The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1879-06-03

he was sent to,be O clerk in o small
country store. Some time afterward
he opened a store for himself, but
soon failed. He then married a
young lady Of the ncighborlood,
whose father gave hima farm but he
failed at farming. too, and two years
afterward the farm was sold. He
then went back to store-keeping, and
failed at that again; ana now he was
without the means Of support for
himself and his wife. att1'ra
This was his own fault, as you can
easily see. He would not attend 10
his business. lie sill passed his time
in fishing and playing the fiddle, and
the consequence was that he succeed
cd at nothing which he undertook.
A stout healthy young, man may fai !
in store Keeping, but he ought not to
fail OH a farm. IL he is industrious
aud follows his plow he can always
make support for his family. But
Patrick Henry was too lazy to do so.
So he fell into debt, his farm had to
be sold, and he found himself with
out n home. .is.s lg1s4 .SN .laei
Something, he now saw, had to be
done. His friends could not sup
port him, and no doubt lie was TOO
proud to consent TO that. He there
fore resolved to study law,and bor-
rowed some old law books, which he
began 10 read and six weeks after
ward he applied for license TO prac-,
tice law. This seemed quito absurd.
The old judge to whom he applied
found thathe knew almost nothing
of law. and was unwilling TO give
him his license. AS Patrick Henry
promised him, however, that lie
wonld 60 on studying, he at last con-
seDted. The license was granted
him, and he set up at Hanover Court
House as lawyer.
None of his friends had any idea
that he would ever do anything in
his professions 1Thcylknew how idle
and ignorant ohe was, and no doubt
supposed that the law Office would
soon be shut up. just as lis store had
been. There was nothing about him
to show that lie would succeed. His
appearance was as ungainly ms posi-
BILE. He had q STOPPING figure, ana
was awkward in all his movements,
He wore faded old clothes, leather
breeches and yarn stockings, and his
manner of speaking was quite as
rough as his dress, AS an instance
of th;s, he pronounced "natnral..
"lcarning" and "earth'-flah'rdl.
larnin' and aitt-for, when he and
one of his friends were dispnting one
day about The advantages of cduca-
ton, he exclaimed: "Nait'rol parts
are better than all the ldrnin' on
airthp 5s rp
No one could suppose that per.
son who spoke in this iiliterate man
ner would ever turn out TO be great
public speaker; and his friends and
neighbors had n lower opinion of him
still as a lawyer. He was SO igicr
ant that he could not write the sim
plest law paper; so he got no business
to attend to, and was reduced to thu
greatest distress. He had to helr
to keep tavern belonging to his IA
ther-in- law Mt the Court House, to
earn his daily bread; and the whole
prospect before him was as gloomy
as any one can imagine. hlas
But the time was near when n greai
change was TO take place in his for.
tunes, and of this l will now tell YOU
A law suit was brought by. the cler-
gymen of the Episcopal Church in
Hanover county to recover money
which they said was due them for
preaching in their parishes. When
you grow older You will read all
about this famous lawsuit. Itturned
upon the question whether the spar
sons," as they were called should be
paid for their services in money or
tobacco, which was theE used as cur
rency, like gold and bank notes. and
the King OF England had decided in
one way, and the Virginia House OF
Burgesses in another. AS the Kings
decision was in favor of the parsons.
they brought q lawsuit to get their
pay-and there seemed nothing TO do
but to pay them. All the old lawyers
who examined the question, gave il
UP at once; when the report Suddenly
spead that young Patrick Henry was
going to "plead against the parsons. ,
When this became known. every
body began to laugh. II seemed alb
surd that an ignorant youth should
attempt TO do what the old lawyers
rould not. He was only twenty
seven, and almost unacquainted with
law. Besides this, he had never made
q public speech in his life, and it was
known that there would be a crowd
to hear how the case would be deci-
ded Everybody predicted that he
would make a complete failure. and
though the people wished him good
luck, as they were against the par
sons, they expected that the whole
affair would be quite ridiculous.
| AT last the day came, and a great
crowd assembled at Hanover Court
House. The court was opened, and
Patrick Henry came across the street
from the tavern where he lived, and
took his seat behind the bar. The
sight before him was enough e
frightcn young man unaccustomed
to public speaking. The courthouse
was crowded with people, and The
twelve men Of the jury were ready
Ona raised platform opposite sat the
magistrates and large number o.
the clergy, or parsons +; and these were
waiting, with feeling of triumph
for the decision which thev were Ger.
tain would be in their favor. hi aaa
All eyes were fixed on the poorly
dressed young lawyer, and he hung
his head and seemed confused. Hi
friends felt as If he had placed him
self, inlavery ridiculousposition ;ibn
it was too late to think OF that now.
aud the counsel for the clergymer
opened the case He said that thcr,
was no doubt at all about the Inv o
the matter. His Majesty the King Of
England had decided it and SO hat
the courts. All that was to be don,
now was for the Jury to fix tn,
amount Of damages-that Is to say
how much money was to bc paid III,
clergymen. And then the speaker
took his seat and Patrick Henry ros'