The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1904-12-07

IL
the Potomac.
Her attention came back with Il start
as she heard the resolution in answer
TO jamaica that at Is the most ardent
wish Of this colony, and we are per
suadcd of the whole continent Of North
America, TO see speedy return to those
halcyon days when we lived free and
happy people" AS she looked down at
Henry, Anne saw that lie was scrib-
bling on Il scrap of paper.
There was hush us he arose and a
buzz of expectancy rs he mounted the
rostrum. He held in his hand the pa
per upon which he had been scribbling.
Anne felt touch of disappointment
at the cold, measured quality of his
tone. With that shickering half smile
which meant dissent he moved an
amendment to the jamaica resolutions
He read without gesture, in pronun-
ciatlon as plain as homespun. His voice
moved evenly, almost carelessly, over
the periods.
But as he progressed the assembly
awoke with shock, and Anne saw
certain ripple almost of alarm surge
over 1t. Henry had spoken the phrase
"our inesimable rights and liberties"
At that moment the speaker raised
his voice, and the last words came
challcnge-like, the snap of a whip. 1--WE
do resolve, therefore, that this colony
be put in state of defense and that
there be committee to prepare plan
for embodying, arming and disciplin-
nf ha
sufficient for that purpose"
Anne looked at Henry in the black
clothes and tie wig which set of his
face and drew breath. The humility,
the diff1dence, the modesty Of address
were gone, and in their place was stern
ness. Even his voice had grown harsh,
as though in menace, and on the con-
yenton, uncertain and wavering, those
lovers of the "halcyon days." the men,
ace fell. 1t was the plunge from hest.
tation to resolve, from expostulation to
powder. The fire had fallen!
Henry knew his men. All these years
he had been learning them, drawing
them out, questioning, story telling,
watching effects, experimenting in their
emotions.
His eye held every man within those
walls. He turned 1t upon Richard Hen
~ Lee, and he, his polished oratory for
pot, hurled blunt second at the chair.
Mr.. Pendleton, Colonel Harrison,
umping from the gout, and Colonel
Richard Bland got upon their feet with
arched frowns, barking that such ,ac-
don was premature" and at the word
A,n 10
Face. These, who had so lately sat In
ghe Continental congress, prated Of
"dignified patience" "filial respect and
discretion" "the relenting Of the SOW
ereign," "the nakedness of the col
onies."
Anne had afterward no certain recol-
lection Of how Henry began In answer
All impression was swallowed up In
that thrill which held every hearer. 1t
has been said that he spoke as Homer
wrote.
"Shall we shut our cyes-we wise
men struggling for liberty-and listen
to the song of the siren till she trans
forms us to beasts?" he cried. "Shall
we, having eyes, see not, and, having
ears, hear not the tidings Of our tenn
poral salvation? For my part will
know the worst, and will provide for
1t. 1 cannot judge the future but by
the past, and by the past how shall
you solace yourselves? What is there
In the conduct of the British ministries
of the past ten years to justify hope?"
AS he went on passion crept over his
face like the wind that precedes
Ia.
corded with white lines, and his eyes
glared hollowly.
"Do you regard the insdious smiles
with which our petitions are received?
BE not betrayed with kiss"
Sitting in Il quivcr of feeling, with
fingers clasping the gallery ledge, Anne
felt the shaken pulses of the audience.
Under the intrepid metaphor she saw
the messenger of the colonial assembly
standing before the kings attorney gen.
eral entreating that Virginia had souls
to be saved as well as England, and
the british answer: Cd your souls!
Make tobacco" She saw the colonies
supplicating on their knees, spurned,
contemned, spit upon. She saw the
chains forging, naves building, armies
gathering. She saw British ministers,
like harpies, with cold eyes upon the
green of the Americas.
Henry's voice had risen louder, moro
intense, and his colorless features and
eyeS Of fire had become terrible to look
upon. He sat upon the whirlwind.
The very walls seemed to rock with vi
brations.
''Thcre is no longer any room for
hope. If we wish to be free, If we
mean TO preserve inviolate those privi-
leges for which we have been so long
contending, if we mean not basely to
abandon the struggle we have vowed
never to abandon until its object be OBJ
tained, then we must fight We must
fight! An appeal TO arms, to the God
Of Hosts, Is all that is left u.s."
Anne dragged her eyes from Henry
Amid the sea there was one face that
had not moved n line. 1t was Colonel
Washington's. He sat stonelike, as i'm
movable as bishop at his prayers, his
hands still upon his knees. He was as
q soldier should be-cool of head and
saving passion for the hand. And as
n soldier he was slow to dlsallegiance.
But cold as he seemed when Henry
bent the wills of that assembly and
whipped the conservatives to the wall,
there was glitter in his eye that leap
cd to flame behind the quiet mask.
"Thcy tell us that we are weak.
When shall we be stronger2 VIII 1t
be next week, or next year2 When we