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Henry (PATRICK an American patriot)

PATRICK, an American patriot; born in Hanover co., Va., May 29, 1736. He entered business and married at 18. Having failed successively in "store-keeping" and in farming, he became a lawyer in 1760, and three years later found his opportunity, when, having been employed to plead the cause of the people against an unpopular tax, his great eloquence seemed suddenly to develop itself. This defense placed him at once in the front rank of American orators, and his later speeches advanced him to their head. Throughout the Revolutionary War he was a zealous patriot. He was a delegate to the 1st Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in 1774, and delivered the first speech in that assembly-a speech that for fiery eloquence and lofty tone was worthy of so momentous a meeting. In 1776 he carried the vote of the Virginia convention for independence; and in the same year he became governor of the new State. In 1791 he retired from public life, and returned to his practice; in 1795 he declined the secretaryship of State offered him by Washington. He died June 6, 1799.