The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1856-11-27

book is now in press which comfs
the private correspondents Of Daniel Wei!
ster, or so Anchh Of u ais osssidercl "a
public 1T. Some u th6 letters AsVp
been pubh1he4 in adsnce. One Of theak|
gives an acsssseof sslkby II. webstseae
Mr.. JefFersoas With remarks Of that celebra-
ted man upon rsasick Henry and Gen. Jack
son, among other topics. We copy below
what he said concerning these men. His de-
hneation of the personal character and quail
tiles Of Henry are interesting, and, doubt.
les. faithful.
RY.-Patrick Henry was originally bar
keeper. He was married very young, and
going into some business, on his own no.
count, was a bankrupt before the year was
out. When was about the age OF fifteen, |
left the school here, TO 60 to the college at
Williamsburgh. ! stopped few days at
friends in the country OF Louisa. There
hrst saw and became acquainted with Pat
rick Henry. Having spent the Christmas
holidays there, proceeded to Williamsburgh
Some question arose about my admission, as
my preparatory studies had not been pursued
at the school connected v tn that institution.
This delayed my admission about a fortnight,
at which time Henry appeared in Williams.
burgh, and applied for license to practice
law, having commenced the study Of it Mt or
subsequently, to the time Of my meeting him In
\ LOUISA. There were four examiners, Wythe,
Pendleton, Pcyton Randolph and John Ran.
dolph. Wythe and Fendetop at once reject
ed his application. The two RandslpLs, BY
his Importantly, we're prevailed upon to sign
the liosass; and having obtained their sig
natures, he applied again to Pendleton, and
after much entreaty and many promises Of
future study, succeeded in obtaining his
He then turned out for practicing lawyer. -
The FIRST case which brought him into notice
was . contested election, in which he appear
ed rs counsel before a committee Of the House
,of Burgcsses. His second was the Parsons
cause, already we'll known. Ttess and siml-
lar efforts soon obtained for MIN 80 much
reputation, that he was elected Member OF
the Legislature. lie was as we'll suited "a
the times as any man ever was, and it 10 no,
now easy TO say what We should have done
without Patrick Henry. He was far before
10 maintaining the spirit of the Revolution.
His influence was most extensive with the
members from the upper counties, and his
boldness and their votes oyeSavad and con-
trolled the more cool or the more timid syis-
tocratic gentlemen OF the lower part Of the
State. His eloquence was peculiar, ii indeed
1t should be called cloquence for it was i'm
pressive and sublime, beyond what can be
imagined. Although it was difficult when he
had spoken TO tell what he had said, yet,
while he was speaking, it always seemed d.
opposition to my opinion, had produced a
great effect, and myself been highly de-
lighted and moved, have asked myself when
he ceased: ssWhat the devil has he said 20
could never answer the inquiry. His per-
son was OF full size, and his manner aud
voice free and manly. His utterance neither
very fast nor very slow. His speeches gen.
eraliy short, from a quarter to a half an
hour. His pronunciation was vulgar and
vicious, butt was forgotten while he was
speaking.
lie vas man Of very little knowledge OF
any sorts he read nothing, and had no books
Returning one November from ALTERNATE
court, he borrowed Of me HuIne's Essays, in
two volumes, saying h, should have leisure
IN the Winter for reading. In tho Spring he
returned them, and declared he had not been
able TO go further than twenty or thirty
pages in the first volume. He wrote almost
nothing he could not write. The resoiu-
tons OF rs, which have been ascribed to
him, have by many been supposed TO have
been written by Mr.. johnson, who acted as
has second on that occasion but if they were
written by Henry himself, they are not such
ns 10 prove any power of composition. Mel
tncr IN politics nor in his profession Was he q
man Of business; he was q man for debate
only. Ills biographer says that he read Plu-
tarch every year. ! doubt whethsr he ever
read volume Of it in his life. His temper
was excellent, and he generally observed de-
oorum 10 debate. On one or two occasions
have seen him angry, and his anger was tel
ribie; those who witnessed it were not dis
posed to rouse it again. In his opinions he
was yielding and practicable and not dispos-
ed to dif[er from his friends. Ia private con-
versation he was agreeable and faceiioos.
and, while in gentecl society, appeared 10
understand oil the dccencies and properties
on II but, IN his heart, he preferred low so.
ciety, and senght il as often as possible. He
would hunt in the pnewoods Of Fuvunna,
WIN oversecrs. and people Of that deserip-
'ioh, living IN o camp for a fortnight at
time without a change Of raiment. | have
often been astonished Mt his command Of
proper language how he attained knowl-
edge OF II never could find out, as he read
so little and conyersed little with educated
men. After all, il must be allowed that he
was our leader in the measures OF the Revo
luton, in Virginia. In that respect more
was due to him Than any other person. n
we had not had him We should probably have
got ON pretty well, ms you did, BY a number
OF men OF nearly equal talents, but he left Us
all Tar behind. HIS biographer sent the
sheets OF his work TO me as they we're print /
cd, and at the end asked for my opinios. 1
told hiis il would be u question hereafter.
whether his work should be placed on the
shell OF history or Of panegyric. 1t is :
poor book. written in bad taste, andlriycs SO
imperfect an idea of Patrick Henry. that il
seems intended to show of the writer more
than the subject Of the work.
Nix. JEFFERSON OPINION Oh AAxRrw JAex-
soN.---i feei much alarmed at the prospec, of
seeing Gen. jackson President. He 10 one
o. the most unfit men know OF for such !
place. lie has had very little respect for
laws or constitutions, and is, in fact, an able
military chief. His passions ure terrible
hen was President Of the senate he was
Senators and he could never speak on ae-
count Of tho rashness Of his feelings. / have
seen him attsmptit repeatedly, and AZ often
choke with rage. His passions are no doubt
cooler now; he has been much tried since 1
y n n trTvr 4