A few years before he had been looked upon as one of the most insignificant of men, a failure in everything he undertook, an awkward, ill-dressed, slovenly, lazy fellow, who could not even speak the king’s English correctly. He was little better than a tavern lounger, most of his time being spent in hunting and fishing, in playing the flute and violin, and in telling amusing stories. He had tried farming and failed. He had made a pretense of studying law, and gained admittance to the bar, though his legal knowledge was very slight. Having almost nothing to do in the law, he spent most of his time helping about the tavern at Hanover Court House, kept by his father-in-law, who supported him and his family, for he had married early. One day there came up a case in court which all of the leading lawyers had refused. What was the surprise of the people, when the story went around that Patrick Henry had offered himself on the defendants’ side. His taking up the case was a joke to most of them, and a general burst of laughter followed the news. Yet Patrick Henry won the case! He was a made man. He no longer had to lounge in his office waiting for business. Plenty of it came to him. He set himself for the first time to an earnest study of the law. He improved his command of language, the dormant powers of his mind rapidly unfolded. Two years after pleading his first case, he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses. We have seen how, in this body, he “set the ball of the Revolution rolling.” _Give me Liberty or Give me Death!_ Patrick Henry, in his spirit-stirring oration before the House of Burgesses, had put himself on record for all time. His defiance of the King stamped him as a warrior who had thrown his shield away and thenceforward would fight only with the sword. The Patriot leaders welcomed him. He worked with Thomas Jefferson and others upon the Committee of Correspondence, which sought to spread the story of political events through the Colonies. He was sent to Philadelphia as a member of the first Continental Congress. In fact, he became one of the most active and ardent of American Patriots. It was in 1775 that Patrick Henry, in a convention, presented resolutions in favour of an open appeal to arms. To this the more timid spirits made strong opposition. The fight at Lexington had not yet taken place, but Henry’s prophetic gaze saw it coming. In a burst of flaming eloquence, he laid bare the tyranny of Parliament and King, declared that there was nothing left but to fight, and ended with an outburst thrilling in its force and intensity:-- “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come!