Patrick Henry Part 11

On the 10th of July, the county of Fincastle prolonged the strain of public affection and applause by a.s.suring Patrick Henry that it would support and justify him at the risk of life and fortune.[193]

In the mean time, the second Continental Congress had already convened at Philadelphia, beginning its work on the 10th of May. The journal mentions the presence, on that day, of all the delegates from Virginia, excepting Patrick Henry, who, of course, had been delayed in his preparations for the journey by the events which we have just described. Not until the 11th of May was he able to set out from his home; and he was then accompanied upon his journey, to a point beyond the borders of the colony, by a spontaneous escort of armed men,--a token, not only of the popular love for him, but of the popular anxiety lest Dunmore should take the occasion of an unprotected journey to put him under arrest. "Yesterday," says a doc.u.ment dated at Hanover, May the 12th, 1775, "Patrick Henry, one of the delegates for this colony, escorted by a number of respectable young gentlemen, volunteers from this and King William and Caroline counties, set out to attend the General Congress. They proceeded with him as far as Mrs.

Hooe's ferry, on the Potomac, by whom they were most kindly and hospitably entertained, and also provided with boats and hands to cross the river; and after partaking of this lady's beneficence, the bulk of the company took their leave of Mr. Henry, saluting him with two platoons and repeated huzzas. A guard accompanied that worthy gentleman to the Maryland side, who saw him safely landed; and committing him to the gracious and wise Disposer of all human events, to guide and protect him whilst contending for a rest.i.tution of our dearest rights and liberties, they wished him a safe journey, and happy return to his family and friends."[194]

FOOTNOTES:

[165] _Works of John Adams_, ii. 415-417.

[166] _Letters of John Adams to his Wife_, i. 40.

[167] _Letters of John Adams to his Wife_, i. 47, 48.

[168] _Works of Jefferson_, i. 116.

[169] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 1227.

[170] _Ibid._ iii. 390.

[171] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 387.

[172] _Ibid._ ii. 395.

[173] _Ibid._ ii. 442, 443.

[174] _Ibid._ ii. 426.

[175] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 443.

[176] Patrick Henry's reasons were thus stated by him at the time to Colonel Richard Morris and Captain George Dabney, and by the latter were communicated to Wirt, 136, 137.

[177] Wirt, 137, 138.

[178] Wirt, 141.

[179] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 504

[180] Cooke, _Virginia_, 432.

[181] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 540.

[182] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 541.

[183] _Ibid._

[184] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 516.

[185] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 540, 541.

[186] _Ibid._ ii. 529.

[187] _Ibid._ ii. 539, 540.

[188] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 641.

[189] _Ibid._ ii. 667.

[190] _Ibid._ ii. 710, 711.

[191] _Ibid._ ii. 938.

[192] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 1024.

[193] _Ibid._ ii. 1620, 1621. For notable comments on Patrick Henry's "striking and lucky _coup de main_," see Rives, _Life of Madison_, i.

93, 94; _Works of Jefferson_, i. 116, 117; Charles Mackay, _Founders of the American Republic_, 232-234; 327.

[194] 4 _Am. Arch._ ii. 541.

CHAPTER XI

IN CONGRESS AND IN CAMP

On Thursday, the 18th of May, Patrick Henry took his seat in the second Continental Congress; and he appears thenceforward to have continued in attendance until the very end of the session, which occurred on the 1st of August. From the official journal of this Congress, it is impossible to ascertain the full extent of any member's partic.i.p.ation in its work. Its proceedings were transacted in secret; and only such results were announced to the public as, in the opinion of Congress, it was desirable that the public should know.

