The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-02-24
HAPPY ACCIDENTS IN
GREAT CAREERS
BY Madison c. Peters


time, was a name very common
among the Scotch, who generally
| heightened it into the name of Patri-
cius, which had nothing to do with
the Patrick of the Emerald Isle.
Patrick mother was a Winston, of
Welsh stock
As boy Patrick had no aptitude
for learning, except mathematics
When he should have been at the
desk he was shooting or fishing. His
boyhood Indifference to education was
replaced by love of history, espec
tally that of reece and Rome; his
habitual incidence was overcome by
his admiration for Livy, whose his
tory he thenceforth read every year.
At Is Patrick became clerk in
country store and at 16 he entered
into a partnership with his step
brother, William. They were set
up in trade by their parents. Bust
ness failed and second attempt
likewise ended in failure. Patrick
continued to hunt, shoot and fish
At Is, without money or occupation,
he married Sarah Shelton, the
dau2 hter of a small farmer and tav-
ern keeper. His family established
him on small farm and gave him
a number of slaves, but laziness sent
him and his young wife to the wall
He sold the slaves and again estab-
iished himself in trade, but he hat
ed to work and became insolvent
lis fathre-in-law now took him and
his family into his home and Patrick
tended bar for three years. While
handling over drinks to a lawyer,
who was stopping at the hotel, while
trying a case at the country court
house near by, Patrick told his Gus
toner that he, too, had thought of
becoming a lawyer. The attornes
encouraged Patrick. He had failed
as merchant and farmer, why not
try talking? He was now "a years
old. He studied law only six weeks.
For three years his fame and for
tune were in keeping with his previous
preparation. Thomas Jefferson tells
us that Henry was too lazy to prac-
tice law-he was either out hunting
or camping in the woods and that
his untidy appearance was repellent,
The happy accident, the turning
point in his career, his real oppor-
tunity came to him at q in the Par
sons cause in which he was retain
ed to plead the Peoples Case
against Ministerial Taxation" He
got this case because lawyers of
standing were afraid to take it.
Never was such scene witnessed
in Virginia There stood the un-
known lawyer, facing an array of
ministers and council which might
have dismayed the nerve Of the
most famous members of the bar.
Every eye was upon him as he rose.
He now had the chance to show the
stuff that was in him. Towards the
close of his address he Numbered
forth: do they feed the hungry. do
they clothe the naked? o, no. gentle
men! Instead of feeding the hungry
and clothing the naked these rapac-
ious harpies would were their pow
er equal to their will, snatch from
the heart of their honest parishion-
ers the last hoecake, from the wild
ow and her orphan children their
last mich cow!-the last bed, nay,
the last blanket from the lying-in
woman"
Never was such an arraignment of
the pillars of the church by a
Henry's victory was
complete. The jury was with him
to a man. His hour had struck, his
success was assured. That speech
was the commencement of the revo-
luton in Virginia.
Patrick Henry had discovered him
self He found out that he was a
born orator. He seized what was
thought a common occasion and
made it great. 1t was the first good
chance he had since he had gotten
on the right track. When by hap
Ply accident Henry found his true
bent as a speaker he became a con-
student. When he found
the bent of his genius his devotion to