Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/288

 26'i SKETCHES OF THE

It was not until the 4th, that the preHminaiy arrange- ments for the discussion were settled. Mr. Pendleton had been unanimously elected the president of the con- vention; 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 con- formity 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 him- self strictly to the sections under consideration, and maintained their policy with great cogency of argu- ment. Mr. Henry rose next, and soon demonstrated that his excursions were not to be restrained by the rigour of rules. Instead of proceeding to answer Mr. Nicholas, he commenced by sounding an alarm calcu- lated to produce a most powerful impression. The effect, however, will be entirely lost upon the reader, unless he shall associate with the speech, which I am about to lay before him, that awful solemnity and look of fearful portent, by which Mr. Henry could imply

��short sketch of Mr. Henry's course in this body. It ought to be pj'cniised, however, that the pubhshed debates have been said by those who attended the convention, to present but an impeifect view of the discussions of that body. In relation to Mr. Henry, they are confessedly imperfect; the re- porter having sometimes dropped him in those 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 constitution was opposed on one hand, and supported on the other; but it must have been utterly impossible for a man, who possesses the sensibility and high relish for eloquence which distinguish the reporter, not to have been so far tran- sported by the excursions of Mr. Henry's genius, as sometimes, unconscioush', to have laid down his pen.

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