception,) the pen has been drawn through the 
 sentence, as originally written, in such a manner, ho wever 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 331 
 
 as to leave the words still legible ; while the same thought, 
 or something like it, has been interlined in other words : and 
 even the interlineations themselves arc oftener than otherwise 
 erased, altered, and farther interlined, for the purpose of 
 seeking to amend the expression : so that, in casting one » 
 eyes over the manuscript report of Mr. Henry’s speech, in 
 order to single out the most brilliant passages, those which 
 are the most blotted and blurred by erasures and interlinea- 
 tions may be selected at once, without the hazard of mistake. 
 Hence, it is obvious, that the reporter had not in his steno- 
 graphic notes, the very expression of the speaker ; but 
 some hint merely of the thought, which he was afterward 
 unable to fill up to his own satisfaction. If farther evidence 
 on this subject were required, it is found in this circumstance . 
 that, on reading Mr. Robertson’s imitations of the splendid 
 parts of Mr. Henry’s speech to several of those who heard 
 it delivered, there has not been one who has not turned off 
 from the recital with the strongest expressions of disappoint- 
 ment, and in several instances corrected by memory the 
 language of the reporter. 
 
 This explanation is equally due to the memory of Mr. 
 Henry, to the reader, and the author ; for the author is fully 
 aware, that if the truth of the general character which he 
 has attempted to give of Mr. Henry’s eloquence shall be 
 tested by those imperfect specimens to which, for want of 
 more accurate ones, he has been compelled to resort, discredit 
 will be thrown upon the whole work, and it will be regarded 
 rather as romance than history. But the ingenuous and 
 candid reader will look beyond those poor and wretched imi 
 tations, and my own equally poor and wretched descriptions, 
 to that proof of Mr. Henry’s eloquence which is furnished 
 by its practical effects. Can there be any doubt of the su 
 
332 
 
 WIRT’s LIFE OF 
 
 preme eloquence of that man who awakened and hushed 
 at his pleasure, “the stormy wave of the multitude?” who, 
 by Ins powers of speech, roused the whole American people 
 from north to south ? put the revolution into motion, and 
 bore it upon his shoulders, as Atlas is said to do the heavens ? 
 to whose charms of persuasion, not the rabble merely, but all 
 ranks of society, have borne the most unanimous evidence ? 
 who moved not merely the populace, the rocks, and stones of 
 the field, but, “by the summit took the mountain-oak, and 
 made him stoop to the plain ?” Instead, then, of comparing 
 our descriptions of Mr. Henry’s eloquence with the sped 
 mens which his reporters have made of it, let the reader com- 
 pare that description with the effects which it actually 
 wrought, and the universal testimony which is borne to it, by 
 the rapturous admiration of every one who ever had the hap- 
 piness to hear him ; and the author, so far from being afraid 
 of the charge of exaggeration, will be apprehensive only of 
 that of presumption, in attempting a description of powers so 
 perfectly undescribable. 
 
 But to return to his argument in the case of the British 
 debts. In order to render intelligible the analysis which we 
 propose to give to the reader, it will be necessary to prefix to 
 it a statement of the case, of the pleadings, and the points 
 made in argument, by the opening counsel. 
 
 William Jones, a British subject, as surviving partner of 
 the mercantile house of Farrell and Jones, brought an action 
 of debt, in the federal circuit court at Richmond, against 
 Doctor Thomas Walker, of the county of Albemarle, in Vir 
 ginia, on a bond which bore date before the revolutionary 
 war; to wit, on the lltli of May, 1772. To this acUcx the 
 defendant pleaded five several pleas : — 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 333 
 
 1. The first was, the plea of payment generally, on which 
 the plaintiff took issue : but it was not tried, the cause having 
 gone off on the demurrers growing out of the subsequent 
 pleadings. 
 
 2. In his second plea, the defendant relies on the act of 
 sequestration, passed by the legislature of Virginia during 
 the revolutionary war, to wit, on the 20th of October, 1777 ; 
 by which it was enacted, that “ it should be lawful for any 
 citizen of this commonwealth, owing monev to a subject of 
 Great Britain, to pay the same, or any part tiiereof, from time 
 to time, as lie should think fit, into the loan office of the 
 state ; taking thereout a certificate for the same in the name 
 of the creditor, with an endorsement under the hand of the 
 commissioner of the loan office, expressing the name of the 
 payee, delivering such certificate to the governor and council, 
 whose receipt should discharge him from so much of the 
 debt :” — and the defendant exhibits the governor’s receipt for 
 2151/. IS s. which he offers in bar to so much of the plain- 
 tiff’s demand. 
 
 3. In his third plea, he sets out the act of forfeiture, passed 
 by the assembly on the third of May, 1779, whereby it was, 
 among other things, enacted, “that all the property, real and 
 personal, within the commonwealth, belonging at that time 
 to any British subject, should be deemed to be vested in the 
 commonwealth;” as also the act of the 6th of May, 17W2 
 wiiereby it was enacted, “ that no demand whatsoever, ori 
 ginallv due to a subject of Great Britain, should be recover- 
 able in any court of this commonwealth, although the same 
 might be transferred to a citizen of this state, or to any other 
 person capable of maintaining such action, unless the assign. 
 
334 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 ment had been or might be made for a valuable considcra- 
 tion bona fide paid before the first of May, 1777:” and the 
 plea insists that the debt, in the declaration mentioned, was 
 personal property of a British subject, forfeited to the com- 
 monwealth under the first-mentioned act, and a demand, 
 whose recovery in the courts of the commonwealth was 
 barred by the last. 
 
 4. The fourth plea takes the ground, that the king of 
 Britain and his subjects were still alien enemies, and that 
 the state of war still continued, on the ground of the several 
 direct violations of the definitive treaty of peace, which fol- 
 low: — 1. In continuing to carry off the negroes in his pos- 
 session, the property of American citizens, and refusing to 
 deliver them, or permit the owners to take them, according to 
 the express stipulations of that treaty: — 2. In the forcible 
 retention of the forts Niagara and Detroit, and the adjacent 
 territory: — 3. In supplying the Indians, who were at war 
 with the United States, with arms and ammunition, furnished 
 within the territories of the United States, to wit, at the forts 
 Detroit and Niagara, and at other forts and stations fc-cibly 
 held by the troops and armies of the king, within the United 
 States ; and in purchasing from the Indians, within the tei 
 ritories aforesaid, the plunder taken by them in war from the 
 United States, and the persons of American citizens made 
 prisoners ; which several infractions, the plea contends, had 
 abolished the treaty of peace, and placed Great Britain ana 
 the United States in a state of war; and that hence, the 
 plaintiff, being an alien enemy, had no right to ue in the 
 courts of the United States. 
 
 5. The fifth plea sets forth, that at the time of contracting 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 335 
 
 Jie debt in the declaration mentioned, the plaintiff and the 
 defendant were fellow-subjects of the same king and govern- 
 ment ; that on the fourth of July, 1776, the government of 
 the British monarch in this country was dissolved, and the 
 coallegiance of the parties severed; whereby the plea 
 contends, that the debt in the declaration mentioned was 
 annulled 
 
 To the second plea the plaintiff replied, insisting on the 
 treaty of peace of 1783, whereby it was stipulated, that cred 
 itors on either side should meet with no lawful impediment 
 to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all 
 bona fide debts theretofore contracted ; and also on the con- 
 stitution of the United States of 1787, by which it had been 
 expressly declared, that treaties which were then made, or 
 which should thereafter be made, under the authority of 
 the United States, should be the supreme law of the land , 
 any thing in the constitution, or the laws of any state , to the 
 contrary notwithstanding . 
 
 The defendant rejoined, that the treaty had been annulled 
 by the infractions of it on the part of Great Britain, and so 
 could not aid the cause of the plaintiff ; and farther, that the 
 debt in the declaration mentioned was not bona fide due, and 
 owing to the plaintiff at the date of the treaty, insomuch 
 as the same (or at least 2151 1 . 18s. of it) had been dis- 
 charged by the payment set forth in the second plea ; and 
 hence, that it was not a subsisting debt, within the terms and 
 provisions of the treaty. 
 
 To this rejoinder, as also to the third, fourth, and fifth 
 pleas of the defendant, the plaintiff demurred ; and the cause 
 came on to be argued, on these demurrers, at Richmond, on 
 the 24th of November, 1791. 
 
 The Virginian reader will readily estimate the splendour 
 
336 
 
 W irt’s LIFE OF 
 
 arid power of the discussion in this case, when he learns the 
 names of the counsel engaged in it ; on the part of the plain- 
 tiff, then, were Mr. Ronald, Mr. Baker, Mr. Wickham, and 
 Mr. Starke ; and on that of the defendant, Mr. Henry, Mr. 
 Marshall, (the present chief justice of the United States,) Mr 
 Alexander Campbell, and Mr. Innis, the attorney-general of 
 Virginia : I mention their names in the order in which they 
 spoke on their respective sides. 
 
 The cause was opened with great fairness and ability, by 
 Mr. Ronald and Mr. Baker, in succession ; they were an- 
 swered by all the counsel of the defendant ; and Mr. Wick- 
 ham, Mr. Starke, and Mr. Baker, were heard in the reply. 
 
 The opening counsel made the following points : — 
 
 First, That debts were not a subject of confiscation m war. 
 
 Secondly, That if they were, Virginia, at the time of pas- 
 sing the acts relied on by the defendant, was not a sovereign 
 and independent state, Great Britain not having at that time 
 assented to her independence ; and hence, that she had n.ot 
 the power of legislating away the debts of fellow-subjects 
 not represented in her legislative councils — which councils, 
 were themselves a usurpation in the eye of the law. 
 
 Thirdly, That if debts were subject to confiscation, and 
 Virginia were competent to pass laws to that effect, she had 
 not done so; and Mr. Baker particularly entered into a 
 minute and ingenious scrutiny of the language of the several 
 acts of assembly, to prove that, so far from having been for- 
 feited, the debts were recognised as existing British debts 
 down to the year 1782. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 337 
 
 Fourthly, That if all these points were against the plaintiff, 
 ine riuhtcf recovering those debts was restored by the treaty 
 ot I7fc3, and the constitution of the United JStat.es, which re- 
 cognised that treaty as the supreme law of the laud ; and. 
 
 Fifthly, That the alleged infractions of the treaty on the 
 oarl of Great Britain did not produce the effect of abolishing 
 the treaty ; that this was a national concern, with which the 
 individual plaintiff and defendant had nothing to do; that the 
 question of infraction was one to be decided by the supreme 
 oovver of the nation only, and one of which the court couid 
 not, with any propriety, take cognizance. 
 
 Mr. Baker closed his opening speech on Thursday evening, 
 the 24th of November, and it was publicly understood that 
 Mr. Henry was to commence his reply on the next day. 
 The legislature was then in session; but when 11 o’clock, 
 the hour for the meeting of the court, arrived, the speaker 
 found himself without a house to do business. All bis au- 
 thority-ana tnat of his sergeant-at-arms were unavailing to 
 keep the members in their seats; every consideration of pub- 
 lic duty yielded to the anxiety which they felt, in common 
 with the rest of their fellow-citizens, to hear this great man 
 on this truly great and extensively-interesting question. Ac- 
 cordingly, when the court was ready to proceed to business, 
 the court-room of the capitoh large as it is, was ^sufficient 
 lo contain the vast concourse that was pressing ' enter it.. 
 The portico, and the area in which the statue o» *Vashing- 
 lon stands, were filled with a disappointed crowd, who, never- 
 theless, maintained heir stand without. In the courtroom 
 tself, the judges through condescension to the public anxiety, 
 relaxed the rigour of respect which they were in the habit 
 2 U 29 
 
338 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 of exacting, ana permitted the vacant seats of the bench, 
 and even the windows behind it, to be occupied by the im- 
 patient multitude. The noise and tumult, occasioned by 
 seeking a more favourable station, were at length hushed, and 
 the profound silence which reigned within the room gave 
 notice to those without, that the orator had nsen, or was on 
 the point of rising. Every eye in front of the bar was rivet- 
 ed upon him with the most eager attention ; and so still and 
 deep was the silence, that every one might hear the throbbing 
 of his own heart. Mr. Henry, however, appeared wholly 
 unconscious that all this preparation was on his account, and 
 .*ose with as much simplicity and composure, as if the occa- 
 sion had been one of ordinary occurrence. Nothing can be 
 more -plain, modest, and unaffected, than his exordium : — 
 “ 1 stand here, may it please your honours, to support, ac- 
 cording to my power, that side of the question which re- 
 spects the American debtor. I beg leave to beseech the pa- 
 tience of this honourable court ; because the subject is very 
 great and important, and because I have not only the great- 
 ness of the subject to consider, but those numerous observa- 
 tions which have come from the opposing counsel to answer. 
 Thus, therefore, the matter proper for my discussion is una- 
 voidably accumulated. Sir, there is a circumstance in tnis 
 case, that is^more to be deplored than that which I have jus 
 mentioned, and that is this : those animosities which the 
 injustice of the British nation hath produced, and which I 
 had well hoped would never again be the subject of discus- 
 sion, are necessarily brought forth. The conduct of that 
 nation, which bore so hard upon us in the late contest, be- 
 comes once more the subject of investigation. I know, sir, 
 how well it becomes a liberal man and a Christian to forget 
 arui to forgive. 4s individuals professing a holy religion it 
 
% 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 339 
 
 is our bounden duty to forgive injuries done us as individuals. 
 Hut when to the character of Christian you add the charac- 
 ter of patriot, you are in a different situation. Our mild and 
 holv system of religion inculcates an admirable maxim of 
 forbearance. If your enemy smite one cheek, turn the 
 other to him. But you must stop there. You cannot apply 
 this to your country. As members of a social community, 
 this maxim does not apply to you. When you consider in- 
 juries done to your country, your political duty tells you of 
 vengeance. Forgive as a private man, but never forgive pub- 
 lic injuries. Observations of this nature are exceedingly un- 
 pleasant, but it is my duty to use them.” 
 
 # 
 
 With the same primeval simplicity, lie enters upon the ar- 
 gument; not making a formal division of the whole subject, 
 but merely announcing the single proposition which he was 
 about to maintain for the time; thus, immediately after the 
 exordium which has been quoted he proceeds thus : — 
 
 “ The first point which I shall endeavour to establish will 
 be, that debts in common wars become subject to forfeiture ; 
 and if forfeited in common wars, much more must tliev be 
 so in a revolution war, as the late contest was. In con- 
 sidering this subject, it will be necessary to define what a 
 debt is. I mean by it an engagement, or promise, by one 
 man to pay another, for a valuable consideration, an ade- 
 quate price. By a cor tract thus made, for a valuable con- 
 sideration, there arises what, in the law phrase, is called a 
 lien on the body and goods of the prornissor or debtor. 
 This interest, which the creditor becomes entitled to, in the 
 goods and body of his debtor, is such as may be taken from 
 the creditor, if he be found the subject of a hostile country 
 
340 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF # 
 
 This position is supported by the following authorities* ITe 
 l hen cites and reads copious extracts from (irotius and Vat- 
 tel, which seem to support his position decisively — and tiien 
 proceeds thus: — “This authority decides in the most clear 
 and satisfactory manner, that, as a nation, we had powers 
 as extensive and unlimited as any nation on earth. This 
 great writer, after stating the equality and independence of 
 nations, and who are, and who are not enemies, does away 
 the distinction between corporeal and incorporeal rights, and 
 declares that war gives the same right over the debts , as over 
 the other goods of an enemy. He illustrates his doctrine by 
 the instance of Alexander’s remitting to the Thessalians, 
 a debt due by them to the Theban commonwealth : this 
 is a case in point — for supposing the subjects of Alexander 
 had been indebted to the Thebans, might he not have re- 
 mitted the debts due by them to that people, as well as the 
 debts due them by his allies, the Thessalians ? Let me not 
 be told that he was entitled to the goods of the Thebans, be- 
 cause he had conquered them. If he could remit a debt due 
 by those whose claim of friendship was so inferior, those 
 who were only attached to him by the feeble ties of contin- 
 gent and temporary alliance — if his Macedonians, his imme- 
 diate and natural subjects, were indebted to the Thebans, 
 could he not have remitted their debts ? This author states 
 in Clear, unequivocal terms, by fair inference and unavoida- 
 ble deduction, that when two nations are at war, either na- 
 tion has a right, according to the laws of nature and nations, 
 to remit to its own citizens debts which they may owe to 
 the enemy. If this point Avanted further elucidation, it is 
 pointedly proved by the authority which I first quoted from 
 Grotius, that it is an inseparable concomitant of sovereign 
 power, that debts and contracts similar to those which ex- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 341 
 
 .sled in America, at the time the war with Great Britain 
 broke*out., may, in virtue of the eminent domain, or right, be 
 cancelled and destroyed. ‘ A king has a greater right in 
 the goods of his subjects , for the public advantage , than 
 the proprietors themselves . And when the exigency of the 
 state requires a supply, every man is more obliged to 
 contribute toward it, than to satisfy his creditors. The 
 sovereign may discharge a debtor from the obligation of 
 paying, either for a certain time , or for ever? What lan- 
 guage can be more expressive than this ? Can the mind of 
 man conceive any thing more comprehensive ? Rights are 
 of two sorts, private and inferior, or eminent and superior , 
 such as the community hold over the persons and estates of 
 its members for the common benefit. The latter is para- 
 mount to the former. A king or chief of a nation has a 
 greater right than the owner himself over any property in 
 the nation. The individual who owns private property can- 
 not dispose of it, contrary to the will of his sovereign, to in- 
 jure the public. This author is known to be no advocate for 
 tyranny, yet he mentions that a king has a superior power 
 over the property in his nation, and that by virtue thereof, he 
 may discharge his subjects for ever from debts which they 
 owe to an enemy. 
 
 ‘ The instance which our author derives from the Komar, 
 history, affords a striking instance of the length to winch 
 the necessities and exigencies of a nation will warrant it to 
 go. It was a juncture critical to the Roman affairs. But 
 their situation was not more critical or dangerous than ours 
 at the time these debts were confiscated. It was after the 
 total defeat and dreadful sla igliter at Cannae, when the state 
 was in the most imminent danger. Our situation in the 
 late war was equally perilous. Every consideration must 
 2 U 29* 
 
342 
 
 W irt’s LIFE OF 
 
 give way to the public safety. That admirable Roman 
 maxim, stilus populi suprema lex, governed that people in 
 every emergency. It is a maxim that ought, to govern every 
 community. It was not peculiar to the Roman people. The 
 impression came from the same source from which we derive 
 our existence. Self-preservation, that great dictate implanted 
 in us by nature, must regulate our conduct ; we must have 
 a power to act according to our necessities, and it remains for 
 human judgment to decide what are the proper occasions 
 for the exercise of this power. Call to your recollection our 
 situation during the late arduous contest. Was it not neces- 
 sary in our day of trial, to go to the last iota of human 
 ridit ? The Romans fought for their altars and household 
 gods. By these terms they meant every thing dear and 
 valuable to men. Was not our stake as important as theirs? 
 But many other nations engage in the most bloody wars for 
 the most trivial and frivolous causes. If otiier nations who 
 carried on wars for a mere point of honour, or a punctilio of 
 gallantry, were warranted in the exercise of this power, 
 were not we, who fought for every thing most inestimable 
 and valuable to mankind, justified in using it? Our finances 
 were in a more distressing situation than theirs at this awful 
 period of our existence. Our war was in opposition to the 
 most grievous oppression — we resisted, and our resistance 
 was approved and blessed by Heaven. The most illustrious 
 men who have considered human affairs, when they have 
 revolved human rights, and considered how far a nation is 
 warranted to act in cases of emergency, declare that the only 
 ingredient essential to the rectitude and validity of its 
 measures is, that they be for the public good. I need hardly 
 observe that the confiscation of these debts was for the public 
 good. Those who decided it were consti tut anally enable^ 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 343 
 
 ; determine it. Grotius shows that you have not only 
 power over the goods of your enemies, but according to the 
 exigency of affairs, you may seize the property of your citi 
 zens.” After reading the apposite passage from Grotius, he 
 says : — “ I read these authorities to prove, that the property 
 of an enemy is liable to forfeiture, and that debts are as much 
 the subject of hostile contest as tangible property. And 
 Vattel, p. 484, as before mentioned, pointedly enumerates 
 rights and debts among such property of the enemy as is 
 liable to confiscation. To tins last author I must frequently 
 resort in the course of my argument. I put great confidence 
 in him, from the weight of his authority— for he is univer- 
 sally respected by all the wise and enlightened of mankind, 
 being no less celebrated for his great judgment and know- 
 ledge, than for his universal philanthropy. One of his firs 4 
 principles of the law of nations is, a perfect equality of rights 
 among nations ; that each nation ought to be left in the 
 peaceable enjoyment of that liberty it has derived from na 
 ture. I refer your honours to his preliminary discourse from 
 6th to the 1 2th page ; and as it will greatly elucidate the sub- 
 ject, and tend to prove the position I have attempted to support, 
 I will read sections 1 7, 1 8, 1 9, and 20, of this discourse.” Having 
 read these sections, he touches transiently, but powerfully, 
 the objection to the want of national independence to pass 
 the laws of forfeiture, till that independence was assented to 
 by the king of Great Britain. “ When the war commenced,’ 
 said he, “ these things, called British debts, lost their quality 
 of external obligation, and became matters of internal obliga- 
 tion, because the creditors had no right of constraint over the 
 debtors. They were before the war, matters of perfect ex- 
 ternal obligation, accompanied by a right of constraint ; but 
 the war having taken away this right of constraint over the 
 
344 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 debtors, they were changed into an internal obligati oi , bind 
 ing the conscience only For it will not surely be denied, 
 that the creditor lost the right of constraint over his debtor. 
 
 “ From the authority of this respectable author, therefore — 
 from the clearest principles of the laws of nature and nations, 
 these debts became subject to forfeiture or remission. Those 
 authors state, in language as emphatic and nervous as the 
 human mind can conceive, or the human tongue can utter 
 that independent nations have the power of confiscating the 
 property of their enemies ; and so had this gallant nation. 
 America, being a sovereign and complete nation, in all its 
 forms and departments, possessed all the rights of the most 
 powerful and ancient nations. Respecting the power of 
 legislation, it was a nation complete, and without human con- 
 trol. Respecting public justice, it was a nation blessed by 
 Heaven, with the experience of past times ; not like those 
 nations, whose crude systems of jurisprudence originated in 
 the ages of barbarity and ignorance of human rights. Amer- 
 ica was a sovereign nation, when her sons stepped forth to 
 resist the unjust hand of oppression, and declared themselves 
 independent. The consent of Great Britain was not neces- 
 sary (as the gentlemen on the other side urge) to create us a 
 nation. Yes, sir, we were a nation, long before the mon- 
 arch of that little island in the Atlantic ocean gave his puny 
 assent to it.” — These words he accompanied by a most sig- 
 nificant gesture — rising on tiptoe — pointing as to a vast dis- 
 tance, and half-closing his eyelids, as if endeavouring with 
 extreme difficulty, to draw a sight on some object almost too 
 small for vision — and blowing oitf the words puny assent, 
 with lips curled with unutterable contempt. — “America was, 
 long before that time, a great and gallant nation. In the 
 estimation of other nations we were so : the beneficent hand 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 345 
 
 of Heaven enabled her to triumph, and secured to her the 
 must sacred rights mortals can enjoy. When these illus* 
 Ir unis authors, these friends to human nature, these kind in- 
 strutters of human errors and frailties,* contemplate the obli- 
 gations and corresponding rights of nations, and define thfc 
 internal right, which is without constraint and not binding, 
 do they not understand such rights as these, which the Brit- 
 ish creditors now claim ? Here this man tells us what con- 
 science s. vs ought to be done, and what is compulsory. 
 These British debts must come within the grasp of human 
 power, like all other human things. They ceased to have 
 that external quality, and fell into that mass of power whvh 
 belonged to our legislature by the law of nations.” 
 
 He comes now to a very serious obstacle, which it required 
 both address and vigour to remove. Vattel, whom he had 
 cited to support his position of the forfeitable character of 
 debts, and who, so far as Mr. Henry had read him, does sup- 
 port him explicitly, annexes a qualification to the principle 
 which had been pressed with great power by the gentlemer 
 who opened the cause. The curiosity of the reader will be 
 gratified by seeing the manner in which he surmounted the 
 objection. “ But we are told, that admitting this to be true 
 in the fullest latitude, yet the customary law of Europe is 
 against the exercise of this power of confiscation of debts ; 
 in support of which position, they rely on what is added by 
 Vattel, p. 484. Let us examine what he says : — 4 The 
 sovereign has naturally the same right over what his subjects 
 may be indebted to enemies : therefore, he may confiscate 
 
 ♦In the second argument, he eulogized the writers on the laws ol 
 nations, as “ benevolent spirits, who held up the torch of science to a 
 benighted world.” 
 
 2 X 
 
846 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 debts of this nature, if the term of payment happen in the 
 time of war, or at least lie may prohibit his subjects from 
 paying whiie the war lasts. But at present , in regard to 
 the advantage and safety of commerce, all the sovereigns 
 of Europe have departed from this rigour. And as this 
 custom has generally been received, he who should act 
 contrary to it, would injure the public faith ; for stran- 
 gers trusted his subjects only, from a firm persuasion , 
 that the general custom would be observed.’ Excellent 
 man ! and excellent sentiments ! The principle cannot be 
 denied to be good : but when you apply it to the case be- 
 fore the court, does it warrant their conclusions ? The au- 
 thor says, that although a nation has a right to confiscate 
 debts due by its people to an enemy, yet, at present the cus- 
 tom of Europe is contrary. It is not enough for this author 
 to tell us that this custom is contrary to the right. He 
 admits the rigid. Let us see whether this custom has ex- 
 istence here. Vattel, having spoken of the necessary law of 
 nations, which is immutable, and the obligations whereof 
 are indispensable, proceeds to distinguish the several other 
 kinds of natural law in the same preliminary discourse, pp. 11 
 and 12, thus : — 
 
 c Certain maxims and customs consecrated by long use, 
 and observed by nations, between each other, as a kind of 
 law, form this customary law of nations , or the custo n of 
 nations. This law is founded on a tacit consent, or, if you 
 will, on a tacit convention of the nations that observe it 
 with respect to each other. Whence, it appears, that it is 
 only binding to those nations that have adopted it, and 
 that is not universal, any more than conventional laws. It 
 must be here also observed of this chstomary law, that the 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 347 
 
 particulars relating to it do not belong to a systematic treatise 
 on the law cf nations, but that we ought to confine ourselves 
 to he giving a general theory of it, that is, to the rules which 
 here ought to be observed, as well with respect to its effects, 
 as in relation to the matter itself : and in this last respect, 
 these rules will serve to distinguish the lawful and innocent • 
 customs, from those that are unjust and illegal ! 
 
