Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/710

676  1em  HENRY, (1662–1714), the author of the well known and justly popular Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, was born at Broad Oak, a farm-house on the confines of Flintshire and Shropshire, on the 18th of October 1662. He was the son of Philip Henry, one of the 2000 ministers who were ejected from their livings in 1662 for refusing to conform to the Act of Uniformity. Unlike the majority of his fellow-sufferers, Philip Henry, who through his wife was the possessor of private means, was spared all personal privation or hardship as the con sequence of his nonconformity, and was thus enabled to give a good education to his son. Having received his preliminary education from his father and a tutor named Turner, Henry was next removed to an academy at Islington, whence he proceeded to become a student of law at Gray s Inn. His legal studies, however, had not advanced far when he relinquished them for theology, to which he thenceforth devoted himself. la 1687 he became minister of a Pres byterian congregation at Chester, whence in 1712 he was translated to Hackney. Two years later (June 22, 1714), he died suddenly of apoplexy at Nantwich while on a journey from Chester to London. Henry s Exposition, the work by which he is now chiefly remembered, is a commen tary of a practical and devotional rather than of a critical kind, ranging over the whole of the Old Testament and extending into the New as far as to the end of the Acts. At .this .point it was broken off by the author s death, but the work was finished by a number of clergymen, whose names are recorded in most editions of the book. In a critical point of view, it may be said to be quite valueless ; yet its. unfailing good sense, its discriminating thought, its high moral tone, its simple piety, and its altogether singular felicity of practical application, combine with the well-sus tained flow of its racy English style to secure for it, and deservedly, the foremost place among works of its class.

1em  HENRY, (1736–1799), an American statesman and orator, was born at Studley, Hanover county, Virginia, May 29, 1736, the second son in a family of nine children. His father, John Henry, an emigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland, was a nephew of Robertson the historian, and had risen to some eminence in the county, filling the offices of surveyor and presiding magistrate. Patrick Henry was educated at a little school near his home ; and, after the age of ten, by his father, who had opened a grammar school at his residence. In early life he showed no marked pro ficiency in his studies, except perhaps in mathematics, but was noted chiefly for a love of outdoor sports. At fifteen he became clerk in a country store ; and at sixteen he entered into partnership as storekeeper with his elder brother, but the business was unsuccessful, and a second attempt at storekeeping ended likewise in failure. Mean while the indifference to learning which marked his boy hood was replaced by a love of history, especially that of Greece and Rome; and his habitual indolence was overcome by his admiration for Livy, whose history he thenceforth read through once every year. At twenty-four, by his admission to the bar, Henry entered on the career that eventually brought him fame and fortune, although his income for some years was in keeping with his lack of previous preparation. At twenty-seven he won his first triumph, as counsel for the collector of the county, in what became known as &quot; the parson s cause.&quot; His unexpected display of eloquence on the side of the people procured him an extravagant recognition and the title of &quot; the orator of nature.&quot; Business poured in upon him, his popularity concealing his deficiencies; and his success was assured. In 1765 he was elected to the House of Burgesses, where he distinguished himself as the author of certain resolutions against the Stamp Act, the last of which, providing that &quot; the General Assembly of this colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the in habitants of this colony,&quot; though passed by a majority of only one, was the key-note of the struggle for independ ence. In 1769 he was admitted to practice in the general court, where he attained eminence in criminal cases before juries. In 1773 he was a member of the &quot;com mittee of correspondence for the dissemination of in telligence between the colonies.&quot; In the following year he was chosen delegate to the Virginia convention, which was the first public assembly to recommend an annual &quot; General Congress,&quot; and to the &quot; Old Continental Congress &quot;; but his success there as an orator failed to conceal his defects as a practical statesman. In 1775, in the Virginia con vention, he delivered a remarkable speech in moving that the &quot;colony be immediately put in a state of defence,&quot; and at the head of a body of militia he forced the royal officials to pay 330 for powder clandestinely removed by order of Governor Dunmore. He was appointed by the convention colonel of the first regiment and commander of all the forces to be raised in Virginia, but a misunderstanding with the &quot; committee of safety &quot; led to his resignation. He was a member of the second Continental Congress of 1775, and of the Virginia convention of 1776, which had been elected &quot; to take care of the republic,&quot; the royal governor having fled. They framed a new constitution, and elected Henry the first republican governor, on the first ballot. He was re-elected in 1777 and 1778. In 1780 he became a member of the legislature, where he continued until he was again elected governor in 1784. In 1786 he withdrew through the pressure of debt, having &quot; never been in easy circumstances.&quot; In 1787 he was chosen a delegate to the &quot;Federal Constitutional Convention/ but did not attend. He had resumed his practice to better his fortunes. In 1788 he was a delegate to the Virginia convention for ratifying the Federal Constitution, which he vehemently 