cerning a plot for the destruction of the Offended at this treatment, Henry did not
Union. According to his story, he pur- go to Canada, but landed in Boston, ac-
ehased an estate in Vermont, near the companied by a Frenchman who called
Canada frontier, and there studied law himself Count de Crillon, but who was an
for five years, and amused himself by impostor and swindler. Henry visited
writing articles against republican insti- Governor Gerry, and from him obtained
tutions, which he detested. These essays a letter of introduction to President

374



HENRY

Madison. He then went to Washington, began a series of experiments in elec-
and laid the whole matter before the tricity. He fully developed the power
President, who was so well satisfied of of electro-magnetism, and perfected the
the great value of Henry's disclosures, at electro-magnetic telegraph. As early as
the moment when war was about to be de- 1831 he transmitted signals through a
clared against England — overwhelming wire more than a mile in length, an ac-
proof of the secret designs of the British count of which was published in Silli-
government to destroy the new republic — man's American Journal of Science. He
that he gave Henry $50,000 out of the was called to the chair of natural phi-
secret service fund in his possession for losophy in the College of New Jersey, at
the entire correspondence of the parties Princeton; and, going to England in 1837,
to the affair in this country and in Eng- he explained to Professor VVheatstone his
land. At Philadelphia, Henry wrote a method of ringing a church bell 100 miles
letter to the President (Feb. 26, 1811) as away by an electro-magnet. On the or-
a preface to his disclosures, and on March ganization of the Smithsonian Institution
9 he sailed for France in the United
States schooner Wasp, where he would be
safe from Eritish vengeance.

On the same day the documents were
laid before Congress, with a message from
the President, in which he charged that
the British government had employed a
secret agent in fomenting disaffection in
the capital of Massachusetts to the con-
stituted authorities of the nation, and " in
intrigues with the disaffected for the pur-
pose of bringing about resistance to the
laws, and eventually, in concert with a
British force, of destroying the Union and
forming the eastern part thereof into a
political connection with Great Britain."
Both political parties endeavored to
make capital out of these " disclosures,"
but the excitement created soon died
away. Mr. Foster, the British minister
at Washington, declared publicly that he
had no knowledge of the affair. Lord
Holland called upon the British govern-
ment (May 5) for an explanation, and May 13, 1878. He published many scien
gave notice that he should call for an in- tific papers.




JOSEPH HENRY.



at Washington, in 1846, Professor Henry
was appointed its secretary, which post
ie filled with great ability until his death,



vestigation. Every pretext was brought
to bear to defeat such a measure; but
when it could no longer be resisted, the
ministry cast the odium oi the transac-



Henry, Patrick, statesman; born in
Studley, Hanover co., Va., May 29, 173(5;
was of Scotch descent. His father was a
native of Aberdeen, and liberally edu-



tion on Sir James Craig. Lord Holland cated. Embarking in commercial pur

declared that, until such investigation suits at the age of fifteen years, he was

should be had, the fact that Great Britain unsuccessful. Marrying Miss Shelton,

bad entered into a "dishonorable and daughter of an innkeeper, at eighteen,



atrocious intrigue against a friendly he assisted, at times, in " keeping ^ a
power would stand unrefuted." And so
it stands to this day.

Henry, Joseph, physicist; born in Al-
bany, N. Y., Dec. 17, 1797; was a watch-
maker for some years. In 1S26 he was
appointed Pre lessor of Mathematics in
the Albany Academy, and in 1827 he



hotel " ; and finally, after six weeks' study,
he took up the profession of the law. But
want of business kept him very poor, and
he was twenty-seven years old before his
oratorical powers were discovered. Then,
in a celebrated case tried in the court-
house of Hanover county, he made such



375



HENRY, PATRICK




PATRICK HBNET.



a wonderful forensic speech that his fame ing it with all his strength because it
as an orator was established. Henry be- menaced State supremacy. In 1794
came a member of the Virginia House of Henry retired from the bar, and took up

his abode at Red Hill, in Char-
lotte. Washington appointed
him Secretary of State in 1795;
but he declined the nomination,
as he did that of envoy to
France, offered by President
Adams, and of governor offered
by the people. Henry was elect-
ed to the State Senate in 1799,
but, dying June 6, 1799, never
took his seat.