 “ 4 When a custom is generally established, either between 
 all the polite nations in the world, or only between those of 
 a certain continent, as of Europe for example ; or those 
 who have a more frequent correspondence ; if that custom is 
 in its own nature indifferent, and much more, if it be a 
 wise and useful one, it ought to be obligatory on all those 
 nations who are considered as having given their consent 
 to it . And they are bound to observe it, with respect to 
 each other , while they have not expressly declared that they 
 will not adhere to it. But if that custom contains any thing 
 unjust or illegal, it is of no force ; and every nation is undei 
 an obligation to abandon it, nothing being able to oblige o\ 
 permit a nation to violate a natural law. 
 
 “ ‘ These three kinds of the law of nations, voluntary , con 
 ventional, and customary, together, compose the positive 
 law of nations. For they all proceed from the volition of 
 nations ; the voluntary law, from their presumed consent : 
 the conventional law, from an express consent ; and the 
 customary law, from a tacit consent : and as there can be 
 no other manner of deducing any law from the will of na- 
 tions, there are only these three kinds of the positive law of 
 nations .’ 
 
 “ This excellent author, after having stated tne voluntary 
 law of nations to be the result of the equality of nations, and 
 the conventioi al law to be particular compacts o r treaties* 
 
WIRT’S LIFE O* 
 
 S4S 
 
 binding only on the contracting parties , declares, that the 
 customary law of nations is only binding to those nations 
 that have adopted it ; that it is a particular and not a 
 universal law ; that it applies only to distinct nations. The 
 case of Alexander and the Thebans is founded on the general 
 law of nations, applicable to nations at war. It is enough 
 for me then, to show that America, being at war, was entitled 
 to the privilege of national law. But, says Vattel, the present 
 state of European refinement controls the general law (of 
 which he had been before speaking). We know that the 
 customary law of nations can only bind those who are par- 
 ties to the custom . In the year 1776, when America an- 
 nounced her will to be free, or in the year 1777, when the 
 law concerning British debts passed, was there a customary 
 law of America, to this effect ? Or were the customary l avs 
 of Europe binding on America ? Were ive a party to 
 any such customary law ? Was there any thing ir. our 
 constitution or laws which tied up our hands ? No, sir. To 
 make this customary law obligatory, the assent of all the 
 parties to be bound by it is necessary . There must be an 
 interchange of it . It is not for one nation or community 
 to say to another , you are bound by this law, because oui 
 kingdom approves of it. It must not only be reciprocal in 
 its advantages and principles, but it must have been recipro- 
 cal in its exercise . Virginia could not, therefore, be bound 
 by it. Let us see whether it could be a hard case on the 
 British creditors, that this customary law of nations did nol 
 apply in their favour. Were these debts contracted from a 
 persuasion of its observance 7 Did the creditors trust to 
 this customary law of nations ? No, sir. They trusted 
 to what they thought as firm the statute and con r/ion law 
 of England. Victorious and successful as their j ition had 
 
349 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 4 
 
 lately been, when they, in their p’.ide and inconsiderate self- 
 confidence, stretched out the hand of oppression, their sub- 
 jects placed no reliance on the customs of particular na- 
 tions. They put confidence in those barrieis of right, which 
 were derived from their own nation. Their reliance was, 
 that the tribunals established in this country, under the 
 same royal authority as in England, would do them justice. 
 If we were not willing, they possessed the power of compel- 
 ling us to do them justice. The debts having, therefore, not 
 been contracted from any reliance on the customary lew 
 of nations , were they contracted from a regard ‘ to the 
 rights of commerce ?' From a view of promoting the 
 commerce of those little things culled colonies ? This re- 
 gard could not have been the ground they were contracted 
 on, for their conduct evinced that they wished to take the 
 right of commerce from us. What other ingredient re- 
 mains to show the operation of this custom in their favour ? 
 The book speaks of strangers trusting subjects of a different 
 nation, from a reliance on the observance of the customary 
 law. The fact here was, that fellow-subjects trusted us, on 
 the footing just stated ; trusting to the existing compulsory 
 process of law, not relying on a passive inert custom. A 
 fearful, plodding, sagacious trader, would not rely on so 
 flimsy, so uncertain a dependance. Something similar to 
 what he thought positive satisfaction, he relied on. Were 
 we not subject to the same king ? The cases are then at 
 variance. He states the custom to exist for the advantage 
 of commerce, and that a departure from it would injure the 
 public faith. Public faith is in this case out of the question. 
 The public faith was not pledged — it could not therefore be 
 injured. I have already read to vour honours from the 1 1th 
 page o* die preliminary discourse of Yattel, ‘ that the cus 
 
 30 
 
350 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 I 
 
 tomary law of nations is only binding on those who hav6 
 adopted it , and that it is not universal , any more than 
 conventional laws? It is evident we could not be bound 
 by any convention or treaty to which we ourselves were not 
 a party : and from this authority it is equally obvious, that 
 we could not be bound by any customary law to which we 
 were not parties. 
 
 “ I think, therefore, with great submission to the court, that 
 the right for which I contended, that is, that in common 
 wars between independent nations, either of the contending 
 parties has a right to confiscate or remit debts due by its 
 people to the enemy, is not shaken by the customary law of 
 nations, as far as it regards us, because the custom could not 
 affect us. But gentlemen say we were not completely inde- 
 pendent till the year 1783! To take them on their own 
 ground, their arguments will fail them. There is a custom- 
 ary law which will operate pretty strongly on our side of 
 the question. What were the inducements of the debtor ? 
 On what did the American debtor rely ? Sir, he relied for 
 protection on that system of common and statute law on 
 which the creditors depended. Was he deceived in that re- 
 liance ? That he was most miserably deceived, I believe will 
 not admit of a doubt. The customary law of nations will 
 only apply to distinct nations, mutually consenting thereto. 
 When tyranny attempted to rivet her chains upon us, and 
 we boldly broke them asunder, we were remitted to that 
 amplitude of freedom which the beneficent hand of Nature 
 gave us. We were not bound by fetters which are of benefit 
 to one party, while they are destructive to the other. Would 
 it be proper that we should be bound, and they unrestrained V 
 As a still farther answer to the objection, and as giving the 
 only rule of restraint in operating on the property of a belli 
 
PATRICK II L NR Y. 
 
 351 
 
 gerant, he cites the following principle from Vattel, and ap- 
 plies it to the actual state of America: “ Vattel, book the 3d, 
 
 cli. 8, sect. 137, says, that ‘ the lawful end gives a true i.g'it 
 only to those means which are necessary for obtaining 
 such end. Whatever exceeds this, is censured by the laws 
 of nature as faulty, and will be condemned at the tribunal 
 of conscience. Hence it is, that the right to such or such 
 acts of hostility varies according to their circumstances. What 
 is just and perfectly innocent in a war, in one particular situ- 
 ation, is not always so in another. Right goes hand in 
 hand icith necessity, and the exigency of the case ; but never 
 exceeds it.’ This, sir, is the first dictate of nature, and the 
 practice of nations ; and if your misfortunes and distresses 
 should be sad and dreadful, you are let loose from those 
 common restraints which may be proper on common occa- 
 sions, in order to preserve the great rights of human nature 
 “ This is laid down by that great writer in clear and una 
 quivocal terms. If then, sir, it be certain, from a recurrence 
 to facts, that it was necessary for America to seize on Britisl 
 property, this book warrants the legislature of this state ir. 
 passing those confiscating and prohibitory laws. I need only 
 refer to your recollection, for our pressing situation during 
 the late contest ; and happy am I, that this all-important 
 question comes on, before the heads of those who, were actors 
 in the great scene, are laid in the dust. An uninformed pos 
 terity would be unacquainted with the awful necessity which 
 impelled us on. If the means were within reach, we were 
 warranted by the laws of nature and nations to use them 
 The fact was, that we were attacked by one of the most formi 
 dable nations under heaven ; a nation that carried terror and 
 dread with its thunder to both hemispheres.” — [This illustra- 
 tion of the power ot Great Britain was, if we may trust 
 
85 2 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 respectable tradition, much more expanded than we find it in 
 the report ; and such was the force of his imagination, and 
 the irresistible energy of his delivery and action, that the 
 audience now felt themselves instinctively recoiling from the 
 tremendous power of that very nation, which but a short time 
 before had been exhibited as a mere dot in the Atlantic, a 
 point so microscopic as to be scarcely visible to the naked 
 eye : he proceeds to close the first member of his first point 
 thus:] — “Our united property enabled us to look in the face 
 that mighty people. Dared we to have gone in opposition 
 to them bound hand and foot ? Would we have dared to 
 resist them fettered ? for we should have been fettered, if 
 we had been deprived of so considerable a part of our little 
 stock of national resources. In that most critical and dan- 
 gerous emergency, our all was but a little thing. Had we a 
 treasury — an exchequer? Had we commerce? Had we 
 any revenue ? Had we any thing from which a nation 
 could draw wealth ? No, sir. Our credit became the scorn 
 of our foes. However, the efforts of certain patriotic chaiae- 
 ters (there were not a few of them, thank Heaven) gave us 
 credit among our own people. But we had not a farthing to 
 spare. We were obliged to go on a most grievous antici- 
 pation, the weight of which we feel at this day. Recur to 
 our actual situation, and the means we had of defending 
 ourselves. The actual situation of America is described here, 
 where this author says, ‘ that right goes hand in hand 
 with necessity .’ The necessity being great and dreadful, 
 
 you are warranted to lay hold of every atom of money within 
 your reach, especially if it be the money of your enemies. 
 It is prudent and necessary to strengthen yourselves and 
 weaken your enemies. Vattel, book 3d, ch. 8, sect. 138, 
 gays, ‘ The business of a iust war being to suppress violence 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 353 
 
 and injustice, it gives a right to compel, by force, him who 
 is deaf to the voice of justice. It gives a right of doing 
 against the enemy, whatever is necessary for weakening 
 him — for disabling him from making any farther resistance 
 in support of his injustice — and the most effectual, the most 
 proper methods may be chosen, provided they have nothing 
 odious, be not unlawful in themselves, or exploded by the 
 law of nature.’ Here let me pause for a moment, and ask, 
 whether it be odious in itself, or exploded by the law of na 
 ture, to seize those debts ? 
 
 “No — because the money was taken from the very offend- 
 ers. We fought for the great, unalienable, hereditary 
 rights of human nature. An unwarrantable attack was 
 made upon us. An attack, not only not congenial with 
 motherly or parental tenderness, but incompatible with the 
 principles of humanity or civilization. Our defence then 
 was a necessary one. What says Vat tel, book 3d, cli. 8, 
 sect. 136 ? — ‘ The end of a just war is to revenge or prevent 
 injury ; that is, to procure by force the justice which cannot 
 otherwise be obtained ; to compel an unjust person to repair an 
 injury already done, or to give securities against any wrong 
 threatened by him. On a declaration of war, therefore, this 
 nation has a right of doing against the enemy whatever is 
 necessary to this justifiable end of bringing him to reason, and 
 obtaining justice and security from him.’ We have taken 
 nothing in this necessary defence, but from the very offend 
 ers — those who unjustly attacked us : for we had a right of 
 considering every individual of the British nation as an ene* 
 my. This I prove by the same great writer, p. 519, sect 
 139, of the same book: — ‘An enemy attacking me unjustly 
 gives an undoubted right of repelling his violences ; and ho 
 who opposes me in arms, when I demand only my right, 
 2 Y 30* 
 
354 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 becomes himself the real aggressor, oy his unjust resistance 
 He is the first author of the violence, and obliges me to make 
 use of force, for securing myself against the wrongs intended 
 me either in my person or possessions ; for if the effects of 
 this force proceed so far as to take away his life, he owes the 
 misfortune to himself ; for, if by sparing him, I should sub- 
 mit to the injury, the good would soon become the prey of the 
 wicked. Hence the right of killing enemies in a just wa( 
 is derived ; when their resistance cannot be suppressed — 
 when they are not to be reduced by milder methods, there is 
 a righi , of taking away their life. Under the name of ene- 
 mies, as we have already shown, are comprehended not only 
 the first author of the war, but likewise all who join him , 
 and fight for his cause? Thus I think the first part of my 
 position confirmed and unshaken ; that in common wars, a 
 nation not restrained by the customary law of nations, has a 
 right to confiscate debts.” 
 
 In the second member of that point, he is released 
 from the servility of quotation ; and, to borrow a phrase ol 
 his own, “ remitted to the amplitude” of his natural genius . 
 the reader will therefore be amused by a more copious ex- 
 tract : — “ From this I will go on to the other branch of my 
 position : that if, in common wars, debts be liable to for- 
 feiture, a fortiori, must they be so in a i\ .olution war. Let 
 me contrast the late war with wars in common. According 
 to those people called kings, wars in common are systematic 
 and produced for trifles ; for not conforming to imaginary 
 honours ; because you have not lowered your flag before 
 him at sea ; or for a supposed affront to the person of an 
 ambassador. Nations are set by the ears, and the mos 
 horrid devastations are brough. on mankind, for the most 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 355 
 
 frivolous causes. If then, when small matters are a con 
 test, debts be forfeitable, what must have accrued to us , as 
 enj/ao-ed in the late revolution war — a war commenced in 
 attainder, oerfidy, and confiscation ? If we take with us 
 (his great principle of Vattel, that right goes in hand with 
 necessity , and consider the peculiar situation of the American 
 people, we will find reason more than sufficient to give us a 
 right of confiscating those debts. 
 
 “ The most striking peculiarity attended the American wax 
 fn the first of it, we were stripped of every municipal right. 
 Rights and obligations are correspondent, co-extensive, and 
 inseparable — they must exist together, or not at all. We 
 were, therefore, when stripped of all our municipal rights 
 clear of every municipal obligation, burden, and onerous e\ 
 gagement. If then the obligation be gone, what is become of 
 the correspondent right ? They are mutually gone.” — These 
 little words, “ they are mutually gone,” which would have 
 made no figure in the pronunciation of an ordinary speaker, 
 are said to have formed a beautiful picture, as delivered by 
 Mr. Henry: his eyes seemed to have pursued these associated 
 objects to the extremest verge of mortal sight, while the fall 
 of his voice, and correspondent fall of his extended hand, 
 with the palm downward, depicted the idea of evanescence 
 with indescribable force * the audience might imagine, that 
 they saw the objects at the very instant when they vanished 
 m the distance, and became commingled with the air: and 
 all this, too, without any affected pause to give it effect ; with- 
 out any apparent effort ert his part; but with all the quick- 
 ness of thought and all the ease of nature. — “ The case of 
 sovereign and independent nations at war is far different; 
 because, there private right is respected and domestic asylum 
 
356 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 held sacred. Was it the case in our war? No, sir. Dag 
 gers were planted in your chambers, and mischief, death, 
 and destruction, might meet you at your fireside. 
 
 ‘ There is an essential variance between the late war and 
 common wars. In common wars, children are not obliged 
 to fight against their fathers, nor brothers against brothers, 
 nor kindred against kindred. Our men were compelled, 
 contrary to the most sacred ties of humanity, to shed the 
 blood of their dearest connexions. In common wars, con- 
 tending parties respect municipal rights, and leave even to 
 those they invade, the means of paying debts, and complying 
 with obligations; they touch not private property. For ex- 
 ample, when a British army lands in France, they plunder 
 nothing : they pay for what they have, and respect the tribu 
 nals of justice, unless they have a mind to be called a savage 
 nation. Were we thus treated ? Were we permitted to exer- 
 cise industry and to collect debts, by which we might be ena- 
 bled to pay British creditors ? Had we a power to pursue com- 
 merce ? No, sir. What became of our agriculture? Our 
 inhabitants were mercilessly and brutally plundered, and our 
 enemies professed to maintain their army by those means 
 only. Oijr slaves carried away, our crops burnt, a cruel 
 war carried on against our agriculture — disability to pay 
 debts produced by pillage and devastation, contrary to every 
 principle of national law. From that series of plenty in 
 which we had been accustomed to live and to revel, we 
 were plunged into every species of human calamity. Our 
 lives attacked — charge of rebels fixed upon us — confiscation 
 and attainder denounced against the whole continent; and 
 he that was called king of England sat judge upon our case — 
 he pronounced his judgment, not like those to whom poetic 
 fancy has given existence — not like him who sits in the in 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 357 
 
 ferna! regions, and dooms to the Stygian lake those spirits 
 who desene it, because he spares the innocent, and sends 
 some to the fields of Elysium — not like him who sat in an- 
 cient imperial Rome, and wished the people had but one 
 neck, that he might at one blow strike off their heads, and 
 spare himself the trouble of carnage and massacre, because 
 
 X 
 
 one city would have satisfied his vengeance — not like any 
 of his fellow-men, for nothing would satiate his sanguinary 
 ferocity, but the indiscriminate destruction of a whole con- 
 tinent — involving the innocent with the guilty. Yes, he 
 sat in judgment with his coadjutors, and pronounced pro- 
 scription, attainder, and forfeiture, against men, women, and 
 even children at the breast. Is not this description pointedly 
 true in all its parts? And who were his coadjutors and 
 executioners in this strange court of judicature ? Like the 
 fiends of poetic imagination — Hessians, Indians, and Ne 
 groes, were his coadjutors and executioners. Is there any 
 thing in this sad detail of offences which is unfounded ? any 
 thing not enforced by the act of parliament against America? 
 We were thereby driven out of their protection, and branded 
 by the epithet rebels. The term rebel may not now appear 
 in all its train of horrid consequences. We know that when 
 a person is called rebel by that government, his goods and 
 life are forfeited, and his very blood pronounced to be cor- 
 rupted, and the severity of the punishment entailed on his 
 posterity. To whom may we apply for the verity of this? 
 The jurisprudence and history of that nation prove, that, 
 when they speak of rebels, nothing but blood will satisfy 
 them. Is there nothing hideous in this part of the portrait? 
 It is unparalleled in the annals of mankind. Though I have 
 respect for individuals of that nation, my duty constrains me 
 to speak thus. 
 
359 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 u When we contemplate this mode of warfare, and the sen- 
 timents of the writers on natural law on this subject, we axe 
 justified in saying, that in this revolution war, we had a 
 right to consider British debts as subject to confiscation — and 
 to sei7 3 the property of those who originated that war. As 
 to the injuries done to agriculture, they appear in a diminu- 
 tive view, when compared to the injuries and indignities of 
 fered to persons, and mansions of abode. Sir, from your scat 
 you might have seen instances of the most grievous hostility: 
 not only private property wantonly pillaged, but men, 
 women, and children, dragged publicly from their habitations, 
 and indiscriminately devoted to destruction. The rights 
 of humanity were sacrificed. We were then deprived not 
 only of the benefits of municipal, but natural law. If there 
 shall grow out of these considerations a palpable disability to 
 pay those debts, I ask if the claim be just ? For that disa- 
 bility was produced by those excesses — by those very men 
 who come on us now for payment. Here give me leave to 
 say, that they sold us a bad title in whatever they sold us — 
 in real as well as in personal property. Describe the nature 
 of a debt : it is an engagement or promise to pay — but it 
 must be for a valuable consideration. If this be clear, was 
 not the title, to whatever property they sold us, bad in every 
 sense of the word, when the war followed ? What can add 
 value tc property? Force. Notwithstanding the equity and 
 fairness of the debt when incurred, if the security of the 
 property received was afterward destroyed, the title has 
 proved defective. Suppose millions were contracted for and 
 received, those millions give you no advantage, without force 
 to protect them. This necessary protection is withdrawn by 
 the very men who were bound to afford it, and who now 
 demand payment. Neither lands, slaves, nor other property 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 359 
 
 are worth a shilling, without protecting force. This title was 
 destroyed, when the act of parliament, putting us out of 
 their protection, passed against America. I say, sir, the 
 titk was destroyed by the very offenders who come here now 
 and demand payment. Justice and equity cancel the obliga- 
 tion as to the price that was to be given for it, because the 
 tenure is destroyed, and the effects purchased have no value. 
 Such a claim is unsupported by the plainest notions of right 
 and wrong. For this long catalogue of offences committed 
 against the citizens of America, every individual of the Brit- 
 ish nation is accountable. How are you to be compensated 
 for those depredations on persons and property ? Are you 
 to go to the kingdom of England, to find the very individual 
 who did you the outrage, and demand satisfaction of him ? 
 To tell you of such a remedy as this, is adding insult to 
 injury. Every individual is chargeable with national of- 
 fences.” 
 
 To maintain this last position, he cites an authority ex- 
 pressly in point, from Vat tel, and proceeds thus: — “These 
 observations of Vattel amount to this: that a king or con- 
 ductor of a nation is considered as a moral person, by means 
 of whom the nation acquires or loses its rights, and subjects 
 itself to penalties. The individuals, and the nation which 
 they compose, are one. I will therefore take it for granted, 
 that whatever violences and excesses were committed on 
 this :ontinent are chargeable to the plaintiff in this very 
 action. Recollect our distressed situation. We had no ex- 
 chequer, no finances, no army, no navy, no common means 
 of defence. Our necessity — dire necessity compelled us to 
 throw aside those rules which respect private property, and 
 to make impresses on our own citizens to support the war 
 
360 
 
 wjrt’s LIFE 4F 
 
 Right and necessity being co-extensive, we were compelled 
 to exert a right tlie most eminent over the whole community. 
 The salus jxrpuli demanded what we did. If we had a 
 right to disregard the legal fences thrown round the property 
 of our citizens, had we not a greater right to take British 
 pi operty ? 
 
 “ Another peculiarity contributes to aid our defence. The 
 want of an exchequer obliged us to emit paper money, 
 and compel our citizens to receive it for gold, in the ears 
 of some men this sounds harshly. But they are young men, 
 who do not know and feel the irresistible necessity that 
 urged us. Would your armies have been raised, clothed 
 maintained, or kept together without paper money ? With- 
 out it, the war would have stood still, resistance to tyranny 
 would have stopped, and despotism, with all its horrid train 
 of appurtenances, must have depressed your country. We 
 compelled the people to receive it in payment of all debts — 
 we induced and invited them (if we did not compel them) to 
 put it into the treasury, as a complete discharge from their 
 debts. Sir, I trust I shall not live to see the day, when the 
 public councils of America, will give ground to say that this 
 was a state trick, contrived to delude and defraud the citi- 
 zens What must it be ostensibly, when, by the compact of 
 your nation, they had publicly bound and pledged themselves, 
 that it was and should be money, if afterward, in the course 
 of human events, when temptations present themselves, they 
 shall declare that it is not money ? Sir, the honest planter 
 is unskilled in political tricks and deceptions. Iiis interest 
 ought never to be sacrificed. The law is his guide. The 
 law compelled him to receive it, and his countrymen would 
 have branded him with the name of enemy if he had refused 
 ‘fc. The laws of the country are as sacred as the imaginary 
 
PATRICK HE N R y . 
 
 361 
 
 sanctity of British debts. Sir, national engagements ought 
 lo be held sacred; the public violation cf this solemn engage* 
 inent will destroy all confidence in the government. If >ou 
 depart from the national compact one iota, you give a danger- 
 ous precedent, which may imperceptibly and gradually intro- 
 duce the most destructive encroachment on human rights.” 
 
 He then proceeds to notice more directly the objection, that 
 we were not a people competent for legislation till tne assent 
 cf the British king was given to our independence : — “ J will 
 beg leave here to dissent from the position of the gentleman 
 on the other side, which denied that we were a people, till 
 our enemies were pleased to say we were so. That we were 
 a people, and had a right to do every thing which a great 
 and a royal — nay, an imperial people could do, is clear and 
 indisputable. Though under the humble appearance of re 
 publicanism, our government and national existence, when 
 examined, are as solid as a rock — not resting on the mere 
 fraud and oppression of rulers, nor the credulity, nor barba- 
 rous ignorance of the people ; but founded on the consent 
 and conviction of enlightened human nature. That we had 
 every right that completely independent nations can have, 
 will be satisfactorily proved to your honours, by again refer 
 ring to Vattel.” He then cites and reads a passage from 
 Vattel, the effect of which is, that during a civil war, the 
 parties, acknowledging no common judge on earth, are to be 
 considered as tw r o distinct people ; and to govern themselves 
 in the conduct of the war by the general kuvs of nations 
 Alter \\ liich lie proceeds thus : — 
 
 “ Here then, sir, is proof abundant, that before the acknoi* 
 ledgment of American independence by Great Britai'x, 
 2 Z 31 
 
362 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 we had a right to be considered as a nation; because, on 
 earth we had no common superior, to give a decision of the 
 dispute between us and our sovereign. After declaring our- 
 selves a sovereign people, we had every right a nation can 
 claim as an independent community. But the gentlemen on 
 the other side greatly rely upon this principle, that a contrac 
 cannot be dissolved without the consent of all the contract 
 ing parties : the inference is, that the consent cff the king ol 
 Great Britain was necessary to the dissolution of the govern 
 rnent. Tyranny has too often, and too successfully riveted 
 its chains, to warrant a belief, that a tyrant will ever volun- 
 tarily release his subjects from the governmental compact. 
 Rather might it be expected, that the last iota of human mis- 
 ery would be borne, and the oppression would descend from 
 father to son, to the latest period of earthly existence. The 
 despotism of our sovereign ought to be considered as an im- 
 plied consent, on his part, to dissolve the compact between 
 us ; and he and his subjects must be considered as 'one — 
 there can be no distinction. For, in any other view, his 
 consent could not have been obtained without force. There 
 is such a thing, indeed, as tyranny from free choice. Sweden 
 not long ago surrendered its liberties in one day, as Den- 
 mark had done formerly ; so that this branch of the human 
 family is cut off from every possible enjoyment of human 
 rights. But the right to resist oppression is not denied. 
 The gentlemen’s doctrine cannot therefore apply to national 
 communities. If any additional force was wanting to con- 
 firm what I advance, it would be derived from the treaty of 
 peace, which further proves, that we were entitled to all the 
 privileges of independent nations. The consent of all the 
 people of Europe said we were free. Our formei master 
 withheld his consent till a few unlucky events compelled 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 363 
 
 !rm. And when he gave his fiat, it gave ns, by relation 
 back to the time of the declaration of independence , all 
 the rights and privileges of a completely sovereign nation : 
 our independence was acknowledged by him, previous to the 
 completion of the treaty of peace. It was not a condition 
 of the treaty, but was acknowledged, by his own overture 
 preparatory to it. View the consequences of their fatal doc- 
 trine. There would not only have been long arrears of 
 debts to pay, but a long catalogue of crimes to be punished. 
 If tne ultimate acknowledgment of our independence by 
 Great Britain had not relation back to the time of the decla- 
 ration of independence, all the intermediate acts of legisla- 
 tion would be void — and every decision and act, consequent 
 thereon, would be null. But, sir, we were a complete nation 
 on every principle, according to the authorities I have already 
 read ; in addition to which I will refer your honours to Vat- 
 tel, book iv. ch. vii. sect. 88, to show we were entitled to the 
 benefits of national law, and to use all the resources of the 
 community : ‘ From the equality of all nations really sove- 
 reign and independent, it is a principle of the voluntary law 
 of nations, that no nation can control another in its internal 
 municipal legislation.’ If we consider the business of confis 
 cation according to the immemorial usages of Great Britain, 
 we will find, that the law and practice of that country sup- 
 port my position. In the w r ars which respect revolutions 
 which have taken place in that island — life, fortune, goods, 
 debts, and every thing else were confiscated. The crimen 
 Icisa majestatis , as it is called, involved every tiling. Every 
 posable punishment has been inflicted on suffering humanity 
 that it could endure, by the party which had the superiority 
 in those wars, over the defeated party, which was charged 
 with rebellion. 
 
