Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/677

 and in the house which assembled in the spring of 1765 they were represented by their most powerful names. These gentlemen held back, hesitated, and advocated renewed protests and petitions. It was in the midst of this gen- eral indecision and doubt that Patrick Henry startled the assembly by his celebrated resolu- tions. He was almost unknown to the mem- bers, and the first sentiment of the richly clad planters was scorn and indignation at the pre- sumption of the slovenly and awkward youth, in leather knee breeches and a homespun coat, who ventured to assume the post of leader in an assemblage so august and at a moment so critical. His resolutions, which he had hastily written on the leaf of a law book, contained none of the old formal and submis- sive phrases. They suggested no new petition or protest. They declared that the house of burgesses and the executive had " the exclu- sive right and power to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants of this colony;" and that, consequently, the stamp act, and all other acts of parliament affecting the rights of the American colonies, were unconstitutional and void. The best patriots received the resolu- tions with a tempest of opposition. They were declared extreme, impolitic, and dangerous. "Many threats were uttered," says Henry, " and much abuse cast on me by the parties for submission." Thomas Jefferson, who heard the debate, says that it was "most bloody." But the nerve and resolution of the young bur- gess were as great as his eloquence. In the midst of the debate he thundered : " Csesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third " " Treason I" cried the speaker, "Treason, treason!" echoed from every part of the house " may profit by their example ! If this be treason, make the most of it ! " The resolutions, in spite of a bitter oppo- sition, were carried, the last by a majority of one. The young man had thus achieved at the age of 29 the reputation of being the greatest orator and political thinker of a land abound- ing with public speakers and statesmen. He had suddenly become a "power in the state;" and the sceptre, departing from the hands of the wealthy planters, was wielded by the county court lawyer. The mouthpiece of re- sistance, the authoritative representative of the masses as distinguished from the aristocracy, and soon to be the advocate of revolution, Pat- rick Henry thenceforth occupied a post of strength from which his enemies were unable to drive him. From the pursuits of his profes- sion, to which he returned, he was soon again recalled to the stage of public events. The stamp act had been repealed, but the policy of laying burdens upon the colonies had not been abandoned. In 1767 the act levying duties upon tea, glass, paper, and other articles, threw the country into renewed ferment. In the spring session of 1769 the leading advocates of resistance in the house of burgesses, of whom Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and the HENEY 663 Lees were the most active and determined, offered a series of resolutions which caused the dissolution of the body by Lord Botetourt. Henry and his friends immediately assembled at the old Raleigh tavern in Williamsburg, and drew up articles of association against the use of British merchandise, which were gen- erally signed by the burgesses. Here termi- nated for a time the struggle, and Henry re- turned to his profession, though he continued a member of the burgesses. In this year he was admitted to the bar of the general court, where his appearance was respectable, but not dis- tinguished. He was not a good " case lawyer," from defective study ; but in jury trials, where his wonderful powers of oratory could be brought to bear upon the passions of men, he excelled all his contemporaries. For four years Henry continued to occupy a seat in the house of burgesses, and to practise his profes- sion. Then the struggle between Great Brit- ain and the colonies commenced in earnest. It was plain that both sides were greatly em- bittered, and there is evidence that Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and other advocates of uncompromising resistance desired to take advantage of the public sentiment and precipi- tate the rupture. Early in the session of 1773, Henry, Jefferson, the two Lees, and Dabney Carr met in the Raleigh tavern and originated that great machine, the " committee of corre- spondence, for the dissemination of intelligence between the colonies." The burgesses prompt- ly acted upon the suggestion, and were as promptly dissolved by Lord Dunmore, who had succeeded Botetourt. They were all reflected by the people, and resumed their seats in the spring of 1774. Massachusetts had already made her courageous stand against parliament. The tea of the East India company had been thrown overboard in Boston harbor, and a col- lision between England and the colonies was now in the highest degree probable. The most determined patriots were therefore sum- moned to the public councils in Virginia. The Boston port bill, closing Boston harbor on June 1, speedily arrived. The leaders of the bur- gesses again met in secret consultation, and the result was a resolution that the 1st of June should be set apart as " a day of fasting, humil- iation, and prayer" throughout the province. The burgesses passed the resolution, and Dun- more duly dissolved them. They retired to the Raleigh tavern as before (May, 1774) ; but pub- lic feeling was too deeply aroused to content itself with protests or " articles of association." The meeting resulted in two resolves of the ut- most importance. The first was that the dif- ferent counties should be recommended to elect deputies to assemble at Williamsburg, Aug. 1, to consult for the good of the colony. The second was that the committee of correspon- dence should propose immediately to all the colonies a general congress, to meet annually and deliberate upon the common welfare ; "the ftrst recommendation of a general congress,"