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impulses of his soul:-" Cesar had his Brutus-Charles the First had his Cromwell-and George the Third"-he was interrupted by the cry of treason, from the speaker's chair. Treason! Treason! echoed from every part of the house. The startling cry thrilled like electricity on the nerves of the house, and every eye was turned on the inspired orator. He paused only to command a loftier attitude, a firmer voice, a more determined manner, and fixing his eye of fire on the speaker, he proceeded :-" and George the Third-may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it."

The theme of liberty, which had thus drawn out the higher qualities of Mr. Henry's eloquence, now became the theme of the nation. The mother country, forgetful alike of the duties and feelings of a parent,-forgetful of the lessons inculcated by her own past history, and of the fundamental principles of national freedom, —was bent on reducing her colonies to the most humiliating terms. Aroused at length to the common danger, and drawn together by the common cause, they appointed a general congress of statesmen, to devise means for resisting the encroachments on their liberties, and to this august body, Virginia sent her most distinguished sons. Mr. Henry was of the number, and was now brought in contact with the most enlightened men of the new world.

The meeting of this congress formed a new epoch in the history of America. It was the leading idea of this great and united republic. The members had been called together to guard the interests of a rising nation. But how were they to act? What was to be the course of their measures? What was to be the result of this leagued opposition to the British king? The awful responsibility which they had assumed seems to have struck them in all its overwhelming force, when the great business of the convention was about to be opened, and it fell, like an incubus, upon their spirits. A deep and solemn pause followed the organization of the housea pause pregnant with the fate of America-perhaps of the world.

Who among this great body of enlightened statesmen is to roll away the stone-to unloose the seals-to break the fetters which have thus manacled this august assemblage? The task falls upon the plebeian rustic whom we have seen roaming the forests with his gun; scouring the creeks with his angling rod; waiting on the customers of an obscure tavern at Hanover. He arose slowly, as

if borne down by the weight of his subject, and, faltering through an impressive exordium, launched forth gradually into a recital of the colonial wrongs. The subject was great, the field was vast; but Mr. Henry's powers were equal to the occasion. His countenance, illuminated by the fire of that genius which burned within, shone with almost superhuman lustre. His eye was steady; his action noble; his diction commanding; his enunciation clear and distinct; his mind, inspired by the greatness of his subject, glowed with its richest treasures; and, as he swept proudly forward in his high argument, even that assemblage of mighty intellects were struck with astonishment and awe. He sat down amid murmurs of admiration and applause. The convention was nerved to the point of action; and as he had been proclaimed the greatest orator of Virginia, he was now admitted to be the first orator in America.

On the 20th of May, 1775, after the meeting of the first congress, and when the country was almost in open arms, Virginia held her second convention. Hitherto the opposition to the ministerial measures, in all public bodies, had been respectful, and had looked only to a peaceful adjustment of the questions which divided the two countries. But the quick eye of Mr. Henry had seen that there must be an end to this temporizing policy, and that the spirit of legislation should be made to keep pace with the movements of the public mind. When, therefore, the convention opened with propositions for new, and still more humble petitions, the blood of the patriot warmed in his veins, and he determined to meet these propositions at once and nip them in the bud. In pursuance of this determination, he offered a series of resolutions for arming and equipping the militia of the colony. This measure threw the convention into the utmost consternation, and it was hotly opposed from every side, by all the most weighty and influential members, as rash, precipitate, and desperate. Some of the firmest patriots in the house, and, among the number, several of the most distinguished members of the late congress, brought all the power of their logic, as well as the weight of their influence, against it. Indeed, Mr. Wirt informs us that the shock produced upon the house was so great as to be painful.

Under these circumstances most men would have quailed before the storm, and compromised with his opponents by withdrawing VOL. I.-40

the resolutions. Not so with Mr. Henry. If he had chafed the billows into commotion, they were the element of his glory, and he rode most proudly when the storm beat in its wildest fury. He entered upon the discussion clad in his heaviest armor. His words dropped not from his lips like the dew, but they were poured forth like the mountain torrent, whirling, foaming, sparkling, leaping on, in their deep path of passion, and sweeping away in their course the feeble impediments which had been raised to obstruct his progress. He rolled along as if borne by some mighty and irresistible influence, now "dazzling, burning, striking down," now bursting forth with such rhapsodies of patriotic feeling as set the house in a blaze, and fired their souls for action.