Then, too, from the private correspondence and the diaries of its members but little help can be got. As affecting Patrick Henry, almost the only non-official testimony that has been found is that of Jefferson, who, however, did not enter this Congress until its session was half gone, and who, forty years afterward, wrote what he probably supposed to be his recollections concerning his old friend's deportment and influence in that body:--

"I found Mr. Henry to be a silent and almost unmeddling member in Congress. On the original opening of that body, while general grievances were the topic, he was in his element, and captivated all by his bold and splendid eloquence. But as soon as they came to specific matters, to sober reasoning and solid argumentation, he had the good sense to perceive that his declamation, however excellent in its proper place, had no weight at all in such an a.s.sembly as that, of cool-headed, reflecting, judicious men. He ceased, therefore, in a great measure, to take any part in the business. He seemed, indeed, very tired of the place, and wonderfully relieved when, by appointment of the Virginia convention to be colonel of their first regiment, he was permitted to leave Congress about the last of July."[195]

Perhaps the princ.i.p.al value of this testimony is to serve as an ill.u.s.tration of the extreme fragility of any man's memory respecting events long pa.s.sed, even in his own experience. Thus, Jefferson here remembers how "wonderfully relieved" Patrick Henry was at being "permitted to leave Congress" on account of his appointment by the Virginia convention "to be colonel of their first regiment." But, from the official records of the time, it can now be shown that neither of the things which Jefferson thus remembers, ever had any existence in fact. In the first place, the journal of the Virginia convention[196]

indicates that Patrick Henry's appointment as colonel could not have been the occasion of any such relief from congressional duties as Jefferson speaks of; for that appointment was not made until five days after Congress itself had adjourned, when, of course, Patrick Henry and his fellow delegates, including Jefferson, were already far advanced on their journey back to Virginia. In the second place, the journal of Congress[197] indicates that Patrick Henry had no such relief from congressional duties, on any account, but was bearing his full share in its business, even in the plainest and most practical details, down to the very end of the session.

Any one who now recalls the tremendous events that were taking place in the land while the second Continental Congress was in session, and the immense questions of policy and of administration with which it had to deal, will find it hard to believe that its deliberations were out of the range of Patrick Henry's sympathies or capacities, or that he could have been the listless, speechless, and ineffective member depicted by the later pen of Jefferson. When that Congress first came together, the blood was as yet hardly dry on the gra.s.s in Lexington Common; on the very morning on which its session opened, the colonial troops burst into the stronghold at Ticonderoga; and when the session had lasted but six weeks, its members were conferring together over the ghastly news from Bunker Hill. The organization of some kind of national government for thirteen colonies precipitated into a state of war; the creation of a national army; the selection of a commander-in-chief, and of the officers to serve under him; the hurried fortification of coasts, harbors, cities; the supply of the troops with clothes, tents, weapons, ammunition, food, medicine; protection against the Indian tribes along the frontier of nearly every colony; the goodwill of the people of Canada, and of Jamaica; a solemn, final appeal to the king and to the people of England; an appeal to the people of Ireland; finally, a grave statement to all mankind of "the causes and necessity of their taking up arms,"--these were among the weighty and soul-stirring matters which the second Continental Congress had to consider and to decide upon. For any man to say, forty years afterward, even though he say it with all the authority of the renown of Thomas Jefferson, that, in the presence of such questions, the spirit of Patrick Henry was dull or unconcerned, and that, in a Congress which had to deal with such questions, he was "a silent and almost unmeddling member," is to put a strain upon human confidence which it is unable to bear.

The formula by which the daily labors of this Congress are frequently described in its own journal is, that "Congress met according to adjournment, and, agreeable to the order of the day, again resolved itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration the state of America; and after some time spent therein, the president resumed the chair, and Mr. Ward, from the committee, reported that they had proceeded in the business, but, not having completed it, desired him to move for leave to sit again."[198] And although, from the beginning to the end of the session, no mention is made of any word spoken in debate by any member, we can yet glean, even from that meagre record, enough to prove that upon Patrick Henry was laid about as much labor in the form of committee-work as upon any other member of the House,--a fair test, it is believed, of any man's zeal, industry, and influence in any legislative body.

