The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-03-22
Il Il e e Y y 81 - - ] 8

We have petitioned; we have demonstrated; we
have duplicated; we have Frustrated ourselves
before the throne and have implOred its inter-
position to arrest the tyrannical hands of the
ministry and parliament. Our petitions have been
sighted; our remonstrances have produced add
tional violence and insult; our supplicatiOns have
been disregarded, and we have been spurned with
contempt from the foot of the throne! In vain.
after these things. may we indulge the fond hope
of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer
any room for hope If we wish to be free-if we
mean to preserve invioate those inestimable priv
ileges for which we have been so long contend
ing-if we mean not basey to abandon the noble
struggle In which we have been so long engaged
and which we have pledged ourselves never to
abandon until the glorious object of our contest
shall be obtained-we must fghti I repeat it.
sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to
the God of Hosts Is all that Is left us!"
1t Is easy to imagine the Intensity of that
moment in the little white-painted Richmond
church as Patrick Henry's fellow-Virginians lis
tened to him utter the words which they knew
In their hearts were true but which, so far they
had been unable to bring themselves to use
"We must fghtl repeat it, sir-we must fight y
Up to this time. according to the eyewitness al
ready quoted. Henry had spoken with great
calmness and restraint But now, as he drew
near the conclusion of his speech. his passionate
'"They tell us, sir that we are weak unable to
cope with so formidable an adversary. But when
shall we be stronger? Will it be next week. or
the next year? VIII 1t be when we are totally
disarmed and when British guard shall be sta
toned In every house? Shall we acquire the
means of effectual resistance by lying supinely
on our back and hugging the delusive phantom
of hope until our enemies shall have bound US
hand and foot? Sir. we are not weak, If we make
a proper use of these means which the God Of
nature hath placed in our power. Three millions
of people, armed In the holy cause of liberty.
and In such country that which we possess.
are invncible by any force which our enemy can
send against MS. Besides. sir we shall not fight
our battles alone There Is just God who pre-
sides over the destinies of nations and who will
raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The
battle, sir, Is not to the strong alone; 1t Is to
the vigilant, the active, the brave Besides. sir,
we have no election. If we were base enough to
desire it, 1t is now too late to retire from the
contest There Is no retreat but In submission
and slavery Our chains are forged! Their
clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston
The war is inevitable-and let 1t comel re-
peat, SIR let it come
1T is In vain. sir. to extenuate the matter
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace but there Is
no peace. The is actually begun The next
gale that sweeps from the North will bring to
our ears the clash of resOunding arms! Our
brethren are already In the field! Why stand we
here idle? What is it the gentlemen wish? What
would they have? Is life so dear. or peace so
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains
and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God know
not what course others may take; but as for me.
give me liberty or give me DEATH !"
Such was the speech which. according to one
of Henrys biographers Moses Colt Tyler in the
american Statesmen" series, published by the
Houghton Mifflin company. "has been committed
to memory and detained by several generations
of American schoolboys. and is now perhaps
Familiarity known to larger number of the
American people than any other considerable bit
of secular prose in our language. The old church
at Richmond. In which he made this marvellous
speech, is in our time visited every year. as
patriotic shrine, by thousands of pilgrims. who
seek curiously the very spot upon the floor
where the orator is believed to have stood when
he uttered those words of flame. 1t is chiefly
the tradition of that one speech which today
keeps alive, In millions of homes. the name o
Patrick Henry and which lifts him. in the popua'
faith, almost to the rank of some mythical her
of romance"
By Western Newspaper Union