The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-12-17

d1u dppllCu y q llSCAOO w ioSbiOS Ae"
having commenced the study of it at or
subsequent to the time of my meeting
him in Louisa. There were four exam
iners-Wythe, Pendleton, Peyton Ran
dolph, and John Randolph. Wythe and
Pendleton at once rejected his applica-
ton. The two Randolphs, by his i'm
p%ortunity, were prevailed upon to sign
the licence and having obtained their
signatures, he applied again to Pendle-
ton, and after much entreaty and many
promises of future study, succeeded in
obtaining his. He then turned out for
a practicipg lawyer. The first case
which brought him into notice was a con-
tested election, in which he appeared
as counsel before a committee of the
House of Burgesses. His second was
the Parsons cause, already we'll known.
These and similar efforts soon obtained
for him SO much reputation, that he was
elected a Member of the Legislature.
He was as we'll suited to the times as
any man ever was, and it is not now easy
to say what We should have done with
out Patrick Henry. He was far before
all in maintaining the spirit of the Rev.
o~lution. His influence was most extern
sive with-the members from the upper
counties, and his boldness and their votes
overawed and controlled the more cool
or the more timid aristocratic gentlemen
of the lower part Of the State. His ell
oquence was peculiar, if indeed it should
be called eloquence for it was impress
i've and sublime, beyond what can be i'm
agined. Although it was difficult when
he had spoken to tell what he had said.
yet while he was speaking, it always
seemed directly to the point. When he
had spoken in opposition to my opinion
had produced a great %effec,, and / my
self been highly delighted and moved, 1
have asked myself when he ceased =
'' What in the world has he said L
could never answer the inquiry. His
person was of full size, and his manner
and voice free and manly. His utter
ance neither very fast nor very slow.
His speeches generally short from a
quarter to a half IN hour. His pronun-
citation was vulgar and vicious, but it
Was forgotten while he was speaking.
He was a man of very little knowledge
of any sort he read nothing, and had
no books. Returning one November
from Albemarle court, he borrowed of
me Hume's Essays, in two volumes, say
ing he should have leisure in the winter
for reading. In the spring he returned
them, aud declared he had not been able
to go further han twenty or thirty pages
in the first volume. He wrote almost
nothing-he could not write. The res
olutions of rs which have been ascribed
to him, have by many been supposed to
have been written by Mr.. johnson. who
acted as his second on that occasion E.
but if they were written By Henry Linn
self, they are not such as to prove any
power of composition. Neither in poll
tics nor in his profession was he a man
of business; he was a man for debate
only. His biographer says that he read
Plutarch every year. L doubt whether
he ever read Il volume of it in his life.
His temper was excellent, and he geuer-
ally observed decorum in debate. On
one or two occasions I ave seen him an
CRY, and his anger was terrible; those
who witnessed it were not opposed to
rouse it again. In his opinions he was
yielding aud tractable and not disposed
to differ from his friends. In private
conversation he was agreeable and face
tious, and, while in gentee1 society, ap-
peared to understand all the decencies
and proprieties of it; but, in his heart,
he preferred low society and sought it
as often as possible. He would hunt in the
and people of that description, living in
a camp for a fortnight at a time without
a change of raiment. 1 have often been
astonisned at his command of proper Ian
guage how he attained a knowledge of
it 1 never could find out, as he read so
little and conversed little with educated
men. After all, it must be allowed that
he was our leader in the measures of the
Revolution, in Virginia. In hat re-
spect more was due to him than any 9TH
er person. If we had not had him, we
should probably have got on pretty we'll
as you did, by a number of men of near
ly equal talents, but he left US all far
behind. His biographer sent the sheets
of his work to me as they were printed,
and atthe end asked for my opinion. I
told him it would be a question hereaf-
ter, whether his work should be placed
on the shelf of history or of ~panegyrio.
1t is a poor book, written in bad taste,
and gives SO imperfect an idea Of Patrick
Henry, that it seems intended to show
off the writer more than the subject of
the work.
Something New Under the Sun!