364 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 “ What would have been the consequences, sir, if we had 
 oeen conquered ? Were we not fighting against that ma- 
 jesty ? Would the justice of our opposition have been con- 
 sidered ? The most horrid forfeitures, confiscations, and 
 attainders, would have been pronounced against us. Con- 
 sider their history, from the time of William the First till this 
 day. Were not his Normans gratified with the confiscation 
 of the richest estates in England ? Read the excessive cru- 
 elties, attainders, and confiscations, of that reign. England 
 depopulated — its inhabitants stripped of the dearest privileges 
 of humanity — degraded with the most ignominious badges of 
 bondage — and totally deprived of the power of resistance to 
 usurpation and tyranny. This inability continued to the 
 time of Henry the Eighth. In his reign, the business of 
 confiscation and attainder, made considerable havoc. After 
 his reign, some stop was put to that effusion of blood which 
 preceded and happened under it. Recollect the sad and 
 lamentable effects of the York and Lancastrian wars. Re- 
 member the rancorous hatred and inveterate detestations of 
 contending factions — the distinction of the white and red 
 roses. To come a little lower — what happened in that island 
 in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745 ? If we had been con- 
 quered, would not our men have shared the fate of the 
 people of Ireland ? A great part of that island was confis- 
 cated, though the Irish people thought themselves engaged 
 in a laudable cause. What confiscation and punishments 
 were inflicted in Scotland? The plains of Culloden , and 
 the neighbouring gibbets, would show you. I thank Heaven 
 that the spirit of liberty, under the protection of the Almighty, 
 saved us from experiencing so hard a destiny. But had we 
 been subdued, would not every right have been wrested 
 from us? What right would have been saved? Wo ild 
 
PATRICK HENRI. 
 
 365 
 
 debts haie been saved? Would it not be absurd, to save 
 debts, while they should burn, hang, and destroy ? Before 
 we can decide with precision, we are to consider the dan- 
 gers we should have been exposed to had we been subdued. 
 After presenting to your view this true picture of what 
 would have been our situation, had we been subjugated — 
 surely a correspondent right will be found, growing out of 
 the law of nations, in our favour. Had our subjugation 
 been effected, and we pleaded for pardon — represented that 
 we defended the most valuable rights of human nature, and 
 thought they were wrong — would our petition have availed? 
 I feel myself impelled, from what has passed, to ask this 
 question. I w r ould not wish to have lived to see the sad scenes 
 we should have experienced. Needy avarice, and savage 
 cruelty, would have had full scope. Hungry Germans t 
 blood-thirsty Indians , and nations of another colour, would 
 have been let loose upon us. The sad effects of sucli war- 
 fare have had their full influence on a number of our fellow- 
 citizens. Sir, if you had seen the sad scenes which I have 
 known ; if you had seen the simple but tranquil felicity of 
 helpless and unoffending women and children, in little log- 
 huts on the frontiers, disturbed and destroyed by the sad 
 effects of British warfare and Indian butchery, your soul 
 would have been struck with horror ! Even those helpless 
 women and children were the objects of the most shocking 
 barbarity, 
 
 “ Give me leave again to rbcur to Vattel, p. 0 : — ‘ Nations 
 being free, independent, and equal, and having a right to 
 judge according to the dictates of conscience, of what is to be 
 done in order to fulfil its duties ; the effect of all this is, the 
 producing, at least externally and among men, a perfect 
 eouality of lights between nations, in the administration of 
 
 31 * 
 
866 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 their affairs, and the pursuit of their pretensions, without re- 
 gard to the intrinsic justice of their conduct, of which others 
 have no right to form a definitive judgment : so that what is 
 permitted in one, is also permitted in the other; and they 
 ought to be considered in human society as having an equal 
 right.’ If it be allowed to the British nation to put to death 
 to forfeit and confiscate debts and every thing else, may we 
 not (having an equal right) confiscate — not life, for we never 
 desire it — but that which is the common object of confisca- 
 tion — property, goods , and debts, which strengthen ourselves 
 and weaken our enemies ? I trust that this short recapitula- 
 tion of events shows, that if there ever was in the history of 
 man a case requiring the full use of all human means, it w r as 
 our case in the late contest ; and we were therefore warranted 
 to confiscate the British debts.” 
 
 He now takes another ground to establish the confiscation, 
 I shall give his whole argument on this point in his ow r n 
 words : — 
 
 “ I beg leave to add that these debts are lost on another 
 principle. By the dissolution of the British government, 
 America went into a state of nature — on the dissolution of 
 that of which w r e had been members, there being no govern- 
 ment antecedent, we went necessarily into a state of nature. 
 To prove this, I need only refer to the declaration of inde- 
 pendence, pronounced on the fourth day of July, 1776, and 
 our state constitution.” — Here Mr. Henry read part of the 
 constitution. — “ It recites many instances of misrule by the 
 king of England — it asserts the right and expediency of dis* 
 solving the British government, and going into a state of 
 nature ; or, in other words, to establish a new government 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 367 
 
 The right of dissolving it, and forming a new system, had 
 preceded the fourth day of July, 1776. A recapitulation of 
 tne events of the tyrannical acts of government, would demon-' 
 strate a right to dissolve it. But I may go farther, and even 
 say, that the act of parliament which declared us out of the 
 king’s protection, dissolved it. For what is government ? 
 It is an express or implied compact between the rulers and 
 ruled, stipulating reciprocal protection and obedience. That 
 protection was withdrawn, solemnly withdrawn from us. Of 
 consequence, obedience ceased to be due. Our municipal 
 rights were taken away by one blow. Municipal obligations 
 and government were also taken away by the same blow 
 Well, then, there being no* antecedent government, we re 
 turned into a state of nature. Unless we did so, our new 
 compact of government could only be a- usurpation. In i 
 state of nature there is no legal lien in the person or property 
 of any one. If you are not clear of every antecedent en- 
 gagement, what is the legality or strength of the present 
 constitution of government? If any antecedent engage- 
 ments are to bind, how far are they to reach ? You had no 
 right to form a new' government, if the old system existed ; 
 and if it did not exist, you w^ere necessarily and inevitably 
 in a state of nature. In my humble opinion, by giving va 
 lidity to such claims, you destroy the very idea of the right 
 to form a new government. Yattel calls government the 
 totality of persons, estates, and effects, formed by every indi- 
 vidual of the new society, and that totality represented by 
 the governing power. How can the totality exist while an 
 antecedent right exists elsewhere ? See Grotius, p. 4, which 
 I have already read, and note 29 : because the design and 
 good of civil society necessarily require, that the natural and 
 required rights of each member should admit of limitations 
 
wirt’s life of 
 
 468 
 
 several ways, and to a certain degree, by the authority of 
 him or them, in whose hands the sovereign authority is 
 lodged. When we formed a new government, did there 
 exist any authority that limited our rights'? How can the 
 totality exist, if any other person or persons have an existing 
 claim upon you ? It appears to me, that that equality which 
 is involved in a state of nature cannot exist while such claim 
 exists. The court will recollect what I have already read 
 out of Vattel, in the sections 15 and 18. The equality here 
 ascribed to independent nations is equally ascribed to men 
 in a state of nature. A moral society of persons cannot exist 
 without this absolute equality. The existence of individuals 
 in a *tate of nature, depends in like manner upon, an l is 
 inseparable from such equality. 
 
 “ Rights, as before-mentioned, Vattel, pp. 8 and 9, are 
 divided into internal and external: of external rights, he 
 makes the distinction of perfect and imperfect. I beseech 
 your honours to fix this distinction in your minds. The 
 perfect external right only is accompanied with the right of 
 constraint. The imperfect right loses that quality, and 
 leaves it to the party to comply or not to comply with it. 
 When the former government was dissolved, the American 
 people became indebted to nobody. You either owe every 
 thing or nothing — and every contract and engagement must 
 be done away, if any. In a state of nature you are free and 
 equal. But how are you free, if another have a lien on your 
 body ? Where is your freedom, or your equality with that 
 person, who has the right of constraining you ? This right 
 of constraint implies a complete authority over you, but not 
 however to enslave you. This constraint is always adequate 
 tc the right or obligation. Where can you find the possibility 
 of this equality which nature gives her sons, if w r e admit an 
 
PATRICK HENR Y , 
 
 369 
 
 existing right of constraint? If it be a fact, that on the 
 dissolution of the government we did enter into a state of 
 nature, (and that we did, I humbly judge, cannot be denied, 
 as at that time no government existed at all,) it destroys all 
 claim to one farthing. This will be found to be true, as 
 well upon the ground of equity and good conscience as in 
 law, when it is considered, that when we went into a state 
 of nature, the means of paying debts were taken away from 
 us by them ; because, so far as they had power over us, they 
 prevented us from getting money to pay debts. They inter 
 dieted us from the pursuit of profitable commerce ; from 
 getting gold and silver, the only things they would take — • 
 they unjustly drove us to this extremity. By the conces- 
 sion of the worthy gentlemen, their attack upon us was 
 unjust. 
 
 “ But then, debts are not subject to confiscation, say gen- 
 tlemen, because there were no inquests, no office found for 
 the commonwealth. Has a debt an ear-mark ? Is it tangible 
 or visible ? Has it any discriminating quality ? Unless tan- 
 gible or visible, how is it to be ascertained or distinguished? 
 What does an inquest mean ? A solemn inquiry by a 
 jury, by ocular examination, with other proofs. If an in- 
 quest of office were to be had of land, a jury could tell the 
 lines and boundaries of it, because they may be distinguished 
 from others, and its identity may thereby be ascertained. If 
 a horse be the object of inquiry, he can be easily distinguished 
 from any other horse. In like manner every other article 
 of visible property may be subject to inquests ; but such a 
 thing as an inquest of a debt never existed, as far as my 
 .egal knowledge extends. What are to be the consequences, 
 if this proceeding be requisite ? You must set up a court of 
 inquisition, summon the whole nation, ana ask every mas 
 3 A 
 
370 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 how rv+uch do you ewe ? This would be productive of end- 
 less confusion, perplexity and expense, without the desired 
 effect. The laws of war and of nations require no more 
 than that the sovereign power should openly signify its will, 
 that the debts be forfeited. There is no particular forensic 
 form necessary. The question here is not, whether this con- 
 fiscation be traversed in all the forms of municipal regula 
 tions. There s a question between Great Britain and Amer- 
 ica similar to that between Alexander and the Thebans. 
 Has the sovereign signified his pleasure that debts be 
 remitted? A sign is completely sufficient, if it be under- 
 stood by the people. There is a necessity of thus speaking 
 the legislative will, that the other party may know it, and 
 retaliate ; for what is allowed to one, is to both parties. 
 This was different from the nature of a solemn war. War 
 - is lawful or unlawful, according to the manner of conducting 
 it. In the prosecution of a lawful solemn war, it is neces- 
 sary that you do not depart from certain rules of modern 
 lion, honour, and humanity, but act according to the usual 
 practice of belligerant powers. Did the mother-country con- 
 duct the war against us in this manner? We did openly 
 say, we mean to confiscate your debts, and modify them, be- 
 cause they have lost their perfect external quality — they are 
 imperfect — we claim that right, as a sovereign people, over 
 that species of your property. Sir, it was not done in a cor- 
 ner. It was understood by our enemies. They had a right 
 to retaliate on any species of our property they could find 
 The right of retaliation, or just retortion, for equivalent 
 damage on any part of an enemy’s property, is permitted to 
 every nation. What right has the British nation (for if the 
 nation have rax he right, none of its people have) to demand 
 a breach of Iaitn in the American government to its citizens 
 
PATRICK HENRI. 
 
 371 
 
 i have already mentioned the engagement of the govern 
 ment with its citizens respecting the paper-money — If yon 
 take it, it shall be money . Shall it be judged now not to 
 be money ? Shall this compact be broken for the sake of 
 the British nation ? No, sir, the language of national law is 
 otherwise. Sir, the laws of confiscation and paper-money 
 made together one system, connected and sanctioned by the 
 legislature, on which depended once the fate of our country, 
 and on which depend now the happiness, the ease, and com- 
 fort of thousands of your fellow-citizens. Will it not be a 
 breach of the compact with your people, to say that the 
 money is not to keep up its original standard in the quality 
 given it by law ? What were the effects of this system ? 
 What would have been the effects, had your citizens been 
 apprized that British debts must be paid? Would they have 
 taken the money? Would they have deposited the monej 
 in the loan-office, if they had been warned by law, that they 
 must deposite it, subject to the future regulations of peace ; 
 that it should not release them from the creditors ? However 
 right it may appear now to decry the paper-money, it would 
 have been fatal then ; for America might have perished, 
 without the aid and effect of that medium. Your citizens, 
 trusting to this compact, submitted to a number of things 
 almost intolerable — impressments and violences on their 
 property — -it encouraged them to exert inemselves in defence 
 of their property against the enemy during the war. If the 
 debt in the declaration mentioned be recovered, the compact 
 is subverted, as respecting the paper-money. And this sub- 
 version is to take effect for the interest of those men, whom, 
 by all laws human and divine, we were obliged to consider as 
 enemies ; men who were obliged to comply with the regula 
 bon? and requisitions of their king ; and our people will have 
 
&72 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 been labouring, not for themselves, but for the benefit of the 
 British subject. 
 
 “ When a vessel is in danger in a storm, those who abide 
 on board of her, and encounter the dangers of the sea to 
 save her, are allowed some little compensation for salvage, 
 for their fidelity and gallantry in endeavouring to prevent 
 her loss ; while those who abandon her are entitled to 
 nothing. But, in opposition to this wise and politic principle, 
 we, who have withstood the storms and dangers, receive no 
 compensation ; but those who left the political ship, and 
 joined those on the other side of the icater who wished to 
 sink her, and who caused her to fight eight long years for 
 her preservation, shall come in at last, and get their full 
 share of this vessel, and yet will have been exonerated from 
 every charge. For whom, then, were the people of America 
 engaged in war ? Not for themselves, I am sure — the prop- 
 erty that they saved will not be for themselves, but for those 
 whom they had a right to call enemies. I am not willing to 
 ascribe to the meanest American the love of money, or 
 desire of eluding the payment of his debts, as the motive of 
 engaging in the war. No, sir. He had nobler and better 
 views. But he thinks himself well entitled to those debts, 
 from the laws and usages of nations, as a compensation for 
 the injuries he has sustained. There is a sad drawback on 
 this property saved. A national debt for seventeen years, 
 considerable taxes, which were profusely laid during the 
 war on lands and slaves ; and, since the peace, we have 
 been loaded with a heavy taxation. I know tlat I advocate 
 this cause on a very advantageous ground, when I speak of 
 the right of salvage. The cargo on board the wrecked 
 vessel belongs to the British, it will have been saved foi 
 them ! but the salvage is due to is only. If you take it on 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 373 
 
 die ground of interest — you may hold as a pledge — you 
 may retain for salvage. If you take it on the scale of f1 ie 
 common law, or of national law — you may oppose dama 
 ges to debts — retain the debts, to retribute and compensate 
 for the injuries they have done you. I have now got over 
 and I trust established the first point ; that is, tnat debts in 
 common wars are subject to forfeiture, and much more so in 
 a revolution war like the American war.”* 
 
 Having established his first position, he presents his next 
 point thus : — “ My next point is, that the British debts being 
 so forfeited (as I conceive) can only be revived by the treaty * 
 and unless they be so revived, they are gone for ever. I 
 will then consider how this matter stands under the treaty.” 
 He proceeds then to show by authority, the rules by which 
 treaties are to be construed ; and demonstrates, that a treaty 
 can confer no benefit unless it be mutually observed with 
 good faith ; that perfidy, on either side, is a forfeiture of all 
 its advantages ; that the stipulations of a treaty are in the 
 nature of conditions precedent ; that a breach on either side 
 dissolves the covenant altogether, and places the parties on 
 the general ground which they occupied before the treaty ; 
 that Great Britain had violated the treaty, in the moment 
 of its ratification, by carrying off our slaves, and detaining 
 with an armed force those posts of which she had stipulated 
 the immediate surrender ; that the pretence of her having 
 acted thus as a retaliatory measure for the non-payment of 
 
 * These copious extracts from the report on Mr. Henry’s first poin 
 are deemed necessary to give the reader an idea of his mode of argu 
 mentation, so far as it can be furnished by this report. It would be 
 trespassing on the indulgence of the proprietor of the manuscript 
 (which has never been published,) and trespassing too, perhaps, on the 
 patience of that portion of my readers who can find no enjoyment in 
 legal discussion, to pursue any farther this extended mode of analysis 
 
 32 
 
874 
 
 WIRT * S LIFt OF 
 
 the debts, was an insult to common understanding, because 
 she began her infractions before any experiment had been 
 made of a recovery of the debts ; that the notion of a reprisal, 
 preceding any injury — and a retaliation, in advance , of any 
 wrong on the opposite side, was so far from mitigating her 
 offence, that it was a daring insult on the honour and good 
 faith of this nation ! Having, by a series of authorities di- 
 rectly in point, established the right of the American nation 
 to regard the treaty as abolished by any perfidious infraction 
 of it, on the part of Great Britain, he shows next, that those 
 infractions were established by the pleadings in the cause ; 
 because the defendant by his several pleas had specified those 
 infractions, and the plaintiff, by demurring to the pleas, had 
 admitted the truth of their averments. 
 
 Great Britain, then, as a nation , having by her own per- 
 fidy forfeited all right to insist upon the treaty, and that 
 treaty, as between the nations , being annulled, the next 
 question was, whether any individual of the British nation 
 could claim any advantage under the treaty? This he 
 shows could not be done, because in making the treaty, the 
 sovereigns of the two nations acted for all the individuals of 
 their respective nations ; the individuals were bound by all 
 the acts of those sovereigns, whether in making or abolish- 
 ing a treaty. “Here,” said he, “are two moral persons, 
 Great Britain and America, making a contract. The plain- 
 tiff claims and the defendant defends under and through 
 
 o 
 
 them ; and if either nation or moral person has no right to 
 benefits from such contract, individuals claiming under 
 them can have none. The plaintiff then claims under his 
 nation, but if that nation have committed perfidy respecting 
 the observance of the compact, no right can be carried there- 
 ffom to the plaintiff. It puts him back in the same situation 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 375 
 
 he was in before the treaty.” He shows the absurdity ot 
 considering the tieaty as annulled, in relation to all the indi- 
 viduals, in their collective character of a nation, and yet as 
 in full force for the benefit of each individual separately 
 for if this plaintiff had a right to all the beneficial effects of 
 the treaty, every man in England had the same right ; and 
 he cites and reads from Vattel, a conclusive authority, to 
 show, that the conventional law of nations could take its 
 effect only from universal right, extending equally to all the 
 citizens or individuals of a nation. But to say, that America 
 had a right to consider the treaty as void against all the indi- 
 viduals of the British nation, collectively , while each and 
 every individual of that nation separately , could enforce it 
 upon her, was to offer to the understanding a paradoxical 
 absurdity, as insulting to common sense, as the conduct of 
 Great Britain had been to the honour of the American nation. 
 
 He contended further on this point, that if the treaty had 
 been observed by Great Britain, and were of consequence still 
 obligatory, it did not and could not operate where moneys 
 had been actually paid into the treasury under the laws of 
 the state ; for the provision of the treaty is, “ that creditors 
 on either side should meet with no lawful impediment to the 
 recovery of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.” The 
 defendant, he said, having paid the money into the treasury 
 according to the act of assembly, and the truth of the pay- 
 ment being admitted in the record, this article of the treaty 
 could not support the plaintiff’s claim. “ To derive a benefit 
 from the treaty, the plaintiff must demand a b^na fide debt ; 
 that is, a debt bona fide due. The word debt implies that 
 the thing is due ; for if it be not due , how can it be a debt f 
 To give to these words, all debts heretofore contracted , a 
 •trictlv literal sense, would be. to authorize a renewed de 
 
376 
 
 WIRT S L I F £ OF 
 
 mand for debts 'which had been actually paid off to tl e cred* 
 itor ; for these were certainly within the v'ords of the treaty 
 being debts heretofore contracted : — to avoid this absurd and 
 dishonest consequence, you must look at the intention of the 
 thing- and the intention certainly was to embrace those 
 cases where there had not been a legal payment. I ask, ,! 
 said he, “ why a payment made in gold and silver is a legal 
 payment ? Because the coin of those metals is made cur- 
 rent by the laws of this country. If paper be made current by 
 the same authority, why should not a payment in it be equally 
 valid ! The British subject cannot demand payment, be* 
 cause I confront his demand with a receipt.. Why will a 
 receip 1 discharge in any instance ? — because it is founded on 
 the law's of the country. A receipt given in consequence of 
 a payment in coin, is a legal discharge, only because the 
 laics of the country make it so. I ask then, why a receipt 
 given in consequence of a payment into the treasury, be not 
 of equal validity, since it has precisely the same foundation 1 
 It is expressly constituted a discharge by a legislature 
 having competent authority. This debt, therefore, having 
 oeen legally paid by the contractor, was not due from him at 
 the time of making the treaty, and therefore is not within the 
 intention of that instrument. But, say the gentlemen on 
 the other side, the one payment has the consent of the 
 creditor, and the other has not : he who paid coin has the 
 creditor’s consent to the discharge, but he who paid money 
 into the treasury wants it. Have we not satisfied this honour- 
 able court, that the governing power had a right to put 
 itself in the place of the British subjects ? Having had jun 
 unquestionable right to confiscate, sequester, or modify thos*i 
 debts as they pleased, they had an equally indubitable righ* 
 to substitute themselves in the stead of the plaintiff, other 
 
377 
 
 Patrick henry. 
 
 wise those authorities have been quoted in vain.” Tie then 
 cites authorities to prove, that the law of the place governs 
 the contract; and concludes, that the payment into the treas* 
 urv having in this instance been made in consequence of a 
 law of this commonwealth, which was strictly consonant 
 with the laws of nations, and which had declared that such 
 payment should operate as a complete and final dis- 
 charge, this was not a subsisting debt , within the contem- 
 plation of the treaty, and remained therefore, wholly unaf- 
 fected by it. 
 
 “ The next question was, whether this court could take 
 notice of this infraction of the treaty, on the part of Great 
 Britain, and found their judgment upon it. On this question, 
 he observes that the court were not called upon to step out of 
 their appropriate sphere, in order to invade the province of 
 the jury by trying facts ; the facts were all agreed by the 
 pleadings ; the court were merely called upon to say what 
 was the law arising on those facts. 
 
 “ The existence or non-existence of the treaty, was a legal 
 inference from the facts agreed ; which the court alone were 
 competent to decide. The plaintiff himself had forced this 
 question on the court, by relying in his replication on the 
 treaty, as restoring his right to recover this debt. He sets up 
 his right under this instrument expressly, and then questions 
 the jurisdiction of the court to decide upon the instrument ! 
 The treaty, quoad hoc, is the covenant of the parties in this 
 suit : the question presented by the pleadings is, whether the 
 plaintiff who, by that covenant, has taken upon himself the 
 performance of a precedent condition, can claim any benefit 
 under it, until he shall show that this precedent condition has 
 been performed. On this question, said he, the gentleman’s 
 argument is, that the court have no power to decide on thfi 
 3 B 32* 
 
* 
 
 378 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 construction of the covenant, which he himself lias brought 
 before them; tnat they have nothing to do with the depen- 
 dance or independence of the stipulations, or the recipiocal 
 rights of the parties, to claim under the covenant, without 
 showing a previous performance on their respective parts ! 
 He, on the contrary, insisted that, under the constitution of 
 the United States, the question belonged, peculiarly and 
 exclusively , to the judicial department ; that by the constitu- 
 tion it was expressly provided, that the judicial power should 
 extend to all cases arising under treaties ; that the law of 
 treaties embraced the whole extent of natural and national 
 law ; that the constitution therefore, by referring all cases 
 arising under treaties to the judiciary, had of necessity ir 
 vested them with the power of appealing to that code of laws 
 by which alone the construction, the operation, the efficacy, 
 the legal existence or non-existence of treaties, must be test- 
 ed : and by this code, they were told in the most emphatic 
 terms, that he who violates one article of a treaty, releases 
 the other party from the performance of any part of it ; that 
 the reference of all cases arising under treaties, to the judi- 
 cial department, carried with it every power near or remote, 
 direct or collateral, which was essential to a fair and just de- 
 cision of those cases; — that in every such case, the very 
 first question was, is there a treaty or not ? — not whether 
 there has been a treaty — but whether there is an existing , 
 obligatory , operative treaty . To decide this question, the 
 court must bring the facts to the standard of the laws of na- 
 tions ; and by this standard it had been shown, that in the 
 case at bar, there existed no treaty from which a British sub- 
 ject could claim any benefit. That if the judicial depart- 
 ment had not the power of deciding this question, there waf 
 no department in the American government which did posses* 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 379 
 
 it . the state governments have nothing to do with it — 
 congress cannot touch the subject — they may indeed declare 
 war for a violation ; but a nation was not to be forced to this 
 extremity on every occasion ; there were other modes of re- 
 dress, short of a declaration of war, to which nations had a 
 right to resort ; and one of them, as he had shown, was the 
 power of withholding from the perfidious violator of a treaty, 
 those benefits which he claimed under it. Now congress 
 could not by a law declare a treaty void — it is not among 
 those grants of power which the constitution makes to them; 
 they cannot, therefore, meddle with the subject in any other 
 way than by a declaration of war ; neither can the presi 
 dent and senate touch it. They can make treaties ; but 
 the constitution gives them no power to expound a treaty ; 
 much less to declare it void : they can only unite with the 
 house of representatives, in punishing an infraction by a dec- 
 laration of war. To the judiciary alone then, belongs this 
 pacific power of withholding legal benefits, claimed under a 
 treaty, because of the mala fides of the party claiming them. 
 
 “ Now, what will be the situation of this country, compared 
 with that of Great Britain, if you deny this power to the 
 judiciary ? If you have not observed the treaty with good 
 faith, and go to England, claiming any benefit under the 
 treaty, there is a power there, called royal prerogative, which 
 will tell you — no — go home and act honestly, and you shall 
 have your rights under the treaty. Your breach of faith 
 will not drive them to a declaration of war — there is a power 
 there which obtains redress by withholding your rights, until 
 you act with good faith : but where is the reciprocal and 
 corresponding, power in our government, if it be not in the 
 judiciary? It is nowhere; — we have no redress short of a 
 declaration of war. Is this one of the precious fruits of the 
 
380 
 
 WIRT S LlirE OK 
 
 adoption of the federal constitution, to bind us hand and foot 
 with the fetters of technicality, and leave us no way of burst- 
 ing them asunder, but by a declaration of war, and the effu- 
 sion of human blood ! It was never intended. The wisdom 
 and virtue which framed the constitution could never have 
 intended to place the country in this humiliating and awful 
 predicament. Give to this power of deciding on treaties, 
 which is delegated to the federal judiciary, a liberal construc- 
 tion — give them all the incidental powers necessary to carry 
 it into effect — open to them the whole region of natural and 
 national law, which furnishes the only rule of expounding 
 those national compacts, called treaties, and your government 
 is unmutilated, its measure of power is full up to the exigen- 
 ces of the nation, and you treat on equal terms : but upon 
 the opposite construction, much better would it be that Amer- 
 ica should have no treaties at all, than that having them, she 
 should want those means of enforcement and redress which 
 all other nations possess.” 
 
