It is memorable that the brilliant and erratic John Randolph (who subsequently designated himself as "of Roanoke") offered himself on the same occasion at Charlotte Court House as a candidate for Congress, and undaunted replied to Mr. Henry with cutting satire and caustic crimination of the Federal party. His effort was received with loud huzzas. This was a new experience to Mr. Henry, unaccustomed to rivalry, to be confronted by a beardless boy, for such was the youthful appearance of Mr. Randolph. Mr. Henry returned to the rostrum, and in a second address soared above his wonted passionate and majestic eloquence. He unstintingly complimented the rare talents of his competitor, whilst he deprecated the youthful errors of his political zeal, and by his pathos wrought himself and audience to tears. In these efforts of Mr. Henry, as attested by two of his audience, Colonels Robert Morton and Clement Carrington, of Charlotte county, in 1837, in statements published by the late Charles Campbell in 1867, Mr. Henry did not approve the Alien and Sedition Laws (which he apprehended tended to civil war), and patriotically endeavored to quiet the minds of the people and to avert the apparent impending dissolution of the Union. He said: "Let us all go together, right or wrong. If we go into civil war, your Washington will lead the Governmental armies; and who, I ask, is willing to point a bayonet against his breast?"

Mr. Henry and Mr. Randolph were each elected severally to the stations for which they offered, but Mr. Henry, whose health had been visibly declining for several years, died on the 6th of June, 1799, a few months before Washington, and before the meeting of the body to which he had been elected. His remains and those of his second wife rest side by side beneath massive and ornate marble tablets in the family cemetery at " Red Hill," which seat is now owned by his grandson, William Wirt Henry.

The following obituary of Patrick Henry, which appeared contemporaneously in the Virginia newspapers, and was written by General Henry Lee, is a touching plaint and merits perpetuation here

"MOURN, VIRGINIA, MOURN.

"Your Henry is no more! Ye friends of Liberty in every clime, drop a tear! No more will his social feelings spread delight through his happy home. No more will his edifying example dictate to his numerous offspring the sweetness of virtue and the majesty of patriotism. No more will the sage adviser, guided by zeal for their common happiness, impart light and utility to his caressing neighbors. No more will he illuminate the public councils with sentiments drawn from the Cabinet of his own mind, ever directed to the public good, clothed with eloquence sublime, delightful and commanding. Farewell, great and noble patriot, farewell! "As long as our rivers flow and mountains stand, so long will your excellence and worth be the theme of our homage and endearments; and Virginia, bearing in mind her loss, will say to rising generations, IMITATE HENRY."

The affectionate reverence in which Patrick Henry was held is evidenced

in the commitment to memory of this lament by numerous admirers and its oral transmission in some instances to the present day.

The distinguished orator and theologian, Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., a repeated personal witness, thus lucidly and satisfactorily analyzes the springs of the oratorical genius of Patrick Henry:

"The power of Henry's eloquence was due, first, to the greatness of his emotion and passion, accompanied with a versatility which enabled him to assume at once any emotion or passion which was suited to his ends. Not less indispensable, secondly, was a matchless perfection of the organs of expression, including the entire apparatus of voice, intonation, pause, gesture, attitude, and indescribable play of countenance. In no instance did he ever indulge in an expression that was not instantly recognized as nature itself; yet some of his penetrating and subduing tones were absolutely peculiar, and as inimitable as they were indescribable. These were felt by every hearer, in all their force. His mightiest feelings were sometimes indicated and communicated by a long pause, aided by an eloquent aspect, and some significant use of the finger. The sympathy between mind and mind is inexplicable. Where the channels of communication are open, the faculty of revealing inward passion great, and the expression of it sudden and visible, the effects are extraordinary. Let these shocks of influence be repeated again and again, and all other opinions and ideas are for the moment absorbed or excluded; the whole mind is brought into unison with that of the speaker; and the spell-bound listener, till the cause ceases, is under an entire fascination. Then perhaps the charm ceases, upon reflection, and the infatuated hearer resumes his ordinary state. Patrick Henry, of course, owed much to his singular insight into the feelings of the common mind. In great cases, he scanned his jury, and formed his mental estimate; on this basis he founded his appeals to their predilections and character. It is what other advocates do, in a lesser degree. When he knew there were conscientious or religious men among the jury, he would most solemnly address himself to their sense of right, and would adroitly bring in scriptural citations. If this handle was not offered, he would lay bare the sensibility of patriotism. * * * A learned and intelligent gentleman stated to me that he once heard Mr. Henry's defense of a man arraigned for a capital crime. So clear and abundant was the evidence that my informant was unable to conceive any grounds of defense, especially after the law had been ably placed before the jury by the attorney for the Commonwealth. For a long time after Mr. Henry began, he never once adverted to the merits of the case or the arguments of the prosecution, but went off into a most captivating and discursive oration on general topics, expressing opinions in perfect accordance with those of his hearers, until having fully succeeded in obliterating every impression of his opponent's speech, he ob

liquely approached the subject, and as occasion was offered, dealt forth strokes which seemed to tell upon the minds of the jury. In this case, it should be added, the force of truth prevailed over the art of the consummate orator."

