Evening star., 1924-01-26

of the siren till she transforms US
into beasts. For my part, whatever
anguish of spirit 1T may cost, am
willing to know the whole trath--to
know the worst and to provide for
it,"
There was a deathIy stiffness in the
crowded church. Men leaned for
ward, with clenched hands and beads
The speakers face was lifted. glow
ing like a lamp. HIS eloquent hands
were held out toward his audience,
palms upward. quietly beseeching.
IT." said Patrick Henry, have but
one lamp by which my feet are guild
ed. and that is the lamp Of expert
ence. 1 know of no way of judging
the future but by the past. Suffer
not yourselves to be betrayed by a
kiss. Are fleets and armies necessary
! to a work of reconciliation?'
A mutter of anger came from the
kings men, but the patriot swept on
like an army with banners. He set
before them truths that could not be
gainsaid. He showed them a future
of slavery and set beside 1t liberty.
He played on their hearts like wind
on a golden harp, and their faces
blanched with the tenseneSs or their
feelings.
''rhere is no longer room for any
hope" he said. IT we wish to be
we must fight. An appeal to arms
and to the God of Hosts is all that is
left u.s."
Some one sighed among the packed
| throngs and the whistling sound cut
| In like the whine of blades.
| Patrick Henry his face white now
/ as nodded wax drew his gaunt form
| up like a lance In rest, and, tossing
| back his unbound hair, thundered
| home his tragic challenge to the
:, world.
| "Three millions OF people, armed
| in the holy cause of liberty, and In
| such q country as that which we>pos-
4 sess, are Irfvincible by any force
| which our enemy can send against
US! There is no retreat but in sub
| mission and slavery! Our chains are
| on the plains of Boston! The war is
| inevitable-and let 1t come! Gentle
| men may cry peace. peace!-but there
| is no peace. The war is actually be-
| gun! The next gale that sweeps from
| the north will bring TO our ears the
4, clash of resounding arms!
! What Is 1t that gentlemen wish:
| Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to
( be purchased at the price OF chains
/ and slavery?
! 81 know not wha. course others
! may take, but as for me-
The flaming face was raised aloft
! as if the speaker had forgot his
| earthly audience and were speaking
| 10 that great tribunal of the dim be-
! yond. The clutching hands. trem-
/ bling vislbly, reached desperately up
| ward, as if to grasp the robes OF
/ Deity.
| voice, breaking with the weight OF
Give me liberty or give me death
! He ceased abruptly, the appealing
| hands dropped, and no stood shaking IN
every limb. spent with the effort OF MS
| life.
An awful silence wrapped the con-
! yention. Not Il rustic of a garment
not a drawn breath, broke the stiffness
Then q man rose and came pushing
TO the fore. Another followed.
! In one moment the mass broke and
poured in upon the floor. Hands Were
| laid on the table. White faces were
| thrust forward. Burning eyes took VI
| the flare OF fire which Patrick Henry
! had borne among them from mis- WIDER
| ness.
i, The wavering was done, the structure
I finished. the surginG masses welded.
| A cause was born. an army estab-
1 lished, q country was heaVing up te
, face a glorious future.
/ The patriots surged close to pledge
| themselves and their constituents to the
casting OF the die. Colony by colony
I their representatives came and crowded
in the aisles.
| And the governor of Virginia for once
departed from an assemblage and was
not missed None knew OF hts going
| save his own party, passing out with
black looks that promised grim re.
, prisal.
They left the church and Richmond
| knowing that their reign was totterins
before those earnest gentlemen who
were seeing, at last, the light.
Presently there came out to the
broad steps of the church a tall figure
in bedraggled huckskins who stood fol
a moment and looked with unseeinl
eyes at the bare trees that fringed the
green, so that he was not conscious