 Having thus established that debts are subject to confisca- 
 tion in common wars, and much more so in the war of the 
 revolution — that Virginia was an independent nation, and as 
 such, competent to the exercise of this right of eminent 
 domain — of taking to herself the debts of her enemies — that 
 she had in fact exercised this right, and that this debt had, 
 under one of her laws of that character, been legally dis- 
 charged — that the treaty had no effect in reviving the claim, 
 because the treaty had been annulled by the infractions ol 
 t on the part of Great Britain — and because if it had not, 
 this was not a subsisting debt, within the purview of the 
 treaty — and finally, that the court’s jurisdiction extended t a 
 every question touching the consequence or annulment of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 381 
 
 treaties. He sa d he had now finished his own view of the 
 subject, and should have taken his seat, but for the necessity 
 of giving a particular answer to the various objections to 
 these principles, which had been so ably urged by the counsel 
 for the plaintilF. In this part of his subject he shows the 
 most masterly acuteness, address, and vigour. A gentleman 
 who was present,* has described some of the circumstances 
 of his manner, with a very interesting minuteness : — ■“ Mr. 
 Henry,” he said, “had taken ample notes of the arguments 
 of his adversaries : the people would give him his own time 
 to examine his notes, and select the argument or remark 
 that he meant to make the subject of his comments, observ- 
 ing in these pauses the most profound silence. If the answer 
 which he was about to give was a short one, he would give 
 it without removing his spectacles from his nose — but if he 
 was ever seen to give his spectacles a cant to the top of his 
 wig, it was a declaration of war , and his adversaries must 
 stand clear.” 
 
 I propose to give a few specimens only of his mode of 
 answering the arguments of the opposing counsel. It had 
 been urged by them, that the laws of nations had declared 
 only the estate of an alien enemy liable to confiscation — but 
 that debts were mere rights — cJ Loses in action — and there- 
 fore not of a confiscable character. His answer to this is a 
 happy mixture of ridicule and argument. It is short, and I 
 shall give it in his own words : — 
 
 “ But a chose in action is not liable to forfeiture. Whv? 
 
 «/ 
 
 Because it is too terrible to be done. There is such a 
 thing as straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel 
 
 *The late Mr. Hardin Burnley. 
 
3S2 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 Things much more terrible have been done — things, front 
 which our nature, where it lias any pretensions to he pure 
 and correct, must recoil with horror. Show me those laws 
 which forfeit your life, attaint your blood, and beggar your 
 wife and children. Those sanguinary and inhuman latvs, 
 to which every thing valuable must yield, are tc be found in 
 the code of that people, under whom the plaintiff now claims 
 Is it so terrible to confiscate debts , when they forfeit life , 
 and corrupt the very source of your blood ? Though eveiy 
 other thing dear to humanity is forfeitable, yet debts , it 
 seems, must be spared ! Debts are too sacred to be touched ? 
 It is a mercantile idea that worships Mammon instead of 
 God. A chose in action shall pass — it is without your reach. 
 What authority can they adduce in support of such conclu 
 sive pre-eminence for debts ? No political or human insti 
 tution has placed them above other things. If debt be the 
 most sacred of all earthly obligations, I am uninformed from 
 whence it has derived that eminence. The principle is to 
 be found in the daybooks, journals, and legers of mer 
 chants ; not in the writings or reasonings of the wise and 
 well-informed — the enlightened instructers of mankind. Can 
 any gentleman show me any instance, where the life or 
 property of a gentleman or plebeian in England is forfeited, 
 and yet his debts spared ? The state can claim debts due 
 to one guilty of high treason. Are they not subject to con 
 fiscation ? I concur in that sound principle, that good faith 
 is essential to the happiness of mankind ; that its want stops 
 all human intercourse, and renders us miserable. This prin 
 ciple is permanent, and universal. Look to what point of 
 the compass you will, you will fi .id it pervading all nations 
 Who does not set down its sacred influent e as the only thing 
 that comforts human life ? Does the plaintiff claim through 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 383 
 
 good faith ? How does he derive his claim ? Through 
 perfidy; through a polluted channel. Every thing of that 
 kind would have come better from our side of the question, 
 than from theirs.” 
 
 Mr. Ronald had insisted, strenuously, that there could be 
 no forfeiture or escheat without the inquest of a jury ; and 
 that no act of the legislature had, in fact, directly forfeited 
 these debts. In answer to this, Mr. Henry says, “ but the 
 gentleman has observed, that neither the declaration of the 
 legislature, by the act of 1779, that the British subjects had 
 become aliens, and their property vested in the common- 
 wealth, nor any other act passed on the subject, could divest 
 the debts out of the British creditors. It cannot be done 
 without the solemnity of an inquiry by a jury. The debt 
 of A or B, cannot be given to C, without this solemnity. Is 
 the little legality of forms, which are necessary when you 
 speak of estates and titles, requisite on such mighty occasions 
 as these ? When the fate of a nation is concerned, you are 
 to speak the language of nature. When your very existence 
 is at stake, are you to speak the technical language of books, 
 and to be confined to the limited rules of technical criticism ? 
 to those tricks and quirks — those little twists and twirls 
 of low chicanery and sophistry, which are so beneficial to 
 professional men ? Alexander said, in the style of that 
 mighty man, to the Thessalians, ‘ You are free from the 
 Thebans ,’ and the debts they owed them were thereby re 
 mitted. Every other sovereign has the same right to use 
 the same natural, manly, and laconic language ; not when 
 he is victorious only, but in every situation, if he be in a 
 state of hostility with other nations. The acts use n«* the 
 language of technicality, they speak not of releases , 
 
384 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 charges , and acquittances ; but they speak the legislative: 
 will, in simple speech, to the human understanding — a style 
 better suited to the purpose, than the turgid and pompous 
 phraseology of many great writers.” 
 
 Mr. Ronald, who was a native of Scotland, and at the 
 commencement of the revolutionary war at least, had been 
 suspected of being not very warm in the American cause, 
 had urged the objection to the national competency of Vir- 
 ginia, at the time of the passage of those laws of confiscation 
 and forfeiture, on which the defendant relied ; and in the 
 course of his observations, had unfortunately used the remark, 
 that Virginia was, at that time, nothing more than a revolted 
 colony . When Mr. Henry came to notice this remark, he 
 gave his spectacles the war cant : — “But another observa- 
 tion,” said he, “ was made ; that by the law of nations we had 
 not a right to legislate on the subject of British debts — we 
 were not an independent nation — and I thought,” said he, 
 raising himself aloft, while his frame dilated itself beyond the 
 ordinary size, “that I heard the word — revolt /” At this 
 word, he turned upon Mr. Ronald his piercing eye, and knit 
 his brows at him, with an expression of indignation and con- 
 tempt, which seemed almost to annihilate him. It was like 
 a stroke of lightning. Mr. Ronald shrunk from the wither- 
 mg look : and, pale and breathless, cast down his eyes, 
 “ seeming,” says my informant, “ to be in quest of an auger 
 hole, by which he might drop through the floor, and escape 
 for ever from mortal sight.” Mr. Henry perceived his suf- 
 fering, and his usual good-nature immediately returned to 
 him. He raised his eyes gently toward the court, and shaking 
 his head slowly, with an expression of regret, added, “ i 
 wish I had not heard it: for although innocently meant, 
 (and 1 am sure that it was so, from the character of the 
 
PATRICK HENRY 
 
 385 
 
 wjnlleman who mentioned it,) yet the sound displeases me — 
 it is unpleasant.” Mr. Ronald breathed again, and looked up, 
 and his generous adversary dismissed the topic, to resume it 
 no more. 
 
 It may give the reader some idea of the amplitude of this 
 argument, when lie is told that Mr. Henry w r as engaged 
 three days successively in its delivery; and some faint con- 
 ception of the enchantment which he threw over it, wdien he 
 learns that although it turned entirely on questions of law, 
 yet the audience, mixed as it was, seemed so far from being 
 wearied, that they followed him throughout with increased 
 enjoyment. The room continued full to the last ; and such 
 was the listening silence” with which he was heard that 
 not a syllable that he uttered is believed to have been ost. 
 When he finally sat down, the concourse rose w r itL % a general 
 murmur of admiration; the scene resembled the breaking up 
 and dispersion of a great theatrical assembly, which had been 
 enjoying for the first time, the exhibition of some new and 
 spiendid drama : the speaker of the house of delegates was at 
 length able to command a Quorum for business : and every 
 quarter of the city, and, at length, every part of the state, was 
 filled with the echoes of Mr. Henry’s eloquent speech. 
 
 His practice during these last years, of which we are now 
 speaking, w'as confined pretty generally to cases of conse- 
 quence. He did not like the profession, and was not whiling 
 to embark in any case for the ordinary fees. I have an inter- 
 esting sketch of him, in his professional character, during 
 those years, from the same elegant pen, which in a former 
 page, exhibits the parallel between him and Mr. Lee in 1784 : 
 it is as follows : — 
 
 “ At the bar, Mr. Henry was eminently successful. When 
 i saw him there, he must, from the course of his life, which 
 3 C 33 
 
386 
 
 WIRT’fe LIFE OF 
 
 had been chiefly political, have become somewhat rusty m 
 the learning of his profession : yet I considered him as a 
 good lawyer . he seemed to be well acquainted with the rules 
 and canons of property. He would not, indeed, undergo 
 the drudgery necessary for complicated business ; yet I am 
 told, that in the British debt cause, he astonished the public 
 not less by the matter than the manner of his speech. It 
 was however as a criminal lawyer that his eloquence had 
 the fairest scope, and in that character I have seen him. He 
 was perfect master of the passions of his auditory, whethei 
 in the tragic or comic line. The tones ot his voice, to say 
 nothing of his matter and gesture, were insinuated into the 
 feelings of his hearers, in a manner that baffles all descrip- 
 tion. It seemed to operate by mere sympathy; and by his 
 tones alone, it seemed to me, that he could make you cry or 
 „ laugh at pleasure. I will endeavour to give you some ac 
 count of this tragic and comic effect in two instances, which 
 
 I witnessed. 
 
 » 
 
 “ About the year 1792, one Holland killed a young man 
 in Botetourt. The young man was popular, and lived, I 
 thinks with Mr. King, a wealthy merchant in Fincastle, who 
 employed Mr. John Brackenridge to assist in the prosecution 
 of Holland. This Holland had gone up from the county of 
 Louisa as a schoolmaster, but had turned out badly, and was 
 unpopular. The killing was in the night, and was generally 
 believed to be murder . He was the son of one Doctor Hol- 
 land, who was yet living in Louisa, and had been one of 
 Mr. Henry’s juvenile friends and acquaintances. It was 
 chiefly at the instance of the father, and for a very moderate 
 fee, that Mr. Henry undertook to go out to the district court 
 of Greenbrier, to defend the prisoner. Such were the pre- 
 indices there, that the people had openly and repeatedly de- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 387 
 
 dared that even Patrick Henry need net come to defend 
 Holland, unless lie brought a jury with him. On the day 
 of trial, the court-house was crowded. I did not move from 
 my seat for fourteen hours ; and had no wish to do so. The 
 examination of the witnesses took up great part of the time, 
 and the lawyers were probably exhausted. Brackenridge 
 was eloquent ; but Henry left no dry eye in the court-house. 
 The case I believe was murder ; though, possibly, man- 
 slaughter only . Mr. Henry laid hold of this possibility with 
 such effect as to make all forget that Holland had killed the 
 storekeeper at all ; and presented the deplorable case of the 
 jury killing Holland, an innocent man. By that force' of 
 description which he possessed in so wonderful a degree, he 
 exhibited, as it were, at the clerk’s table, old Holland and his 
 wife, who were then in Louisa; but the drawing was so 
 powerful, and so true to nature, that we seemed to see them 
 before us, and to hear them asking of the jury, ‘ Where is 
 our son ? What have you done with him V All this was 
 done in a manner so solemn and touching, and a tone so 
 irresistible, that it was impossible for the stoutest heart not to 
 take sides with the criminal : as for the jury, they lost sight 
 of the murder they were trying, and wept most profusely, 
 with old Holland and his wife, whom Mr. Henry painted, 
 and perhaps proved to be very respectable. During the ex- 
 amination of the evidence, the bloody clothes had been brought 
 in. Mr. Henry objected to their exhibition, and applied 
 most forcibly and pathetically Antony’s remark on Cesar’s 
 wounds, on those du?nb mouths which would raise the 
 stones of Rome to mutiny. He urged that this sight would 
 totally deprive the jury of their judgment, which would be 
 merged in their feelings. The court were divided, and the 
 motion fell The result of the trial was, that after the re 
 
3S8 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 tirement of a half or quarter of an hour, the jury brought 
 in a verdict of not guilty ; but on being reminded by the 
 court that they might find a degree of homicide, inferior 
 to murder, they altered their verdict to guilty of man - 
 slaughter .” 
 
 “ Mr. Henry was not less successful in the comic line, 
 when it became necessary to resort to it. You have no 
 doubt heard how he defeated John Hook, by raising the ci y 
 of beef against him. I will give you a similar instance. In 
 the year 1792, there were many suits on the south side of 
 James river, for inflicting Lynch’s law.* A verdict of five 
 hundred pounds had been given in Prince Edward district 
 court, in a case of this kind. This alarmed the defendant in 
 the next case, who employed Mr. Henry to defend him. 
 The case was, that a wagoner and the plaintiff were travel- 
 ling to Richmond together, when the wagoner knocked 
 down a turkey, and put it into his wagon. Complaint was 
 made to the defendant, a justice of the peace ; both the par- 
 ties were taken up, and the wagoner agreed to take a 
 whipping rather than be sent to jail: but the plaintiff re- 
 fused : the justice, however, gave him also a small flagella- 
 tion ; and for this the suit was brought. The plaintiff, by 
 way of taking off the force of the defence, insisted that he 
 was wholly innocent of the act committed. Mr. Henry on 
 the contrary contended, that he was a party present, aiding 
 and assisting. In the course of his remarks, he expressed 
 himself thus : — ‘ But, gentlemen of the jury, the plaintiff 
 
 * Thirty-nine lashes, inflicted without trial or law, on mere suspicion 
 of guilt, which could not be regularly proved. This lawless practice, 
 which, sometimes by the order of a magistrate, sometimes without, 
 prevailed extensively in the upper counties on James river took its 
 name from the gentleman who set the first example of it 
 
PATRICK HE NR Y. 
 
 389 
 
 ells you he had nothing to do with the turkey — I dare say, 
 gentlemen, not until it was roasted ,’ &c. He pronounced 
 this word roasted with such rotundity of voice, such a ludi- 
 crous whirl of the tongue, and in a manner so indescribably 
 comical, that it threw every one into a fit of laughter at the 
 plaintiff, who stood up in the place usually allotted to 
 criminals ; and the defendant was let off, with littie or no 
 damages.” 
 
 The case of John Hook, to which my correspondent al- 
 ludes, is worthy of insertion. Hook was a Scotchman, a man 
 of wealth, and suspected of being unfriendly to the American 
 cause. During the distresses of the American army, conse- 
 quent on the joint Invasion of Cornwallis and Phillips in 
 1781, a Mr. Venable, an army commissary had taken two 
 of Hook’s steers for the use of the troops. The act had not 
 been strictly legal ; and on the establishment of peace. Hook, 
 under the advice of Mr. Cowan, a gentleman of some dis 
 tinction in the law, thought proper to bring an action of tres 
 pass against Mr. Venable, in the district court of New Lon- 
 don. Mr. Henry appeared for the defendant, and is said to 
 have disported himself in this cause to the infinite enjoy- 
 ment of his hearers, the unfortunate Hook always excepted. 
 After Mr. Henry became animated in the cause, says a cor- 
 respondent,* he appeared to have complete control over the 
 passions of his audience : at one time he excited their indig- 
 nation against Hook : vengeance was visible in every coun 
 tenance : again, when he chose to relax and ridicule him, 
 the whole audience was in a roar of laughter. He painted 
 the distresses of the American army, exposed almost naked 
 to the rigour of a winter’s sky, and marking the frozen 
 
 ♦Judge Stuart. 
 33* 
 
390 
 
 vVIRT’s LIFE OF 
 
 ground over which they marched, with the blood of their 
 unshod feet — “where was the man,” he said, “who had an 
 American heart in his bosom, who would not have thrown 
 open his fields, his barns, his cellars, the doors of his house, 
 the portals of his breast, to have received with open arms, 
 the meanest soldier in that little band of famished patriots ? 
 Where is the man ? — There he stands — but whether the 
 heart of an American beats in his bosom, you, gentlemen, 
 are to judge.” He then carried the jury, by the powers of his 
 imagination, to the plains around York, the surrender of 
 which had followed shortly after the act complained of: lie 
 depicted the surrender in the most glowing and noble colours 
 of his eloquence — the audience saw before their eyes the 
 humiliation and dejection of the British, as they marched out 
 of their trenches — they saw the triumph which lighted up 
 every patriot face, and heard the shouts of victory, and the 
 cry of Washington and liberty, as it rung and echoed through 
 the American ranks, and was reverberated from the hills and 
 shores of the neighbouring river — “ but hark ! what notes 
 of discord are these which disturb the general joy, and silence 
 the acclamations of victory- they are the notes of John 
 Hooky hoarsely bawling through the American camp, beef ! 
 beef! beef!” 
 
 The whole audience were convulsed : a particular incident 
 will give a better idea of the efTect, than any general desciip- 
 tion. The clerk of the court, unable to command himself, 
 and unwilling to commit any breach of decorum in his 
 place, rushed out of the court-house, and threw himself on 
 the grass, in the most violent paroxysm of laughter, where 
 he was railing, when Hook, with very different feelings, came 
 out for relief into the yard also. “Jemmy Steptoe,” said he 
 to the clerk, “what the devil ails ye, mon?” Mr. Steptoe 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 391 
 
 was only able to say, that he could not help it . “ Nevei 
 
 mind ye,” said Hook, “ wait till Billy Cowan gets up : he'll 
 show him the la’.” Mr. Cowan, however, was so completely 
 overwhelmed by the torrent which bore upon his client, that 
 when he rose to reply to Mr. Henry, he was scarcely able to 
 make an intelligible or audible remark The cause was de 
 cided almost by acclamation. The jury retired for form sake, 
 and instantly returned with a verdict for the defendant. Nor 
 did the effect of Mr. Henry’s speech stop here. The people 
 were so highly excited by the tory audacity of such a suit, 
 that Hook began to hear around him a cry more terrible than 
 that of beef : it was the cry of tar and feathers : from the 
 application of which it is said, that nothing saved him but a 
 precipitate flight and the speed of his horse. 
 
 I have not attempted, in the course of these sketches, to 
 follow Mr. Henry through his professional career. I have 
 no materials to justify such an attempt. It has been, indeed, 
 stated to me in general, that he appeared in such and such 
 a case, and that he shone with great lustre ; but neither his 
 speeches in those cases, nor any point of his argument, nor 
 even any brilliant passage has been communicated, so that 
 the sketch that could be given of them must be either con- 
 fined to a meager catalogue of the causes, or the canvass 
 must be filled up by my own fancy, which would at once be 
 an act of injustice to Mr. Henry, and a departure from that 
 historical veracity, which it has been my anxious study, in 
 every instance, to observe. 
 
 I have been told, for example, that in the year 1774 Mr. 
 Henry appeared at the bar of the general court, in defence 
 of a married man, by the name of Henry Bullard, indicted 
 for the murder of a beautiful girl, who lived in his house, to 
 whom he had unfortunately become attached, and whom in a 
 
392 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 moment of frantic despair, he sacrificed to his hopeless pas 
 sion. The defence is said to have been placed on the ground 
 of insanity ; and it is easy to conceive, in general, the figure 
 which Mr. Henry must have made in such a course. Those 
 pathetic powers of eloquence, in which he was so pre-emi- 
 nently great, had ample scope for their exercise in this case; 
 and we can credit, without difficulty, the assertion, that he 
 deluged the house with tears, and effected the acquittal of hi? 
 client. But this is all that we know of the case.* 
 
 So also I learn that, on some occasion after the war, he 
 appeared at the bar of the house of delegates, in support of 
 a petition of the officers of the Virginia line, who sought tc 
 be placed on the footing of those who had been taken on 
 continental establishment : and that, after having depicted 
 their services and their sufferings, in colours which filled 
 every heart with sympathy and gratitude, he dropped on his 
 knees, at the bar of the house, and presented such an appeal 
 as might almost have softened rocks, and bent the knotted 
 oak. Yet no vestige of this splendid speech remains ; nor 
 have I been able, after the most diligent inquiries, to ascer- 
 tain the year in which it occurred ; similar petitions having 
 been presented for several successive sessions. 
 
 It was in the year 1794, that he bade a final adieu to his 
 profession, and retired to the bosom of his own family. He 
 retired, loaded with honours, public and professional : and 
 carried with him the admiration, the gratitude, the confi- 
 
 * If this is the case of Henry Bullard, who was indicted at the April 
 term of 1774, for the murder of Mary Pinner, this honour claimed by 
 my correspondent for Mr. Henry is not due ; for the records of tne 
 general court show, that the indictment, although originally drawn 
 for the charge of murder, was reduced to manslaughter by the grand 
 jury ; of which offence the prisoner was convicted. There is. proba* 
 bly, some mistake in the name. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 393 
 
 dence, and the Jove of his country. No man had ever passed 
 Jirough so long a life of public service, with a reputation 
 more perfectly unspotted. Nor had Mr. Henry, on any oc 
 casion, sought security from censure, by that kind of pni- 
 dent silence and temporizing neutrality, which politicians 
 so frequently observe. On the contrary, his course had been 
 uniformly active, bold, intrepid, and ‘ndependent. On every 
 great subject of public interest, the part which he had taken 
 was open, decided, manly ; his country saw his motives, 
 heard his reasons, approved his conduct, rested upon his 
 virtue and his vigour; and contemplated with amazement, 
 the evolution and unremitted display of his transcendent 
 talents. For more than thirty years he had now stood be- 
 fore that country — open to the scrutiny and the censure of 
 the invidious — yet he retired, not only without spot or 
 blemish, but with all his laurels blooming full and fresh upon 
 him — followed by the blessings of his almost adoring coun- 
 trymen, and cheered by that most exquisite of all earthly 
 possessions — the consciousness of having, in deed and in 
 truth, played icell his part . He had now, too, become dis- 
 embarrassed of debt; his fortune was affluent: and he en- 
 joyed in his retirement, that ease anl dignuy, which no 'nan 
 ever more richly deserved. 
 
SECTION X. 
 
 W.( ./ever difference of opinion may exist as to other 
 parts of his character, in this the concurrence is universal : 
 that there never was a man better constituted than Mr. 
 Henry to enjoy and adorn the retirement on which he had 
 now entered. Nothing can be more amiable, nothing more 
 interesting and attaching, than those pictures which have 
 been furnished from every quarter, without one dissentient 
 stroke of the pencil, of this great and virtuous man in the 
 bosom of private life. Mr. Jefferson says, that he was the 
 best-humoured companion in the world.” His disposition 
 was indeed all sweetness — his affections were warm, kind, 
 and social — his patience invincible — his temper ever un- 
 clouded, cheerful, and serene — his manners plain, open, 
 familiar, and simple — b*s conversation easy, ingenuous, and 
 uimrfeetea, lull oi entertainment, xmi of instruction, and irra- 
 diated with all those light and softer graces, which ins genius 
 threw, without effort, over the most common subjects* It is 
 said that there stood in the court, before his door, a large 
 walnut-tree, under whose shade it was his delight to pass his 
 summer evenings, surrounded by his affectionate and happy 
 family, and by a circle of neighbours who loved him almost 
 to idolatry. Here he would disport himself with all the care- 
 less gayety of infancy. Here, too, he would sometimes warm 
 the bosoms of the old, and strike fire from the eyes of his 
 younger hearers, by recounting the tales of other times ; by 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 395 
 
 SKCtching with the boldness of a master’s hand, those great 
 historic incidents in which he had borne a part ; and bv 
 drawing to the life, and placing before his audience, in 
 colours as fresh and strong as those of nature, the many 
 illustrious men in every quarter of the continent, with whom 
 he had acted a part on the public stage. Here, too, he would 
 occasionally discourse with all the wisdom and all the elo- 
 quence of a Grecian sage, of the various duties and offices of 
 life ; and pour forth those lessons of practical utility, with 
 which long experience and observation had stored his mind. 
 Many were the visiters from a distance, old and young, who 
 came on a kind of pious pilgrimage, to the retreat of the 
 veteran patriot, and found him thus delightfully and usefully 
 employed — the old to gaze upon him with long-remembered 
 affection, and ancient gratitude — the young, the ardent, and 
 the emulous, to behold and admire, with swimming eyes 
 the champion of other days, and to look with a sigh of gen- 
 erous regret, upon that height of glory which they could 
 never hope to reach. Blessed be the shade of that vener 
 able tree — ever hallowed the spot which his genius has 
 consecrated ! 
 
 Mr. Henry received these visits with all his characteristic 
 plainness and modesty ; and never failed to reward the fa- 
 tigue of the journey by the warmest welcome, and by the 
 unceremonious and fascinating familiarity, wilh which he 
 would at once enter into conversation with his new guests, 
 and cause them to forget that they were strangers, or abroad. 
 Nor must the reader suppose that in these conversations he 
 assumed any airs of superiority ; much less that his conver- 
 sation was, as in some of our conspicuous men, a continued 
 imperious, and didactic lecture. On the contrary, he carried 
 »nro private life, all those principles of equalitv which had 
 
896 
 
 W1RT ? S LIFE OF 
 
 governed him in public. That ascendency, indeed, which 
 proceeded from the superior energy of his mind, and the 
 weight of his character, would manifest itself unavoidably, 
 in the deference of his companions ; but there was nothing 
 in his manner which would have ever reminded them of it 
 On the contrary, it seemed to be his study to cause tnem to 
 forget it, and to decoy them into a free and equal interchange 
 of thought. If he took the lead in conversation, it was not 
 because he sought it ; but because it was forced upon him, 
 by that silent delight with which he perceived that his com- 
 pany preferred to listen to him. 
 
