The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-10-22 00:00:00

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AMEft/U.4V RRVOLUT/ON.

SKEttil OF TI#R t.IPR ASO CIIAtAC.TSIt Or
PATRICK /13/1111tY.
(C 0511044 from out Piper of If esterdayi)
Soon after the opening of the Court, the caule
was called. It stood on a writ of enquiry of (lea
mages, no plea having been entered by the defendants
.since the judgment on the demurrer. The array he.
fore Mr. Henry's eye was now most (pilau!: On the
Bench sat snore than twenty Clergymen; the most
.learned men in the colony, end the most capable, as
•well as the severest critics before whom it was pot.
.sable for him to have made his debut. The Court+
house was crowded with an 011,ralhelming meltitodei
arid surrounded with an immense and ansinatt throng,
who, not finding room to eater, were endeivouring
to listen without, in the deepest attention: Bot there
-es something still more awfolly disconcerting than
all this ; for in the Chair of the presiding Ma.
*Write, sat no other person thin his own fatker.—
Mr. Lyons opened the cause very briefly .t in the way
of argument he did nothing more than vanillin to the
Jury, that the decision upon the demurrer had pat
this Act of 1760 entirely out of the way, and left the
law of 1748 as the only standard of their damages ;
he then concluded with a highly wrought ealogium on
the benevolence of the Clergy. A, d, noses came on
the first trial of Patrick Henry's strength. No one
bad ever beard him speck, and teriosity was on
.tiptoe. He rose very awkwardly, and faslterell,
much in his exordium. The people hung their hoods
at so unpromising a commencement ; the Clergy were
observed to exchange sly In. Its at each other ; sod
his father is described is hating almost sunk with
confusion, from his seat. But these feelings were of
short duration, and soon gate place to °there of sl
very different character. For now were those woe.
derful faculties which he possessed for the first time
developed; and now was first* witnessed that Aye.
terious and almost supernatural transformatieh of spa
pearance, which the fire of his own eloquence never
failed to work in him. For as his mind toiled along,
and began to glow from its own action,elt the Minket
of the clown seemed to shed themselves spoons**.
ously. His attitude, by degrees, became erect and
lofty. The spirit of his genius awakened all his
features. His countenance shone with a noblenets
and grandeur whit h it had never before exhibited..-.
There was a lightning in his eyes which seemed to
rive the spectator. He. action became graceful, bold,
and commanding; sod is; the tones of his voices bet,
more especially in his emphasis, there was I We&
liar ci.atate, a magic, of which any one Who ever
heard him, will speak „pa soots as he is nameols bat of
• kch no one can give any adequate description.—
They can only say that it struck open the ear and
'upon the heart, in a manncr whicklangauge canna
fell. Add in all Wes., conder• w ork ing fancy,.
and the peculiar phraseology in which he clothed its
ionages; for painted to the heart, with a force
that almost p-trified it. in the longues, of these
who heard him on this occasion, " he made their
blood tun cold, end their hair to rise on end."

It will not be dilficalt for any CPPI who year
hard this most extraordinary meet, ,to believe the,
whole account of this transaction which is sites lity
his ..stueitring beaten; end, from their amorist. the
COW t.livute of lisisover Coen'', most have eahibit.
ed, on this occasion, a scene as pictoresque, as his
been ever witnessed in real life. They say, that the
yeople, %hose countenances had fallen ss he arose,
had heard but a very few sentences before they
to I-nk up ; theft to look at each other with surprise,
as if doubting the evidence of their own sense.;
then, attracted by some strong gesture, struck by
boNse roNjestic attitude, fascinated by the spell of hit
eye, the charm of Lis emphasis, sod the varied end
commanding expression of his 'countenance. they
could look away ne mote. in lees than twenty
minutes, they might be seen, in every part of the
-house, on every bench, in every window, stooping
forward from their stands in death-like silence; their
features tiatd in amazement end awe; all their
senses listening and revisited upon the speaker, as if
to catch the last strain of some heavenly visitant.--•
The mockery of the Clergy', wet soon turned iota
alarm; their triumph into confusion and despair;
and at one burst of his rapid end overwhelming in.
'nave, they fled from the Bench in precipitation and
terror. As for the father, each was his ssrpriee,
sash his amazement, such his rapture, that, for.
potting where be was, and the tharecter which he
wig ailing, tears of ecstany‘wireamed down his
dwells, without the powerve itmlinalioll 10 re*

press them.
.The July seen In have been so completely he.
wahlered, that they too sight not only of the Ad of
t 1748, but that of 175fi elso ; for thoughtless even of
the admitted right of the Plaintiff, they had erarrely.
left the bar, when they returned with a verdict of
one penny damages. A motion was made for • new
Isis! ; but the Court too, who had now Inst the eqvi.
poise of their judgment, and overruled the motion by 6
an unanimous vote. The verdict and judgment vireo.
ruling the motion,were followed by redoubled serfs.
Ination, from within and without aim house. 'Dv
people, who had with difficelty kept theii hands off
.their champion from the moment of closing his ha-
.f&e4oe, no sootier saw the fate of the cause finally
'WO, than they seized him at the bar, and in spite
of his own 'setting's, and the continued cry of 44 or-
der" from the Sheriffs and the Court, they bore him
'out of the CourtJhouse, and raising him on their
shoulders, carried him about the yard, in a kind at
electioneering triumph.
01 what a scene wad this for a father's heart 1 so
!Addeo, so polooked for, so delightfully overwhelm.
it% I At the time, lie was not able to give ortteratten
to any armament ; but, a few dyes after, when srierik.
.ing of it to Mr. Winston, he said, with the most en.
dpging modesty, and with a tremor of woke, which
elinwed how much more lie fel& than he expressed—
" Patrick spoke in this cause sear an hour I and in
•a manner that surprised oven; and showed himself
well informed on a subject, of which 1 did not tibial&
be had any knowledge !"
• 1 base tried much to procure a sketch of this cola.
brated speech.
,But those of Mr. Henry's hearers
mho aurvireommem to have been bereftof their lease&
Tr -on only toll- lir Inotal, that they weretaken

1

They can only tail you in general, that they were takes
e capiive ; and so delighted with their captivity, the
they followed implicitly, whithersoever be led thews. •
e ' at his bidding, their tears flowed haws pity, Itlti
. their cheeks floated with indignation. The when it