Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1879-04-29
John Hook and Patrick Henry.

john HOOK anu Patr1ck henry.
Through the inimitabls delineation of
Writ the ludicrous refrain of the orator
Henry is almost borne to the ears of the
present generation, as are counsel and
plaintiff thus isnmortalized to their
mental vision.
"Hook was q Scotchnan, q man of
wealth, and suspected Of being unfriend-
ly to the American cause. During the
distresses of the American army, con.
sequent on the joint invasion of Corn
wallis and Phillips in 1881, Mr.. Vena-
BILE, an army commissary, had taken
two of Hooks steers for the use of the
troops. This act had not been strictly
legal, and on the establishment of peace,
Hook under the advice of Mr.. Cowan, a
gentleman of distinction in the law,
thought proper to bring an action of tres
pass against Mr.. Venable in the District
Court of New London. Mr.. Henry ap-
peared for the defendant, and is said to
have disported himself ia this cause to
the infinite enjoyment of his hearers, the
unfortunate Hook always expected
After Mr.. Henry became animated in
the cause, says a correspondent Judge
Stuart he appeared to have complete
control over the passions Of his audience.
At one time he excited their indignation
against Hook vengeance was visible in
every countenance. Again, when he
chose to relax and ridicule him, the
whole audience was in roar of laugh
ter. He painted the distresses of the
American army, exposed almost naked
to the rigor of a winters sky, and mark
ing the frozen ground over which they
I,I = 80
feet where was man. he said, who
had an American heart in his bosom,
who would not have thrown open his
fields, his barns, his cellars, the doors of
his house. the portals of his breast, to
have received with open arms the mean
est soldier in that little band of famish>
ing patriots? Where Is the man? There
he stands but whether the heart of an
American beats in his bosom, you, gen.
tleman, are to judge He then carried
the jury, by the power of bis imagina-
ton, to the plains around York, the sur
render of which had followed shortly
after the act complained of; he depicted
the surrender in the most glowing and
noble colors of his eloquence; the au-
dience saw before their eyes the humilia-
ton and detection of the British as they
marched out of their trenches they saw
patriot face, and heard the shouts of VIC
tory and the cry of Washington and
liberty as it rung and echoed through
the American ranks, and was rsverber-
ated from tho hills and shores of the
neighboring river. 'Bnt harki what
notes of discord are these which disturb
the general joy and silence the acclama-
tions of victory? They are the notes of
John Hook, hoarsely bawliDg through
the American camp, beef! beef! beefh
"The whole audience were convulsed.
A particular incident will give better
idea of the effect than any general de-
scription. The clerk of the court, una
BILE to command himself, and unwilling
to commit any breach of decorum in his
place, rushed out of the court house and
violent paroxysm of laughter, where he
was rolling when Hook with very diff
ferent feelings, came out for relief into
the yard also. 'Jimmey Steptoe,' said
he to the clerk, what the devil ails
you now?' Mr.. Steptoe was only able
to say that he could not help it. Never
mind ye,' said Hook, wait till Billy
Cowan gets up; he'll show him the law
Mr.. Cowan, however, was so completely
overwhelmed by the torrent which bore
upon his client that when he rose to re-
ply to Mr.. Henry be was scarcely able
to make an Ineligible or audible re-
mark. The case was decided almost by
acclamation. The jury retired for FORMS
sake. and instantly returned with ver-
dict for the defendant. Nor did the eff
feet Of Mr.. Henry's speech stop here
The people ware so highly excited by
the tory audacity of such suit that
Hook began to hear around him cry
more terrible than that Of beef; it was
the cry of tar and feathers; from the ap-
plication of which it is said that nothing
saved him but precipitate flight and
the speed of his horse. y Virt'S Life Of
Patrick Henry.
Mr.. VIM. Writ was mistaken is ssaying
that the jury INSTANTLY returned ver-
diet for the defendant" The records of
the trial in the Circuit court of Frank
lin county, as recently copied by Col. J.
Marshall McCue, and published in the
Richmond Standard, show that the ver-
diet of the jury was as follows:
1--WE the jury find for the Plaintiff one
penny damage. Ed. SPECTATOR
Mr. r. A. Brock says:-
"John Hook, the plaintiff, from vari-
GUS accounts which we have CLEANED,
was prosperous merchant and farmer,
from which fact we may draw an infer
epce as to the estimation in which he
was held by his fellow citizens. His
descendants are now amone the most re-
spectacle residents of Campbell county"