 But it was in the bosom of his own family, where the eye 
 of every visiter and even every neighbour was shut out — 
 where neither the love of fame, nor the fear of censure, could 
 be suspected of throwing a false light, upon his character — 
 it was in that very scene, in which it has been said that <l no 
 man is a hero,” that Mr. Henry’s heroism shone with the 
 most engaging beauty. It was to his wife, to his children, 
 to his servants, that his true character was best known : to 
 this grateful, devoted, happy circle, were best known the 
 patient and tender forbearance, the kind indulgence, the 
 forgiving mildness, and sweetness of his spirit, those puie 
 and warm affections, which were always looking out for the 
 means of improving their felicity, and that watchful prudence 
 and circumspection, which guarded them from harm. What 
 can be more amiable than the playful tenderness with which 
 he joined in the sports of his little children, and the bound 
 less indulgence with which he received and returned their ca- 
 resses ? “ His visiters,” says one of my correspondents, “have 
 not unfrequently caught him lying on the floor, with a group 
 of these little ones, climbing over him in every direction, or 
 dancing around him with obstreperous mirth, to the tune 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 30 % 
 
 of his violin, while the only contest seemed to be who should 
 make the most noise.” If there be any bachelor so cold of 
 heart as to be offended at this anecdote, I can only remind 
 him of the remark of the great Agesilaus to the friend who 
 found him riding on a stick among his children : “ Dont 
 mention it , till you are yourself a father 
 
 Such w’ere the scenes of domestic and social bliss, such 
 the delicious tranquillity, in which Mr. Henry passed the first 
 years of his retirement. Yet this retreat, which so well de- 
 served to have been considered as sacred, was doomed in a 
 few years to be disturbed by the bickerings of political party. 
 
 Since Mr. Henry’s retirement from public life, new parties 
 .lad arisen in the United States, whose animosities had been 
 carried to an alarming height. The federalists, who sup- 
 ported the measures of the new government throughout, 
 were accused by their adversaries of a disposition to strain 
 the constructive powers of the constitution to their highest 
 possible pitch ; of a secret wish to convert the government 
 into a substantial monarchy at least ; to which purpose, the 
 assumption of state debts, the establishment of the funding 
 system, and of the national bank, the alarming inciease of 
 the public debt, the imposition of a heavy load of internal 
 taxes, the establishment of an army and a navy, with all 
 their consequences of favouritism and extensive executive 
 patronage, were alleged to have been introduced. They 
 were branded with the name of aristocrats , a name of re- 
 proach borrowed from the parties in France ; and were 
 charged with being inimical to the cause of human liberty, 
 as was said to be proved by their hostility to the progress of 
 the French revolution, as well as by the alarming character of 
 those measures which they were pushing forward in Arnei 
 iea. They were suspected and accused of a preference foi 
 
398 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 a government of ranks and orders, and a secret love of titlei 
 of nobility ; of which it was said, one of their principal 
 leaders had furnished a decisive proof, so far as he was con- 
 cerned, by having proposed the introduction of titles in the 
 continental convention which had framed the constitution. 
 The party which urged these charges, took the name of re 
 publicans and democrats ; declared themselves the friends 
 of liberty and the people, and the firm advocates of a govern- 
 ment of the people by the people. They were devoted, with 
 enthusiasm, to the cause of liberty in France : considered 
 man, as the only title of nobility which ought to be admitted, 
 and his freedom and happiness as the sole objects of govern- 
 ment ; this they contended, was the principle on which the 
 American revolution had turned ; that the great objects of 
 the revolution could be no otherwise attained, than by a sim 
 pie, pure, economical, and chaste administration of the fedora’, 
 government ; and by restricting the several departments undei 
 the new constitution, to the express letter of the powers as 
 signed to them by that instrument. 
 
 The federalists on the other hand, denied and repelled, 
 with great acrimony and vehemence, the charges which had 
 been urged against them by their adversaries. They con- 
 tended that the measures complained of were warranted 
 by the constitution, and were necessary to give to the federal 
 government the effect which was intended by its adoption. 
 They insisted that they were simply the friends of order and 
 good government ; and in their turn, branded their adver- 
 saries with the name of Jacobins , who having caught the 
 mania from France, were for overturning all government, 
 and throwing every thing into anarchy and uproar, in the 
 hope of rising themselves to the top of the chaos. They 
 alleged that the opposition was formed of the dregs of thtf 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 309 
 
 American people, headed and goaded on by a few design* 
 ing men, and fermented into faction by the revolutionary 
 elements thrown among them from abroad, in the shape of 
 French and Irish emigrants and convicts. They insisted, 
 that it was indispensably necessary to the peace and order 
 of the American nation, that those foreign incendiaries 
 should be driven out from the land, and that the licentious 
 fury of our own populace should also be bridled. Under 
 this impression, were passed those alien and sedition laws 
 which are supposed to have put an end to the federal 
 power in America. 
 
 It is not my function to decide between these parties; nor 
 do I feel myself qualified for such an office. I have lived 
 too near the times, and am conscious of having been too 
 strongly excited by the feelings of the day, to place myself 
 in the chair of the arbiter. It would, indeed, be no difficult 
 task to present, under the engaging air of historic candour, 
 the arguments on one side, in an attitude so bold and com- 
 manding, and to exhibit those on the other under a form 
 so faint and shadowy, as to beguile the reader into the 
 adoption of my own opinions. But this would be unjust 
 to the opposite party, and a disingenuous abuse of the 
 confidence of the reader. Let us then remit the question 
 to the historian of future ages ; who, if the particular 
 memory of the past times shall not be lost in those great 
 events which seem preparing for the nation, will probably 
 decide, that, as in most family quarrels, both parties have 
 been somewhat in the wrong. 
 
 For my purpose, it is sufficient to state the rise and exist- 
 ence of those parties, and the fact that their collision had 
 convulsed the whole society. Mr. Henry, although removed 
 from the immediate scene of contention, was still an obieci 
 
400 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 of too much consequence to be viewed with indifference 
 He had a weight of character which gave to his opinions 3 
 preponderating influence on every subject, and both parties 
 were equally anxious to gain him to their cause. His 
 expressions were watched with the most anxious attention, 
 and it was not long before an alarm of his defection from 
 the popular cause was given. The first occasion of it I 
 discover was the treaty of 1794, with Great Britain, com- 
 monly known by the name of Jay’s treaty. 
 
 It will be remembered by the reader that Mr. Henry had 
 objected to the constitution, on the ground that it gave to tho 
 president and senate the whole treaty-making power. This 
 construction of th* instrument was not denied in the state 
 convention ; but o the contrary, was at least impliedly ad- 
 mitted ; and the provision was vindicated on the ground tha 
 the power of treating could be no where more safely an 
 properly lodged. When therefore the republican leaders in 
 the house of representatives claimed a right to participate in. 
 the ratification of Jay’s treaty, Mr. Henry considered them 
 as inconsistent with themselves, and as departing from their 
 own construction of the constitution. This charge and the 
 defence have both been made known to me by the follow- 
 ing letter from Mr. Henry to his daughter, Mrs. Ay let! : 
 
 “ Red Hill , August 20lh , 179b. 
 
 * My dear Betsy , 
 
 “Mr. William Aylett’s arrival here with your letter gave 
 me the pleasure of hearing of your welfare, and to hear of 
 that is highly gratifying to me, as I so seldom see you,” &c. 
 [The rest of this paragraph relates to family affairs.] 
 
 “As to the reports you have heard of my changing sides 
 in politics, I can only say, thev are not true. I am too old 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 401 
 
 to exchange my former opinions, which have grown up into 
 fixed habits of thinking. True it is, I have condemned the 
 conduct of our members in congress, because, in refusing tu 
 raise money for the purposes of the British treaty, thev, in 
 effect, womd have surrendered our country bound, hand and 
 foot, to the power of the British nation. This must have 
 been the consequence, I think; but the reasons for thinking 
 so are too tedious to trouble you with. The treaty is, in my 
 opinion, a very bad one indeed. But what must I think of 
 those men, whom I myself warned of the danger of giving 
 the power of making laws by means of treaty, to the presi- 
 dent and senate, when I see these same men denying the 
 existence of that power, which they insisted, in our conven- 
 tion, ought properly to be exercised by the president and 
 senate, and by none other ? The policy of these men, both 
 then and now, appears to me quite void of wisdom and 
 foresight. These sentiments I did mention in conversation 
 in Richmond, and perhaps others which I don’t remember ; 
 but sure I am, my first principle is, that from the British we 
 have every thing to dread, when opportunities of oppressing 
 us shall offer. 
 
 “ It seems that every word was watched which I casually 
 dropped, and wrested to answer party views. Who can 
 have been so meanly employed, I know not — nor do I care ; 
 for I no longer consider myself as an actor on the stage of 
 public life. It is time for me to retire ; and I shall never 
 more appear in a public character, unless some unlooked-for 
 circumstance shall demand from me a transient effort, not in- 
 consistent with private life — in which I have determined to 
 continue I see with concern our old commander-in-chief 
 most abusively treated — nor are his long and great services 
 remembered, as any apology for his mistakes i » an office t* 
 
 a R 34 * 
 
402 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 which lie was totally unaccustomed. If he, whose ch&rac 
 ter as our leader during the whole war was above all praise> 
 ‘s so roughly handled in his old age, what may be expected 
 oy men of the common standard of character ? I ever wished 
 he might keep himself clear of the office he bears, and its 
 1 attendant difficulties— but I am sorry to see the gross abuse 
 which is published of him. Thus, my dear daughter, have 
 I pestered you with a long letter on politics, which is a sub- 
 ject little interesting to you, except as it may involve my 
 reputation. I have long learned the little value which is to 
 be placed on popularity, acquired by any other way than 
 virtue ; and I have also learned, that it is often obtained by 
 other means. The view which the rising greatness of om 
 country presents to my eyes, is greatly tarnished by the gen- 
 eral prevalence of deism ; which, with me, is but another 
 name for vice and depravity. I am. however, much con- 
 soled by reflecting, that the religion of Christ has, from its 
 first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain, by all 
 the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every powei 
 of man, and its triumph has been complete. What is there 
 in the wit, or wisdom of the present deistical writers or pro 
 fessors, that can compare them with Hume, Shaftsbury, 
 Bolingbroke, and others ? and yet these have been confuted, 
 and their fame decaying; insomuch, that the puny efforts 
 of Paine are thrown in to prop their tottering fabric, whose 
 foundations cannot stand the test of time. Amongst other 
 strange things said of me, I hear it is said bv the deists that 
 I am one of the number; and, indeed, that some good 
 people think I am no Christian. This thought gives me 
 much more pain than the appellation of tory ; because 1 
 think religion of infinitely higher importance than politics 
 and I find much cause to reproach myself, that I have live 1 
 
PATRICK HE NR Y. 
 
 403 
 
 «o long, and have given no decided and public proofs of my 
 being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is a 
 character which I prize far above ail this world has or can 
 boast. -And amongst all the handsome things I hear said of 
 you, what gives me the greatest pleasure is, to be told of 
 your piety and steady virtue. Be assured there is not one 
 tittle, as to disposition or character, in which my parental af- 
 fection for you would suffer a wish for your changing ; and 
 it flatters my pride to have you spoken of as you are. 
 
 “ Perhaps Mr. Roane and Anne may have heard the re- 
 ports you mention. If it. will be any object with them to 
 see what 1 write you, show them this. But my wish is to 
 pass the rest of my days, as much as may be, unobserved by 
 the critics of the world, who would show but little sympathy 
 for the deficiencies to which old age is so liable. May God 
 biess you, my dear Betsy, and your children. Give my love 
 to Mr. Aylett, 
 
 “ And believe me ever, 
 
 “Your affectionate father, 
 
 “ P. Henry.” 
 
 This charge, however, had not deprived Mr. Henry of the 
 confidence of his country ; for in the session of the legislature 
 which followed the date of his letter, he was for the third 
 time elected the governor of the state. The letter by which 
 he declined the acceptance of that office is as follows 
 
 “To the honourable the speaker of the house of delegate?. 
 
 “ Charlotte County , Nov. 29th, 1796. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I have just received the honour of yours, informing me 
 nf my appointment tc the chief magistracy of the com 
 
4 04 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 monwealth. And I have to beg the favour of you, sir, to 
 convey to the general assembly, my best acknowledgments, 
 and warmest gratitude for the signal honour they have con 
 ferred on me. I should be happy if I could persuade myself, 
 that my abilities were commensurate to the duties of that 
 office ; but my declining years warn me of my inability. 
 
 “ I beg leave, therefore, to decline the appointment, and to 
 hope and trust that the general assembly will be pleased to 
 excuse me for doing so ; as no doubt can be entertained that 
 many of my fellow-citizens possess the requisite abilities for 
 this high trust. 
 
 “ With the highest regard, I am, sir, 
 
 “ Your most obedient servant, 
 
 “ P. Henry.” 
 
 This was the last testimonial of public confidence which 
 Mr. Henry received from his native state. The rumours of 
 his political apostacy became strong and general. He was 
 a prize worth contending for; and it is not wonderful there- 
 fore that the rival parties observed, with the most jealous 
 distrust, every advance which was made towards him by the 
 other, and interpreted such advances as so many stratagems 
 to gain him over: nor is it wonderful if, during the fever of 
 that hot and violent struggle, many things were supposed to 
 be seen, which did not in fact exist; and that those which 
 did exist, were sometimes seen under false shapes and col- 
 ours. It was reported at that day, that on Mr. Jefferson’s 
 resignation of the office of secretary of state, that office was 
 offered to Mr. Henry, in the confidence that, while the offer 
 would gratify him, he would nevertheless reject it: however 
 this may be, it is certain that the embassy to Spain was 
 offered to him during the first administration; a^d that to 
 
PATRICK HENRY, 
 
 105 
 
 France during the second.* These offers were known at the 
 time ; and when compared with his advanced age — the 
 large family with which he was encumbered — his settled 
 and well-known purpose of retirement — and the consequent 
 probability that these offers would not be accepted — and the 
 sentiments which he afterward expressed, in favour of some 
 of the measures of administration, which were extremely 
 obnoxious in Virginia — those offers were considered by the 
 republicans, as so many strokes of political flattery, addressed 
 to the vanity of an old man, and which had been but too 
 successful in having won him to the federal ranks. That he 
 approved of the alien and sedition laws, as good measures, 
 is undeniable ; indeed, he was not a man who would deny 
 any opinion that he held : and, however honest might have 
 been his conviction, both of the constitutionality and expe- 
 diency of these measures, it is equally undeniable, that his 
 sentiments in relation to them, combined with the above 
 causes, by which those sentiments were suspected of having 
 been influenced, produced an extremely unpropitious effect 
 on his popularity in Virginia. 
 
 The charge of apostacy, however, implies a previous com 
 mitment to the opposite side : but the evidence that Mr. 
 Henry ever stood committed to the democratic or to any 
 other party, (except the great American party of liberty and 
 republican government,) has not yet been seen by the author 
 of these sketches. At the time of his retirement, it is be- 
 lieved that the post-constitutional parties were not distinctly 
 marked. He had no opportunity, after they w'ere so marked, 
 of expressing his opinion publicly in favour of the one side 
 or the other. It is highly probable, that his opinions did not 
 
 * On the authority of Judge Winston. 
 
406 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 coincide throughout with those of either side : and it would 
 be rather rash to infer, from his disapprobation of c^e oi 
 .tnore measures of the administration, or from his general 
 love of liberty, that he must of necessity have been attached 
 at first to the democratic side. Nor would it be more correct 
 to infer, from his having resisted the adoption of the federal 
 constitution, that he was therefore opposed to the measures 
 of those who administered it ; for the converse of this propo- 
 sition, which must be equally true, would have thrown many 
 more into the federal ranks than would have been willing to 
 acknowledge the connexion. Mr. Henry had moreover de- 
 clared, as we have seen, in the last speech which he made in 
 the state convention, in opposition to the constitution, that if 
 it should be adopted, he would be a peaceable citizen ; that 
 he would not go to violence, but that he would seek the cor- 
 rection of whatever he thought amiss, by quiet means . 
 Upon the whole, it would seem more liberal, more consonant 
 to the high character of Mr. Henry’s mind, with his time of 
 life, and with that distant and feeble connexion which he 
 now considered himself as holding with politics, and indeed 
 with the world — to believe that he looked, without passion or 
 prejudice of any kind, on the course of the administration 
 approving or condemning, according to his own judgment, 
 without reference to the pleasure or opinions of either side : 
 or if we must suppose him under personal influence of any 
 kind, would it have been unpardonable in him, to have been 
 influenced by the opinions of that man, who had ever stood 
 first both in his judgment and affections, and whom all Amer- 
 ica acknowledged as the father of his country ? 
 
 Other natural causes, too, may be fairly considered as 
 having united their influence in producing this difference of 
 political sentiment, between Mr. Henry and the majority of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 407 
 
 his state. In the year 1797, his health began to declnie, 
 and continued to sink gradually to the moment of his death/ 
 He had now passed through a stormy life to his sixtietn year, 
 and the vigour of his mind, exhausted more by past toils 
 than by years, began to give way. Those energies which 
 had enabled him to brave the power of Great Britain, and 
 to push forward the glorious revolution which made us free, 
 existed no longer in their original force. The usual infirm- 
 ities of age and disease began to press, sorely and heavily, 
 upon his sinking spirits. He was startled by that clash of 
 contending parties, which rang continually around him, and 
 invaded, with perpetually increasing horrtir, the stillness of 
 his retreat. His retirement cut him off, almost entirely, 
 from all communication with those who were best able to 
 explain the grounds, as well as the character and measure 
 of opposition to the offensive measures, which was intended ; 
 and the spirit and views of that opposition were, no doubt, 
 aggravated to him by report. Acting as those things did on 
 the mind of an infirm old man ; worn out by the toils and 
 troubles of the past revolution, and naturally wishing for ^re- 
 pose ; alarmed too, and agonized by the hideous scenes of 
 that revolution which was then going on in France ; and 
 tortured by the apprehension, that those scenes weit about 
 to be acted over again in his own country — it is not sarp.ising, 
 that he was dismayed by the vehemence of that political 
 strife which then agitated the United States ; nor would it 
 be surprising, if his solicitude to allay the ferment and re 
 store the peace of society, should, in some degree, have ob 
 soured the decisions of his mind ; and placed him, rather by 
 his fears than his judgment, in opposition to the forcible 
 
 * Judge Winston. 
 
wirt’s life of 
 
 -08 
 
 resistance, which he had oeen erroneously led to consider as 
 meditated by the democratic party. In a mind thus prepared 
 the strong and animated resolutions of the Virginia assembly, 
 in 179b, in relation to the alien and sedition laws, conjured 
 up the most frightful visions of civil war, disunion, blood, 
 and anarchy ; and under the impulse of these phantoms, to 
 make what he considered a virtuous effort for his country, 
 he presented himself in Charlotte county, as a candidate for 
 the house of delegates, at the spring election of 1799. 
 
 On the day of the election, as soon as he appeared on the 
 ground, he was surrounded by the admiring and adoring 
 crowd, and whithersoever he moved, the concourse followed 
 him. A preacher of the Baptist Church, whose piety wa? 
 wounded by this homage paid to a mortal, asked the people 
 aloud, “Why they thus followed Mr. Henry about? — Mr. 
 Henry,” said he, “is not a god!” “No,” said Mr. Henry, 
 deeply affected both by the scene and the remark : “ no, in 
 deed, my friend ; I am but a poor worm of the dust — as 
 fleeting and unsubstantial as the shadow of the cloud that 
 flies over your fields, and is remembered no more.” The 
 tone with which this was uttered, and the look which ac- 
 companied it, affected every heart, and silenced every voice. 
 Envy and opposition were disarmed by his humility; the 
 iecollection of his past services rushed upon every memory, 
 and he “read his history” in their swimming eyes. 
 
 Before the polls were opened, he addressed the people of 
 the county to the following effect : — “ He told them that the 
 late proceedings of the Virginian assembly had filled him with 
 apprehensions and alarm ; that they had planted thorns upon 
 his pillow; that they had drawn him from that happy re- 
 tirement which it had pleased a bountiful Providence to 
 bestow, and in which he had hoped to pass, in quiet ths 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 400 
 
 y 
 
 remainder of his days ; that the state had quitted the sphere 
 m which she had been placed by the constitution ; and in 
 daring to pronounce upon the validity of federa* laws, had 
 gone out of her jurisdiction in a manner not warranted by 
 any authority, and in the highest degree alarming to every 
 considerate man ; that such opposition, on the part of Vir- 
 ginia, to the acts of the general government, must beget their 
 enforcement by military power; that this would probably 
 produce civil war; civil war, foreign alliances; and that 
 foreign alliances must necessarily end in subjugation to the 
 powers called in. He conjured the people to pause and con- 
 sider well, before they rushed into such a desperate condi- 
 tion, from which there could be no retreat. He painted to 
 their imaginations, Washington, at the head of a numerous 
 and well-appointed army, inflicting upon them military exe- 
 cution : ‘ And where (he asked) are our resources to meet 
 such a conflict ? — Where is the citizen of America who will 
 dare to lift his hand against the father of his country V A 
 drunken man in the crowd threw up his arm, and exclaimed 
 that 4 he dared to do it.’ — ‘No,’ answered Mr. Henry, rising 
 aloft in all his majesty : ‘ you dare not do it : in such a 
 parricidal attempt , the steel would drop from your nerve 
 less arm /’ ‘ The look and gesture at this moment, (says a 
 
 correspondent,) gave to these words an energy on my mind 
 unequalled by any thing that I have ever witnessed.’ Mr. 
 Henry, proceeding in his address to the people, asked — 
 ‘ whether the county of Charlotte would have any authority 
 to dispute an obedience to the laws of Virginia;’ and he pro- 
 nounced Virginia to be to the Union, what the county of 
 Charlotte was to her . 
 
 “ Having denied the right of a state to decide upon the con- 
 3 F 35 
 
4J0 
 
 WIRT’S LIFE OF 
 
 stitutionality of federal laws he added, that perhaps it might 
 be necessary to say something of the merits of the laws m 
 question. His private opinion was, that they were ‘ good 
 and proper’ But, whatever might be *their merits, it be- 
 longed to the people, who held the reins over the head of 
 congress, and to them alone, to say whether they were ac- 
 ceptable or otherwise to Virginians ; and that this must be 
 done by way of petition. That congress were as much our 
 representatives as the assembly, and had as good a right to 
 our confidence. He had seen with regret, the unlimited 
 power over the purse and sword consigned to the general 
 government ; but that he had been overruled, and it was 
 now necessary to submit to the constitutional exercise of that 
 power ‘ If,’ said he, 4 1 am asked what is to be done, when 
 a people feel themselves intolerably oppressed, my answer is 
 ready : — Overturn the government . But do not, I beseech 
 you, carry matters to this length, without provocation. Wait 
 at least until some infringement is made upon your rights, 
 and which cannot otherwise be redressed ; for if ever you 
 recur to another change, you may bid adieu for ever to 
 ^presentative government. You can never exchange the 
 present government but for a monarchy. If the adminis 
 tration have done wrong, let us all go wrong together, rather 
 than split into factions, which must destroy that union upon 
 which our existence hangs. Let us preserve our strength 
 for the French, the English, the Germans, or whoever else 
 shall dare to invade our territory, and not exhaust it in civil 
 commotions and intestine wars.' 1 He concluded, by declaring 
 his design to exert himself in the endeavour to allay the 
 heart-burnings and jealousies which had been fomented in 
 the state legislature; and he fervently prayed, if he was 
 deemed unworthy to effect it, that it might be reserved to 
 
some other and abler hand, to extend this blessing over the 
 community.” 
 
 This was the substance of the speech written down at 
 the time by one of his hearers. “ There was,” says the 
 writer, “ an emphasis in his language, to which, like the 
 force of his articulation, and the commanding expression of 
 his eye, no representation can do justice ; yet I am conscious 
 of having given a correct transcript of his opinions, and, in 
 many instances, his very expression.” 
 
 Such was the last effort of Mr. Henry’s eloquence : th 
 power of the noonday sun’ was gone; but its setting splen- 
 dours^ were not less beautiful and touching. After this 
 speech, the polls were opened ; and he was elected by his 
 usual commanding majority. 
 
 His intention having been generally known for some time 
 before the period of the state elections, the most formidable 
 preparations were made to oppose him in the assembly. Mr. 
 Madison, (the late president of the United States,) Mr. Giles 
 of Amelia, Mr. Taylor of Caroline, Mr. Nicholas of Albemarle, 
 and a host of young men of shining talents, from every part 
 of the state, were arrayed in the adverse rank, and com- 
 manded a decided majority in the house. But Heaven, in 
 its mercy, saved him from the unequal conflict. The disease 
 which had been preying upon him for two years, now has 
 tened to its crisis; and on the sixth day of June, 1799, this 
 friend of liberty and of man was no more ! 
 
 Here let us pause The storm of 1799, thank Heaven 1 
 has passed away ; and we again enjoy the calm and sun- 
 shine of domestic peace. We are able, now, to see with 
 other eyes, and to feel with far different he arts. Who ‘s there 
 
412 
 
 WIRT S LIFE OF 
 
 that, looking back upon the part which he bore in those 
 scenes, can say that lie was at no time guilty of any fault of 
 Conduct, any error of opinion, or any vicious excess of feel- 
 ing ? The man who can say this, is either very much to be 
 pitied, or most exceedingly to be envied. But whatever we 
 may be disposed to say or to think of ourselves, there can 
 be very little doubt, that that Being, who is the searcher of 
 hearts, sees very much during that period, to be forgiven in 
 us all. It would, indeed, be presumptuous in the extreme, 
 amid the universal admission which is made of the imperfec- 
 tion of human nature, in the happiest circumstances, to con- 
 tend for its infallibility, while acting under the scourge of the 
 most angry and vindictive passions. 
 
 Let it be admitted, then, that during the period of which 
 we are speaking, Mr. Henry was guilty of a political aber- 
 ration; but let all the peculiar circumstances of his case 
 which have been enumerated, be taken into the account ; 
 and let it be farther remembered, that if he did go astray, as 
 the majority of the state believe, he strayed in company with 
 the father of his country — and where is the heart so cold 
 and thankless, as to balance a mistake tints committed, 
 against a long life of such solid, splendid, and glorious util- 
 ity ? Certainly not in Virginia — and it is to Virginians only 
 that this appeal is made. The sentiments now so univer- 
 sally expressed in relation to Mr. Henry, evince, that the age 
 of party resentment has passed away, and that that of the 
 noblest gratitude has taken its place. But let us return to 
 oui narrative. 
 
 At the session of the assembly immediately following Mr 
 Henry’s death, before the spirit of party had time to relent, 
 and gn e way to that generous feeling of grateful veneration 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 413 
 
 foi him, which now pervades the state, a federal member of 
 the house moved the following resolution : — 
 
 * The general assembly of Virginia, as a testimonial of 
 their veneration for the character of their late illustrious 
 fellow-citizen, Patrick Henry, whose unrivalled eloquence 
 and superior talents were, in times of peculiar peril and dis- 
 tress, so uniformly, so powerfully, and so successfully, devo- 
 ted to the cause of freedom, and of his country — and, in 
 order to invite the present and future generations to an imi- 
 tation of his virtues, and an emulation of his fame — 
 
 “ Resolved, That the executive be authorized and re- 
 quested, to procure a marble bust of the said Patrick 
 Henry, at the public expense, and to cause the same to 
 oe placed in one of the niches of the hall of the house of 
 delegates.” 
 
