PATRICK HENRY.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

AMONG the group of men whose energy and patriotism produced the American Revolution Patrick Henry stood preeminent for one special gift. In ability to shape the action of men by persuasive and effective speech he was far in advance of his contemporaries. This gift was rather a mark of genius than the result of severe effort toward attainment. In fact there was nothing in Patrick Henry's early training that would mark him as likely to become one of the great figures of a period prolific of famous men. Born May 29, 1736, in Hanover County, Virginia, he enjoyed few early advantages. His father was a good man and a man of some education. His mother belonged to a family considered somewhat more clever than the average. For a few years he attended school more or less willingly, and learned a little Latin and Greek, but he was unpromising as a scholar, and whiled away a good deal of time with rod and gun. Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four he made a failure of everything he tried. Although he was a poor storekeeper and, if anything, a worse farmer, this did not deter him from getting married at eighteen, and thus assuming the task of providing for two before he had demonstrated his ability to provide for one.

But in 1760 a change occurred. He hastily read a little law in a very brief space of time, and went down to Williamsburg to get admitted to the bar. At first he did

not make a favorable impression; but when John Randolph, one of the examiners, affected to dissent from his opinions to draw him out, he defended his ideas with such force and vigor as to make evident a nature which had mastered the principles of close observation and accurate reasoning. Taking the candidate to his office and opening some of his books, Randolph said, "Behold the force of natural reason! You have never seen these books before nor this principle of law; yet you are right and I am wrong. . . . Mr. Henry, if your industry be only half equal to your genius, I augur that you will do well and become an ornament and an honor to your profession.'

Henry returned to his father-in-law's tavern to establish a practice. In spite of stories to the contrary, it seems tolerably certain that clients soon began to come to him, and that he mended the deficiencies in his earlier legal training. At any rate, a chance came to demonstrate whether he could win a hard case. A dispute arose between the clergymen of Virginia and the vestrymen over the payment of the parsons' salaries. The Virginia legislature made a law against the parsons; the king.in England annulled the law as unjust, which it probably was. In a case in Louisa County, when the court had decided in favor of the parsons and left the jury to determine the amount of the payment, Henry was called in to represent the vestrymen. So persuasive was his speech that the jury quietly brought in a verdict of only one penny for the clergymen. It is well to note here that while Henry was perhaps in this case opposed to absolute justice, he was nevertheless on the side which stood for Virginia's right to regulate her own affairs without the interference of the king. In fact, he maintained this so stubbornly that some called out "Treason!"

This celebrated case brought its quick reward in popularity, and early in 1765 Henry's gaunt figure appeared in the House of Burgesses at the colonial capital, as the member from Louisa County. It was soon seen that he was

a man of remarkable power. He struck hard blows, and he used every available weapon in behalf of the cause he favored, but he bore no malice toward his opponents. When he had had less than a month of legislative experience, the great question of the Stamp Act came before the house. Great Britain had decided to test the question of taxing America. What should America do about it? The old leaders hesitated; but young Henry stepped forward and proposed in seven resolutions that the British Parliament be told distinctly that Virginia was to be taxed by no one but Virginia's own representatives. Timid men trembled. Cautious men drew back. The cry of "Treason!" was raised. "If this be treason, make the most of it," retorted Henry; and in spite of stubborn opposition, threats, and abuse, the resolutions were passed. Whether this was the first step in the American Revolution is immaterial. All the American colonies were restless and uneasy, and the Virginia resolutions were, as General Gage wrote, "the signal for a general outcry."

Before the resolutions were finally passed the instigator of all this trouble was quietly journeying home, but he came back to Williamsburg again and again in the next few years. He was in the House of Burgesses; he served on committees of correspondence and attended conventions; and finally he was sent to the first Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. On his way thither, with Edmund Pendleton, another delegate, he stayed a night at Mt. Vernon. They found Mrs. Washington as much of a patriot as her husband. "I hope you will all stand firm," she said, "I know George will." On arriving in Philadelphia, the three delegates created an excellent impression. "These gentlemen from Virginia appear to be the most spirited and consistent of any," John Adams noted in his diary.

The most notable work of the First Continental Congress was the framing of several great state papers, including an address to the king on the wrongs of America. Henry did