Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1834-12-08
II DEC.S.ISa4.
PATRICK HENRY,S opINIoNs

which Henry was so conspicu,us m o.,a... w
therefore c~heerfully inser, the followin, ,,,;clo v;n
dica''ne the great Virginia Orator t,om ,ho sun
r"seo '"Po'a'ohs sane loned by III It extract. If
's'r. 's'r' was mis'ntofmed with regard To the Ten.
NJ VI "e speech Delivered on the OCCASION referred
10 as our correspondent alleges, jus ice TO Mr.. II n.
=, o. wen as 'ho f"'h OF history demands that tho
.o'ee"" sio''', II possible, lie as generally aif-
fused as the CT r | snonld certainly be so N red i,
future editions of Mr.. Wrt's book
I1Ae Editors Of The Virginian.
17esNs. Edtt0is~On the first appearance of
UtFst3c Of P"trich Henry, the writer, in com.
mon with the public, was much surprised ,bo, Hen.
= y was made TO Say TO the people of Charlotte ooun-
", al their March Court, in 1899, that the Al,cn
aho aeo'tlon Laws were " good aud propei." som
persons considered II an instance Of his inconsistent
ey, whlIst o hers viewed II as an irdlcution of TIC
"ane OF his great mind. Until lately, ,ho writer
ulo not deem 1t essen lal TO the memory of Patrick
,ie"Y &c notice The error of his B,osraphcr AT all.
nu' II mas been so often advcrted 10 in the public
Prirts within a few years, ard having seen IN the
= VIrsinIan" of The 2Jth ult. the extract in qu S
'oh nom the B.osraphy, 1t would seem, not
wi'hstandif's he whole stream OF the life It Hen.
~ 'eals 10 tic development of his principles 20
clearly, that II is necessary, at this late day, 10 give
tho public a succlnct history OF he speech in ques.
ton.
Just after the appear ncc of Madison's celebrated
Resolutions in 1893, Gen. Washington wrote TO
Henry, urging hun, in the most solemn manner, to
lecome Il candidate for the. Virginia Legislature,
Tor the purpose OF opposing the passage Of those
Resolutions. No'hing could have been more o,po-
site 10 the pursuits and labi,s of Patrick Henry at
that time, than tho turmoil and difficulties of poli,i-
cal life. lie had some years before determined to
indulge himself. and Withdraw entirely LON public
lite. But, SO earnest was the appeal Of Wishing
ton, and so deep a sense did he feel of the impor.
tance Ut the CRISIS IN our pnblIc affairs, that he re-
solved once more to embark in political lie. Ac-
cordlngly, he presented himself 10 the people Of
Charlotte, at their March Court, in 1893, as u can
dldaie FOR the Virginia Legislature. The occasion
was one Of unusual interest. The late John RAN
dolph, of Ro anoke, W as then n candidate for Congress
Tor the first time, aud made his debut on the occa-
son. lie was just then . years Of age, and was
decidedly the most prominent young man IN the
United Stat,s.-Patfick Henry addressed the pco-
t1le first, and Mr.. Randolph, followed him. The
tpeakers took opposite SIDES OF The questions Of the
day. Patrick Henry told the people, that he had
determined, ,nul very lately, to spend thc rem,ln-
der OF his life IN retlrenent-thpi long ago, he had
become tir,d of politics. But the attitude thea re
ccn'ly assumed by Virginia towards the L, deraI
government, I'D filled his mind with apprehension
FIb ~ Virginia DtTSlSlfu III M NIo
lent and dlsrespeclful course lowur Is the Federal
government, she would find herself out Of the pale
of the UnIon-that Washington woul be seen, II,
The head al a powerful army, marching through the
country, Injecting military punishment Oh the peo-
pie. lie reminded them, that, many years before,
he had warned them, IN the VIrginle Convention,
that, If the present Federal Constitution was adopt
cd, their rights and berries would bc placed in
jeopardy-,har such was the fatal ambiguity of the
terms OF that instrument, that any thing and every
hing would be cons itutional-tha the Alien ard
Sedition Laws were the legitimate fruits Of that con-
stitutIon which they had deliberately adopted, ard
whicl, he had opposed with all te powers Of ms
mind. He exiior,ed them To pause and reflect, be-
fore they rushed to violence and lteytlprion bul II
is most positively denied, that he said the Alien
and Sedltion Laws were ' good and proper. he
grounds he took in his speech were that a minority
of the people of Virginia lad deliberately adopted
he Federal Constitution; that he had opposed
its adoption in the Virginia Convention as totally
defective that it contained none of those lin
itations and checks on power, SO essential to the
preservation of the rights and Liberties of the pco-
pie and that il was better to go wrong with John
| Adams and his administration, and submit tor a
short time, than to sever the Union of the States,
because the Alien and Seditioa Laws did not, IN
their opinion, comport with the provisions OF n
1SpflSlt utIOb WV We W
ion, as to authorize the passage of those Laws, or
any other, thai a popular President might recon-
mend to a scrvile Congress. No doGbt Mr.. writ
was Informed that Patrick Henry did appreciate
those obnoxiors laws, (anJ, by the way, no man
respects Mr., W,rt more than The writer bil MS re
por, of that Speech is ce,tainly incorrect. II can
be proven, by some of the most respectable anu Ell
Ii,htened mer in the county OF Charlotte, that Her
ry was not tie advocate of those abom'nable laws
on tha, occason. Independent OF the e"ijencc OF
many Of Patrick Henry's hearers at that time, con-
trad,cting Nh. Wlr's repo,t OF his Speech, is II to
he credited. FOR one moment, that he could have abJor-
cd all the nrinciplcs Of his earlier life, and come out
on tho side of tyranny His great objection to
the Fed ral Constitution was, that II was TOO M
,ionnI IN all lis fea,ures-,hat, whilst II amused
the peor.le with the idea Of a Republic, il in fact
tended towards Monarchy. Ia a wo d, he depre-
Gated the a,Iop,ion of the constitution, bee use, such
wos the ambioui,y of its terms, that the President
and Congress, if they were men % address, might
mass ius, such la W as the Alien an Sednion avs
and thew would show you their authority for 50 do
{ ing.
!, The few of Henry's contemporaries, now living
. Win will recollec, his unaffected RePuhl,canism,
0 need no, be told of the injustice done hun by The
report of this speech but a profound 'esFee' ''
e the public opinion Of a new generation OF men
has induced the writer TO offer ms pu"nea''o". -"
vindication of the memory OF a pafio', VINO u 80
), had ever approved and defended the ave" anu sc
It dltion Laws, ought to stand IN a very o'ie'e"' "s"
+ before the American people. THETA IS iha, NV
rick Henry never wavered IN MS support ne'
government Ia the early days OF our struggle 10
independence, his greatest complaint ~a'' "'' Wv