The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1872-07-27
PATRICK HENRY.


S--O
count of the abuses which Jefferson
and his friends sought to do away, and
prominent among these was the intol-
erance of the established church,
which Mr.. Parton illustrates by the
case of three Baptist preachers who
were arraigned as ''disturbers of the
peace before magistrates who were
determined to convict them. Patrick
Henry rode fifty miles to defend them,
and the following account is given of
his perfOrmance-it was more than a
speech-on that occasion:
He entered the court house while
the prosecuting attorney was reading
the Indictment. He was stranger to
most of the spectators, and, being
dressed in the country manner, his en-
trance excited no remark When the
prosecutor had finished his brief open
ing, the newcomer took the indictment,
and glancing at it with an expression
of puzzled incredulity, began to speak
in the tone of man who has just
heard something too astonishing fol
| belief
GO May it please your worships,
think heard read by the prosecutor,
as l entered the house, the paper l now
hold in my hand. Ii have rightly un.
derstood, the Kings attorney has
framed an Indictment for the purpose
of arraigning and furnishing by impris
Onment these three inoffensive persons
before the bar of this Court for crime
of great magnitude-as disturbers Of
the peace. May it please the Court
what did hear read? Did I hear il
distinctly, or was 1t a mistake of my
own2 Did hear an expression as of a
crime, that these men whom your wor
ships are about to try for misdemeanor
are charged with-with-with WHAT z
| Having delivered these words in 9
halting, broken manner, as if his min
was staggering under the weight of ;
monstrOus idea, he lowered his voice
to It's deepest bass and, assuming the
profoundest solemnity of manner, an
swered his own question Preach
ing the gospel OF the Son of God y
Then he paused. Every eye was
now riyeted upon him, and every mind
intent; for I'll this was executed as 6
kean or a SiddOns would have per
formed it on the stage-eye, voice, at
tltude, gesture, all in accord to pro
duce the utmost possibility of effect
Amid a silence that could be felt, he
waved the indictment three times
round his head, as though still amazed
still unable to comprehend the charge.
Then he raised his hands and ewes
to heaven, ard, II tone of pathetic
energy wholly indiscribable, exclaimed
Great God!
At this point, such was the powe,
OF his delivery, the audience relieved
their feelings by burst of signs and
tears. The orator continued
May it please your worships, in {
day like this, when truth is about tC
burst her letters, when mankind arc
about to be aroused to claim tbei,
natural and inalienable rights, wher
the yoke OF oppression that has reached
the wilderness OF America, and the I'm.
natural alliance of ecclesiastical and
civil power, are about to be discovered
at such period, when liberty, liber
ty OF conscience Is about tt
wake from her slumbers, and
inquire into the reason of sucl
charges as l find exhibited here to-da,
IN this Indictment Here occurred
another of hisappalling pauses, during
which he cast piercing looks at the
Judges and at the three clergymen ar.
ralgned. Then resuming, he thrilled
every nearer by his favorite device OF
repetition IF L am not deceived
according to the contents of the pape,
now held in my hand-these men are
accused of preaching the Gospel of the
Son OF God y He waved the document
three times around his head as though
still lost III wonder; and then, with
the same electric attitude of appeal &c
heaven, he gasped, Great God!'
This was followed by another burst
OF 1eellng from the spectators and
again this master of effect plunged into
the tide of his discourse
May it please your worships. there
are periods in the history of man when
| corruption and depravity have so long
debased the human character, that
man sinks under the weight of the op-
pressor's hand-becomes his seryile.
his ablect slave. He ticks the hand
that smltes him. He bows in passive
obedience to the mandates of the des-
pot; and, IN this state of servility. he
receives his letters of perpetual bond
age; But may 1t please your worships.
such day has passed. From
that period when our fathers
left the land of their nativ-
lty for these American wilds, from
the moment they placed their feet upon
the American continent, from that mo-
ment despotism was crushed, the fet-
tiers of darkness were broken, and
Heaven decreed that man should be
free, tree to worship God according to
the Bible. In vain were all their suf-
ferings and bloodshed to subjugatc
this New World, if we, their offspring,
must still be oppressed and prosecuted.
But, may it please your worships, per-
NIT me to inquire once more for what
are these men about to be tried2 This
paper says, for preaching the gospel of
the Savior to Adams fallen race =
Again he paused. For the third time
he slowly waived the indictment round
his head and then, turning to the
judges, looking them fully in the face,
exclaimed, with the most impressive
effect. What laws have they violated p
The whole assembly were now painfully
moved and excited The presiding
Judge ended the scene by saying,
Sheriff, discharge these men,"
CAPTAIN RUFUS BARNARD, now 81
wears old has lived in WasffaId VI