Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/250

 226 SKETCHES OF THE

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 Iiaving made him the father of six children. The an- guish of this blow w^as 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 her 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 respecta- ble for every private and social virtue.

His uncle, for whom he seems to have had a strong affection, had died during his government, and in token of his affection and respect, had appointed him the exe- cutor 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 in- spire.

After the death of his wife, Mr. Henry sold the farm called Scotch Town, on which he had resided in Ha- nover, and purchased eight or ten thousand acres of valuable land in 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 Pa^ricfc. In the year 1777, he intermarried with Dorothea, the daughter of Mr. Nathaniel W. Dandridge, with whom, after the resig-

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