The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1859-11-05
Upton, CEDAR COUNTY, IOWA, NOVEMBER 5, 1859.


brother, William, for a partner. Never
was an enterprise more i'll advised. An
idle youth of genius set to sell groceries
and dry goods in country store! The
result was more diverting than fortunate.
Patrick Henry. storckeeper, like Patrick
Henry, sci.polboy, Was bent upon follow
ing his own taucies. Instead Of drud.-
ing at the counter or the ledger, he pro.
cured flute and violin. upon which he
exp nI.al all his energies. When not
playing upon his favo,itc instruments,
he was angling aud hunting ms before; or
amusing himself by relating stories t"
his customers for the purpose of watch
ing the expression Of their cauntenances.
In n year or two the styre was closed
Henry was bankrupt. To add I, the
'rmb"rras.ment ot his position. the fu'ur.
orator had just married \ young girl Of
the nei ghborho"d. Miss Shenton. the
daughter OF respectable farmer. With
the assistance Of his father in law. he
purchased n small farm, which IN another
year or two, was duly under the hammer.
The sea"t property still in his Possession
Was again Invested in =" merch ndisc."
and Henry returned to his violin. his
flute, his angling. aud his storytelling.
with ard"r lie played excellently, told
capital st"ry. and ..nevcr had it in his
heart to refuse any one credit" The
inevitable cons quence Of this method Of
carryiug on business was bankruptcy MS
before /; and H-nrv found himself for the
third time thrown upon the world with.
out the means of supporting his family.
What was he to do? He had twice
tried trade, aud once agriculture The
law only remained, since medicine re-
Iuir'd > bong and expensive course of
study. Upon the luxurious profession
upon which he now designed entering,
he expended. with characteristic inio.
lenc., but six weeks study. lie then
presented himself for examination aud
..iic"nse. The examiner. found hin 80
i.n"ran, tl'a, ,h"y refused -. -. ,netitio"
but after much persuasion, aud promise
that he would study farther. granted the
license. TWAS all the young man wish
cd. Iis baoyant spirits sustained him,
and he entered with good heart upon the
most hb,ri"us of Professions, aud one of
the most c"np'.x of sciences, with az
unconqnerabIc idlcness, and an ignorance
ot the plainest forms. He could nor
write Il deciarati or draw decd Tn.
natural consequence was that he got no
business. and this III success came at IA
moment when it was most unfortunate
lie was entirely without resources. and
indeed would have suffered sitive dis
tress had no Mr. SheIton. his father IN
law, received him under his root Mr
Shc.ton was then keeping the tavern at
Hanover Court House; and in his ab.
senec. Patrick Henry filed lis place,
aud attended to the wants OF the guests
This was the gin of the statement.
which even Jeiirr-on believed that the
great crater Wis ''ori-inalIy b'rkreper -
That hc kept th. bar in ouc sense of the
word i true. but at the time h. w;ts a
licensed attorney. Still he found no one
who was bod ennuyh I" employ him -
Ills idleness and ignorance of the pro-
fas>ion were well known The star of
Henry seemed about to be buried in the
black S, clouds. But the da, kcst h"nr
had passed The future would b. all the
brighter for the past gloom. The mo.
ment was at hand when he would start
upon the splendid career which thence
forth he was destined t" pursue to ,Lc
end of his life. In he year 1863, and
when Patrick Henry was twenty seven
years cd, be was retained in his first
suii-the celebrated " Parsons cause
This was M action brought by Mr
Msnry. one Of the Episcopal clergy,
q .aii,s, the Collector OF Hanover Ihc
matter mt issue was briefly as follows -
la 1855 the House OF Bur.esses. i" ,i,w
of the drought aud failure uf the crops,
enacted that all debts payable in tobacco
should for Il splce ot ten months there
after be paid either in kind or in money,
ut the rate Of two pence for the pound
of tobacco. The legal salary oi cltr.y
men OF the Established Church was &c.
900 pounds Of tobacco per annun. and
as the commodity had risen in valu
more than sixty per cent. they were sub
jcc,ed by the ,w in question to that
amount Of loss. They did rot resist,
however; but when, in 1853, similar
law p lssed the Burgesses, violent con-
trover-y arose 1t was referred to the
Kinp. w.hG decided in favor Of the Clergy
-wh,r,ua.n its were brought by them
in every par. Of the =. .''"c' 10 'se'.e. ..
th. amount Of loss. The te,. came 'i,S' m
in Hanover, ami the Court su>taine" .''
clergy rs it should have done. The con
sequence was that the question Of DANA
ges only remained, and this jury would
d .cr,niifh The counsel Of the Collector
retired from the case, and the youthful
Patrick Henry was engaged to wind up
the affair. When he came to the Court
house, fron the tavern which was near
ut hand. the array on the bench aud up
on the floor Of the building was enough
to ,crrity y"n"g beginner. More than
twenty Of the clergy were seated on the
rostrun,. near his uws~ father, who pre-
s.ded--and many Of these gentlemen
were among the most learned aud famous
il the c,luny. When Henry rose to al.
dress the Court, his voice could scarcely
BE- heard lie hung his head, fallertd.
and appeared To he overwhelmed with
confusion The Grove d, who were strong
!, oppos d to ,hr clergy and in favor Of
the Collector, gave up the suit in des
puir, and many turned to leave the build
Ing. They were arrested, however. by
something in the appearance aud voice
Of the speaker His conf lion had dis
appeared; he no hnger hcsitatcd. Ills
head, which had sunk down toward his
breast, as though he desired to hide the
bushes which rcadencd his checks. was
raised almost hauvhti!y aloft From the