Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-07-06
Address Of
*. Walton Moore.
IN Tie AiIfas, Court House, May
3Oth, 1921, Accepting For
Fairfax County The Por- i
trait Of George Johnston
Continued from Tuesday July 5tn

Continued from Tuesday July otn
They both understood the strenuous
nature of the struggle they were
bringing on in an unsympatheti1
House. They were prepared TO;
what happened, AS soon as the res
olutons were presented for conserva1
ton, to quite from a memorandum
Henry left for his, executors: "W'1
lent debates ensued. Many threat.'
were uttered and mucn abuse cast
OH me by the party foe submission.
He described as 'long and warm
the contest which resulted in The
resolutions being passed by the
smallest possible majority.
It is fortunate that we have tae
illuminating testimony of Thomas
Jefferson as to what TRANSFERRED. nc
tells Of the scene as marked by coa-
fusion and excitement. The two pfia
cipal figure which appear in his pc.
ture are those Of Henry and john
ston. 1t seemed to him that Henry
spoke as Homer wrote" He never
heard such a splendid display OF eio
ouence from any other man. But
he is emphatic in recognizing that
bv Johnston "the learning and logic
II the. case was maintained" Says
the Jefferson narrative; Torrents
of sublime eloquenca from Henry,
backed by the solid reasoning OF
Johnston prevailed. The last and
strongest resolution, however, was
carried by'a single vote. The debate
on it was most bloody. l was then
hut a student at William and Mary
College, and stood at the door Ct
communication between the House
and the lobby '(for as vet; there wa
no &gaffsW(;ss daring the whole Of atne
debate aid Vote and i well ren,e'a-
.SSssr;i tsaa aftsF tie 1nen'beFs of the d.
4iasn. were, tod and declared by ths
Chair sReston Randolph, the Kings
Attornsx HeneraI, same out of tst
do5fi%hste;;E was Standing and sa.d:
as he entered the lobby; BY God, J
would have given five hundred gdin-
eau for a single vote" One sent
enee from Henry's speech has sur
svived, his exclamation that "Caese-;
lad his Brutus-Charles his Cronl-
well and-George III may profit by
their example. If this be treason
make the most Of it," As he namei
George III he was interrupted by
Speaker Robinson crying out Urea.
son.. and that cry was echoei
throughout the House. Waiting until
order was restored, the tradition is
that he drew himself up to his full
height and .defisnt!y continued ms
unreserved comparison Of the Eng
lish King with the tycants who mao
suffered for their misdeeds, am
scornfully left tie charge of trea-
son to be dealt with by those VINO
had made it. Lord Fauquicr, Inc
Governor of the Colony, in letter to
the Lords Of Trade, written on June
5th, expressing regret and humilla-
ton at the conduct Of the House,
severely critic ICED Henry's words.
ain the course Of the debate, ne
wrote, 81 have beard that very IN
decent language was used by Mi.
Henry, young lawyer who had not
been but about month in the
House, who carried all the young
members with him. One of the
young members who followed Henry
and Johnston was the man who was
TO become the leader of the Amer
can Revolution and the first Presi-
dent of the Republic.
There is no report of the argu-
ment of Johnston in favor Of the
resolutions, but we can think OF him
as calmly summarizing the fact.
and rrecedcnts, and contendmg with
irresistible force that the Stamp
Tax was not cn,J ineXpedient ana
the beginning o: an oppressive pol
icy, but that it was n violation %
the fundamental principles of Eng
lish liberty. We can think OF him
as urging MANY OF the same con-
siderations that were urged upon
the House Of Commons less than 9
decade later D. Edmund Burke n
his wonderful speeches on Taxa
ton in America" and "Conciliatlol
with America" VIM. Writ, himself =
remarkable lcN!er anu orator, an
for l3aser time than any other ma
Attorney t;.neral OF the t'c':et
States, ir his account of the st:Irgle
over tie resolutions, desc ''Ae.
joiIstcn as "a lawyer highly res
pected in his profession, a scholar
~ i,,i..