The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-11-22

WIN recollect that We were almost contin.
ually engaged In the usual revelries o
the season. The occasion, perhaps. ~
much as his idle disposition. prevented hi,
engaging In any conversation which might
give the measure teithor OF his mind or In.
formation. Opportunity was not, indeed
wholly wanting. because Mr.. John Campbell
was there who had married Mrs. Spotswood
the sister Of Col cambridge. He was man oil
science and often introduced conversation on
scientific subjects. Mr.. Henry had. q little be.
fore. broken up his store. or rather. Il had
broken him up: but his misfortunes were no,
traced either in his oountenance or conduct
III.
The facts are that at about tho age OF Is
Patrick Henry was placed by his father with
q tradesman Of the county. in order that he
might be trained for mercantile life After q
yenr'e experience he and his brother william
were set up In business IN country store
with stock Of goods purchased for them by
their father. The brothers were too indulgent
in granting credit and at the end OF year
were Obliged to give IN their experiment. 1t
was in 1754. before he was 10 years old. and
while he was engaged in settling the affairs
OF the defunct firm. that Patrick Henry
married Sarah. q daughter Of John Shell.
ton. who lived In the part Of Han
over county known as tho Fork. His
wife was an 6stimable woman. OF a respectable
family. and brought him six negroes. together
with tract OF poor land comprising 800 acres.
With these resources. eked out by some assist
nnce from his parents. lie attempted to sup
port himself By Agriculture. but he was obliged
to work on the farm with his own hands. and
presently lost by Are his dwelling house and
the greater part Of his furniture. Thereupon
he sold some OF his negroes and with the
money thus procured purchased small stock
OF goods and once more opened a country
store. He was again unsuccessful. and at the
end OF two years found his capital gone and
himself In debt. He now determined to try tho
profession OF the law, for which his mercantile
experience had given him at least one uualifi-
cation. knowledge Of human nature. He
borrowed Coke Upon Littleton" and a
Digest ofthe Virginia Acts" and. having ap-
piled himself closely to them for q month or
six weeks. rode to Williamsburg and appeared
before the Board Of Examiners as an applicant
for license to practise He was. of course
very ill-prepared to bear an examination by
men really learned in tho law. The account
however. given by Jefferson to Writ bears wit
ness to the fact that Henry was already recog-
nized as a man OF uncommon intellectual
gifts. Jefrerson's statement which is less
favorable than that given to Writ by
judge John Tyler. was as follows:
Two Of the examiners. Peyton and
John Randolph. mon OF great facility
OF temper. signed his license with as
much reluctance as thcir dispositions would
permit them to show. Mr.. Wythe absolutely
refused. robert G. Nicholas also refused at
first. but on repeated importantly and prom
ises Of future reading he signed. These facts
had afterward from the gentlemen themselves.
the two Randolphs acknowledging that he was
very ignorant in law. but saying that they per-
ceived him to be young man Of genius. and
did not doubt that he would soon qualify him
SELF" Telling the story ton years later to
Daniel Webster. Jefferson said that 1t was
Pendleton and not Nicholas who first refused
and afterward consented to sign the IL
cense. It is obvious that Henry him
self was sensible OF his deficiencies. for
after his admission to the bar he won't homo
and prosecuted his studies for some months
before beginning to practise. The fact that in
his first year Q760) he entered in his account
book the names Of sixty clients and charged
IT'S fees. proves that he must have been recog-
nized from the outset as a capable lawyer. OF
the ninety-two pages OF his fee books extend
ing through the year 1903. sixteen had been
out out by relic hunters before the documents
came into the possession Of the author Of this
biography. On the assumption. however. that
tho fees entered on tho missing pages were
on an average. as numerous as those stin pre-
served. it is computed that from the autumn Of
170o to the end OF 1903 Patrick Henry
charged fees in 1.1S5 suits. besides many
fees for advice and for preparing papers
out Of court. An examination Of tho entries
shows that Henry was transacting all the bust
ness OF O country practitioner in tho courts OF
Hanover and surrounding counties. The
County Courts. by the way. were the only
tribunals in tho colony except the General
Court. consisting Of the Governor and his
Council sitting at Williamsburg. The pres
ervation OF. Henry's fec books corrects tho
false impression conveyed to Writ by Jeffer-
son. who said that for tho acquisition or prac-
tice OF the law Patrick Henry was too lazy.
He never undertook to draw pleadings II he
could avoid 1t. or to manage that part OF
cause and very unwillingly engaged except as
an assistantto speak In court, and the feo was
an Indispensable preliminary. Henry observ-
ing to the applicant that he kent no accounts.
never putting them on paper. which was true"
We now know that Henry was not only moro
businesslike than this statement would indl-
cate. but more successful at the bar than Jefier-
son himself is alleged to have been by any OF
his biographers. Moderate as his fees were.
they enabled Henry to relieve himself from the
debts he had Incurred In business and to sup
port his family comfortably. and also to help
his father in law. who wac not prosperous
man. The latter had moved to Hanover Court
House and opened a tavern. His son-in-law.
while attending court. stayed with him. and.
It is saii. sometimes assisted him In attending
to the guests This was the sole foundation
for the slur let fall long afterward by JefTer-
son. who told Writ that Patrick Henry
acted. as l have understood. as bar
keeper In tho town OF Hanover Court
House for some tImo." Another misstate-
mont about Henry. viz. that he was an
illiterate man. is disproved by tine entries in
his foe books. which are in a well-forned hand
and are faultless in spelling. The same may
DO said OF all his private papers. and the cor
reproduced In this volume bears
testimony to the correctness Of his diction,
Jefferson told Daniel Webster that, Ills; PRO
nunciation was vulgar and vicious" but as the
present biogrupher suggests. 1t was doubtless