The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-01-19

g :,,',|zsSas5!z!2|1aaz'''''' .; :: J!
OF tradition, OF extraordinary powers
lit Is truc, but powers Invested with
| all the historical vagueness which
makes 1t 80 hard to bring home to our
minds, even In imagination, the magic
| OF great actor OF Il past age. He
would have come down to iis with his
| majestic proportions wrapped III n thin
veil OF detraction only perceptible
enough, to wrap our Judgment as to
the real greatness OF the man.
Who tore this veil away, 80 far at
least ns 1t was created by jefferson?
| We do not know OF another instance In
which a descendant has done such con-
!; spicuous service for the reputation OF
his Immediate ancestor as was done by
the late william Writ Henry. There
was d distinct poetical proprlety In
| the performance by that distinguished
grandson OF this pious duty OF clearing
the great orators fame from the clouds
Imposed upon It by Jealousy and
malice. Dificult indeed would 1t have
| been to find a writer more precisely
suited to perform this task. Mr.. Henry
! had just the qualities needed. Not only
was he man OF uncommon literary
4 taste and culture; not only was ne IN
command OF cloar and incisivc style;
| not only In short, was he fully capable
!. OF writing an admirable book from n
/ purely literary point OF view, but he
was, above all, most acute and
learned lawyer, with mind trained
4 to the temper OF the finest steel III
i weighing evidence, In balancing COLI
4 flicting statements. in separating false
hood from truth. and in marshaling an
4 IT,. ~ fo1 at f<,1 -
by painstaking. discriminating inyes-
4 tigation. His Life OF Patrick Henry"
is the work OF great lawyer, as we'll
II as OF an accomplished historian. AS
4 with the arm OF giant. he raised the
i figure OF his great ancestor to the top
OF the lofty and unshakable pedestal
on which 1t is entitled TO stand for all
recorded time.
II any one wishes to fully appreciate
the service which william Writ
Henry did for the reputation OF his
grandfather. let him compare Moses
Colt Tyler's life with Wirts. Tyler
very gracefully and feelingly acknowi-
; edges In his preface his debt TO hr.
Henry's researches although at that
, time tho latter's great work mad not
been published.
There wae some special quality In
!, tho character OF Patrick Henry that
, has mnde him. in phenomenal degree
appeal to the sympathy OF his biogra'
i piers. This In the supreme note whicf
, Is struck in Mr.. Morgan's life OF the
J orator, the last to be issued. Mr.. Nor
!, gan Is OF the North, and yet such Is the
= ! kcenness OF his insight into al the In
: flucnces, however subtle. whether par.
sonal or impersonal local or national
(, iinherited or created by environment
! only, entering into Henry's career. that
!, = the author himself might have beer
4 born In the shadow. of Virginia tobac-
= co barn. This is very rare merit II
), n Northern writing OF great South
: crner even OF the Revolutionary era
: upon which ground all of us. 1t wouli
: ibe thought. might meet with unanimit!
= OF sentiment.
= The points OF view of the two sec
= tions are still so antagonistlc that tn
: opinions expressed in the current Is
!, suesoe even of the most ordinar,
10 NNorthern historical magazines strik
!, the Southern reader as being far NOR
y alien than anything he observes IN Eu
ID ropean periodicals. Take the las
e number OF the American Historica
Review, for instance; on one pag
10 General Robert +. Lee is held up as
10 amtsguided man." while In the mex
IL line Longstreet's spiteful and distort
n ed memoirs arc lauded as straight
T. forward and manly" On another pag
d McMasters is strongly berated for FOL
T. lowing Fiske and the English histo
&c rians in accepting the rescue OF Jon
l. Smith by Pocahontas as fact. An
L. on still another. Olmstead, a. bite
lie Abolitionist, who visited thetSouth Jus
IL before tie war for the express pun
re pose of gathering material to discred
Id the slave system. is commended for III
dspassionate and judicial tone
y mind!"
., IL any one wishes to see what lac
W OF sympathy on the part OF NortI
W erner In writing the life OF South
20 erner will lead to, let him read Henr
D. Adams,s John Randolph" Here Is
= book written by one Of the most az
complished historians Of America, an
vet tho work Is the most dismal fallu!
- in the Statesmen Series, to which
3. belongs. And why? 1t is the life {
n one OF the most typical of southernel
iby one OF the most typical OF Norti
~ erners, of a Virginian by New EN-
:. lander, of an Episcopalian and Cavali'
e' by a Puritan. of States rights IL
81 publican by Federalist, and Of q
ne aristocrat by modern Democrat. w,
y; there any room for sympathy betwee
~ the two? Now, 1t must be admittf
y that the character and, career
Nv Patrick Henry have in them far mo
~ to win the sympathy of the Northel
biograpfiers than the character and G.
~ rcer of Randolph. The democrat
- spirit of the man appeals to them ju
- as the democratic spirit OF Lincoln a
10 peals. The mans rise from obscurit
=. like Lincoln's, was due to the for
% of Ills own native talents eNerted
~. the face of the most dishcartenil
~ circumstances at the start. Besid
~, this. there is something that appes
Ich to all, Northern and Southern alike,
sp the trlumphs of tho great orator, t
,ne great actor. me ereat soluier' p ' :.
,lv each Of the three plays his part
ne, brilliantly in the eyes of the wht
To- world. But While this aspect of He
ra- RVS life draws even the narrow,
IRE Northern biographer to him, his
: .1yv ~ r.