The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-19

TN oM MARSHALL was so firm be-
 liever in the law of heredity
 l that he one night in Philadel- phia interpolated into the eXordium of a brilliant address his conviction that Napoleon Bonaparte was a direct lineal descendant of Julius Caesar; and it is easy to fancy that Belisarius had in his veins the mingled bloods of the Vlctors of Platea and Cannae Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall. John Ran dolph of Roanoke, and Robert D. Lee came of common ancestor of the 18th century. The Marshall and Breckin ridge families produced generations of exceptionally brilliant men. The Adams family of New England is in me fourth generation of eminent men. The Randolphs and the Fuckers trans rnitted intellectual genius from sire to son.
 And the same is true of the fienry family. A certain Virginia antiquary told me that the Henrys got their ora tory from the Winstons, a daughter of whom was the mother of Patrick Henry, who lives in auth entic history, as we'll as in eXtravag gant tradition, tie greatest orator the western hemis phere ever produced. His sister be- came the wife of that Colonel Camp bell who comma nded at Kings Noun tain, and she was the grandmother Of William c. Preston, whose sister was the mother of William c. P. Breckin- ridge. believe, though l am not sure, that John B. Floyd was also de- seconded from Mrs. Campbell. Gustavus A. Henry, one of the most superb ora tors the Mississippi valley ever pro- duced, was a direct descendant of Pat rick Henry.
 And from Patrick Henry also came Robert Lee Henry, now, and since 1897 the representative in Congress of the Eleventh Texas district. He lives in the heart of the colossus of sover- eighties of which the great republic is made-at Waco, a land of Gosher. equally fit for corn or cotton, meadow oI' orchard. Texas is already the En pire State of the south, and soon she will be the Empire State of the Union. Of all the cotton states, she has TeasS percentage of negroes. while her gross production of the great southern stapie exceeds that of any other two states combined. The day is nigh at hand when she will pass Iowa in the pro- duction of corn and Kansas in the production of wheat. The child is born who will see a population of 25,000, 900 in Texas.
 Robert Lee Henry was born in Cass county, Texas, in 1864, and was sd/- cated at the university at Georgetown, Tex. graduating at the age of 21, the Valedfctorian of his class. He then took a law course at the University of Texas, and when he had completed it he was admitted to the bar at Tex arkana, and became member of tEe trm of which his father was the head. He was a hard student and enthusiastic it. the practice; but he discovered quail ities of individuality that forced hin into the field of politics. At the ase of 26 he was elected mayor of Texar- Kana by the biggest majority ever given in the town, and he was the youngest and perhaps the most popu- tion.
 At that time that extraordinary per sonality, James HoSg, was governor He was man of great magnetism an ora tor of immense power, a lawyer gifted in the nici prius practices of Texas. Charles A. Culberson was attorney general of the state, in which position he discovered In remarkable degree the judicial temper coupled with genius for the law He had already greatly distinguished him. self in the profession, and in arguments before the supreme court he had delighted the learned justices of that illustrious bench. But how could old Dave Culber- sons son be other than great lawyer?
 In 1891 Robert Lee Henry went to Aus tin and was appointed assistant attorney general, and for four years he lent the aid of splendid mind and gifted elo- quence to his chief It was the begin ming of the octopus chase and the battle royal between the corporations and the people was fast and furious. Unlike a more famous and more noisy chase of the octupus at Washington, there were some practical results in Texas, where they actually captured the varmint and Topped off some of his tentacles I can not but believe that if my friend Theo- dore Roosevelt had turned the national department of justice over to Charley Culberson and Bob Henry and then gone on six months bear hunt the national octopus chase would have been nearly or quite as successful as that of Texas.
 In 1895 Bob Henry left Austin and began the practice of law at Waco, and there he plunged into politics up to the elbow. The following year he was nom mated for Congress on the democratic ticket. It was doubtful district at the time, the electorate about half demo- cratic and half populist. It was the first Bryan campaign, and the issue was whether Henry or his pop competitor was the more intense Bryan man. Every body was for 16 to l, but Henry's advo- cacy of that transcendant halucination was so much more eloquent and so much more plausible that he swept the district and his majority exceeded r, ,0O0 He has been five times reelected practically without opposition.
 A handsome person. a strong indlvidu- ality, mind we'll stored with political history, a captivating eloquence, and great capacity for controversial debate Henry went to the front at once. Un- fortunately he has been in the minority in every Congress of which he has been a member, but he has not hid his light under a bushel. On the contrary he has made numerous speeches that have at tracted the attention of both sides of the chamber and been greeted with approval by his party associates.
 He discussed all the economic questions of the Mckinley era. and took the ground Mckinley himself held up to October, 1896, on the silver question. For be it remembered that President Mckinley was thoroughly committed. to that impossibil-
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