Page images
PDF
EPUB

OF

THE LIFE AND CHARACTER

OF

PATRICK HENRY.

BY WILLIAM WIRT.

OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

"In quo hoc maximum est, quod neque ante illum, quem ille imitarateur neque post illum qui
eum imitari poosset. inventus est." Patere. lib. i. cap. v.

'His distinguishing characteristic is this, that he was preceded by none whom he imitated,
nor did any come after who could imitate him."

REVISED EDITION,

WITH HEADINGS TO EACH CHAPTER, AND SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT

OF THE NOTES CONTAINED IN THE FORMER EDITIONS,

AS TO RENDER THE WORK SUITABLE FOR

A CLASS BOOK IN ACADEMIES

AND SCHOOLS.

ITHACA, N. Y.:

PUBLISHED BY MACK, ANDRUS & CO.,

No. 69 OWEGO STREET.

[ocr errors]

DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT:

Be it Remembered, That, on the twenty-first day of March, in the forty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America, JAMES WEBSTER, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit: "Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. By William Wirt, of Richmond, Virginia. Second edition, corrected by the Author. In quo hoc maximum est, quod neque ante illum, quem ille imitaretur, neque post illum, qui eum imitari posset, inventus est. Paterc. Lib. i. cap. v." In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned;" and also to an act, entitled, "An act supple. mentary to an act, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing engraving, and etching, historical and other Prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.

Re-entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1839, by THOMAS M'ELRATH, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

то

THE YOUNG MEN OF VIRGINIA,

THIS WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY

THE AUTHOR.

E302
H5W6
1845

PREFACE.

In reader has a right to know what degree of credit is due to the following narrative; and it is the object of this preface to give him that satisfaction.

It was in the summer of eighteen hundred and five, that the design of writing this biography was first conceived. It was produced hy an incident of feeling, which, however it affected the author at the time, might now be thought light and trivial by the reader; and he shall not, therefore, be detained by the recital of it. The author knew nothing of Mr. Henry, personally. He had never seen him, and was of course compelled to rely wholly on the information of others. As soon, therefore, as the design was formed of writing his life, aware of the necessity of losing no time in collecting, from the few remaining coevals of Mr. Henry, that personal knowledge of the subject which might erc long be expected to die with them, the author despatched letters to every quarter of the state in which it occurred to him as probable that interesting matter might be found; and he was gratified by the prompt attention which was paid to his inquiries.

There were, at that time, living in the county of Hanover, three gentlemen of the first respectability, who had been the companions of Mr. Henry's childhood and youth; these were, Col. Charles Dabney, Capt. George Dabney, and Col. William O. Winston; the two first of whom are still living. Not having the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with these gentlemen, the author interested the late Mr. Nathaniel Pope in his object, and, by his instrumentality, procured all the useful information which was in their possession. Mr. Pope is well known to have been a gentleman of uncommonly vigorous and discriminating mind; a sacred observer of truth, and a man of the purest sense of honour. The author cannot recall the memory of this most amiable and excellent man, to whom (if there be any merit in this work) the friends of Mr. Henry and the state of Virginia owe so many obligations, without paying to that revered memory the tribute of his respect and affection. Mr. Pope was one of those ardent young Virginians, who embarked before they had attained their maturity, in the cause of the American revolution: he joined an animated and active corps of horse, and signalized himself by an impetuous gallantry, which drew upon him the eyes and the applause of his commander. In peace, he was as mild as he had been brave in war; his bosem was replete A 2

M316053

« PreviousContinue »