The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-27

barrassments and gave symmetry to
them. as it We're, by getting married
and that to a young woman quite as
| impecuniouS as himself After his
marriage he tried farming, and when
that ended in failure he returned to
shopkeeping. His second venture in
trade soon proved as disastrous as the
first. Thereupon this unsuccessful and
unpromising youth decided to enter
the profession of law, and with MANY
misgivingS on the part of the eX-
aminers he was admitted to the. Vir-
ginia bar Thus ingloriously began the
remarkable career which was to be
crowned by the highest honor attain
able in the legal professiop--th
proffer of the post of chief justice of
the United States.
Patrick Henry soon established the
fact that the. failures in trade and
agriculture We're not to be repeated in
his new venture. He soon made a
creditable local reputation, and in 1855
he was sent to the Virginia legisla-
ture. Immediately upon his entrance
to public life he began a Greer of
meteoric brilliancy and of large signifi-
canoe for the American colonies.
The Stamp Act.
The student of American history will
remember that the year 1865 marks the
beginning of the end of the colonial
relations of America and England.
Just before this time the British min
istry began to rigidly enforce certain
navigation laws of the previous CEN
fury; which restricted our trade for
the benefit of English merchants. AT
the same time parliament began the
policy of taxing the colonies without
their consent, for the support of a
standing army. The first important
measure of taxation on the new prin-
ciple, the stamp act, was passed in 1865,
and the colonies instantly famed into
indignant protest.
On receipt of the news of the pas
sage of the act the Virginia legisla-
ture resolved itself into a committee
of the whole house, immediately to
consider the steps necessary to be
taken in consequence of the resolu-
tons of the house of commons of
Great Britain relative to the charging
certain stamp duties in the colonies
and plantations in America" To obey
the law was to surrender the dearly
priced right of self governmental re-
sist it was possibly treason. The seri-
BUSINESS of the situation was apparent
to ALL The wisest counsel of the most
experienced leaders was needed at this
juncture. But to the surprise of the
at this crisis was not a veteran states
man, but an unknown, uncouth young
lawyer, a new member of the legiSla-
ture. With calm audacity Patrick
Henry proceeded to move a series of
resolutions conceived in a spirit of bold
resistance to the stamp act. The
principal resolution was as follows:
Resolved, therefore, that the general
assembly of this colony have the only
;~rf.t
taxes and impositions upon the intabi-
tants of this colony: and that every
attempt to vest such power in any
person or persons whatsoever, other
than the general assembly aforesaid,
has a manifest tendency to destroy
British as we'll as American freedom -
The older leaders were startled by
the holiness of the attack on parlia-
ment. and opposed the radical resolu-
tions with all the force of their logic,
but the young orator met the OPPOSE
ton with keen argument and with a
torrent of eloquence that swept the
majority of the assembly to his sup
port. The famous Virginia resolutions
We're adopted after a battle of two
days. BY single speech the young
Yirginian had won a place among the
leaders of public opinion in his colony
Patrick Henry left for home immedi-
ately after his victory, and on his de-
parture the conservatives succeeded in
forcing a reconsideration and modi-
fication of the resolutions, but the
sweeping condemnation of the stamp
act embodied in the original resolu-
tons had meantime gone out to the:
country. This trumpet call of Vir-
ginia to her sister colonies to resist
unjust taxation unquestionabiy exerted
a profound influence.