As a husband, a father, a master, a neighbour and a friend, he had no superior. As an advocate, an orator, a statesman and a patriot, his fame stands in all its glory, uneclipsed and unsurpassed. As Grattan said of Pitt, there was something in Patrick Henry that could create, subvert, or reform; an understanding, a spirit, an eloquence to summon mankind to society, or to break the bonds of slavery asunder, and to rule the wilderness of free minds with unbounded authority; something that could establish or overwhelm empire, and strike a blow in the world that should resound through the universe.
He was twice married and the father of fifteen children. The closing paragraph of his will is worthy of record, and shows the veneration he felt for the religion of the Cross.
“I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the christian religion. If they had this and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich; and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.” This short paragraph, coming from one of the most gigantic minds that ever investigated the truths of revelation, speaks volumes in favour of that religion which is despised by some—neglected by millions—and is the one thing needful to fit us for heaven and prepare us for the
“Great day for which all other days were made,
For which earth rose from chaos,—man from earth,
And an eternity—the date of gods,
Descended on poor earth-created man!”
APPENDIX.
WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Friends and Fellow Citizens,