When the news of the passage
of the Stamp Act and kindred
measures reached Virginia (May,
1765) the House of Burgesses
was in session. The aristocratic
leaders _in_ that body hesitated,
and the session was drawing near
its close, when Henry, finding
the older and more influential
members disinclined to move in
the matter, offered a series of
resolutions,'' in which all the
rights of British - born subjects
were claimed for the Virginians;
'denied any authority, anywhere,
Burgesses in 1765, wherein, that year, he excepting in the Provincial Assembly, to
introduced resolutions for bold opposi- impose taxes upon them; and denounced
tion to the Stamp Act, and made a most the attempt to vest that authority else-
remarkable speech. From that time he where as inconsistent with the ancient
was regarded as a leader of the radical constitution and subversive of liberty in
patriots of his colony. He was admitted Great Britain as well as in America. The
to the bar of the highest court in Vir- aristocratic members were startled, and a
ginia in 1769, and in 1773 he was ap-
pointed one of the Virginia committee of
correspondence. As a delegate to the
first Continental Congress, in 1774, he
opened the business of that body by de-
claring the union of the provinces, and
saying, " I am not a Virginian — I am
an American." He was an eloquent leader
in the famous provincial convention at
Richmond (March, 1775), and, at the
head of the militia of Hanover, compelled
Lord Dunmore (q. v.) to restore powder
he had removed from the colonial maga-
zine at Williamsburg. For a short time
Henry was in the military service, and
was the first governor of the State of
Virginia (1776-79). He was again elect-
ed governor after the war: and was a hot debate ensued. Henry supported hig
member of the State convention that rati- resolutions with rare eloquence and bold-
fied the national Constitution, he oppos- ness. Some rose from their seats, and

376




HANOVER COrRT-HOUSK.



HENRY, PATRICK



others sat in breathless silence. At his papers one sealed, and thus en-
length, when alluding to tyrants, Henry dorsed : " Enclosed are the resolutions of
exclaimed, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the Virginia Assembly, in 1765, concern-
the First his Cromwell, and George the ing the Stamp Act. Let my executors open

■ this paper." Within was found a copy of



Third — " At this moment there was a
cry of " Treason ! treason ! " from different
parts of the house. Henry paused a mo-
ment, and concluded his sentence by say-
ing " may profit by these examples. If
that be treason, make the most of it."



the resolutions in his handwriting. On
the back of the paper containing the reso-
lutions is the following endorsement, also
in his handwriting: "The within reso-
lutions passed the House of Burgesses in



The resolutions passed in spite of the old May, 1765. They formed the first oppo-
leaders ; but in Henry's absence, the next sition to the Stamp Act, and the scheme of

taxing America by the British Par-
liament. All the colonies, either through
fear, or want of opportunity to form an
opposition, or from influence of some kind
or other, had remained silent. I had been
for the first time elected a burgess a few
days before, was young, inexperienced, un-
acquainted with the forms of the house,
and the members that composed it. Find-
ing the men of weight averse to opposition,
and the commencement of the tax at hand,
and that no person was likely to step
forth, I determined to venture, and alone,
unadvised, and unassisted, on the blank
leaf of an old law-book, wrote the within.
Upon offering them to the house, violent
debates ensued. Many threats were ut-
tered, and much abuse cast on me, by the
party for submission. After a long and
warm contest, the resolutions passed by a
very small majority, perhaps of one or
two only. The alarm spread throughout
America with astonishing quickness, and
the ministerial party were overwhelmed.
The great point of resistance to British
taxation was universally established in
the colonies. This brought on the war
which finally separated the two coun-
tries, and gave independence to ours.
Whether this will prove a blessing or a
curse, will depend upon the use our people
make of the blessings which a gracious
God had bestowed upon us. If they are
wise, they will be great and happy. If
they are of a contrary character, they will
be miserable. Righteousness alone can
exalt them as a nation. Reader, whoever
thou art, remember this; and in thy
sphere, practise virtue thyself, and en-
courage it in others."

The Liberty or Death Speech. — On
March 23, 1775, he offered resolutions in
the Richmond convention to organize the
After his death, there was found among militia and put the colony in a state of

377




STATUE OF PATRICK HENRY AT RICHMOND, VA.

day, they were reconsidered and softened.
But a manuscript copy had already been
sent to Philadelphia, and they soon ap-
peared in the newspapers, producing a
wonderful effect. These resolutions were
followed in Massachusetts by the recom-
mendation of a committee of the General
Assembly for a congress of delegates from
the several colonies to meet in New York
City in October following. See Stamp Act
Congress.



