Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/237

 HENRY

HENRY

lost, Henry was employed as counsel for the colony. He discussed the mutual relations and reciprocal duties of the king to his subjects, and of the clergy to their parishioners, and when he declared that the king who would insist on such a principle as advanced would, instead of remain- ing the father of his people, degenerate into a tyrant and would forfeit all rights to the obe- dience of his subjects, the murmur of "treason" ran through the court-house, and then when he continued by denouncing the parsons for refus- ing to share the hardships of the community, they left the court-room in a body. When the jury brought in a verdict of one penny for the plaintiff the entliusiastic people bore the young advocate on their shoulders in triumph around the court-jard. Patrick Henry in the Hanover court house had struck the keynote of the Amer- ican Revolution. His practice raj^idh' increased and in 1765 he was elected to the house of bur- gesses to fill a vacancy. Here he took his seat. May 20, and met all his examinei's of two years before except John Randolph, besides many other distinguished statesmen of Virginia. Nine daj'S after he had taken his seat he offered resolutions denying the right of Great Britain to enforce the stamp act in Virginia. Peyton Randolph, Pen- dleton, Wythe and other experienced debaters opposed the resolutions, but after what Jefferson characterized a "most blood}'" debate Henry carried his resolutions by a majority of one. Jefferson speaks thus in his autobiography of Henry's talents as an orator: " They were great indeed: such as I have never heard from any other man. He appeared to me to speak as Homer wrote." It was in this debate that by voice and gesture he electrified the house with " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First Iiis Cromwell, and George the Third " "Trea- son! " cried the speaker, John Robinson, and " Treason! treason! " re-eclioed from every part of the house. Without faltering, but rising to a loftier attitude and fixing on the speaker an eye which seemed to flash fire, Henry completed his sentence, '' may profit by their example. If this be treason make the most of it." From that mo- ment Patrick Henry, on that day twenty-nine years old, was the political leader of Virginia. In 1769 lie was admitted to practise in the gen- eral court and attained eminence in criminal cases. In May, 1773, he helped in organizing and was made a member of the committee of correspondence. In 1774 he was a delegate to the Virginia convention, the first public assem- bly to recommend an annual general congress. He was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1774-76, and opened the first session hx a speech in which he declared, "I am not a Virginian, but an American." He served on the committee

CARPEMTERS HALL. PH I U. A OE L f H

to prepare the address to the king, but his draft was too advanced for the conservative party led by John Dickinson and the address was modi- fied. When the proposition of Joseph Gallo- way for a plan of reconcilia- tion with Eng- land was before congress and apparently had the sanction of that body, Mr. Henry led the opposition and was the only

'3^

one to speak against it. The vote of one col- ony defeated the measure and Patrick Henry alone arose to the occasion that precipitated the war. He followed this action b}^ a motion be- fore the Virginia convention, March 23. 1775, to put the colony in a state of defence preparatory to war which was threatening, and followed the motion with a speech remarkable in the exam- ples of eloquence. The delegates met in St. John's Episcopal church. Richmond, and Mr. Henry for two days had listened with mortifica- tion to the proceedings which had been directed toward an amicable settlement of the difficulties between the colonies and England. He foresaw in any compromise acceptable to the king, abso- lute submission that would be little less than slavery, and finding that some bold act was necessary to rouse the patriotic spirit of the assembled delegates, he prei^ared a set of resolu- tions providing for an immediate organization of the militia and the placing of the colony in a condition of defence. The reading of tliese reso- lutions alarmed some who saw in them revolu- tion, disgrace and death, and svich delegates deplored Henry's rashness and lack of prudence and asked him to withdraw the resolutions. In- stead of this he pronounced his immortal oration, closing with the sentence, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me. give me liberty or give me death! " To quote from Wil- liam Wirt: " He took his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. The effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several members started from their seats. The crj- ' to arms! ' seemed to quiver on every lip and gleam from every eye. Richard H. Lee arose and supported Henry with liis usual spirit and eloquence. But his melody was lost amid the agitations of that ocean, which the master-spirit of the storm hart lifted on liigh. The supernatural voice still sounded in their ears and shivered along their arteries. They heard in every pause the cry of