The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-07
Frederic Haskin's Lettel


He would 90 for weeks ., .
carrying his provisions on ~.
roaming wherever he pleased
ering all his dirtiness with . L.
hunting Shirt" as the fniels !,
ferson relates. Even when ~ "a
to court he walked. carried N.
and hunting BY the way, ana -.
he confronted Judge and M,s
dirty buckskin CLOTHES. Late =.
he became a continental fspr. 3 !
saw fit to dress the Part cc,..
his bald head with q viz. M.
black suit, a white necktie -
cloak OF red velvet. (Picturs ii. Y
you CAM. But he was alxsy. ~.
to throw off these trapping, M
up a rife and take to thu -
where he felt more comfort,h,.
1t is related by many Who =.
Henry that in court his man,
was always beautifully kraye Il.
formal. but that a faint, = irons.
smile always played about hi. n.
That sarcastic smile with ~.
he faced the world Of colonial n.
wigs, and the fact that he cbo.. !
spend most of his time wands,t.|
through the wilderness With , ~
over his shoulder, free a ! M M
thing. seem to US to be the ~.
significant facts about Henrv-N,|
ones that make him real TO us M.
Certainly one of the greatest an
ferences between an American !,
that day and an American Of n.
lies in the fact that the colo,t'
;; American had wilderness to vn
der in, was a pioneer and hunt.,
| The modern American is either ,
| cockney or a villager.
Pioneer Freedom.
Now a man who wanders fra. !,
the woods has something about hn
OF the wild animal. And the IN
animal has freedom, whatever ;
may lack. 1t has a perfect person,I
autonomy. Put it in a Gaze ~,
often it will die. Catch it in 4 m,
and it will gnaw a leg of to get oul
Freedom is the essence of life 10 h
And the man who has wands.,
free in a wild country learns to ie
just the same way about il \,
learns the Joy Of freedom. He /
forever impatient of restraint Yov
can discover that quality IN N,
man who. has spent a good part d
his life outdoors.
When he shouted for liberty d,
death, Patrick Henry was voicip,
the spirit of the wfld--a spirit borl
of the vast unconquered copntr
that lay behind the fringe Of colon
les, a spirit that he had discovers
in forests and mountains, not i
books. He was voicing the spirit d
the trapped fox that mangles itsel
to escape and Of the eagle th,
starves itself to death in its az,
He was voicing the spirit in whit
the Indians fought white domin,
ton for two centuries. And inc
dentally, he was voicing a thin
which every American Of that d!
with the exception of a few impor
ed Tories, had himself felt. Fte.
, dom meant something to the Colul
ial American. Tell him that he N
being robbed and put upon, that hi
liberties were being restricted, 90
he rose straight up into the d
with a howl of rage and a rife
his right hand.
How America Has Changed.
The typical modern American b
I little of that left in him. He is Il
cousin, not of the panther. but
the COW. He is a domestic animi
He lives in a city and is used
being herded around by cops a
conductors, chased off the gras
bossed, snubbed, scolded. He rea
in the papers every day Of how
is being robbed by profteers,
graft and scandal. He acceI
meekly legislation regulating
details Of his private life. Duri
the past few years he has seen 20
old Patrick's bill of rights shot IL
a thousand pieces, every article
it grossly violated. He reads
these things in his paper, and sig
and says, well, WELL"
Il 1t was the genius and glory
Patrick Henry that he saw u
government is supposed to SCI
, the individual, not crush him.
saw that the danger in every 9
eminent is that it will oyerwhe
: the very creatures that made II,
ducing them TO cogs or to graz
of material in its complicated .
/ chinery. He foresaw that 10 U
, process the very conception OF o
as a free and natural animal mil
be lost. Against this catastrol
he set his whole force and aolll