HENRY, PATRICK




'GIVE MB UrtSKW Ob give me death."



defence. The resolutions met with great as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen



opposition, and in supporting them he
made the following address:



Mr. President, — No man thinks more
highly than I do of the patriotism, as well



378



who have just addressed the house. But
different men often see the same subject
in different lights; and, therefore, I hope
it will not be thought disrespectful to
those gentlemen if, entertaining, as I do,



HENRY, PATRICK



opinions of a character very opposite to
theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments
freely and without reserve. This is no
time for ceremony. The question before
the house is one of awful moment to this
country. For my own part, I consider it
as nothing less than a question of freedom
or slavery; and in proportion to the mag-
nitude of the subject ought to be the free-
dom of the debate. It is only in this way
that we can hope to arrive at truth, and
fulfil the great responsibility which we
hold to God and our country. Should I
keep back my opinions at such a time,
through fear of giving offence, I should
consider myself as guilty of treason
towards my country, and of an act of dis-
loyalty towards the majesty of Heaven,
which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to
indulge in the illusions of hope. We are
apt to shut our eyes against a painful
truth, and listen to the song of that siren,
till she transforms us into beasts. Is this
the part of wise men, engaged in a great
and arduous struggle for liberty' Are
we disposed to be of the number of those
who, having eyes, see not, and having ears,
hear not, the things which so nearly concern
their temporal salvation? For my part,
whatever anguish of spirit it may cost,
I am willing to know the whole truth;
to know the worst and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet
are guided, and that is the lamp of expe-
rience. I know of no way of judging of
the future but by the past. And judging
by the past, I wish to know what there
has been in the conduct of the British
ministry for the last ten years to justify
those hopes with which gentlemen have
been pleased to solace themselves and the
house? Is it that insidious smile with
which our petition has been lately re-
ceived? Trust it not, sir. It will prove
a snare to your feet. Suffer not your-
selves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask
ycrurselvea how this gracious reception
of our petition comports with those war-
like preparations which caver our waters
and darken our land. Are fleets and
armies necessary to a work of love and
reconciliation? Have we shown our-
selves so unwilling to be reconciled that
force must be called in to win back our
love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir.



These are the implements of war and sub-
jugation; the last arguments to which
kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what
means this martial array, if its purpose
be not to force us to submission? Can
gentlemen assign any other possible mo-
tive for it? Has Great Britain any
enemy, in this quarter of the world, to
call for all this accumulation of navies
and armies? No, sir, she has none.
They are meant for us ; they can be meant
for no other. They are sent over to bind
and rivet upon us those chains which the
British ministry have been so long forg-
ing. And what have we to oppose to them?
Shall we try argument? Sir, we have
been trying that for the last ten years.
Have we anything new to offer upon the
subject? Nothing. We have held the
subject up in every light of which it is
capable; but it has all been in vain.
Shall we resort to entreaty and humble
supplication? What terms shall we find
which have not been already exhausted?
Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive our-
selves longer. Sir, we have done every-
thing that could be done to avert the
storm which is now coming on. We have
petitioned ; we have remonstrated ; we
have supplicated; we have prostrated
ourselves before the throne, and have im-
plored its interposition to arrest the
tyrannical hands of the ministry and Par-
liament. Our petitions have been slight-
ed; our remonstrances have produced ad-
ditional violence and insult; our suppli-
cations have been disregarded; and we
have been spurned with contempt, from
the foot of the throne! In vain, after
these things, may we indulge the fond
hope of peace and reconciliation. There
is no longer any room for hope. If 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 wie have pledged
ourselveB nevef to abandon, until the glo-
rious object of our contest shall be ob-
tained, 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!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak;
unable to cope with so formidable an ad-
versary. But when shall we be stronger?



