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Show iLs ibtairifBJ mr UJemilhS i II.. i . . y. t - ' ' ' ' . y !L a. ..iiiLS f J , ' , "V N - . . t ' TO ? 1 N i ' 1 IK - HT : & ft y,T v tfr 1 I , a - i y J V Henry Makinq His "Treason Speech" in the House of Iju "- v - Ivif Burqesses at Williamsburq S?&zr&pS&&CTC Vlv'".'4Hr 'O, v. ' IN-THEVIRQINIA. HISTORICAL SOCFTV r 1 8 ! fj 51 ci V"Ut W.vtttw fef '"rtx"! 51. John's Church in Richmond, Va 1 x W 'BustoF I Asi" sJHallof , 14 v. fame By ELMO SCOTT WATSON " MARCH 20, 1775, a group of Virginia Virgin-ia lans gathered in old St. John's church gj U in Richmond. They were delegates 'rfj""!! to a convention which in the future W & would be known as the "second rev-olutionary rev-olutionary convention of Virginia," and they were assembled there In spite of the objections of Lord Dun-more, Dun-more, royal governor of the colony, to consider ways and means of safeguarding their liberties as British subjects. On March 23, Patrick Henry, a young lawyer from Hanover county, offered a resolution ending thus: 'Resolved, therefore, That this colony be Immediately Imme-diately put into a posture of defense and that a committee prepare a plan for the embodying, arming, and disciplining such a number of men as may be suflicient for that purpose." Henry then moved its Immediate adoption. "This," says St. George Tucker, an eye-witness of the scene that historic day, "produced an animated ani-mated debate, in which Colonel Richard Bland, Mr. Nicholas, the treasurer, and I think Colonel Harrison, of Berkeley, and Mr. Pendleton, were opposed to the resolution, as conceiving It to be premature." In opposing the resolution as "premature," "pre-mature," these men, patriots though they were and devoted to the cause of liberty, were giving a convenient excuse for their opposition but one which probably was not the real reason. These men were conservatives and some of them, at least, considered Patrick Henry a "dangerous radical." Ten years before, he had been elected to the house of Burgesses at Williamsburg and had gathered about him a group of younger men and men from the discontented frontier counties of the colony. In May, 17G5, he had presented a series of resolutions condemning the Stamp tax which England had Imposed upon her American colonies and these resolutions had resulted In a hot debate in which Henry had been opposed by Bland, Pendleton, Randolph, Wythe and other conservatives from the tidewater aristocracy. It was (luring this debate that Henry had ended his speech with the words "Tnrquln and Caesar each had his Brutus; Charles the First his'Crom-well his'Crom-well ; and George the Third " Here he paused and as the speaker and other members of the assembly cried out angrily: "Treason! Treason!" he had gone on "may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of It !" Brave words, those as were the words which he was about to utter In reply to the statement of the conservatives that his resolution of March 23, 1775, was "premature." As a matter of fact, his resolution, rather than being premature, was tardy, when compared to action taken weeks and even months before this time by other colonies and even by some of the counties In Virginia which had already armed and begun drilling their men. But because this "dangerous radical" proposed It. these conservatives conserva-tives opposed It. The other ractor Involved, however, how-ever, was this: the colonists had talked of the possibility of war with England but so far no public body In America had spoken of Its Inevitability Inevita-bility and, in calllDg upon the convention to adopt his resolution, he was askinglt virtually to declare war. No wonder, then, that these conservatives should oppose it. They were prudent politicians; they did not see the necessity of taking such decisive action and for that we cannot blame them. After listening to the "animated debate" on his resolution, Henry arose and began: "Mr. President, it Is natural to man to Indulge in Illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us Into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged In a great arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not the things which so nearly concern their temporal salva-' tion? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole, truth; to know the worst and provide for it. "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of Judging of the future, but by the past. And -judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house? Is It that insidious smile with which our petition has lately been received? Trust it not, sir. It will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves your-selves to be betrayed with a kiss. "Ask yourself how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations prep-arations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves our-selves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called In to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are Implements of war and subjugation ; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, If Its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign as-sign any other possible motive for It? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to hind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything any-thing new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up In every light of which It is capable; but It has been all In vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? supplica-tion? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you. sir, deceive ourselves longer. "Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which Is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne and have Implored Its Interposition Inter-position to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament Our petitions have been slighted ; our remonstrances have produced add! tional violence and Insult; our supplications have been disregarded, nnd we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne 1 In vain after these things, may we Indulge the fond hopt-of hopt-of peace and reconciliation. There Is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free If wp mean to preserve Inviolate those Inestimable prlv Heges for which we have been so long content, in.-If we mean not basely to abandon the noble 1 ( ' i k ' x 's 'Xf i -lf ' X. 1 Av 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 fight I I repeat It, . sir, we must fight I An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts Is all that is left us!" It Is easy to Imagine the intensity of that moment In the little white-painted Richmond church as Patrick Henry's fellow-Virginians listened lis-tened to him utter the words wheh they knew in their hearts were true but which, so far, they had been unable to bring themselves to use "We must fight ! I repeat It, sir we must fight I" Up to this time, according to the eye-witness already al-ready quoted, Henry had spoken with great calmness and restraint. But now, as he drew near the conclusion of his speech, his passionate earnestness mounted to this stirring climax: "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? Will It be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed sta-tioned 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 a country as that which we possess, are Invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not light our battles alone. There is a just God who presides 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; it Is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire It, it 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 it come! I re peat, sir, let It come. "It Is In vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace,' but there Is no peace. The war Is actually begun I 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 I 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! I know not what course others may take; but as for ran. give me liberty or give me death !" Such was the speech which, according to one oi Henry's biographers (Moses Colt Tyler In the "American Statesmen" series, published by the Houghton Mifflin company), "has been committed to memory nnd declaimed by several generations ot American schoolboys, and Is now perhaps familiarly known to a 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 marvelous speech. Is in our time visited every year, as a patriotic shrine, by thousands of pilgrims, who ieek curluusly the very spot upon the floor where the orator is believed to have stood when he uttered those words of flame. It Is chiefly he tradition of that one speech which today keeps alive, In millions of homes, the name of Patrick Henry and which lifts him, In the popular aith, almost to the rank of some mythical hero o romauce." by Western Newspaper Union. |