debts. If you will promise to go, I will give you a retaining fee on the spot.'

"This blunt advice determined him to return to the practice of the law; which he did in the beginning of seventeen hundred and eighty-eight; and during six years he attended reg ularly the district courts of Prince Edward and New London.

Direful must have been the necessity which drove a man of Mr. Henry's disposition and habits, at his time of life, and tempest-beaten as he was, to resume the practice of such a profession as the law. He would not, however, undertake the technical duties of the profession; his engagements were confined to the argument of the cause; and his clients had of course, to employ other counsel, to conduct the pleadings, and ripen their cases for hearing. Hence his practice was restricted to difficult and important cases; but his great reputation kept him constantly engaged; he was frequently called to distant courts; the light of his eloquence shone in every quarter of the state, and thousands of tongues were everywhere employed in repeating the fine effusions of his genius.

The federal constitution, the fruit of the convention at Philadelphia, had now come forth, and produced an agitation which had not been felt since the return of peace. The friends and the enemies to its adoption were equally zealous and active in their exertions to promote their respective wishes; the presses throughout the continent teemed with essays on the subject; and the rostrum, the pulpit, the field, and the forest, rung with declamations and discussions of the most animated character. Every assemblage of people, for whatsoever purpose met, either for court or church, muster or barbecue, presented an arena for the political combatants; and in some quarters of the union, such was the public anxiety of the occasion, that gentlemen in the habit of public speaking, converted themselves into a sort of itinerant preachers, going from county to county, and from state to state, collecting the people by distant appointments, and challenging all adversaries to meet and dispute with them the propriety of the adoption of the federal constitution.

All who sought to distinguish themselves by public speaking, all candidates for popular favour, and especially the junior members of the bar, flocked to these meetings from the remotest distances, and entered the lists with all the ardour, and gallantry of the knights of former times at their tilts and tournaments. Never was there a theme more fruitful of discussion, and never was there one more amply or ably discussed.

Of the convention which was to decide the fate of this instrument in Virginia, Mr. Henry was chosen a member for the county of Prince Edward. Although the constitution had come forth

with the sanction of the revered name of Washington, and carried with it all the weight of popularity which that name could not fail to attach to any proposition, it had not the good fortune to be approved by Mr. Henry. He was (to use his own expression) "most awfully alarmed" at the idea of its adoption; for he considered it as threatening the liberties of his country; and he determined, therefore, to buckle on once more the armour which he had hung up in the temple of peace, and try the fortune of this, the last of his political fields.

CHAPTER VIII.

Convention at Richmond on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution-Uncommon Array of Men of Talent in the Convention-Mr. Henry's Reply to Gen. Lee-To Mr. Pendleton-Synopsis of the chief Objections to the Constitution-Mr. Henry's Reply to Mr. Madison and Mr. Corbin-Singular Incident connected with Mr. Henry's closing Address-Session of the Assembly in October-Mr. Henry nominates Richard H. Lee and Mr. Grayson as Senators in Opposition to Mr. Madison-His Resolutions in the Assembly on the Subject of the Constitution-Anecdote of his Retaliation upon a young Member-Draft of Letters to Governor Clinton and to several States.

THE Convention met in Richmond, on the second of June, seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, and exhibited such an array of variegated talents, as had never been collected before within the limits of the state, and such a one as it may well be feared we shall never see again. A few of the most eminent of these statesmen are still alive; of whom, therefore, delicacy forbids us to speak as they deserve. Their powers, however, and the peculiar characters of their intellectual excellence, are so well known that their names will be sufficient to speak their respective eulogies.

We may mention, therefore, Mr. Madison, the late president of the United States; Mr. Marshall, the chief-justice; and Mr. Monroe, now the president. What will the reader think of a body, in which men like these were only among their equals! Yet such is the fact; for there were those sages of other days, Pendleton and Wythe; there was seen displayed the Spartan vigour and compactness of George Nichols; and there shone the radiant genius and sensibility of Grayson; the Roman energy and the Attic wit of George Mason was there; and there, also, the classic taste and harmony of Edmund Randolph; "the splendid conflagration" of the high-minded Innis; and the matchless eloquence of the immortal Henry!

The debates and proceedings of this Convention, by Mr. David Robertson, of Petersburgh, have passed through two editions; yet it is believed that their circulation has been principally confined to Virginia; and even in this state, from the rapid progress of our population, that book is supposed to be in, comparatively, few hands. Hence it has been thought proper to give a short sketch of Mr. Henry's course in this body. It ought to be premised, however, that the published debates have been said, by those who attended the convention, to present but an imperfect view of the discussion of that body. In relation to Mr. Henry, they are confessedly imperfect; the reporter having sometimes dropped him in those passages in which the reader would be most anxious to follow him.

From the skill and ability of the reporter, there can be no doubt that the substance of the debates, as well as their general course, are accurately preserved. The work is, therefore, a valuable repository of the arguments by which the constitution was opposed on one hand, and supported on the other; but it must have been utterly impossible for a man who possesses the sensibility and high relish for eloquence which distinguish the reporter, not to have been so far transported by the excursions of Mr. Henry's genius, as sometimes, unconsciously, to have laid down his pen.