 Nothing could have been more unfortunate for the success 
 of this resolution, than the time at which it was brought for- 
 ward, and the mover by whom it was offered. The time, as 
 we have seen, was during that paroxysm of displeasure 
 against Mr. Henry, which even his death, although it had 
 abated, had not entirely allayed : and the mover was a gen- 
 tleman who had himself been recently counted on the repub- 
 lican side of the house, and was now also smarting under 
 the charge of apostacy. All the angry passions of the house 
 immediately arose at such a proposition, from such a quarter. 
 A republican member moved to lay the resolution on the 
 table ; the gentleman who offered it replied with warmth 
 that if it were so disposed of, he would never call it up 
 again. It was laid upon the table, and has been heard of no 
 mo^e. 
 
 3 F 
 
 35* 
 
114 
 
 * A.TRICK HENRY. 
 
 Thus lived, and thus died, the celebrated Patrick Hemv 
 of Virginia; a man who justly deserves to oe ranked among 
 the highest ornaments and noblest benefactors of his country. 
 Had his lot been cast in the republics of Greece or Rome 
 his name would have been enrolled by some immortal pen, 
 among the expellers of tyrants and the champions of liberty : 
 the proudest monuments of national gratitude would have 
 risen to his honour, and handed down his memory to future 
 generations. As it is, his fame, as yet, is left to rest upon 
 tradition, and on that short notice which general history can 
 take of him ; while no memorial, no slab even, raised by the 
 hand of national gratitude , points us to his grave, or tells 
 where sleep the ashes of the patriot and the sage. May we 
 not hope, that this reproach upon the state will soou be 
 wiped away, and that ample atonement will be made for oui 
 past neglect ? 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 Mr. Henry, by his two marriages, was the father of fif- 
 teen children. By his first wife he had six, of whom two 
 only survived him ; by his last, he had six sons and three 
 daughters, all of whom, together with their mother, were 
 living at his death. 
 
 He had been fortunate during the latter part of his life ; 
 and, chiefly by the means of judicious purchases of lands, 
 had left his family, large as it was, not only independent, 
 but rich. 
 
 In his habits of living, he was remarkably temperate and 
 frugal. He seldom drank any thing but water ; and his 
 table, though abundantly spread, was furnished only with the 
 most simple viands. Necessity had imposed those habits 
 upon him in the earlier part of his life ; and use, as well as 
 reason, now made them his choice. 
 
 His children were raised with little or no restraint. He 
 seems not to have thought very highly of early education. 
 It is indeed probable, that his own success, which was attri- 
 butable almost entirely to the natural powers of his mind, 
 had diminished the importance of an extensive education in 
 his view. But although they were suffered to run wild for 
 some years, and, indeed, committed to the sole guidance of 
 nature, to a much later period than usual, yet they were 
 finally aD well educated ; and not only by the reflected worth 
 of their father, but by their own merits, have always occu- 
 pied a most respectable station in society. 
 
 417 
 
1 18 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 Mr. Henry’s conversation was remarkably pure and chaste. 
 He never swore. He was never heard to take the name of 
 his Maker in vain. He was a sincere Christian, though after 
 a form of his own ; for he was never attached to any par- 
 ticular religious society, and never, it is believed, communed 
 with any church. A friend who visited him not long before 
 his death, found him engaged in reading the Bible : — “ Here/ 
 said he, holding it up, “ is a book worth more than all 
 the other books that were ever printed : yet it is my misfor- 
 tune never to have found time to read it, with the proper 
 attention and feeling, till lately. I trust in the mercy of 
 Heaven, that it is not yet too late.” He w r as much pleased 
 with Soame Jenyns’ view of the internal evidences of the 
 Christian religion; so much so, that about the year 1790, 
 he had an impression of it struck at his own expense, and 
 distributed among the people. His other favourite woiks m 
 the subject were Doddridge’s “ Rise and Progress of Religion 
 in the Soul,” and Butler’s “ Analogy of Religion, Natural 
 and Revealed.” This latter work, he used at one period of 
 his life to style, by way of pre-eminence, his Bible. The 
 selection proves not only the piety of his temper, but the 
 correctness of his taste, and his relish for profound and vig- 
 orous disquisition. 
 
 His morals were strict. As a husband a father, a mastei 
 he had no superior He was kind and Hospitable to the 
 stranger, and most friendly and accommodating to his neigh- 
 bours. In his dealings with the world, he was faithful to 
 his promise, and punctual in his contrac ts, to the utmost of 
 his power. 
 
 Yet we do not claim for him a total exemption from the 
 failures of humanity. Moral perfection is not the property 
 of man. The love of money is said to have been one of 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 419 
 
 Mr. Henry’s strongest passions. In his desire for accumula- 
 tion, he was charged with wringing from the hands of his 
 clients, and more particularly those of the criminals whom 
 he defended, fees rather too exorbitant. He was censured, 
 too, for an attempt u locate the shores of the Chesapeake, 
 which had heretofore been used as a public common, al 
 though there was, at that time, no law of the state which 
 protected them from location. In one of his earlier pur- 
 chases of land, he was blamed also for having availed himself 
 of the existing laws of the state, in paying for it in the de- 
 preciated paper-currency of the country ; nor was he free 
 from censure on account of some participation which he is 
 said to have had in the profits of the Yazoo trade. He was 
 accused, too, of having been rather more vain of his wealth, 
 toward the close of his life, than became a man so great in 
 other respects. Let these things be admitted, and “ let the 
 man who is without fault cast the first stone.” In mitiga- 
 tion of these charges, if they be true, it ought to be considered 
 that Mr. Henry had been, during the greater part of his life, 
 intolerably oppressed by poverty and all its distressing train 
 of consequences ; that the family for which he had to pro- 
 vide was very large ; and that the bar, although it has been 
 called the road to honour, was not in those days the road to 
 wealth. With these considerations in view, charity may 
 easily pardon him for having considered only the legality 
 of the means which he used to acquire an independence ; 
 and she can easily excuse him too, for having felt the suc- 
 cess of his endeavours a little more sensibly than might 
 have been becoming. He was certainly neither proud, nor 
 hard-hearted, nor penurious : if he was either, there can be 
 no reliance on human testimony ; which represents him as 
 Being, in his general intercourse with the world, not only ri 
 
420 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 gully lionest, but one of the kindest, gentlest, and most indul- 
 gent of human beings. 
 
 While we are on this ungrateful subject of moral imper* 
 fection, the fidelity of history requires us to notice another 
 charge against Mr. Henry. His passion for fame is said to 
 have been too strong ; he was «; ccused of a wish to monopo- 
 lize the public favour; and under the influence of this de- 
 sire, to have felt no gratification in the rising fame of certain 
 conspicuous characters ; to have indulged himself in invidious 
 and unmerited remarks upon them, and to have been at 
 the bottom of a cabal against one of the most eminent. If 
 these things were so — alas ! poor human nature ! It is cer- 
 tain that these charges are very inconsistent with his general 
 character. So far from being naturally envious, and dis- 
 posed to keep back modest merit, one of the finest traits in 
 his character was, the parental tenderness with which he 
 took by the hand every young man of merit, covered him 
 with his aegis in the legislature, and led him forward at the 
 bar. In relation to his first great rival in eloquence, Richard 
 Henry Lee, he not only did ample justice to him on every 
 occasion, in public, but defended his fame in private, with ail 
 the zeal of a brother ; as is demonstrated by an original cor- 
 respondence between those two eminent men, now in the 
 hands of the author. Of Colonel Innis, his next great rival, 
 he entertained, and uniformly expressed, the most exalted 
 opinion; and in the convention of 1788, as will be remem- 
 bered, paid a compliment to his eloquence, at once so splen- 
 did, so happy, and so just, that it will live for ever. The 
 debates of that convention abound with the most unequivocal 
 and ardent declarations of his respect, for the talents and 
 virtues of the other eminent gentlemen who were arrayed 
 against him — Mr. Madison — Mr. Pendleton — Mr. Randolph 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 42 1 
 
 Even the justly great and overshadowing fame of Mr. Jeffer 
 son nevei extorted from him, in public at least, one invidious 
 remark ; on the contrary, the name of that gentleman, who 
 was then in France, having been introduced into the debates 
 of the convention, for the purpose of borrowing the weight 
 of his opinion, Mr. Henry spoke of him in the strongest and 
 warmest terms, not only of admiration but of affection — 
 styling him “ our illustrious fellow-citizen” — u our enlight- 
 ened and icorthy countryman ,” — “ our common friend” 
 
 The inordinate love of money and of fame are, certainly 
 base and degrading passions. They have sometimes tar 
 nished characters otherwise the most bright , but they will 
 find no advocate or apologist in any virtuous bosom. In re- 
 lation to Mr. Henry, however, we may be permitted to doubt 
 whether the facts on which these censures (so inconsistent 
 with his general character) are grounded, have not been mis- 
 conceived ; and whether so much of them as is really true, 
 may not be fairly charged to the common account of human 
 imperfection. 
 
 Mr. Henry’s great intellectual defect was his indolence. 
 To this it was owing, that he never possessed that admirable 
 alertness and vigorous versatility of mind, which turns 
 promptly to every thing, attends to every thing, arranges 
 every thing, and by systematizing its operations, ^despatches 
 each in its proper time, and place, and manner. To the 
 same cause it is to be ascribed, that he never possessed that 
 patient drudgery, and that ready, neat, copious, and mas 
 lerly command of details, which forms so essential a part of 
 the duties both of the statesman and the lawyer. Hence 
 too, he did not avail himself of the progress of science ano 
 literature, in his age. He had not, as he might have done, 
 amassed those ample stores of various, useful, and curious 
 
422 
 
 WIRT’s LIFE OF 
 
 Knowledge, which are so naturally expected to oe found in 
 a great man. His library (of which an inventory has been 
 furnished to the author) Avas extremely small ; composed 
 not only of a very few books, but those, coo, commonly odd 
 volumes. Of science arid literature, he knew little or nothing 
 more tnan was occasionally gleaned from conversation. It 
 is not easy to conceive, what a mind like his might have 
 achieved in either, or both of these walks, had it been prop- 
 erly trained at first, or industriously occupied in those long 
 intervals of leisure which he threw away. One thing, how- 
 ever, may be safely pronounced ; that had that mind of 
 Herculean strength been either so trained, or so occupied, he 
 would have left behind him some written monument, com- 
 pared with which, even statues and pillars would have been 
 but the ephemerae of a day. But he seems to have been of 
 Hobbes’s opinion, who is reported to have said of himself, 
 “ that if he had read as much as other men, he should have 
 been as ignorant as they w r ere.”* Mr. Henry’s book was 
 the great volume of human nature. In this, he was more 
 deeply read than any of his countrymen. He knew men 
 thoioughly ; and hence arose his great power of persuasion.1 
 His preference of this study, is manifested by the following 
 incident : — he met once, in a bookstore, with the late Mr 
 Ralph Wormley, who, although a great bookworm, was in 
 finitely more remarkable for his ignorance of men, than Mr 
 Henry was for that of books. — “ What, Mr. Wormley,” said 
 he, “ still buying books?” “ Yes,” said Mr. Wormley, “I 
 have just heard of a new work, which I am extremely 
 
 * Bayle . article Hobbes. 
 
 t “ It is in vain,” says the Chancellor D’Aguesseau, “ that the orator 
 hatters himself with having the talent to persuade men, if he has nc 
 acquired that of knowing them.” Discourse i., p. 1. 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 423 
 
 anxious to peruse.’’ “Take my word for it,” said he, "‘Mr. 
 Wormley, we are too old to read books: read men — they 
 are the only volume that we can read to advantage.” But 
 Mr. Henry might have perused both with infinite advantage 
 not only to himself, but to his country, and to the world; 
 and that he did not do it, may, it is believed, be fairly 
 ascribed, rather to the indolence of his temper, than the 
 deliberate decision of his judgment. 
 
 Judge Winston says, that “he was, throughout life , 
 negligent of his dress:” but this, it is apprehended, applied 
 rather to his habits in the country than to his appearance in 
 public. At the bar of the general court, he always appeared 
 in a full suit of black cloth, or velvet, and a tie wig, which 
 was dressed and powdered in the highest style of forensic 
 fashion ; in the winter season, too, according to the costume of 
 the day, he wore over his other apparel an ample cloak of scar- 
 let cloth ; and thus attired, made a figure bordering on gran- 
 deur. While he filled the executive chair, he is said to have 
 been justly attentive to his dress and appearance ; “ not 
 being disposed to afford the occasion of humiliating compari- 
 sons between the past and present government.” 
 
 He had long since, roo, laid aside the offensive rusticity of 
 his juvenile manners. His manners, indeed, were still unos- 
 tentatious, frank, and simple ; but they had all that natural 
 ease and unaffected gracefulness, which distinguish the cir 
 cles of the polite and wellbred. On occasions, too, where 
 state and ceremony were expected, there was no man who 
 could act better his part. I have had a description of Mr 
 Henry, entering, in the full dress which I have mentioned, 
 the hall of delegates, at whose bar he was about to appear 
 as an advocate, and saluting the house, all around, with a 
 dignity and even majesty, that would have done honour to 
 
 36 
 
424 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 the most polished courtier in Europe. This, however, wa« 
 only on extraordinary occasions, when such a deportment 
 was expected, and was properly in its place In gene- 
 ral, his manners were those of the plain Virginian gentle- 
 man — kind — open — candid — and conciliating — warm with- 
 out insincerity, and polite without pomp — neither chilling by 
 his reserve, nor fatiguing by his loquacity — but adapting 
 himself, without an effort, to the character of his company. 
 “ He would be pleased and cheerful,” says a correspondent, 
 “ with persons of any class or condition, vicious and aban- 
 doned persons only excepted ; he preferred those of character 
 and talents, but would be amused with any who could con 
 tribute to his amusement.” He had himself a vein of pleas 
 antry, which was extremely amusing, without detracting 
 from his dignity. His companions, although perfectly at 
 their ease with him, were never known to treat him with 
 degrading familiarities. Their love and their respect for him 
 equally forbade it. Nor had they any dread of an assault 
 upon their feelings ; for there was nothing cruel in his wit. 
 The tomahawk and scalping-knife were no part of his collo- 
 quial apparatus. He felt no pleasure in seeing the victim 
 writhe under his stroke. The benignity of his spirit could 
 not have borne such a sight without torture. He found him- 
 self happiest in communicating happiness to others. His con- 
 versation was instructive and delightful; stately where it 
 should be so, but in general, easy, familiar, sprightly, and 
 entertaining ; always, however, good-humoured, and calculated 
 to amuse without wounding. 
 
 As a specimen of this light and good-natured pleasantry, 
 the following anecdote has been furnished : Mr. Henry, to- 
 gether with Mr. Richard H. Lee, and several other conspic 
 turns members of the assembly, were invited to pass the even- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 42b 
 
 tng and night at the house of Mr. Edmund Randolph, in the 
 neighbourhood of Richmond. Mr. Lee, who was as bril- 
 liant and copious in conversation as in debate, had amused 
 the company to a very late hour, by descanting on the genius 
 of Cervantes, particularly as exhibited in his chef d? CBuvre } 
 Don Quixote. The dissertation had been continued : alter 
 too long : the company began to yawn, when Mr. Henry, 
 who had observed it, although Mr. Lee had not, rose slowly 
 from his chair, and remarked as he walked across the room, 
 that Don Quixote was certainly a most excellent work, and 
 most skilfully adapted to the purpose of the author . “ but,” 
 said he, “ Mr. Lee,” stopping before him, with a most signifi- 
 cant archness of look, “ you have overlooked, in your eulogy 
 one of the finest things in the book.” “ What is that ?” 
 asked Mr. Lee. “ It is,” said Mr. Henry, “ that divine ex- 
 clamation of Sancho, ‘ Blessed be the man that first invented 
 sleep : it covers one all over , like a cloak? ” Mr. Lee took 
 the hint ; and the company broke up in good humour. 
 
 His quick and true discernment of characters, and his 
 prescience of political events, were very much admired 
 The following examples of each, have been furnished by 
 Mr. Pope : — 
 
 Mr. Gallatin came to Virginia when a very young man . 
 he was obscure and unknown, and spoke the English lan- 
 guage so badly, that it was with difficulty he could be un- 
 derstood. He was engaged in some agency which made it 
 necessary to present a petition to the assembly, and endeav- 
 oured to interest the leading members in its fate, by attempt- 
 ing to explain, out of doors, its merits and justice. But they 
 could not understand him well enougn to feel any interest 
 either for him or his petition. In tms hopeless condition he 
 waited on Mr. Henry, and soon felt that he was in differed 
 
426 
 
 w irt’s LIFE OF 
 
 hands. Mr Henry, on his part, was so delighted with the 
 interview, that he spoke of Mr. Gallatin every where in rap- 
 tures — “ he declared him, without hesitation or doubt, to be 
 the most sensible and best informed man he had ever con- 
 versed with — he is to he sure? said he, “ a most astonish * 
 ing man The reader well knows how eminently Mr. 
 Gallatin has since fulfilled this character ; and considering 
 the very disadvantageous circumstances under which he was 
 seen by Mr. Henry, it is certainly a striking proof of the su- 
 perior sagacity of the observer. 
 
 In relation to his political foresight, the following anecdote 
 is in Mr. Pope’s own words : — “ In the year 1798, after 
 Bonaparte had annihilated five Austrian armies, and, flushed 
 with victory, was carrying away every thing before him, I 
 heard Mr. Henry in a public company observe, (shaking his 
 head after his impressive manner) — ‘It won’t all do ! the 
 present generation in France is so debased by a long despo- 
 tism, they possess so few of the virtues that constitute the 
 life and soul of republicanism, that they are incapable of 
 forming a correct and just estimate of rational liberty. Their 
 revolution will terminate differently from what you expect — 
 their state of anarchy will be succeeded by despotism ; and 
 I should not be surprised, if the very man at whose victories 
 you now rejoice, should, Cesar-like, subvert the liberties of 
 his country. All who know me,’ continued Mr. Henry, 
 1 know that I am a firm advocate for liberty and republi- 
 canism ; I believe I have given some evidences of this. I 
 wish it may not be so, but I am afraid the event will justifv 
 this prediction.’ ” 
 
 The following is the fullest description which the author 
 has been able to procure of Mr. Henry’s person. He was 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 427 
 
 nearly six feet high; spare, and what may be called raw- 
 boned, with a slight stoop of the shoulders — his complexion 
 was dark, sunburnt, and sallow, without any appearance of 
 blood in his cheeks — his countenance grave, thoughtful, 
 penetrating, and strongly marked with the lineaments of 
 deep reflection- -the earnestness of his manner, united with 
 an habitual contraction or knitting of his browns, and those 
 lines of thought with which his face was profusely furrowed, 
 gave to his countenance, at some times, the appearance of 
 severity — yet such was the power which he had over its ex- 
 pression, that he could shake off from it in an instant, all 
 the sternness of winter, and robe it in the brightest smiles 
 of spring. His forehead was high and straight ; yet form- 
 ing a sufficient angle with the lower part of his face — his 
 nose somewhat of the Roman stamp, though like that which 
 we see in the bust of Cicero, it was rather long, than re- 
 markable for its Cesarean form — of the colour of his eyes, 
 the accounts are almost as various as those which we have 
 of the colour of the chameleon — they are said to have been 
 blue, gray, what Lavater calls green, haze], brown, and 
 black — the fact seems to have been that they were of a blu- 
 ish-gray, not large ; and being deeply fixed in his head, 
 overhung by dark, long, and full eyebrows, and farther 
 shaded by lashes that were both long and black, their appa- 
 rent colour was as variable as the lights in which they were 
 seen — but all concur in saying that they were, unquestionably, 
 the finest feature in his face— brilliant — full of spirit, and 
 capable of the most rapidly-shifting and powerful expres 
 sion — at one time piercing and terrible as those of Mars, and 
 then again soft and tender as those of Pity herself— his 
 cheeks were hollow — his chin long, but well formed, and 
 -ou tided at the end, so as to form a proper counterpart to tha 
 
WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 42 £ 
 
 upper part of his face. “ I find it difficult,” says the cor- 
 respondent from whom I have borrowed this portrait, “ to 
 describe his mouth ; in which there was nothing remarka- 
 ble, except when about to express a modest dissent from 
 some opinion on which he was commenting — he then had 
 a sort of half-smile, in which the want of conviction was 
 perhaps more strongly expressed, than the satirical emo- 
 tion, which probably prompted it. His manner and ad- 
 dress to the court and jury might be deemed the excess of 
 humility, diffidence, and modesty. If, as rarely happened, 
 he had occasion to answer any remark from the bench, it 
 was impossible for Meekness herself to assume a manner 
 less presumptuous — but in the smile of which I have been 
 speaking, you might anticipate the want of conviction, ex 
 pressed in his answer, at the moment that he submitted t~ 
 the superior wisdom of the court, with a grace that woul 
 have done honour to Westminster hall. In his reply to coun 
 sel, his remarks on the evidence, and on the conduct of the 
 parties, he preserved the same distinguished deference and 
 politeness, still accompanied, however, by the never failing 
 index of this skeptical smile , where the occasion prompt- 
 ed.” In short, his features were manly, bold, and well pro- 
 portioned, full of intelligence, and adapting themselves intu- 
 itively to every sentiment of his mind, and every feeling of 
 his heart. His voice was not remarkable for its sweetness ; 
 but it was firm, of full volume, and rather melodious than 
 otherwise. Its charms consisted in the mellowness and ful- 
 ness of its note, the ease and variety of its inflections, the 
 distinctness of its articulation, the fine effect of its emphasis, 
 the felicity with which it attuned itself to every emotion, and 
 the vast compass which enabled it to range through the whole 
 empire of human passion, from the deep and tragic half 
 
PATRICK H E N R Y . 
 
 429 
 
 whisper of horror, to the wildest exclamation of overwhelm- 
 ing rage. In mild persuasion, it was as soft and gentle as 
 the zephyr of spring ; while in rousing his countrymen to 
 arms, the winter storm that roars along the troubled Baltic, 
 was not more awfully sublime. It was at all times perfectly 
 under his command ; or rather, indeed, it seemed to com- 
 mand itself and to modulate its notes, most happily to the 
 sentiment he was uttering. It never exceeded, or fell short 
 of the occasion. There was none of that long-continued and 
 deafening vociferation, which always takes place when an 
 ardent speaker has lost possession of himself — no monoto- 
 nous clangour, no discordant shriek. Without being strain 
 ed, it had that body and enunciation which filled the most 
 distant ear, without distressing those which were nearest 
 him : hence it never became cracked or hoarse, even in his 
 longest speeches, but retained to the last all its clearness and 
 fulpess of intonation, all the delicacy of its inflection, all 
 the charms of its emphasis, and enchanting variety of its 
 cadence. 
 
 His delivery was perfectly natural and well timed. It has 
 indeed been said, that, on his first rising, there was a species 
 of sub-cantus very observable by a stranger, and rather dis- 
 agreeable to him ; but that in a very few moments even this 
 itself became agreeable, and seemed, indeed, indispensable to 
 the full effect of his peculiar diction and conceptions. In 
 point of time, he was very happy : there was no slow and 
 heavy dragging, no quaint and measured drawling, with 
 equidistant pace, no stumbling and floundering among the 
 fractured members of deranged and broken periods, n un- 
 dignified hurry and trepidation, no recalling and recasting of 
 sentences as he went along, no retraction of one word and 
 substitution of another not better, and none of those affected 
 
430 
 
 w irt’s LIFE OF 
 
 bursts jf almost inarticulate impetuosity, which betray the 
 rhetorician rather than display the orator. On the contiary, 
 ever self-collected, deliberate and dignified, he seemed to 
 have looked through the whole period before he commenced 
 its delivery ; and hence his delivery was smooth, and firm, 
 and well accented ; slow enough to take along with him the 
 dullest hearer, and yet so commanding, that the quick had 
 neither the power nor the disposition to get the start of him. 
 Thus he gave to every thought its full and appropriate force ; 
 and to every image all its radiance and beauty. 
 
 No speaker ever understood better than Mr. Henry, the 
 true use and powder of the pause : and no one ever prac- 
 tised it with happier effect. His pauses were never resorted 
 to for the purpose of investing an insignificant thought with 
 false importance ; much less were they ever resorted to as a 
 finesse , to gain time for thinking. The hearer was never 
 disposed to ask, “ why that pause V 9 nor to measure its 
 duration by a reference to his watch. On the contrary, it 
 always came at the very moment, when he would himself 
 have wished it, in order to weigh the striking and important 
 thought which had just been uttered ; and the interval was 
 always filled by the speaker with a matchless energy of look, 
 which drove the thought home through the mind and through 
 the heart. 
 
 His gesture, and this varying play of his features and voice, 
 were so excellent, so exquisite, that many have referred hi3 
 power as an orator principally to that cause ; yet this was all 
 his own, and his gesture, particularly, of so peculiar a cast, 
 that it is said it would have become no other man. I do not 
 iearn that it was very abundant ; for there was no trash 
 about it ; none of those false motions to which undisciplined 
 speakers axe so generally addicted ; no chopping nor sawing 
 
P A 1 RICK HENRY. 
 
 431 
 
 of the air; no thumping of the bar to express an earnest- 
 ness, which was much more powerfully as well as more ele- 
 gantly expressed by his eye and his countenance. When- 
 ever he moved his arm, or his hand, or even his linger, oi 
 changed the position of his body, it was always to some pur- 
 pose ; nothing was inefficient ; every thing told ; every ges- 
 ture, every attitude, every look was emphatic ; all was ani- 
 mation. energy, and dignity. Its great advantage consisted 
 in this — that various, bold, and original as it was, it never 
 appeared to be studied, affected, or theatrical, or “ to over- 
 step,” in the smallest degree, “ the modesty of nature for 
 he never made a gesture, or assumed an attitude, which did 
 not seem imperiously demanded by the occasion. Every 
 look, every motion, every pause, every start, was completely 
 filled and dilated by the thought which he was uttering, and 
 seemed-dndeed to form a part of the thought itself. His ac- 
 tion, however strong, was never vehement. He was neve: 
 seen rushing forward, shoulder foremost, fury in his counte- 
 nance, and phrensy in his voice, as if to overturn the bar, and 
 charge his audience sword in hand. His judgment was too 
 manly and too solid, and his taste too true, to permit him to 
 indulge in any such extravagance. His good sense and his 
 self-possession never deserted him. In the loudest storm of 
 declamation, in the fiercest blaze of passion, there was a dig- 
 nity and temperance which gave it seeming. He had the 
 ^are faculty of imparting to his hearers all the excess of his 
 own feelings, and all the violence and tumult of his emo 
 ions, all the dauntless spirit of his resolution, and all the 
 energy of his soul, without any sacrifice of his own personal 
 dignity, and without treating his headers otherwise than as 
 rational beings. He was not the orator of a day ; and ther^- 
 ore sought not to b lild his fame on the sandy basis of d 
 
432 
 
 WiRT’s life of 
 
 false taste, fostered, if not created, by himself. He spoke 
 for immortality; and therefore raised the pillars :f his glorv 
 on the only solid foundation — the rock of Nature. 
 