The descendants of Colonel John Henry and of his eminent son Patrick Henry, comprise the distinguished family names of Meredith, Madison, Lewis, Bowyer, Christian, Pope, Bullitt, Campbell, Russell, Wood, Preston, Armistead, Garland, Carrington, McDowell, Breckenridge, Floyd, Hampton, Johnston, Southall, Venable, Hughes, Michel, Fontaine, Roane, Lyons, Dandridge, Crenshaw, Granberry, Bailey, Scott, and others, and embrace authors, divines, educators, governors, generals, jurists, scientists, statesmen, etc.

A portrait of Patrick Henry, painted by Thomas Sully, and pronounced by his contemporaries an admirable likeness, is in the possession of his grandson, William Wirt Henry, a distinguished practitioner of the law, and the Vice-President of the Virginia Historical Society. From this portrait has been engraved the illustration in our work.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

At

Upon the resignation of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, by election of the General Assembly, succeeded him as Governor of Virginia, June 1st, 1779. During his administration, in January, 1781, the traitor Arnold invaded Virginia, leaving ravage in his wake. Richmond, the public stores fell a prey; private property was plundered, and several houses were burned. Many of the public archives were also destroyed. Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, of his command, commanding the Queen's Rangers, proceeded to Westham, six miles above Richmond, and destroyed the foundry, magazine, arms, and military supplies there. Arnold now retired to Portsmouth, where he rested until April, when General William Phillips, succeeding to the command, paid another visit of desolation to Manchester. In May came Lord Cornwallis with his victorious army from the South, driving every thing before him. The 7th of May was the day appointed by law for the meeting of the Assembly at Richmond. A quorum not being in attendance, the house adjourned from day to day until the 10th, when, upon the approach of the enemy, they adjourned to the 24th, to meet at Charlottesville. The house did not proceed to business until the 28th. Eight days after, they again fled before the rapid approach of the rapacious Tarleton. All the machinery of government for a time was in confusion, the Governor, Assembly, and the Council, save a single member, Colonel William Fleming, as it appears, being in flight before the enemy. Governor Jefferson resigned June 1st, and was succeeded by General Thomas Nelson, Jr., on the 12th of the month. An extended sketch

of the life of Thomas Jefferson will be found in the second volume of VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.

WILLIAM FLEMING.

William Fleming emigrated from Scotland to Virginia in early manhood. By tradition he was of noble extraction, and he had received a liberal education. He is believed to have had a knowledge of medicine, and to have served in a medical and military capacity in the French and Indian war, with the rank of Lieutenant, in 1755 and 1756, and perhaps longer. He was of a bold and adventurous spirit, and was among the earliest settlers in the portion of Augusta County which now forms Botetourt County, taking up large tracts of land, which, enhancing in value, made him a man of wealth. In 1774 he raised a regiment, which he gallantly and effectively commanded in the sanguinary battle of Point Pleasant, in which he received a wound from which he never fully recovered. He was a member of the Council of Virginia in 1781, and for a time in the month of June was the executive of the Colony, as is evidenced by the following resolution of the Virginia Assembly (Hening's Statutes, Vol. X, p. 567):

"It appearing to the General Assembly that Colonel William Fleming, being the only acting member of the council for some time before the appointment of the Chief Magistrate, did give orders for the calling out the militia, and also pursued such other measures as were essential to good government, and it is just and reasonable that he should be indemnified therein,

"Resolved, therefore, That the said William Fleming, Esq., be indemnified for his conduct as before mentioned, and the Assembly do approve of the same. "JOHN BECKLEY, C. H. D.

"1781, June 23d.

"Agreed to by the Senate.

WILL. DREW, C. S."

Colonel Fleming, in 1788, represented the county of Botetourt in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Federal Constitution-an eminent body.

Colonel Fleming married and left a family. One of his daughters, Anne, became the wife of Rev. George A. Baxter, D. D., Rector in 1798 of Liberty Hall Academy (the beginning of the present Washington and Lee University). He was also Professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Astronomy in that institution, and Minister of the New Monmouth and Lexington Presbyterian Churches.