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

Jefferson had said that taken all In all hs
was the ablest man In debate ever met" An.
other member. George wythe. IL described BY
jefferson as the best Latin and Crock scholar
in the colony. and fluent and weiehty speaker
Among other members who thcn held or after.
ward rose to commanding position may he
mentioned Robert Carter Nicholas. the lead.
ing lawyer OF the colony. and Richard Henry
Lee. already distinguished for the gifts OF
tongue and pen which won for him the title OF
the Cicero Of America. Most modest and re-.
firing of them all was one George Washington
ne yet known merely as colder. but whose
perfectly balanced character and strong com.
mon sense had been recognized by hs friends
and neighbora Such was the body In which
the man whom Jefferson was to describe as a
bark eeper had to take seat and over which
in the space Of but little more than week
he was to assert the mastery OF an electric
eloquence.
1t was. as we have said. within ton days after
he had taken his seat In the chamber that a
young man. clad In coarse apparel and OF plain
and rustic though not baehful manners. arose
and offered series Of resolutions denying the
right OF Great Britain to enforce the Stamp act
In Virginia. The resolutions we're opposed
with the utmost earnestncss and energy by
Randolph. Pend!cton. wythe. and the other
experienced debaters who had been accrs-
toned to control the House. Nevertheless. ly
q majority Of one Henry carried his resolutions
after q debate which Jefferson character
lied rs most bloody" In his autoti-
ography Jefferson records that no at
tended at the door OF the lobby OF tho
House Of Rurgesses and heard the splendid
display Of Mr.. Henry's talents as popular or.
ator. They were great indeed: such as have
never heard from any other man. He appeared
A. a.
to the letters OF ear witnesses published at tho
time in London and New York. 1t was in tho
course Of this most bloody" debate that Pat
rick Henry. whilo descanting on the tyranny Of
the obnoxious act. exclaimed in q voice and
with . gesture which electrified the House:
"Tarquin and Cesar had each his Brutus.
Charles the First his Cromwell. and George
the Third" "Treasonr' shouted the
Speaker. and "Treasonl treason was re-
echoed from every part Of the house. Without
faltering for an instant, but rising to lofier
attitude and fixing on the Speaker an eye
which seemed to flash fire. Henry added.
may profit by their example. II ttis be
treason. make the most Of It." Never in the
history OF deliberative bodies has there been
recorded an achievement comparable with ths
triumph achieved by Patrick Henry upon this
occasion. That a young and inexperienced
man. q stranger to nearly every member.
should so soon after taking his seat propose
and carry. against the united efforts OF the I'M
deniably able men who had long dominated
the chamber. resolutions which placed . colo
nyin direct antagonism to it's parent State.
is feat unparalleled in the annals Of lsgisla-
ton and bears Of itself conclusive testimony
to transcendent powers From that day Patrick
Henry was. and had right to be. the leader
Of Virginia.
We have dwelt on Patrick Henry's early
years. because correct notion Of them n indis-
pensable to q right conception Of tho msn. In
another notice We shall svail ourselves Of his
grandson's biography to follow the patriot
orator through the quarter Of . century which
succeeded his astonishing debut In publiu life
LW.H