It was during this, his most masterly effort, that the fearful alternative of war was first publicly proclaimed. “If,” said the inspired statesman, "we wish to be free-if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending-if we mean not basely to abandon the noble 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 repeat it, sir, we must fight!! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us !"

What is it that gentle

And again" It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! 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! Why stand we here idle? men would 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," cried he, with both his arms extended aloft, his brows knit, and every feature marked with the resolute purpose of his soul, "give me liberty, or give me death."

He sat down, but no murmur of applause followed. It was evident that the deep feelings of patriotism were stirred in every breast. "After the trance of a moment," says Mr. Wirt, "several members started from their seats. The cry, To arms, seemed to quiver on every lip and glance from every eye." The resolutions were adopted the colony was armed-the country was aroused to

more vigorous action, and the next gale that swept from the north, brought, indeed, the clash of resounding arms. Blood had been poured out at Lexington, and the great drama of the revolution was opened, to close only with the freedom and independence of America.

Mr. Henry soon after this was appointed commander-in-chief of the Virginia troops, a place which he held, however, only for a short period. He was the first republican governor of his native state, and was elected to that high office for three successive years, when he became ineligible by the constitution. He was subsequently several times elevated to the same commanding station. He held a prominent place in the public councils during the whole of the war, and, indeed, through the greater part of his life. He was a most vigorous opponent of the federal constitution, and had well nigh prevented its adoption by the Virginia convention. The department of state was offered to him by President Washington, and he was appointed minister to France by President Adams, both of which places he declined to accept. He finished his useful and glorious career on the 6th of June, 1799, in the sixty-third year of his age.

Mr. Henry was strict in his morals, and pure in his language. It is believed he was never known to take the name of his Maker in vain. He was amiable and modest in his deportmentan affectionate and indulgent parent—an amusing companion, and a faithful friend. During his last illness he said to a friend, stretching out toward him his hand, which contained an open Bible, "Here is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed; yet it is my misfortune never to have found time to read it with the proper attention and feeling, till lately. I trust in the mercy of Heaven that it is not yet too late."

As a statesman Mr. Henry wanted that patient industry which no genius can ever fully supply. Bright as was his career, it would have been vastly more glorious but for his unconquerable aversion to laborious study. When his mind was nerved up to its full strength, it seems to have been equal to any effort, however commanding; but when he had given any great enterprise its first impulse, his work was done, and he became "weak like another man. He could not bear the toil and drudgery of the great world. His light was that of the meteor which blazes through the darkness, and

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not the steady beams of the patient sun. He seems to have grasped his subject by intuition, and when once his stand was taken, there was no hesitation, no doubt, no wavering, but his convictions were settled principles, and he marched forward to his object with as much certainty as though he had worked it out by the rules of mathematics. This prescience gave him a most commanding advantage, and is the great secret of his success. With a modesty which was so great as to be a feature in his character, we behold him giving the first impulse to the revolution, sounding the first battle cry, and leading the first military expedition in Virginia. Had his industry been equal to the powers of his mind, he would have held no second place in the annals of his country. As it was, his career was one of dazzling brilliancy, and he justly ranks among the highest ornaments and noblest benefactors of his country.

ART. VII.-CRITICAL NOTICES.

1. The Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley, M. A., some time Student of Christ's Church, Oxford: comprising a Review of his Poetry; Sketches of the Rise and Progress of Methodism; with Notices of contemporary Events and Characters. By THOMAS JACKSON. In two volumes. London: Published by John Mason, at the Wesleyan Conference Office. 1841.

THE above work from the official press of the Wesleyan Methodist connection has just been received. Though we have not yet had time to peruse these volumes, yet, from reading the preface, and a hasty glance at several leading and important topics, we are full of expectation that the work will exceed in interest any thing we have seen from the British Methodist press for a long time past.

Most of us have supposed that every thing calculated to throw light upon the history and character of the Wesleys had long since been used up. But to our no small surprise and gratification, we meet with two heavy octavos principally made up from the papers of Mr. C. Wesley, which had been carefully kept by his daughter, and strangely hid from the view of those only who were competent to do full justice to the memory of her sainted father. After the death of Miss Wesley, it seems, the conference purchased the papers, and through the fertile and powerful pen of Mr. Jackson these materials have been reduced to the order, and given to the world in the form, in which we now have them.

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