The New International Encyclopædia/Henry, Patrick

​HENRY, Patrick (1736–99). An American orator and statesman, born in Hanover County, Va., May 29, 1736. His father was a native of Scotland, and a cousin of Robertson, the celebrated historian. Patrick was unpromising as a scholar, and when he was fifteen years old he was placed at work with a country tradesman. After a year’s apprenticeship he was set up in business with his brother William, but before the end of a year the undertaking had to be abandoned. He was slovenly in dress, and showed no aptitude for business of any kind. At the time that he married the daughter of a farmer, a Miss Shelton, his business had collapsed, and he was wretchedly poor. He next tried farming for two years, but had neither perseverance nor knowledge, and after one more of many failures he opened a store and failed within the next three years. When no customers appeared he would close his store and go fishing. But at intervals he read such books as he could find, and managed to gain a fair idea of Latin and Greek. Having utterly failed in farming and in trade, he made an attempt at the law, and after a period of reading said to have extended over only one month, had the boldness to ask for license to practice. This was granted in 1760, on the condition that he would extend his studies before undertaking to practice. In 1763 he leaped into immediate prominence in his profession. He was then engaged in the place of a more experienced advocate, who refused to continue the defense in a celebrated case known as the ‘Parson’s Cause,’ and by an unexpectedly brilliant speech aroused such intense excitement that the audience seized him and bore him in triumph on their shoulders. (See Parson’s Cause.) Thereafter his practice was enormous and his prosperity assured. But he was not satisfied with his legal profession. In 1765 he became a member of the House of Burgesses. At the critical period of the Stamp Act excitement he was comparatively unknown to the Assembly, and the rich planters were scandalized at his presumption in offering to the House the brief resolutions which set forth that the burgesses and the Governor had the exclusive right and power to lay taxes and imposts upon the people of the Colony, and that not alone the Stamp Act, but all acts of Parliament which encroached upon the rights of the Colonies, were unconstitutional and therefore void. A storm of opposition from the conservative members naturally followed, and the resolutions were denounced as extreme, impolitic, and dangerous. In the debate he startled even the radicals by his historic outburst: “Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third—” [here he was interrupted by the presiding officer and members with cries of “Treason! treason!”]—“may profit by their example,” calmly said the orator, completing the sentence, adding, “If this be treason, make the most of it.” The resolutions were adopted by a very small majority. He was now a power in the Colony, replaced the vacillating planters in the leadership, and became the authorized representative of the people against the aristocratic element. In opposition to Parliamentary imposts and in preparing the articles of association to discourage the use of British merchandise, Henry was one of the leaders. He continued his legal business, and, though deficient in legal education, was wonderfully successful before juries. At this time he took an active part in the movement for securing the rights of the Dissenters, which finally culminated in the Religious Freedom Act of 1785, by which the Church of England was disestablished in Virginia. Patrick Henry, with Jefferson and others, was ready to precipitate an open rupture with England. He was especially active in the House of Burgesses, and in May, 1774, took a leading part in those acts of the House with reference to the Boston Port Bill which led to its immediate dissolution by Lord Dunmore. Upon the following day (May 27th) was held the historic meeting of the former burgesses in the Raleigh Tavern, as a result of which came the first Revolutionary convention of Virginia (August, 1774), of which Henry was a member, and by which he was chosen a delegate to the first Continental Congress. In that famous assembly he was hailed as the champion of constitutional liberty, and his wonderful eloquence was at once recognized. He served on the Committee on Trade and Manufactures, on the committee to prepare an address to the King, and on that appointed to draft a statement of the rights of the colonists. Returning thence to Virginia, his prominence was still further enhanced by his work in the Provincial Convention of March, 1775, where he introduced resolutions to organize the militia and put the Colony in an attitude of defense, which met with great opposition. He replied by a speech in which, according to one version, occur the words: “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are already forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that 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! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Without an opposing voice the resolutions were adopted, and a committee, with Henry as chairman, was appointed to prepare a plan for the defense of the province. Soon thereafter the royal Governor, Dunmore, caused to be removed on shipboard much of the province’s supply of powder. The people took up arms, and being told that the powder would be returned, they at once disbanded. Henry, however, seized the favorable moment, gathered a force of militia, and marched upon Williamsburg to demand the powder or compensation. An agent of Dunmore’s met him and paid him £300 for the powder. Henry was denounced for stirring up sedition; but it was too late to talk of loyalty; the province was aroused, and in June Dunmore took refuge on a man-of-war. A convention assembled at Richmond and appointed a committee of public safety with most ​extensive powers. Two regiments were enlisted, and Henry was appointed commander of all the forces to be raised. The first collision was at Great Bridge, where the Virginia militia gained a triumph over trained British troops, and drove Dunmore back to his ship. Henry should naturally have been the leader of the troops, but the active command was given to Col. William Woodford. Henry was disappointed and resigned. In the convention of May, 1776, when the delegates to the Continental Congress were instructed to demand the independence of the Colonies, he took an active part and was chosen by that convention one of the committee which prepared the first Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In that year he was chosen by the convention, which then exercised the power of election later exercised by the Assembly, to be Governor of Virginia, and was reëlected until 1779, when he became ineligible; and more than once during his occupancy of the office the Legislature conferred upon him, in times of crisis, practically dictatorial powers. He returned to the Legislature, in which he served until 1784, and was then once more chosen Governor, serving until 1786, when he finally resigned. In 1788 he was a member of the convention which ratified for Virginia the Federal Constitution, which instrument he vigorously opposed, chiefly on the ground that it failed properly to protect the rights of States and individuals against the extreme centralization of power in the Federal Government. In 1794 he declined a seat in the United States Senate, and in 1795 Washington offered him the position of Secretary of State, but he declined. He also declined the office of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and Adams’s offer of a special mission to France, as well as an election as Governor in 1796. He was elected to the House of Delegates in 1799, but did not live to take his seat, dying on June 6th of that year. Consult: Tyler, Patrick Henry (Boston, 1887), in the “American Statesmen Series;” Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (2d ed., Philadelphia, 1818); and William Wirt Henry, Patrick Henry, Life, Correspondence, and Speeches (3 vols., New York, 1891).