379



HENRY



Will it be the next week or the next year ?
Will it be when we are totally disarmed,
and when a British guard shall be sta-
tioned in every house? Shall we gather
strength by irresolution and inaction?
Shall we acquire the means of effectual
resistance by lying supinely on our backs
and hugging the delusive phantom of hope,
until our enemies shall have bound us
hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak,
if we make a proper use of those means
which the God of nature hath placed in
our power. Three millions of people,
armed in the holy cause of liberty, and
in such a country as that which we
possess, are invincible by any force which
our enemy can send against us. Besides,
sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over
the destinies of nations, and who will
raise up friends to fight our battles for
us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong
alone; it is to the vigilant, the active,
the brave. Besides, sir, we have no elec-
tion. If we were base enough to desire
it, it is now too late to retire from the
contest. There is no retreat, but in sub-
mission and slavery! Our chains are
forged! Their clanking may be heard
on the plains of Boston! The war is in-
evitable — and let it come! I repeat it,
sir, let it come.

It is vain, sir, to extenuate the mat-
ter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace —
but there is no peace. The war is actual-
ly 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? What is it that gentlemen
wish? What would they have? Is life
so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be pur-
chased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
what course others may take; but as for
me, give me liberty or give me death!

Henry, Pierre Francois, author; born
in Nancy, France, May 28, 1759; became
a lawyer, and later went on the stage,
but did not succeed. He translated into
the French Marshall's Life of Washing-
ton, and was the author of Description
of North America. He died in Paris, Aug.
12, 1833.

Henry, William Seaton, military of-
ficer; born in Albany, N. Y., in 1816; grad-



uated at the United States Military Acad-
emy in 1835; served in the Florida War
in 1841-42, and in the Mexican War;
received the brevet of major in Septem-
ber, 1846, in recognition of his bravery
in the action at Monterey. He was the
author of Campaign Sketches of the War
ivith Mexico. He died in New York City,
March 5, 1851.

Henry, Fort, an important Confederate
fortification at a bend of the Tennessee
River, where it approaches the Cumber-
land River within about 12 miles, on the
right bank, and on a high hill opposite
Fort Hickman. At the beginning of Febru-
ary, 1862, a land force under General
Grant, and a flotilla of gunboats under
Commodore Foote, were sent to capture
these two forts. They appeared about 2
miles below Fort Henry on Feb. 3. That
fort was armed with seventeen great guns,
twelve of which swept the river, and the
garrison and troops encamped outside of
the fort numbered less than 3,000. These
were commanded by General Tilghman, of
Maryland, a graduate of West Point Acad-
emy. Foote placed four of his iron-clad
gunboats in position to bombard the fort,
while two of his unarmored vessels fished
up torpedoes with which the Confederates
had strewn the river bottom. Some of the
troops went up the left side of the river
to silence the guns of Fort Hickman, when
the garrison fled. Meanwhile Foote opened

(Feb. 6) a heavy fire on Fort Henry. It
was so severe that in rn hour the garrison
were panic-stricken. The troops outside
of the fort had fled to Fort Donelson

(q. v.), 12 miles distant, on the Cum-
berland River; and only the commander
and less than 100 men remained in the
fort to surrender to Foote. Grant and
the land troops did not arrive until after
the surrender, when the fort was turned
over to him. The Nationals lost two killed
and thirty-eight wounded. Of the latter,
twenty-nine were wounded and scalded on
the gunboat Essex by steam let out of the
boilers by the piercing of a 32-pound shell,
As it passed it took off a portion of the
head of Lieut. S. B. Britton, the aide of
Captain Porter, of the Essex. This vic-
tory was a very important one. The Na-
tionals were now fairly planted in the rear
of the Confederates at Columbus, Ky. ;
and if they should capture Fort Donelson,



380



HENRY— HERRNHTTTERS

on the Cumberland, the Confederates be- partment desires to convey to you and

lieved their cause would be ruined in Ken- your brave associates its profound thanks

tucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. The first for the service you have rendered."
great step towards the capture of Fort



Donelson had been taken. Halleck tele
graphed to McClellan, " Fort Henry is




MAP OP FORT HSNRY.



ours! The flag of the Union is re-estab-



Henshaw, David, author; born in
Leicester, Mass., April 2, 1791; became
a strong Democrat and a stanch sup-
porter of free-trade policy. President
Tyler appointed him Secretary of the
Navy, July 24, 1843, but he served a short
time only as his nomination was rejected.
He was the author of Letters on the In-
ternal Improvement and Commerce of the
West. He died in Leicester, Mass., Nov.
11, 1852.

