Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry/Preface
PREFACE.
The reader has a right to know what degree of credit is due to the following narrative; and it is the object of this preface to give him that satisfaction.
It was in the summer of 1805 that the design of writing this biography was first conceived. It was produced by an incident of feeling, which however it affected the author at the time, might now, be thought light and trivial by the reader; and he shall not therefore, be detained by the recital of it. The author knew nothing of Mr. Henry, personally. He had never seen him; and was of course, compelled to rely wholly on the information of others. As soon, therefore, as the design was formed of writing his life, aware of the necessity of losing no time, in collecting from the few remaining coevals of Mr. Henry, that personal knowledge of the | subject which might erelong be expected to die with them, the author despatched letters to every quarter of the state in which it occurred to him as probable, that interesting matter might be found; and he was gratified by the prompt attention which was paid to his inquiries.
There were at that time, living in the county of Hanover, three gentlemen of the first respectability, who had been the companions of Mr. Henry’s childhood and youth: these were, col. Charles Dabney, capt. George Dabney, and col. William O. Winston; the two first of whom are still living. Not having the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with these gentlemen, the author interested the late Mr. Nathaniel Pope in his object, and by his instrumentality, procured all the useful information which was in their possession. Mr. Pope is well known to have been a gentleman of uncommonly vigorous and discriminating mind; a sacred observer of truth, and a man of the purest sense of honour. The author cannot recal the memory of this most amiable and excellent man, to whom (if there be any merit in this work) the friends of Mr. Henry and the state of Virginia owe so many obligations, without paying to that revered memory, the tribute of his respect and affection. Mr. Pope was one of those ardent young Virginians, who embarked, before they had attained their maturity, i the cause of the American revolution: he joined an animated and active corps of horse, and signalized himself by an impetuous gallantry, which drew upon him the eyes and the applause of his commander. In peace, he was as mild as he had been brave in war; his bosom was replete with the kindest affections; he was in truth, one of the best of companions, and one of the warmest of friends. The fact, that he was the acknowledged head of the several bars at which he practised in the country, may assure the reader of his capacity for the commission which he so cheerfully undertook, in regard to Mr. Henry; and the unblemished integrity of his life may assure him also, of the fidelity with which that commission was executed. So many important anecdotes in the following work, depend on the credit of this gentleman as a witness, that the slight sketch which has been given of his character will not, it is hoped, be thought foreign to the purpose of this preface. Mr. Pope did not confine his inquiries to the county of Hanover: he was indefatigable in collecting information from every quarter; which he never accepted however, but from the purest sources; and his authority for every incident was given, with the most scrupulous accuracy. The author had hoped to have had it in his power to gratify this gentleman by submitting to his view the joint result of their labours, and obtaining the benefit of his last corrections; but he was disappointed by his untimely and melancholy death. He fell a victim to that savage practice, which under the false name of honour, continued to prevail too long; and his death is believed to have been highly instrumental in hastening that system of legislation in restraint of this practice, which now exists in Virginia.
Besides the contributions furnished by Mr. Pope, the writer derived material aid from various other quarters. The widow of Mr. Henry was still living, and had intermarried with judge Winston: from this gentleman, (who was also related to Mr. Henry by blood, and had been intimately acquainted with him through the far greater part of his life) the author received a succinct, but extremely accurate and comprehensive memoir.
Col. Meredith of Amherst, was a few years older than Mr. Henry, had been raised in the same neighbourhood, and had finally married one of his sisters. Having known Mr. Henry, from his birth to his death, he had it in his power to supply very copious details, which were taken down from his narration by the present judge Cabell, and forwarded to the author.
One of the most intimate and confidential friends of Mr. Henry, was the late judge Tyler. The judge had a kind of Roman frankness and even bluntness in his manners, together with a decision of character and a benevolence of spirit, which had attached Mr. Henry to him, from his first appearance on the public stage.
They were, for a long time, members of the house of delegates together, and their friendship continued until it was severed by death. From judge Tyler, the author received a very minute and interesting communication of incidents, the whole of which had either passed in his own presence, or had been related to him by Mr. Henry himself.
The writer is indebted to judge Tucker for two or three of his best incidents; one of them will probably, be pronounced the most interesting passage of the work. He owes to the same gentleman too, the fullest and liveliest description of the person of Mr. Henry, which has been furnished from any quarter: and he stands farther indebted to him for a rare and (to the purpose of this work) a very important book; the journals of the house of burgesses for the years 1763–4–5–6 and 7.
From judge Roane, the author has received one of the fairest and most satisfactory communications that has been made to him; and the vigour and elegance with which that gentleman writes, has fequenthy enabled the author, to relieve the dulness of his own narrative, by extracts from his statements.
Mr. Jefferson too, has exercised his well known kindness and candour on this occasion; having not only favoured the author with a very full communication in the first instance; but assisted him, subsequently and repeatedly, with his able counsel, in reconciling apparent contradictions, and clearing away difficulties of fact.