It was not until the fourth, that the preliminary arrangements for the discussion were settled. Mr. Pendleton had been unan. imously elected the president of the convention; but it having been determined that the subject should be debated in committee of the whole, the house on that day resolved itself into committee, and the venerable Mr. Wythe was called to the chair. In conformity with the order which had been taken, to discuss the constitution, clause by clause, the clerk now read the preamble, and the two first sections; and the debate was opened by Mr. George Nicholas.

He confined himself strictly to the sections under consideration, and maintained their policy with great cogency of argument. Mr. Henry rose next, and soon demonstrated that his excursions were not to be restrained by the rigour of rules. Instead of proceeding to answer Mr. Nicholas, he commenced by sounding an alarm calculated to produce a most powerful impression. The effect, however, will be entirely lost upon the reader, unless he shall associate with the speech which I am about to lay before him, that awful solemnity and look of fearful portent, by which Mr. Henry could imply even more than he expressed; and that slow, distinct, emphatic enunciation, by which he never failed to move the souls of his hearers.

"MR. CHAIRMAN: The public mind, as well as my own, is

extremely uneasy at the proposed change of government. Give me leave to form one of the number of those who wish to be thoroughly acquainted with the reasons of this perilous and uneasy situation-and why we are brought hither to decide on this great national question. I consider myself as the servant of the people of this commonwealth-as a sentinel over their rights, liberty, and happiness. I represent their feelings when I say, that they are exceedingly uneasy, being brought from that state of full security which they enjoyed, to the present delusive appearance of things.

"A year ago, the minds of our citizens were at perfect repose. Before the meeting of the late federal convention at Philadel phia, a general peace and a universal tranquillity prevailed in this country-but since that period, they are exceedingly uneasy and disquieted. When I wished for an appointment to this f convention, my mind was extremely agitated for the situation of public affairs. I conceive the republic to be in extreme * danger.

"If our situation be thus uneasy, whence has arisen this fearful jeopardy? It arises from this fatal system-it arises from a proposal to change our government—a proposal that goes to the utter annihilation of the most solemn engagements of the states -a proposal of establishing nine states into confederacy, to the eventual exclusion of four states. It goes to the annihilation of those solemn treaties we have formed with foreign nations. The present circumstances of France-the good offices rendered us by that kingdom, require our most faithful and most punctual gadherence to our treaty with her.

"We are in alliance with the Spaniards, the Dutch, the Prussians: those treaties bound us as thirteen states, confederated together. Yet here is a proposal to sever that confederacy. Is it possible that we shall abandon all our treaties and national engagements? And for what? I expected to have heard the reasons of an event, so unexpected to my mind and many others. Was our civil polity or public justice endangered or sapped? Was the real existence of the country threatened-or was this preceded by a mournful progression of events?

"This proposal of altering our federal government is of a most alarming nature. Make the best of this new government -say it is composed by anything but inspiration-you ought to be extremely cautious, watchful, jealous of your liberty; for instead of securing our rights, you may lose them for ever. If a wrong step be now made, the republic may be lost for ever. this new government will not come up to the expectation of the people, and they should be disappointed, their liberty will be lost, and tyranny must and will arise.

If

"I repeat it again, and I beg gentlemen to consider, that a wrong step made now, will plunge us into misery, and our republic will be lost. It will be necessary for this convention to have a faithful historical detail of the facts that preceded the session of the federal convention, and the reason that actuated its members in proposing an entire alteration of government, and to demonstrate the dangers that awaited us: if they were of such awful magnitude, as to warrant a proposal so extremely perilous as this, I must assert, that this convention has an absolute right to a thorough discovery of every circumstance relative to this great event.

"And here I would make this inquiry of those worthy characters who composed a part of the late federal convention. I am sure they were fully impressed with the necessity of forming a great consolidated government, instead of a confederation. That this is a consolidated government is demonstrably clear; and the danger of such a government is to my mind very striking. I have the highest veneration for those gentlemen: but, sir, give me leave to demand, what right had they to say, we, the people?

"My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public welfare, leads me to ask, who authorized them to speak the language of, we, the people, instead of, we, the states? States are the characteristics, and the soul of a confederation. If the states be not the agents of this compact, it must be one great, consolidated, national government of the people of all the states. I have the highest respect for those gentlemen who formed the convention; and were some of them not here, I would express some testimonial of esteem for them.

"America had, on a former occasion, put the utmost confidence in them; a confidence which was well-placed; and I am sure, sir, I would give up anything to them; I would cheerfully confide in them as my representatives. But, sir, on this great occasion, I would demand the cause of their conduct. Even from that illustrious man, who saved us by his valour, I would have a reason for his conduct-that liberty which he has given us by his valour, tells me to ask this reason-and sure I am, were he here, he would give us that reason: but there are other gentlemen here who can give us this information. The people gave them no power to use their name. That they exceeded their power is perfectly clear.

"It is not mere curiosity that actuates me- -I wish to hear the real, actual, existing danger, which should lead us to take those steps so dangerous in my conception. Disorders have arisen in other parts of America; but here, sir, no dangers, no insurrection, or tumult, has happened-everything has been calm and