 So much has* been already said, incidentally, of his attain 
 ments, and the character of his mind, both as a statesman 
 and an orator, that little remains to be added in a general 
 way. As a statesman, the quality which strikes us most is 
 his political intrepidity : and yet it has sometimes been ob 
 jected to him, that he waited on every occasion, to see which 
 way the popular current was sitting, when he would artfully 
 throw himself into it, and seem to guide its course. Nothing 
 can be more incorrect : it would be easy to multiply proofs to 
 refute the charge but I shall content myself with a few 
 which are of general notoriety. 
 
 1. The American revolution is universally admitted to 
 have begun in the upper circles of society. It turned on 
 principles too remote and abstruse for vulgar apprehension or 
 consideration. Had it depended on the unenlightened mass 
 of the community, no doubt can be entertained at this day, 
 that the tax imposed by parliament would have been paid 
 without a question. Since, then, the upper circle of society 
 did not take its impulse from the people, the only remaining 
 inquiry is, who gave the revolutionary impulse to that circle 
 itself? It was unquestionably Patrick Henry. This is af- 
 firmed by Mr. Jefferson ; it is demonstrated by the resistance 
 given to Mr. Henry’s measures, by those who were afterward 
 the stanchest friends of the revolution ; it is farther proved, 
 by the sentiment before noticed, with which Doctor Franklin 
 (who was then considered as the first American statesman) 
 dismissed Mr. Ingersoll, on his denarture from London ; a 
 nentiment, which evinces beyond doubt, that Doctor Franklin 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 433 
 
 considered resistance to the British power to be, at that time, 
 premature ; and finally, this honour is assigned to Mr. Henry, 
 I perceive, by a late interesting historian of Massachusetts, 
 the only state which has ever pretended to dispute the palm 
 w th Virginia.* On this great occasion, then, it is manifest, 
 that he did not wait for the populai current ; but on the con 
 trary, that it was he alone, who, by his single power moved 
 the mighty mass of stagnant waters, and changed the silent 
 lake into a roaring torrent. When it is remembered too, that 
 he was then young and obscure, and of course without per- 
 sonal influence — -that this step was the result of his own 
 solitary reflection, and that he was perfectly aware of the 
 personal danger which must attend it — we can require 
 nothing farther to satisfy us, that he was a bold, original, in- 
 dependent politician, who thought for himself, and pursued 
 the dictates of his own judgment, wholly regardless of per- 
 sonal consequences. 
 
 * The historian to whom I allude, is Mrs. Mercy Warren, who is said 
 to be the widow of the celebrated Gen. Warren, the hero of Bunker’s 
 Hill. These are her words: — “The house of burgesses of Virginia 
 were the first who formally resolved against the encroachments of pow- 
 er, and the unwarrantable designs of the British parliament. The nov- 
 elty of their procedure, and the boldness of spirit that marked the 
 resolutions of that assembly, at once astonished and disconcerted the 
 officers of the crown, and the supporters of the measures o.f adminis- 
 tration. These resolutions were ushered into the house on the thirtieth 
 of May, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, by Patrick Henry, 
 Esq., a young gentleman ofithe law, till then unknown in political life. 
 He was a man possessed of strong powers, much professional know- 
 ledge, and of such abilities as qualified him for the exigencies of the 
 aay. Fearless of the cry of treason , echoed against him from several 
 quarters, he justified the measure and supported the resolves, in a 
 speech that did honour both to his understanding and his patriotism, 31 
 &c. Mrs.W arren’s History of the American Revolution , vol. i., p 2d 
 
434 
 
 WIRT'S LIFE OF 
 
 2. Again, in the spring of 1 775, that upper circle, which 
 still headed the revolution, were disposed to acquiesce in the 
 plunder of the magazine, and exerted their utmost efforts to 
 allay the lerment which it had excited. They had, in fact, 
 succeeded ; and the people were every where composed, save 
 within the immediate sphere of Mr. Henry’s influence. The 
 reader has already seen, that it was he who on that occasion 
 excited the people, not who was excited by them ; that he 
 put them into motion, and avowed to his confidential friends, 
 at the lime, the motives of policy by which he was actuated; 
 that he placed himself at the head of an armed band, which 
 he had himself convened for the purpose ; and in spite of the 
 entreaties and supplications of the patriots at Williamsburg, 
 and in defiance of the threats of Dunmore and his myrmi- 
 dons, pressed firmly and intrepidly on, until the object of his 
 expedition was completely obtained. 
 
 3. So also in the state convention, the same year, the old 
 patriotic leaders were disposed still to rely on the efficacy of 
 petitions, memorials, and remonstrances ; it was Mr. Henry 
 who proposed, and in spite of their opposition (which was of 
 bo strenuous and serious a character, that one of them in 
 making it, is said to have shed tears most profusely) carried 
 the bold measure of arming the militia. This was not dic- 
 tated by the people. The fact was, that at that day, the 
 people placed themselves in the hands of their more enlight- 
 ened friends ; they never ventured to prescribe either the 
 time, the manner, or the measure of resistance ; and there 
 can be no room for a candid doubt that, but for the bold 
 spirit and overpowering eloquence of Patrick Henry, the 
 people would have followed the pacific counsels of Mr. Ran 
 doiph, Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, and othei 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 435 
 
 men of acknowledged talents and virtue. It was Mr. Henry, 
 therefore, who led both the people and their former leaders 
 The latter, indeed, came on so reluctantly at first , that they 
 may be said to have been rather dragged along than led; 
 they did come, however, and acquiring warmth by their 
 mothn, made ample amends thereafter for their early hesi 
 t at ion.* 
 
 4. About the close of the war, again, when he proposed 
 o permit the return of that obnoxious class of men called 
 British refugees and Scotch tones , did he follow the popular 
 current ? So far from it, that he stemmed the current, and 
 turned back its course, by the power of his resistance. 
 
 5. So in the case of the federal constitution, whither did 
 the current of the American people tend ? Most certainly to 
 /ts adoption; yet Mr. Henry, to use his own language, 
 “ with manly firmness, and in spite of an erring world,” 
 
 * The author has no intention, by these remarks, to impair in the 
 smallest degree, the well-earned reputation of those veteran states- 
 men. They had commenced the opposition to the stamp act, and the 
 other obnoxious acts of the British parliament, before Mr. Henry made 
 his appearance as a politician ; they had commenced it too, on the 
 same grounds, and would, probably, at some later period, have been 
 wrought up by their own principles and feelings, to a forcible resist- 
 ance to those measures. But the statements in the text are unques 
 tionably correct ; they did not approve of the immediate application 
 of force; Mr. Henry’s policy was condemned by them as rash and 
 precipitate. The author is in possession of an original letter from 
 one of these statesmen, in which Mr. Henry is expressly and directly 
 accused of having precipitated the revolution, against the judgment 
 of lire older and cooler patriots. “Events, however,” as we have 
 seen, “favoured the bolder measures of Mr. Henry,” and proved nis 
 policy to be the best. 
 
 37 
 
436 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 with the revered Washington too at their head, opposed Us 
 adoption with all the powers of his eloquence. 
 
 The truth seems to be, that this charge is only a vari- 
 ation of that conveyed by the opprobrious epithets of dema- 
 gogue and factious tribune, which we have seen that his 
 rivals long since sought to fasten upon him ; and there can 
 be little doubt, that it proceeded from the writhings and con- 
 tortions of the same agonized envy. That a poor young 
 man, issuing from his native woods, unknown, unfriended, 
 and comparatively unlettered, should have been able, by the 
 iere force of unassisted nature, to break to pieces the strong 
 political confederacy which then ruled the country, to anni- 
 hilate all the arts and finesse of parliamentary intrigue ; to 
 eclipse, by his sagacity, the experience of age ; and, by the 
 sole strength of his native genius, to throw into the shade all 
 the hard-earned attainments of literature and science, was 
 entirely too humiliating to be borne in silence. It was neces- 
 sary, therefore, to resort to some solution of this phenomenon 
 which should at once reduce the honours of this plebeian up- 
 start, and soothe the wounded feelings of those whose pride 
 he had brought down. Hence it became fashionable, in the 
 higher circles, to speak of Mr. Henry as a designing dema- 
 gogue, a factious tribune , who carried his points, not by 
 fair and open debate, but by violent and inflammatory ap- 
 peals to the worst passions of the multitude ; and who fre- 
 quently gave himself the air of leading the people, when in 
 truth, he was merely following their own blind lead. This 
 cant has had its day, and its propagators. Truth has set 
 the subject to rights. Mr. Henry is alleged, by those who 
 had the best opportunities of knowing him, to have been not 
 inferiur, either in public or in private virtue, to any patriot of 
 the revolution : and he was confessedly superior to them all 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 437 
 
 in that combination of bold, hardy, adventurous, splendid, 
 and solid qualifications, winch are so peculiarly fitted to 
 revolutionary times. 
 
 “ Me left,” says Judge Winston, “ no manuscripts.” This 
 was to have been expected. We have seen that he could 
 not bear the labour of writing ; nor, indeed, of that long-con- 
 tinued, coherent, and methodical thinking, without which no 
 successful composition, of any extent, can be produced. He 
 thought, indeed, a great deal ; but his thinking was too de- 
 sultory and irregular to take the form of composition. His 
 mind had never been disciplined to wait upon his pen — it 
 still moved on — and its prismatic beauties were as evanes 
 cent as they were beautiful. His imagination “ bodied forth 
 the forms of things” much more rapidly, than his unpractised 
 pen could “ turn them to shapes;” and it is not improbable, 
 that his own observation of the difference between the vigour 
 with which he thought, and the comparative decrepitude 
 with which he wrote, disgusted him with his first attempts, 
 and prevented their repetition. 
 
 Yet this habit which he had of thinking for himself, and 
 looking directly at every subject, with the natural eyes of his 
 understanding, without using what has been called the spec- 
 tacles of books, was perhaps of advantage to him, both as a 
 statesman and an orator : as a statesman, it possibly exempt- 
 ed him from that common error of scientific theorists, of 
 forcing resemblances between the present and some past his- 
 torical era, and accomodating their measures to this ima- 
 ginary identity; by his mode of considering subjects, no 
 circumstance was either sunk, or magnified, or distorted, m 
 order to bend the case to a fanciful hypothesis ; nor, in deci- 
 ding what was proper to be done in America, did he look to 
 see what had been found expedient at Athens or Rome. Oo 
 
438 
 
 wirt’s LIFE OF 
 
 the contrary, knowing well the people with whom he had to 
 deal, of what they were capable, and what was necessary 
 to their happiness, how much they could bear, and how much 
 achieve, and looking immediately at the subject, (whatever 
 it might be,) with that piercing vision, that solid judgment 
 and ready resource, which characterized his mind — he seem 
 ed to seize, in every case, rather “ luckily than laboriously,” 
 the course which of all others was surest of success. In 
 short, this habit made him an original, sound, and practical 
 statesman, instead of being a learned, dreaming, and vision- 
 ary theorist. Not that Mr. Henry was deficient in historical 
 knowledge ; he had enough of it for all the useful purposes 
 either of analogy or illustration ; but he never permitted it 
 to intercept his proper view of the subject, or to take the lead 
 in suggesting what was fit to be done. This he chose ra- 
 ther to derive from the nature of the case itself, and the 
 character of the people among whom that case occurred. 
 
 This habit of relying more on his own meditations than 
 m books, was also, perhaps, of service to him as an orator : 
 or by this course, he avoided the beaten paths and roads of 
 thought ; and instead of exhibiting in his speeches old ideas 
 newly vamped up, and ancient beauties trickled off in 
 modern tinsel, his arguments, sentiments, and figures, had 
 all that freshness and novelty which are so universally cap- 
 tivating. 
 
 In what did his peculiar excellence as an orator consist? 
 in what consisted that unrivalled power of speaking, which 
 all who ever heard him admit him to have possessed ? The 
 reader is already apprized, that the author of these sketches 
 never had the advantage of hearing Mr. Henry, and that no 
 entire speech of his was ever extant, either in print or wri- 
 ting: hence, there are no materials for minute and exacl 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 430 
 
 analysis. The inquiry, however, is natural, and has been di 
 reeled, without success, to many of the most discriminating 
 of Air. Henry’s admirers. Their answers are as various as 
 the complexion of their own characters; each preferring that 
 property from which he had himself derived the most enjoy- 
 ment. Some ascribe his excellence wholly to his manner : 
 others, in great part, to the originality and soundness of his 
 matter. And among the admirers, in both classes, there are 
 not two who concur in assigning the pre-eminence to the 
 same quality. Of Ids matter, one will admire the plainness 
 and strength of Ids reasoning ; another, the concentrated 
 spirit of his aphorisms; a third, his wit; a fourth, his pathos, 
 a fifth, the intrinsic beauty of his imagination : so in regaid 
 to Ids manner, one will place his excellence in his articula- 
 tion and emphasis ; a second, in the magic power with which 
 he infused the tones of his voice into the nerves of his hear 
 ers, and riveted their attention. The truth, therefore, proba- 
 bly is, that it was not in any single charm, either of mattei 
 or manner, that we are to look for the secret of his power ; 
 but that, like Pope’s definition of beauty, it was “ the joint 
 force and full result of all.” 
 
 If, however, we are to consider as really and entirely his, 
 those speeches which have been already given in his name 
 to the public, or are now prepared for them, there can be no 
 difficulty in deciding, that his power must have consisted 
 principally in his delivery. We know what extraordinary 
 effects have been produced by the mere manner of an orator, 
 without any uncommon weight or worth of matter.* We 
 
 * “ Friar Narni, a capuchin, was so remarkable for his eloquence, 
 that his hearers, after a sermon, cried out mercy in the streets, as he 
 passed home: and thirty bishops, starting up under a discourse, hur- 
 ried home to heir respective diocesses : vet, w len his sermons :ame to 
 
440 
 
 wirt’s life of 
 
 have the authority, however, of those who heard the i ienticau 
 speeches now professed to be given as his, for declaring that 
 they are an extremely imperfect representation of them ; 
 and their ability to correct them so frequently from memory, 
 establishes the fact, that it was not the charm of delivery 
 merely, which constituted the difference between the report 
 and the original. This is not the only instance in which 
 a great orator has been injured, by imperfect attempts tc 
 represent him : for (to say nothing of those modern proofs, 
 which will easily occur to the reader) we are told, that the 
 great Pericles himself met with a similar fate.* Candour 
 and justice, however, require us to repeat, that Mr. Robert- 
 son’s reports are unquestionable, in point of good faith ; and 
 that they are highly valuable, on account of the accuracy and 
 fidelity with which they are believed to have preserved the 
 substance of the debates. It is with extreme regret that the 
 author has made a single comment to their disadvantage ; but 
 justice to Mr. Henry has made it indispensable. 
 
 The basis of Mr. Henry’s intellectual character was strong 
 natural sense . His knowledge of human nature was, as 
 we have seen, consummate. His wisdom was that of obser- 
 vation, rather than of reading. His fancy, although suffi- 
 ciently pregnant to furnish supplies for the occasion, was not 
 
 be published, they were thought to be unworthy of his reputation, 
 which shows how much depends on action ; and how correct the say- 
 ing of Demosthenes was on that subject.” — Bayle. Article Narni. 
 
 * “ Some harangues of Pericles were still extant in Quintilian’s 
 time ; but that learned rhetorician, finding them disproportioned to 
 the high reputation of this great man, approved the opinion of those 
 who looked upon them as a supposititious work. An indifferent 
 harangue, however, being recited by an excellent orator, may charm 
 the hearers. Action is almost all ” — Bayle. Article Pericles 
 
r A T R I C K HENRY. 
 
 441 
 
 so exuberant as to oppress him with its productions. He was 
 never guilty of the fault, with which Corinna is said to have 
 reproached her rival Pindar, of pouring his vase of flowers 
 all at once upon the ground ; on the contrary, their beauty 
 and their excellence were fully observed, from their rarity, 
 and the happiness with which they were distributed through 
 his speeches. His feelings were strong, yet completely under 
 his command ; they rose up to the occasion, but were never 
 suffered to overflow it ; his language was often careless, 
 sometimes incorrect ; yet upon the whole it was pure and 
 perspicuous, giving out his thoughts in full and clear propor- 
 tion ; free from affectation, and frequently beautiful ; strong 
 without effort, and adapted to the occasion ; nervous in argu- 
 ment, burning in passion, and capable of matching the lof- 
 tiest flights of' his genius. 
 
 It may perhaps assist the reader’s conception of Mr. Hen- 
 ry’s peculiar cast of eloquence, to state the points in which 
 he differed from some other orators. Those which distin- 
 guished him from Mr. Lee have been already exhibited. 
 Colonel Innis’s manner was also very different. His habitual 
 indolence followed him into debate ; he generally contented 
 himself with a single view of his subject ; but that was 
 given with irresistible power His eloquence was indeed a 
 mighty and a roaring torrent ; it had not, however, that prop- 
 erty of Horace’s stream, labitur et labetur , in omne volu 
 bilis avum — on the contrary, it commonly ran by in half 
 an hour. But it bore a striking resemblance to the eloquence 
 of Lord Chatham ; it was a short but bold and most terrible 
 assault — a vehement, impetuous and overwhelming burst — • 
 a magnificent meteor, which shot majestically across the 
 heavens, from pole to pole and straight expired in a glorious 
 blaze. 
 
442 
 
 WIETS LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Henry. on the contrary, however indolent in his gene 
 ral life, was never so in debate, where the occasion called foi 
 exertion. He rose against the pressure, with the most un- 
 conquerable perseverance He held his subject up in every 
 light in which it could be placed ; yet always with so much 
 power, and so much beauty, a" 1 never to weary his audience, 
 but g;i the contrary to delight them. He had more art than 
 Col. Innis : he appealed to every motive of interest — urged 
 every argument that could convince — pressed every theme 
 of persuasion — awakened every feeling, and roused every 
 passion to his aid. He had more variety, too, in his manner ; 
 sometimes he was very little above the tone of conversation ; 
 at others, in the highest strain of epic sublimity. His course 
 was of longer continuance — his flights better sustained, and 
 more diversified, both in their direction, and velocity. He 
 rose like the thunder-bearer of Jove, when he mounts on 
 strong and untiring wing, to sport in fearless majesty over 
 the troubled deep — now sweeping in immense and rapid cir- 
 cles — then suddenly arresting his grand career, and hover- 
 ing aloft in tremulous and terrible suspense — at one instant, 
 plunged amid the foaming waves — at the next, reascending 
 on high, to play undaunted among the lightnings of heaven, 
 or soar toward the sun. 
 
 He differed, too, from those orators of Great Britain, with 
 whom we have become acquainted by their printed speeches 
 He had not the close method, and high polish of those ol 
 England; nor the exuberant imagery which distinguishes 
 those of Ireland On the contrary, he was loose, irregular, de- 
 su tory — sometimes rough and abrupt — careless in connect- 
 ing the parts of his discourse but grasping whatever he 
 oiicac.: with gigantic strength In short, he was the Oiu 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 443 
 
 tor of Nature ; and such a one as Nature might not blush 
 to avow. 
 
 If the reader shall still demand how he acquired those 
 wonderful powers of speaking which have been assigned to 
 him, we can only answer, with Gray, that they were the 
 gift of Heaven — the birthright of genius. 
 
 “ Thine too, these keys, immortal boy ! 
 
 This can unlock the gates of joy ; 
 
 Of horror, that , and thrilling fears, 
 
 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.’* 
 
 It has been said of Mr. Henry,* with inimitable felicity 
 that “ he was Siiakspeare and Garrick combined !” Let 
 the reader then imagine the wonderful talents of those two 
 men united in The same individual, and transferred from 
 scenes of fiction to the business of real life, and he will 
 have formed some conception of the eloquence of Patrick 
 Henry. In a word, he was one of those perfect prodigies oi 
 Nature, of whom very few have been produced since the 
 foundations of the earth were laid ; and of him may it lit 
 said, as truly as of any one that ever existed : — 
 
 He was a man, take him for all in all, 
 
 We vSer shall look upon his like again .” 
 
 * By Mr. John Randolph, of Roanoie* 
 
 TUB ENIh 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 It appears by the journal of the house of burgesses, of the 14tfe 
 November, 1764, (page 38,) that a committee was appoint 
 fo draw up the following address, memorial, and remonstrance 
 which committee was composed of the following persons, to wit 
 Mr. Attorney, (Peyton Randolph,) Mr. Richard Henry Lee, Mr. 
 Landon Carter, Mr. Wythe, Mr. Edmund Pendleton, Mr. Benja- 
 min Harrison, Mr. Cary, and Mr. Fleming, to whom, afterward, 
 Mr. Bland was added. The address to the king is from the pen 
 of the attorney.* 
 
 “ To the King's most excellent Majesty . 
 
 %t Most Gracious Sovereign, 
 
 “ We, your majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects, the council 
 and burgesses of your ancient colony and dominion of Virginia , 
 now met in general assembly, beg leave to assure your majesty of 
 our firm and inviolable attachment to your sacred person and gov 
 eminent ; and as your faithful subjects here have at all times been 
 lealoua f o demonstrate this truth, by a ready compliance with the 
 
 * On the authority of Mr. Jefferson. 
 
448 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 royal reqidsitions during the late war, by which a heavy and op* 
 pressive debt of near half a million hath been incurred, so at this 
 time they implore permission to approach the thione with humble 
 confidence, and to entreat that your majesty will be graciously 
 pleased to protect our people of this colony in the enjoyment of 
 their ancient and inestimable right of being governed by such laws, 
 respecting their internal polity and taxation, as are derived from 
 their own consent, with the approbation of their sovereign or his 
 substitute : a right which, as men, and descendants of Britons } 
 they have ever quietly possessed, since, first by royal permission 
 and encouragement, they left the mother kingdom to extend its 
 commerce and dominion. 
 
 “ Your majesty’s dutiful subjects of Virginia most humbly and 
 unanimously hope, that this invaluable birthright, descended to 
 them from their ancestors, and in which they have been protected 
 by your royal predecessors, will not be suffered to receive an 
 mjury under the reign of your sacred majesty, already so illustri* 
 ously distinguished by your gracious attention to the liberties of 
 the people. 
 
 “ That your majesty may long live to make nations happy, is 
 the ardent prayer of your faithful subjects, the council and bur- 
 gesses of Virginia .” 
 
 The author cannot learn who drew the following memorial ; but 
 from the style of the composition, compared with the members of 
 the committee, and the distribution of its other labours, he thinks it 
 probable that it was Mr. Pendleton ; possibly Mr. Bland. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 44J 
 
 “To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
 in Parliament assembled : — 
 
 “ The Memorial of the Council and Burgesses of Virginia , not* 
 met in General Assembly . 
 
 “ Humbly represents, 
 
 “ That your memorialists hope an application to your lord- 
 sliips, the fixed and hereditary guardians of British liberty, will 
 not be thought improper at this time, when measures are propos- 
 ed, subversive, as they conceive, of that freedom, which all men, 
 especially those who derive their constitution from Britain , have 
 a right to enjoy ; and they flatter themselves that your lordships 
 will not look upon them as objects so unworthy your attention, as 
 to regard any impropriety in the form or manner of their applica- 
 tion, for your lordships’ protection, of their just and undoubted 
 rights as Britons. 
 
 “ It cannot be presumption in your memorialists to call them 
 selves by this distinguished name, since they are descended 
 from Britons , who left their native country to extend its territory 
 and dominion, and who, happily for Britain , and as your me- 
 morialists once thought, for themselves too, effected this purpose 
 As our ancestors brought with them every right and privilege 
 they could wi a justice claim in their mother kingdom, their de 
 scendants may ronclude, they cannot be deprived of those rights 
 without injustice. 
 
 Your memorialists conceive it to be a fundamental principle 
 of the British constitution, without which freedom can nowhere 
 exist, that the people are not subject to any taxes but such as are 
 
 i&id on them by their own consent or by those who are legally 
 
 38 
 
450 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 appointed to represent them : property must become too precari- 
 ous for the genius of a free people which can be taken from them 
 at the will of others, who cannot know what taxes such people can 
 bear, or the easiest mode of raising them ; and who are not under 
 that restraint, which is the greatest security against a burdensome 
 taxation, when the representatives themselves must be affected by 
 every tax imposed on the people. 
 
 “Your memorialists are therefore led into an humble confi 
 dence, that your lordships will not think any reason sufficient to 
 support such a power, in the British parliament, where the colo- 
 nies cannot be represented : a power never before constitutionally 
 assumed, and which, if they have a right to exercise on any occa- 
 sion, must necessarily establish this melancholy truth, that the in 
 habitants of the colonies are the slaves of Britons from whom 
 they are descended ; and from whom they might expect every 
 indulgence that the obligations of interest and affection can enti 
 tie them to. 
 
 “ Your memorialists have been invested with the right of taxing 
 their own people from the first establishment of a regular govern- 
 ment in the colony, and requisitions have been constantly made to 
 them by their sovereigns, on all occasions when the assistance of 
 the colony was thought necessary to preserve the British interest 
 in America ; from whence they must conclude they cannot now 
 be deprived of a right they have so long enjoyed, and which they 
 have never forfeited. 
 
 “ The expenses incurred during the last war, in compliance 
 with the demands on this colony by our late and present mos' 
 gracious sovereigns, have involved us in a debt of near half a mil 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 45: 
 
 Aon. a debt not likely to decrease under the continued expense we 
 are at, in providing for the security of the people against the in- 
 cursions of our savage neighbours ; at a time when tne low state 
 of our staple commodity, the total want of specie, and the late 
 restrictions upon the trade of the colonies, render the circumstan- 
 ces of the people extremely distressful ; and which, if taxes are 
 accumulated upon them by the British parliament, will make them 
 truly deplorable. 
 
 “Your memorialists cannot suggest to themselves any reason 
 why they should not still be trusted with the property of their peo- 
 ple, with whose abilities, and the least burdensome mode of tax- 
 ing, (with great deference to the superior wisdom of parliament,) 
 they must be best^acquainted. 
 
 “ Your memorialists hope they shall not be suspected of being 
 actuated, on this occasion, by any principles but those of the pur- 
 est loyalty and affection, as they always endeavoured by their con- 
 duct to demonstrate, that they consider their connexion with Great 
 Britain , the seat of liberty, as their greatest happiness. 
 
 “ The duty they owe to themselves and their posterity, lays 
 yom memorialists under the necessity of endeavouring to estab- 
 lish tlieir constitution upon its proper foundation ; and they do 
 most humbly pray your lordships to take this subject into youi 
 consideration with the attention that is due to the well-being o 1 
 the colonies, on which the prosperity of Great Britain does, in 3 
 great measure, depend.” 
 