Beside these statements, drawn from the memory of his correspondents, the writer was favoured by the late governor Page, with the reading of a pretty extended sketch which he had, himself, prepared of the life of Mr. Henry: and he has, furthermore, availed himself of the kind permission of Mr. Peyton Randolph, to examine an extremely valuable manuscript history of Virginia, written by his father, the late Mr. Edmund Randolph; which embraces the whole period of Mr. Henry’s public life.
In addition to these stores of information, the author has had the good fortune to procure complete files of the public newspapers, reaching from the year 1765 down to the close of the American revolution; by these, he has been enabled to correct, in some important instances, the memory of his correspondents, in relation not only to dates, but to facts themselves.
He has been fortunate too, in having procured several original letters which shed much light on important aud hitherto disputed facts, in the life of Mr. Henry.
The records of the general court, and the archives of the state having been convenient to the author, and always open to him, he has endeavoured assiduously and carefully, to avail himself of that certain and permanent evidence which they afford; and has been enabled, by this means, as the reader will discover, to correct some strange mistakes in historical facts.
The author’s correspondents will find, that he has departed in some instances, from their respective statements; and he owes them an explanation for having done so: the explanation is this; their statements were, in several instances, diametrically opposed to cach other; and were sometimes, all contradicted by the public prints, or the records of the state. It ought not to be matter of surprise that these contradictions should exist, even among those most respectable gentlemen, relying as they did, upon human memory merely; and speaking of events so very remote, without a previous opportunity of communicating with each other. It will be seen by them, that the author has been obliged in several instances, to contradict even the several histories of the times, concerning which he writes: but this he has never done, without the most decisive proofs of his own correctness, which he has always cited: nor has he ever departed from the narratives of his several correspondents, except under the direction of preponderating evidence. As among those contradictory statements, all could not be true, he has sought the correction by public documents when such correction was attainable; and when it was not, he has selected among his narrators, those, whose opportunities to know the fact in question, seemed to be the best. This he has done, without the slightest intention to throw a shadow of suspicion on the credit of any gentleman, who has been so obliging as to answer his inquiries; but merely from the necessity which he was under, either of making some selection, or abandoning the work altogether; and because he knew of no better rule of selection, than that which he has adopted.
Although it has been so long since the collection of these materials was begun, it was not until the summer of 1814: that the last communication was received. Even then, when the author sat down to the task of embodying his materials, there were so many intricacies to disentangle, and so many inconsistencies, from time to time, to explain and settle, and that too, through the tedious agency of cross-mails, that his progress was continually impeded, and has been, to him, most painfully, retarded.
Other causes too, have contributed to delay the publication. The author is a practising lawyer; and the courts which he attends, keep him perpetually and exclusively occupied, in that attendance, through ten months of the year: nor does the summer recess, of two months, afford a remission from professional labour. In Virginia, the duties of attorney, counsellor, conveyancer, and advocate, are all performed by the same individual; hence the summer vacation, instead of being a time of leisure, is not only the season of preparation for the approaching courts, but is subject moreover, to a perpetual recurrence of what are here called office duties, which renders a steady application to any other subject impossible.
These sketches, are now submitted to the public, with unaffected diffidence; not of the facts which they detail, for on them, the author has the firmest reliance; but of the manner in which he has been able to accomplish his undertaking. For (to say nothing of his inexperience and want of ability for such a work) he has been compelled to write (when he was suffered to write at all) amidst that incessant professional annoyance which has been mentioned, and which is known by every man, who has ever made the trial, to forbid the hope of success in any composition of this extent. Could the writer have looked forward, with any reasonable calculation, to a period of greater ease, his respect for the memory of Mr. Henry, as well as his regard for himself, would have induced him to suspend this undertaking, until that period should have arrived. But having no ground for any hope of this kind, he has thought it better to hazard even these crude sketches, than to suffer the materials which he had accumulated with so much toil, and for an object which he thought so laudable, to perish on his hands.
These remarks are not made with the view of deprecating the censures of critics by profession: but merely to bespeak the candour of that larger portion of readers who are willing to be pleased with the best efforts that can be reasonably expected, from the circumstances of the case. The author however, is well satisfied, that the most indulgent reader (although benevolently disposed to overlook defects of execution) will be certainly disappointed in the matter itself, of this work; for notwithstanding all his exertions, he is entirely conscious that the materials which he has been able to collect are scanty and meagre, and utterly disproportionate to the great fame of Mr. Henry. It is probable, that much of what was once known of him, had perished before the author commenced his researches; and it is very possible that much may still be known, which he has not been able to discover; because it lies in unsuspected sources, or with persons unwilling for some reason or other, to communicate their information. It is the conviction that he has not been able to inform himself of the whole events of Mr. Henry’s life, and that his collection can be considered only as so many detached sketches, which has induced him to prefix this name to his book. If, in this humble and unassuming character, it shall give any pleasure to the numerous admirers of Mr. Henry, in Virginia, the author will have attained all that he has a right to expect.
RICHMOND, Virginia,
Sept. 5th, 1817.