Herbert, Hilary Abner, lawyer; born
in Laurensville, S. C, March 12, 1834;
studied in the universities of Alabama and
Virginia, was admitted to the bar; served
in the Confederate army; was wounded
in the battle of the Wilderness; promoted
colonel of the 8th Alabama Volunteers;
settled in Montgomery, Ala., in 1872, to
practise law; was a member of Congress
in 1877-93; and Secretary of the Navy
in 1893-97.

Herkimer, Nicholas, military officer;
born about 1715 or 1720; was made a
lieutenant of provincials in 1758, and was
in command at Fort Herkimer during the
attack of the French and Indians upon it
that year. In 1775 he was appointed
colonel of the 1st Battalion of Tryon
county militia. He was also chairman of
the county committee of safety; and in
September, 1776, he was made brigadier-
general by the provincial convention of
New York. He commanded the Tryon
county militia in the battle at Oriskany
(Aug. 6, 1777), where he was severely
wounded in the leg by a bullet, and he
bled to death Aug. 16, 1777. On Oct. 4
following the Continental Congress voted
the erection of a monument to his memory
of the value of $500. This amount was
afterwards increased by Congress, private
subscriptions, and the New York legisla-
ture to more than $10,000, and the monu-
ment in the form of an obelisk was erect-
ed in 1884.

Hermitage, The. See Jackson, An-
drew.

Hero Fund, a fund of $15,000,000 given



lished on the soil of Tennessee. It will by Andrew Carnegie, April 15, 1904, for
never be removed." The Secretary of the the purpose of rewarding deeds of excep-
Navy wrote to Foote: "The country ap- tional heroism,
predates your gallant deeds, and this de- Herrnhuters. See Moravians,

381



li^REON— HESSIAfts

Jierron, Francis Jay, military officer; Lowell, from which the following tables

born in Pittsburg, Pa., Feb. 17, 1837; are taken:

graduated at the Western University of TABLE 0F THE NUMBER 0F TR00pg SENT T0

Pennsylvania in 1853; entered the Union AMERICA BY EACH ONE OF THE German

army as a captain in the 1st Iowa Volun- states, and of the NUMBER THAT RE-

teers in 1861. He was in the battle of TURNED.

Wilson's Creek; and in the battle of Pea /he numbers originally given in Schlozer's ; Stoats-

_., , , , ,, „„ T _, Anztiqen (vol. vi. pp. 521, 522), were corrected by Kapp

Ridge, he commanded the 9th Iowa Regi- as to the Anspach contingent.

ment, which he had raised, and of which Brunswick sent in 1776 4,300

he was lieutenant-colonel. In July, 1862, "' \\ f^\"l\y////y/"/" m "\ ^\

he was promoted to brigadier-general; in " " April', 1779.!!!'.!!.!."."!!!.'.'.' 286

November, 1862, was made a major- \\ " ^ii'ma 172

general; and in 1863 took part in the Tota , " ' ■

capture of Vieksburg. He was with Gen- Returnedin "the" autumn' of 1783* !"".! ".""!"'.""! 2!708

eral Banks afterwards in his operations Did not return ' 3,015

in Louisiana. After the war he practised H esse-Cassel sent in 1776 12,805

law in New Orleans; was United States " " December, 1777 403

marshal for Louisiana, and Secretary of ", ", M^nso??! !".'.'. '.'.'. '.".'. ".'.'.'.". 915

State; and in 1873 removed to New York, " " April, 178]"!".*"".".".".*.".""." 915

where he died Jan. 8, 1902. " April, 1782 _96i

Hessian Fly, the American wheat Total .16,992

., , . , ,: , , , , . ,, TT ., , Returned in the autumn of 1783 and the spring of

midge, destructive to wheat in the United ^4 10,492

States, whither it is said to have been Did not return 6,500

brought by the Hessian soldiers in British „ „ „„„„

°. ..,.»,, ,- ttt . Hesse-Kiinau, under various treaties 2,038

pay during the Revolutionary War, in " recruits sent in April, 1781 50

1786, 1846, and 1886. The fly also occa- " " April, 1782 334

sioned much destruction in England and „ Total - ••.•••; ;••••• 2 ' 422

ci ,1 t • i-rno -.nr,^ n -, n ^r. Returned in the au tumn of 1783 1,441

Scotland in 1788, 1887, and 1890. — 2 —

_ . -n» • ,1 -r, 1 ■ • Did not return 981

Hessians. During the Revolutionary