Further, it will be noted that the committee-work to which he was thus a.s.signed was often of the homeliest and most prosaic kind, calling not for declamatory gifts, but for common sense, discrimination, experience, and knowledge of men and things. He seems, also, to have had special interest and authority in the several anxious phases of the Indian question as presented by the exigencies of that awful crisis, and to have been placed on every committee that was appointed to deal with any branch of the subject. Thus, on the 16th of June, he was placed with General Schuyler, James Duane, James Wilson, and Philip Livingston, on a committee "to take into consideration the papers transmitted from the convention of New York, relative to Indian affairs, and report what steps, in their opinion, are necessary to be taken for securing and preserving the friends.h.i.+p of the Indian nations."[199] On the 19th of June, he served with John Adams and Thomas Lynch on a committee to inform Charles Lee of his appointment as second major-general; and when Lee's answer imported that his situation and circ.u.mstances as a British officer required some further and very careful negotiations with Congress, Patrick Henry was placed upon the special committee to which this delicate business was intrusted.[200] On the 21st of June, the very day on which, according to the journal, "Mr. Thomas Jefferson appeared as a delegate for the colony of Virginia, and produced his credentials," his colleague, Patrick Henry, rose in his place and stated that Was.h.i.+ngton "had put into his hand sundry queries, to which he desired the Congress would give an answer." These queries necessarily involved subjects of serious concern to the cause for which they were about to plunge into war, and would certainly require for their consideration "cool-headed, reflecting, and judicious men." The committee appointed for the purpose consisted of Silas Deane, Patrick Henry, John Rutledge, Samuel Adams, and Richard Henry Lee.[201] On the 10th of July, "Mr. Alsop informed the Congress that he had an invoice of Indian goods, which a gentleman in this town had delivered to him, and which the said gentleman was willing to dispose of to the Congress." The committee "to examine the said invoice and report to the Congress" was composed of Philip Livingston, Patrick Henry, and John Alsop.[202] On the 12th of July, it was resolved to organize three departments for the management of Indian affairs, the commissioners to "have power to treat with the Indians in their respective departments, in the name and on behalf of the United Colonies, in order to preserve peace and friends.h.i.+p with the said Indians, and to prevent their taking any part in the present commotions." On the following day the commissioners for the middle department were elected, namely, Franklin, Patrick Henry, and James Wilson.[203] On the 17th of July, a committee was appointed to negotiate with the Indian missionary, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, respecting his past and future services among the Six Nations, "in order to secure their friends.h.i.+p, and to continue them in a state of neutrality with respect to the present controversy between Great Britain and these colonies." This committee consisted of Thomas Cus.h.i.+ng, Patrick Henry, and Silas Deane.[204] Finally, on the 31st of July, next to the last day of the session, a committee consisting of one member for each colony was appointed to serve in the recess of Congress, for the very practical and urgent purpose of inquiring "in all the colonies after virgin lead and leaden ore, and the best methods of collecting, smelting, and refining it;" also, after "the cheapest and easiest methods of making salt in these colonies." This was not a committee on which any man could be useful who had only "declamation" to contribute to its work; and the several colonies were represented upon it by their most sagacious and their weightiest men,--as New Hamps.h.i.+re by Langdon, Ma.s.sachusetts by John Adams, Rhode Island by Stephen Hopkins, Pennsylvania by Franklin, Delaware by Rodney, South Carolina by Gadsden, Virginia by Patrick Henry.[205]

On the day on which this committee was appointed, Patrick Henry wrote to Was.h.i.+ngton, then at the headquarters of the army near Boston, a letter which denoted on the part of the writer a perception, unusual at that time, of the gravity and duration of the struggle on which the colonies were just entering:--

PHILADELPHIA, July 31st, 1775.

SIR,--Give me leave to recommend the bearer, Mr. Frazer, to your notice and regard. He means to enter the American camp, and there to gain that experience, of which the general cause may be avail'd. It is my earnest wish that many Virginians might see service. It is not unlikely that in the fluctuation of things our country may have occasion for great military exertions. For this reason I have taken the liberty to trouble you with this and a few others of the same tendency. The public good which you, sir, have so eminently promoted, is my only motive. That you may enjoy the protection of Heaven and live long and happy is the ardent wish of,

Sir, Yr. mo. obt. hbl. serv., P. HENRY, JR.[206]