 Mr. Wythe was the author of the following remonstrance 
 “ It was done with so much freedom, that, as he told rm 
 himself, his colleagues of the committee shrunk from it as wear 
 
452 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 mg the aspect of treason, and smoothed its features to its preset 
 form.”* 
 
 44 To the Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of 
 Great Britain , in Parliament assembled : — 
 
 “ The Remonstrance of the Council and Burgesses of Virginia, 
 
 44 It appearing, by the printed votes of the house of commons 
 of Great Britain in parliament assembled, that in a committee of 
 the whole house the 17th day of March , last, it was resolved, that 
 toward defending, protecting, and securing the British colonies 
 and plantations in America , it may be proper to charge certain 
 stamp duties in the said colonies and plantations ; and it being 
 apprehended that the same subject, which was then declined, may 
 be resumed and further pursued in a succeeding session, the coun- 
 cil and burgesses of Virginia, met in general assembly, judge it 
 their indispensable duty, in a respectful manner, but with decent 
 firmness, to demonstrate against such a measure ; that at least a 
 cession of those rights, which in their opinion must be infringed 
 by that procedure, may not be inferred from their silence, at so 
 important a crisis. 
 
 44 They conceive it is essential to British liberty, that laws, 
 imposing taxes on the people, ought not to be made without tho 
 consent of representatives chosen by themselves ; who, at the 
 game time that they are acquainted with the circumstances of 
 their constituents, sustain a portion of the burden laid on them* 
 The privileges, inherent in the persons who discovered and set- 
 tled these regions, could not be renounced or forfeited oy tieir 
 
 ♦ Mr. Jefferson 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 453 
 
 removal hither, not as vagabonds or fugitives, but kcensed and 
 encouraged by their prince, and animated with a lauuable de- 
 sire of enlarging the British dominion, and extending its com- 
 merce : on the contrary, it was secured to them ana their de 
 scendants, with all other rights and immunities of British subjects, 
 cy a royal charter, which hath been invariably recognised and 
 confirmed by his majesty and his piedecessors, in their com 
 missions to the several governors, granting a power, and prescrib- 
 ing a form of legislation ; according to which, laws for the ad- 
 ministration of justice, and for the welfare and good government 
 of the colony, have been hitherto enacted by the governor, coun- 
 cil, and general assembly ; and to them, requisitions and applica- 
 tions for supplies have been directed by the crown. As an in- 
 stance of the opinion which former sovereigns entertained of tnese 
 rights and privileges, we beg leave to refer to three acts of the 
 general assembly, passed in the 3‘2d year of the reign of King 
 Charles II., (one of which is entitled ‘ An act for raising a public 
 revenue for the better support of the government of his majesty's col- 
 ony of Virginia ,’ imposing several duties for that purpose,) which 
 being thought absolutely necessary, were prepared in England , 
 and sent over by their then governor, the lord Culpeper , to be 
 passed by the general assembly, with a full power to give the royal 
 asse it tnereto ; and which were accordingly passed, after several 
 amendments were made to them here : thus tender was his ma- 
 jesty of the rights of his American subjects ; and the remonstrants 
 do not discern by what distinction they can be deprived of that sa- 
 cred birthright and most valuable inheritance by their felkvv-sub* 
 jects, nor with what propriety they can be taxed or affected in theii 
 
454 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 estates, by the parliament, wnerein they are not, and indeed can 
 not, constitutionally, be represented. 
 
 “ And if it were proper for the parliament to impose taxes on 
 the colonies at all, which the remonstrants take leave to think 
 would be inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the 
 constitution, the exercise of that power, at this time, would be 
 ruinous to Virginia , who exerted herself in the late war, it is 
 feared beyond her strength, insomuch that to redeem the money 
 granted for that exigence, her people are taxed for several y ears 
 to come ; this, with the larger expenses incurred for defending 
 the frontiers against the restless Indians , who have infested her 
 as much since the peace as before, is so grievous, that an in- 
 crease of the burthen would be intolerable ; especially as the peo- 
 ple are very greatly distressed already from the scarcity of circu- 
 lating cash amongst them, and from the little value of their staple 
 at the British markets. 
 
 “ And it is presumed, that adding to that load which the colony 
 now labours under, will not be more oppressive to her people 
 than destructive of the interest of Great Britain : for the planta- 
 tion trade, confined as it is to the mother-country, hath been a 
 principal means of multiplying and enriching her inhabitants ; 
 and, if not too much discouraged, may prove an inexhaustible 
 source of treasure to the nation. For satisfaction in this point, 
 let the present state of the British fleets and trade be compared 
 with what they were before the settlement of the colonies ; and 
 let it be considered, that whilst property in land may be acquired 
 on very easy te r ms, in the vast uncultivated territory of North 
 America , the colonists will be mostly, if not wholly, employed in 
 agriculture ; whereby the exportation of their commodities to 
 Great Britain , and the consumption of manufactures supplied from 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 45$ 
 
 thence, will be daily increasing. But this most desirable con- 
 nexion between Great Britain and her colonies, supported by 
 such a happy intercourse of reciprocal benefits as is continually 
 advancing the prosperity of both, must be interrupted, if the peo- 
 ple of the latter, reduced to extreme poverty, should be compelled 
 to manufacture those articles they have been hitherto furnished 
 with from the former. 
 
 ‘From these considerations, it is hoped that the honourable 
 house of commons will not prosecute a measure which those 
 who may suffer under it cannot but look upon as fitter for exiles 
 driven from their native country, after ignominiously forfeiting 
 her favours and protection, than for the posterity of Britons , 
 who have at all times been forward to demonstrate all due reve* 
 ence to the mother-kingdom ; and are so instrumental in promo- 
 ting her glory and felicity ; and that British patriots will never 
 consent to the exercise of any anti-constitutional power which, even 
 in this remote corner, may be dangerous in its example to the in* 
 terior parts of the British empire, and will certainly be detrimen 
 tal to its commerce.” 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 Council Chamber , October 17th, 17S5. 
 
 Sir — Since the last session of assembly, I have received sun- 
 Iry acts, resolutions, and other communications from congress, 
 which I transmit to the general assembly, marked No. 1, and 
 which will claim the attention of the legislature, according to their 
 nature and importance, respectively. 
 
 The execution of the militia law hath caused much embarrass 
 
456 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 mem *o the executive. Compelled to name all the field officers 
 throughout the state, and possessing sufficient information as to 
 the fitness of individuals for these offices in a few counties only, 
 they were constrained to search out proper persons, by such 
 means as accident furnished, and by letters addressed to the sere 
 ral counties. In some instances, the gentleman to whom \hey 
 were addressed, refused to give any information. In many oth 
 ers, the answers came too late to avail ; the law directing the 
 commissions to issue the first of April. In this situation, the 
 business has been conducted: and from a partial knowledge of 
 characters in some counties, and a total ignorance of them in 
 others, 1 am sensible many who are worthy of command have 
 been passed by, and others less fit for office may have been 
 commissioned. And notwithstanding a close attention has been 
 given to this business, many of the counties have not yet been 
 officered, for want of the recommendations of captains and sub- 
 alterns. 
 
 Finding that the arms and ammunition directed to be purchas- 
 ed, could not. be procured except from beyond the sea, applica- 
 tion has been made by me to Mr. Jefferson and the Marquis de 
 *la Fayette, requesting their assistance to Mr. Barclay, (who was 
 commissioned to make the purchase,) in accomplishing this im- 
 portant work ; and I have the satisfaction to find, that the afTair is 
 in such a train as to promise the speedy arrival of these much- 
 wanted articles. For more full information respecting this trans- 
 action, 1 send you sundry letters, (No. 2,) by one of which you 
 will see that our noble friend the marquis oilers us his services, il 
 rhere shall be occasion for them. 
 
 I transmit, herewith, a letter from the honourable Mr. Hardy 
 covering a memorial to congress from sundry inhabitants of Wash- 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 457 
 
 ingftnn county, praying the establishment of an independent state, 
 to be bounded as is therein expressed. The proposed limits in- 
 clude a vast extent of country in which we have numerous and 
 very respectable settlements, which, in their growth, will form 
 an invaluable barrier between this country and those who, in the 
 course of events, may occupy the vast plains westward of the 
 mountains, some of whom may have views incompatible with our 
 safety. Already the militia of that part of the state is among the 
 most respectable we have : and by these means it is, that the 
 neighbouring Indians are awed into professions of friendship. 
 But a circumstance has lately happened, which renders the pos- 
 session of that territory, at the present time, indispensable to the 
 peace and safety of Virginia : I mean the assumption of sovereign 
 power by the western inhabitants of North Carolina. If these 
 people, who, without consulting their own safety or any other au- 
 thority known in the American constitution, have assumed govern 
 ment, and while unallied to us, and under no engagements to pur- 
 sue the objects of the federal government, they shall be strength- 
 ened by the accession of so great a part of our country, consequen- 
 ces fatal to our repose will probably follow. It is to be observed 
 that the settlements of this new society stretch on to great extent 
 in contact with ours in Washington county, and thereby expose 
 our citizens to the contagion of that example, which bids fair to 
 destroy the peace of North Carolina. 
 
 In this state of things it is, that variety of informations have 
 come to me, stating that several persons, but especially Col. Ar- 
 hur Campble, have used their utmost endeavours, and with some 
 success, to persuade the citizens in that quarter to break off from 
 lb. 1 ? commonwealth, and attach themselves to the newly-assumed 
 government, or erect one, distinct from it. \nd in order to effect 
 
*58 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 this purpose, the equity and authority of the laws have been ar, 
 raigned, the collection of the taxes impeded, and our national char- 
 acter impeached. But as I send you the several papers 1 have re- 
 ceived on that subject, I need not enlarge further than remark 
 that if this most important part of our territory be lopped oif, we 
 lose that barrier for which our people have long and often fought 
 that nursery of soldiers from which future armies may be levied, 
 and through which it will be almost impossible for our enemies to 
 penetrate : we shall aggrandize the new state, whose connexions, 
 views, and designs we know not ; shall cease to be formidable to 
 our savage neighbours, or respectable to our western settlements, 
 at present and in future. 
 
 While these and many other matters were contemplated by the 
 executive, it is natural to suppose, the attempt for separation was 
 discouraged by every lawful means ; the chief of which was, dis- 
 placing such of the field officers of militia, in Washington county, 
 as were active partisans for separation, in order to prevent the 
 weight of office being cast in the scale against this state : to this 
 end a proclamation was issued, declaring the militia law of the last 
 session in force, in that county, and appointments of officers were 
 made agreeable to it. 
 
 I hope to be excused for expressing a wish, that the assembly, 
 in deliberating on this affair, will prefer lenient measures in order 
 to reclaim our erring fellow-citizens. Their taxes have run into 
 three years’ arrear, and, thereby, grown to an amount beyond the 
 ability of many to discharge, while the system of our trade haa 
 been such as to render their agriculture unproductive of money ; 
 and I cannot but suppose, that if even the warmest supporters of 
 separation had seen the mischievous consequences of it, they 
 would have retracted ; and condemned that intemperance in their 
 
appendix. 
 
 459 
 
 own proceedings, which opposition in sentiments is too apt to 
 produce. 
 
 A letter from the countess of Huntingdon and another from Sir 
 James Jay, expressing her intentions to attempt the civilization of 
 the Indians, are also sent you. It will rest with the assembly to 
 decide upon the means for executing this laudable design, that re- 
 flects so much honour on that worthy lady. . 
 
 By a resolution of the last assembly, the auditors were prevent- 
 ed from liquidating the claims of the officers and soldiers, after 
 the first day of May last. Although the wisdom of such a meas- 
 ure must be admitted, yet several cases have come to my know- 
 ledge where claims, founded upon the clearest principles of jus- 
 tice, have been rejected by reason of that restriction : and when 
 I consider that the claimants will be found to consist, in consider- 
 able degree, of widows, orphans, and those who have been taken 
 prisoners, I am persuaded the assembly will think that a rigorous 
 adherence to the forementioned resolution is improper, and that 
 justice will be done to the claims of those few, whose poverty, ig- 
 norance, or other misfortunes, prevented earlier applications. 
 
 By Mr. Ross’s letter, No. 5, the assembly will observe his de- 
 
 * 
 
 mand against the state, and that it can be properly discussed only 
 by the legislature. Although the post at Point of Fork has been 
 long occupied, I cannot discover the least trace of title to the ground 
 vested in the public, or any previous stipulation with the proprie- 
 tor for the temporary possession of it. While the assembly are 
 considering of a proper satisfaction to the owner for the time past, 
 I trust provision will be made to secure a permanent repository for 
 the public arms and military stores, at that or some other place 
 most proper for the purpose. 
 
 The honourable William Nelson hath resigned hi 3 office as a 
 member of the council, as appears by his letter, No. G. 
 
460 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 The honourable Henry Tazewell, esq., has been appointed a 
 judge of the general court in the room of the hon. B. Uanbiidge, 
 esq. deceased, until the assembly shall signify take pleasure. 
 
 Th : honourable Geo. Muter, esq., has been appointed a judge oi 
 the general court in Kentucky, in the room of Cyrus Griffin, esq , 
 who lesigned his appointment. 
 
 Thomas Massie, esq., having resigned his appointment for open- 
 ing a road on the northwestern frontier, Joseph Neville, esq., has 
 been appointed in his room. 
 
 Ti.e report of the commissioners for disposing of the Gosport 
 lands. No. 9, will explain to the assembly their transactions in that 
 busings. 
 
 Mr. Rene Rapicault, of New Orleans, exhibited an account 
 against this commonwealth for a considerable sum oi money which 
 appear to be due to him. But as it will be found by reference to 
 his papers, No. 10, that this debt, however just, cannot be paid 
 fiom a/.y fund now existing, it is submitted to the legislature to 
 make such provision for its payment, as to them shall seem proper. 
 
 The report of the commissioners for extending the boundary 
 line between Virginia and Pennsylvania, No. 11, will explain the 
 manner in which that business has been executed. 
 
 By Mr. Jefferson’s letters it appears, that the original sum grant 
 ed to procure a statue of General Washington will be deficient. 
 The further sum wanting, together with the reasons for increas- 
 ing the expense of the work, will appear by Mr. Jefferson’s cor- 
 respondence, No. 12. 
 
 The crews of the boats Liberty and Patriot were ordered io be 
 erdisted for 12 months from August last, unless sooner discharged. 
 This was done in order that the assembly might, if they judged 
 proper determine to discontinue them, or if they are retained 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 461 
 
 make suitable provision for their support : hitherto, that has been 
 defrayed out of the contingent fund. But the great variety of ex* 
 penses charged on that fund, make it necessary, in future, to pro- 
 vide some other mode of support for them. The assembly will, no 
 doubt, observe in the course of their deliberations on the subject 
 of revenue, that it is necessary for the executive to commission 
 the officers. The officer commanding one of these boats has de- 
 tected several persons attempting to evade the payment of duty 
 and in compliance with the law, as he supposes, took bonds for the 
 payment of the penalties imposed for making false entries. But it 
 seems there are great difficulties in recovering judgment on these 
 bonds, owing to ambiguity in the law respecting the subject. The 
 assembly will apply such remedy for this evil as they think proper. 
 
 Application hath been made to the executive, on the subject of 
 paying into the contin ntal treasury, warrants for interest due on 
 loan office certificates, and other liquidated claims against the con- 
 tinent. And although there can be no doubt that payments, made 
 by the treasurer to the continental receiver, may include the pro- 
 portion of warrants specified by congress in their act of the 28th 
 of April, 1784, yet the receiver, when possessed of the cash, al- 
 though it was 1 unaccompanied by any warrants, does not conceive 
 himself justified in parting with any money in exchange for them. 
 So that until the assembly shall interpose, by making these 
 warrants receivable at the treasury, our citizens will suffer great 
 injury, and be deprived of a facility enjoyed by the citizens of the 
 other states. 
 
 The sum of money allowed by the assembly in their resolution 
 of the 13th of June, 1783, for compiling, printing, and binding the 
 taws, has proved inadequate to the purpose ; five hundred pounds 
 having been expended in the printing, and two hundred and fifty 
 
 39 
 
46 ^ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 engaged to be divided among the gentlemen who made the compl- 
 etion ; so that nothing is left to pay for the binding. 
 
 I cannot forbear informing the assembly, that many county courts 
 have failed to recommend sheriffs in tne months of June and July. 
 In consequence of this, many of the counties will be without sher- 
 iffs, in as much as the executive think they have no power to is- 
 sue commissions in such cases. As this evil threatens so many 
 parts of the state with anarchy, I have no doubt of the legislature 
 remedying it with all possible despatch. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with great regard, 
 
 Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 P. HENRY 
 
 The Honourable the speaker of the House of Delegates. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 Judge Tucker, in his edition of Blackstone, having fallen into 
 Mr. Randolph’s mistake, in regard to the case of Josiah Philips 
 the following note has been furnished to the author by the gentle- 
 man who was the chairman of the committee : — 
 
 “The case of Josiah Philips, I find strangely represented by 
 Judge Tucker and Mr. Edmund Randolph, and very negligently 
 vindicated by Mr. Henry. That case is personally known to me, 
 because I was of the legislature at the time, was one of those con 
 suited by Mr. Henry, and had my share in the passage of the bill 
 I never before saw the observations of those gentlemen, which 
 you quote on this case, and will now, therefore, briefly make some 
 strictures on them. 
 
 “ Judge Tucker, instead of a definition of the functions of bill* 
 of attainder, has given a just diatribe against their abuse. The oc- 
 casion and proper office of a bill of attainder is this ; when a per 
 
appendix. 
 
 463 
 
 son charged with a crime withdraws from justice, nr resists it by 
 force, either in his own or a foreign country, no other means of 
 bringing him to trial or punishment being practicable, a special act 
 is passed by the legislature, adapted to the particular ease ; this 
 prescribes to him a sufficient term to appear and submit to a trial 
 by his peers, declares that his refusal to appear shall be taken as a 
 confession of guilt, as in the ordinary case of an offender at the 
 bar refusing to plead, and pronounces the sentence which would 
 have been rendered on his confession or conviction in a court of 
 law. No doubt that these acts of attainder have been abused in 
 England as instruments of vengeance by a successful over a de- 
 feated party. But what institution, is insusceptible of abuse, in 
 wicked hands ? 
 
 “ Again, the judge says , 4 the court refused to pass sentence of 
 execution pursuant to the directions of the act.’ The court could 
 not refuse this, because it was never proposed to them, and my au- 
 thority for this assertion shall be presently given. 
 
 “ For the perversion of a fact so intimately known to himself, 
 Mr. Randolph can be excused only by our indulgence for orators 
 who, pressed by a powerful adversary, lose sight, in the ardour of 
 conflict, of the rigorous accuracies of fact, and permit their imagi- 
 nation to distort and colour them to the views of the moment. lie 
 was attorney-general at the time, and told me himself the first time 
 I saw him after the trial of Philips, that when taken and delivered 
 up to justice, he had thought it best to make no use of the act of 
 attainder, and to take no measure under it ; that he had endicted 
 him, at the common law, either for murder or robbery, (I forget 
 which, and whether for both,) that he was tried on this endictm ent 
 in the ordinary way, found guilty by the jury, sentenced and exe- 
 *utod under the common law ; a course which every one approve 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 4b4 
 
 ed, because the first object of the act of attainder was, to bring 
 him to fair trial. Whether Mr. Randolph was right in this inform 
 ation to me, or, when in the debate with Mr. Henry, he repre 
 sents this atrocious offender as sentenced and executed under the 
 act of attainder, let the record of the case decide. 
 
 “ 4 Without being confronted with his accusers and witnesses 
 without the privilege of calling for evidence in his behalf, he was 
 sentenced to death, and afterward actually executed.’ I appeal to 
 the universe to produce one single instance, from the first estab- 
 lishment of government in this state to the present day, where, in a 
 trial at bar, a criminal has been refused confrontation with his ac- 
 cusers and witnesses, or denied the privilege of calling for evi- 
 dence in his behalf. Had it been done in this case, I would have 
 asked of the attorney-general, why he proposed or permitted it ? 
 But, without having seen the record, I will ventivp, on the charac- 
 ter of our courts, to deny that it was done. But if Mr. Randolph 
 meant, only, that Philips had not these advantages, on the passage 
 of the bill of attainder, how idle to charge the legislature with omit- 
 ting to confront the culprit with his witnesses, when he was stand- 
 ing out in arms, and in defiance of their authority ; and their sen- 
 tence was to take effect, only on his own refusal to come in and be 
 confronted. We must either, therefore, consider this as a mere hy- 
 perbolism of imagination, in the heat of debate, or, what I should 
 rather believe, a defective statement by the reporter of Mr. Ran- 
 dolph’s argument. I suspect this last the rather, because this 
 point in the charge of Mr. Randolph, is equally omitted in the de- 
 fence of Mr. Henry. This gentleman must have known that Phil- 
 ips was tried and executed under the common law, and yet, accord- 
 ing to this report, he rests his defence on a justification of the at- 
 tainder only. But all who knew Mr. Henry, know, that when at 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 465 
 
 ease in argument lie was sometimes careless, not giving himself 
 the trouble of ransacking either his memory or imagination for all 
 the topics of his subject, or his audience that of hearing them. No 
 man on earth knew better when he had said enough for his hearers. 
 
 “ Mr. Randolph charges us with having read the bill three times 
 in the same day. I do not remember the fact, nor whether this 
 was enforced on us by the urgency of the ravages of Philips, or 
 of the time at which the bill was introduced. I have some idea it 
 was at or near the close of the session. The journals, which I 
 have not, will ascertain this fact.” 
 
 The following proceedings against Josiah Philips and his asso 
 ciates, are extracted from the records of the general court ; and are 
 followed by the notice of the execution of these men, from the 
 public prints of the day : which, it is hoped, will put a final end 
 to this mistake, so little to the honour of our revolution. 
 
 “ Virginia, to wit : — 
 
 “ The jurors for the commonwealth, upon their oath present 
 That Josiah Philips, late of the parish of Lynhaven, in the county 
 of Princess Ann, labourer, on the ninth day of May, in the year 
 of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, with 
 force and arms, at the parish aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, in 
 the highway of the commonwealth there, in and upon one James 
 Hargrove, in the peace of God and of the commonwealth, then 
 and there being, feloniously did make an assault, and him, the said 
 James Hargrove, in bodily fear and danger of his life, in the high 
 way aforesaid, then and there feloniously did put, and twenty- 
 eight men’s felt hats of the value of twenty shillings each, and 
 five pounds of twine of the value of five shillings each pound, of 
 the goods and chattels of the said James Hargrove, from the per- 
 
466 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 son and against the will of the said James Hargrove, in the high 
 way aforesaid, then and there feloniously and violently did steal 
 take, and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the com 
 monwealth. 
 
 “Witness — James Hargrove, Benjamin Gridin, William Lovett, 
 Polly Davis, Horatio Davis, and John Matthias. Sworn in court 
 Oct. 20th, 1778. John May.” 
 
 The above endictment is thus endorsed : — 
 
 “ An endictment against Josiah Philips for robbery,” (in Mr. 
 Randolph’s hand- writing.) “ A true bill. Win. Holt, foreman.” 
 
 “Virginia. 
 
 “ In the General Court, 20th October, 1778. 
 
 ‘Josiah Philips, late of the parish of Lynhaven, in the county 
 of Princess Ann, labourer, who stands endicted for robbery , was 
 led to the bar in custody of the keeper of the public jail, and was 
 thereof arraigned, and pleaded not guilty to the endictment, and for 
 his trial put himself upon God and the country. Whereupon came 
 a jury, to wit : James Letate, Thomas Stanley, Gilliam Booth, 
 Stapleton Crutchfield, John Tankerley, John Draper, Leonard 
 Henley, Micajah Chiles, Richard Swepson, William James Lewis 
 Thomas Cowles, and Abrose Raines, who, being elected, tried and 
 sworn the truth of, and upon premises to speak, and having heard 
 the evidence, upon their oath do say, that the said Josiah Philips 
 is guilty of the robbery aforesaid in manner and form as in the 
 endictment against him is alleged, and that he had neither lands 
 nor tenements, goods nor chattels at the time of committing the 
 said robbery, nor at any time since, to their knowledge ; and there- 
 upon he is remanded to jail 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 407 
 
 “ October the 27th. 1778 
 
 * Josiah Philips, late of the parish of Lynhaven, in the county 
 of Princess Ann, labourer, wh,o stands convicted of robbery , was 
 again led to the bar in custody of the keeper of the public jail, 
 and thereupon it being demanded of him if any thing he had oi 
 knew to say for himself, why the court, here, to judgment and ex- 
 ecution of and upon the premises, should not proceed, he said nr 
 had nothing but what he had before said. Therefore, it is coir 
 sidered by the court, that he be hanged by the neck until he bt 
 dead. 
 
 “ October 28, 1778. 
 
 “ John Lowry, John Reizen, and Charles Bowman, for murder, 
 Josiah Philips , James Hodges, Henry M‘Lalen, and Robert Hod- 
 ges ,for robbery , James Randolph for horse-stealing, Joseph Tur- 
 ner, otherwise called Josiah Blankenship, for burglary, and John 
 Highwarden for grand larceny, being under sentence of death by 
 the judgment of the court yesterday passed against them for their 
 said offence : It is awarded, that execution of the said sentence 
 be severally made and done upon them the said John Lowry, John 
 Reizen, Charles Bowman, Josiah Philips , James Hodges, Henry 
 M‘Lalen, Robert Hodges, James Randolph, Joseph Turner, other- 
 wise called Josiah Blankenship, and John Highwarden, by the 
 sheriff of York county, on Friday the fourth day of December next, 
 between the hours of ten and twelve in the forenoon, at the usual 
 place of execution. 
 
 “Copies — Teste 
 
 “ Peyton Drew, C. G. C. 
 
♦68 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Extract from Dixon and Hunter’s paper of October 30ih, 1778 
 
 “Williamsburg — At a general court, begun and hold at the 
 capitol the 10th instant, the following criminals were condemned 
 to suffer death : Charles Bowman, from Prince George, for mur- 
 der ; John Lowry, from Bedford, for ditto ; Josiah Philips, James 
 Hodges , Robert Hodges , and Henry M‘Lalen,from Princess Ann , 
 for robbery ; John High warden, from Fauquier, for grand larceny ; 
 Joseph Turner, alias Josiah Blankenship, from Albemarle, for bur- 
 glary; and James Randolph, from Culpepei for horse-stealing.” 
 
 Extract from Dixon and Hunter’s paper of December 4, 1778. 
 
 “Williamsburg — This day were executed, at the gallows neai 
 this city, pursuant to their sentence, the following criminal*, viz 
 Jfl&ak Philips , Henry M’Lalen, Robert Hodges, Join Beliefs 
 iofis&h filtadKensbiD * 
 
V- 
 
 
 V;. 
 
 . 
 
 ■'X 
 
 
 /. 
 
 'M ' 
 
 •i 
 
 i 
 
 v