The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-31
THE MAKERS '
 OF THE NATION
(By Clark Brink Mills, ph. D.
ARTICLE III.

PATRlCk HENRY, ~IHE OhAlOR
 OF INDEPENDENCE.$
 In the early days of our country Vir- ginia--the Old Dominion, as it was af- fectionately called--held proud posi- ton. It was the home of the Ran dolphs. the Fairfaxes. the Lees. the Marshalls. the Jeffersons. the Wash ingtons, and many others whose names are prominent In the annals of Amer ica. At the opening of the Revolution, Virginia had about 300, GOO population more than twice that of Massachusetts. and about three times that of New York.
 Between the adoption of the Consti- tuition and the outbreak of the Civil War Virginia occupied a position simi- lar to that which Ohio has since held. and came to be called "the mother of Presidents"
 Of the Virginians who did so much to give direction and character to our early history, few exerted more po- tent influence or deserved higher place than that supreme orator of the Revolution Patrick Henry. He, was not a speaker of the schools. If ever a man was born to be a master of as semblies" through the magic of speech he was that man. Clay may have been a man of more grace of bearing. WeD- ster surely wielded a profounder logic and possessed greater majesty of style. but for those peculiar qualities that enable the orator to sway the assembly before him Patrick Henry was sup reme.
 He was born in 17S6 His chief inherit ance was brains. a healthy body. good temper and good character-if charac- ter may be said to be inherited. For books he had as a boy great liking. But. like many another genius. he had genuine love for outdoor life and might often be seen roaming in the woods with a shotgun or lettering along the banks of some stream with a fishing rod in hand. Failing as a merchant, failing as farmer. he decided to be lawyer. and get living by his tongue. Here he did not fail. Like many worse man. his tongue was always ready. At the age of 24 after only a few months of study he was examined and admitted to practice law in the courts of Virginia. Various stories are told of this examination. Of course it was soon discovered that his knowledge of law was limited. But 1t was said that his powers of persuasion were suc- cessfully exercised, and that his ability to draw correct conclusions from gen. eral principles were so brilliantly dis played that the prejudice of his ex- aminers were dispelled, and one Of them-Randolph- MT. Henry, if your industry be only half equal to your genius I augur that you will do we'll and become an orator and an honor to your profession" He took Randolph's advice. and in the first three years of his practice conducted nearly ]. 200 cases No lazy man could do that.
 The limits of this paper forbid any attempt to follow Patrick Henry in all the experiences of his career. All that can be undertaken Is to consider very briefly his work in connection with the movement for independence and for the adoption ot the Constitution. The first case in which his peculiar powers became widely known and in which he revealed himself as an advo- cate of American freedom from parlia- mentary dictation was the famous to- bacco case between the Virginia clergy and the members of their parishes. We must remember that at that time there was in Virginia an established church. the Church of England. The clergy were paid in tobacco. One year the crop was short and the clergy were not paid, but the price of tobacco was very high. so that the planters received more than usual for their crop. When the year CdHlc Ol a pTOllHC CTOp tHe pIdHLerS were ready to pay. We owe the min- isters." they would say in substance. "so many pounds of tobacco. Here is the tobacco; or. if the dominic prefers, we will pay him the value of the to- bacco." But the preachers earned the tobacco when it was worth very much more. They sued for the difference. This was one of the features of the controversy. The law was pronounced by the cousts to be plainly on the side of the clergy. It happened, however, that popular sentiment was decidedly against them. The people of Virginia were the people of New England. Still further. there had had grown up a strong feeling of antagonism to com- pulsory support of any church.
 Finally one of these cases came on, and young Henry was called upon to conduct the forlorn hope of the defense. He had the popular. but the illegal side. But his sympathies were with his cause. The trial came on amid great excitement. The courthouse was thronged. Wirt. in his life of Henry gives full account or Henry's speech. He says: He rose very awkwprdly, and faltered much in his -exordium. The people hung their heads The clergy were observed to exchange sly looks with each other. But these feelings soon gave place to others of a far diff ferent character. {" " His attitude be- came erect and lofty. ""S There was lightning in his eyes which seemed to rive the spectators. He made their blood run cold and their hair to rise on end "" They could look away no more. In less than twenty minutes they might be seen in every part of the house. on every bench, in every window their features fixed in amazement and awe, all their senses listening and riveted upon the speaker. as if to catch the least strain of some heavenly visitant. The mockery of the clergy was soon turned to alarm, their triumph into confusion and despair, and at one burst of his rapid and over whelming invective they fled from the house in precipitation and terror" The jury was so bewildered by this elo- quence that they lost sight of legislat- i've enactments and .'eturned a verdict of l penny for the plaintiff, and the young orator had so hypnotized even