The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-02-28
LIFE OF PATRICK HENRY.
yRTTTEy III WJLLJdH WET HIN"i'
r,t.t,t.n of the Third Volume OF This Very
Interesting and Instructive "ork-Nor-
respondence and Speeches.

Inond. Val
The third and last volume contains nothing
but tho correspondence and speeches -
Patrick Henry. interspersed with spal'"-
comments But il is very valuable WORK
The opening letter bearing date limp
ton. Dec. 18th, l775, 8 o'clock T. A. IS i'o.a
Henry 10 Edmund Pendleton. IL teIlS . 49,
the capture of n sloop having on uoA asticIes =,
Inns and Irish linens and 10" 49, enc oresi-
Edmund PendletOn was al .n 49,. .'.' ,yas al
at ~ ,bo convention aud the letter was a. 80
dressed 70 him in his official capacity WIN "a
the request that it should be suOin'''0N ~
the convention. boee lefters
- mt ~ style. is their difference from NE
aarnr,unicatious of the present Day Light
sonth century peoDle wrote letters We WIZ
notes or at our best dispatches ohlS., M VI
the letters given in this volume arc WIZ W; =.
the eighteenth century, the IaS. I'm . -
pinia's greatest orator. being unecu nuEuss
Tst f-Qe There is no more instructive STUDY
80 found anywhere than the difference IN
The thought of that day and the present uine
and that thought appears pest III 'hs CORE
spondence of the time between
persons who were III Syinpa'ny VIZ" W.
The great movements resulting III the
Foundation of the Government OF the United
States Of America Those were the times
Tom Paine tells us, which tired inens
souls." Is il not singular that Tom PANE
should have used such an expression when he
vas an ayOwed atheist and Is IT not more
singular that be should be remembered by 1T
more than 10y any other which he used! In
the DAYS when those letters were written tho
antique world had received severe shock.
Some Virginians speak Of these times as
''the good old times" But were they
A traveller visiting London then would have
seen the city ut night IN the opaque light pro-
duced from whale oil Ia TIN lamps. He would
have seen those lamps at long intervals In the
Strand. Cheapslde. Pail Mall and other lui-
portant thorOughferes. They were totally
Inadequate 10 dspel the Clmmerlan gloom
ia which London was shrOuded IN the winter
months. Highwaymen and footpads were
all over the city. and murders ana roDoerles
were not uncommon. The guardians OF thS
public peace the policemen OF that day ana
generation were sleepy headed ola watch-
men. appareled in thick heavy great coats
and armed with poles rattles and lanterns.
They perambulated the streets. crying the
hour after the chimes and prociaiming I'D
ings Of foul or fair weather. HE Traveller
rest might have been broken by come such
cry as past IL o'clock and rainy night, or
past | o clock and a showery morning.
IN the morning If he walked out TO Iyburn
he might have witnessed a public execution
of men and women for the OAense OF petit
larceny, OF if he visited Temple Bar. by the
aid of spy-glasses. he might have still seen
bleached row of grinniIg skulls OF the chlet
actors in the Jacobite Instructions Of 17l5
and 1745 upon the top OF the City Ooigotha
as the Bar was sometimes called.
The gay French capital Was certainly no
better. Everything was going 10 pieces
there 1t seemed as if men had turned their
backs on the past forever Though the whole
world then used the remedy or incubation
for prevention of smallpox the Colonial As
sembiy OF Virginia had passed law forbid
ding 1t.
those times were all out of Joint. The
great hope of the future-the greatest which
then adorned the hOrizon-was the budding
federation OF English colonies on this side OF
the Atlantic. where men began to recognize
the distinction between pride and vanity, and
were struggling 10 form IL government IN
which the principles OF individual liberty and
the autonomy of the various communities
were the foundation stones upon which they
were 10 build la this struggle no one played
more conspicuous and honorable part than
Patrick Henry.
Under the date of Charlestown. July 20,
1776. General Charles Lee writes to Patrick
Henry, then Governor of Virginia: 1 used to
regret not being thrown into the world
in the third or fourth century of the
Romans, but / am now thoroughly reconciled
to my lot. The reverles which have ire
auently, for a while, served TO tickle my i'm
agination (but which when awakened from
my trance as constantly considered as mere
golden castles built IN the air. at length bid
fair for being realized. We shall now most pro-
badly see mighty empire established OF free
men. whose honor. property and military
glories are not TO be at the disposal of
sceptered tryant, nor their cOnscences to be
settered by proud, domineering hierarchy.
Every faculty OF the soul will be now put IN
motion: no merit can lie latent; the highest
Offices of the State both civil and military,
will now be obtained without court favor or
the rascally talents of seIyllity and ODses
vance by which court favor could alone be
acquired"
The buoyancy and hope in this was the
cause of Its realization in great measure.
But in the same letter, he says: There is
barbarism crept in among us that extremely
shocks mel mean those tlnsel epithets with
which II come IN tor my share we are so be-
plaistered. His txce!tency and Ills Honour
the HONORABLE President OF the HONORABLE
Congress. or the Honorable Convention.
This iulsome nauseating cant may be well
enough adapted to bar Oarous mOnarchies or to
crafty the adulterated pride OF the magnihci
in pompous aristocracles, but III great free.
manly Commonwealth it is quite abominable;
for my own part would as lief they would
put ratsbane In my mouth as the EAcellency
with which ! am daily crammed.'
Ii is quite amusing TO see ms very same let
ter addressed to His Excellency F. Henry,
Jun. Governor of Virginia. Fashion still
possesses its fascination for the American
puDllC IN these lnhtleIs VI hlNIc anu lOlIl,
which have no sort of recognition In the con
situations and laws OF the various States.
1t is impossible in a brief SPACE 10 give a fair
idea of the great value of the letters to and
from Patrick Henry In this work.
One of the most interesting in the entire
work is from that peerless man George Wash
ington TO Governor Henry. 1t bears date Nor
ristown. 18th April, l777. Washington pro-
tests against volunteer enlistment. but insists
that there should be regular enlistments for
the war" lie says: The apologies you
offer for your deficiency of troops are not
without some weight. | am induced to be-
lieve that the apprehension of the smallpox
and its calamit0us consequences have greatly
retarded the enlistments. But may not th ese
objections be easily done away by introducing
NEGOTIATIONS into the State? Or shall We
adhere 10 regulation preventing IT, repro
bated at this time, not only by the consent
and usage of the greater part of the civilized
world, but by our interest and own experience
of its utility"
The Father Of His Country is abiding to
the fact that after the entire world had
adopted incubation as q means 10 prevent
the spread of small pox in sthose good old
times. the fine. conservative old Virginia Leg
islature passed law forbiddng its practice
within the limits Of the Commonwealth.
We were leaders OF the world in the con-
servative enactments of our General Assem-
bly, in the eighteenth century. and it is no
idle boast to say that we are still Justly en-
titled 20 the honor of the leadership of tine
conservative rear-guaId of civilization.