proportion to the pressure which was bearing upon him. The resources of his mind and of his eloquence were equal to any drafts which could be made upon them. He took but short notes of what fell from his adversaries, and disliked the drudgery of composition; yet it is a mistake to say that he could not write well."[340] FOOTNOTES: [311] Rives, _Life of Madison_, i. 189, note. [312] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 54. [313] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 27. [314] MS. [315] MS. [316] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 14. [317] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 14, 15, 18, 25, 28, 31, 39. [318] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 7, 8, 10, 14, 24, 45, 50, 51. [319] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 71. [320] _Ibid._ 79. [321] Burk, _Hist. Va._ iv. 491. [322] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 1. [323] Burk, _Hist. Va._ iv. 496-497. [324] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 10. [325] L. G. Tyler, _Letters and Times of the Tylers_, i. 81-83, where it is said to be taken from Abel's _Life of John Tyler_. [326] Peyton, _Hist. Augusta Co._ 211. [327] Peyton, _Hist. Augusta Co._ 211. [328] Randall, _Life of Jefferson_, i. 352. [329] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 15. [330] _Jefferson's Writings_, viii. 368; Wirt, 231; Girardin, in Burk. _Hist. Va._ iv. App. pp. xi.-xii.; Randall, _Life of Jefferson_, i. 348-352. [331] _Calendar Va. State Papers_, ii. 152. [332] MS. _Hist. Va._ [333] _Jour. Va. House Del._ for Nov. 27. [334] _Jour. Va. House Del._ for Dec. 21. [335] For example, _Bland Papers_, ii. 51; Rives, _Life of Madison_, i. 536; ii. 240, note. [336] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 42. [337] John Tyler, in Wirt, 233, 236. [338] John Tyler, in Wirt, 237-238. [339] Howe, _Hist. Coll. Va._ 222. [340] MS. CHAPTER XVII SHALL THE CONFEDERATION BE MADE STRONGER? We have now arrived at the second period of Patrick Henry's service as governor of Virginia, beginning with the 30th of November, 1784. For the four or five years immediately following that date, the salient facts in his career seem to group themselves around the story of his relation to that vast national movement which ended in an entire reorganization of the American Republic under a new Constitution. Whoever will take the trouble to examine the evidence now at hand bearing upon the case, can hardly fail to convince himself that the true story of Patrick Henry's opposition to that great movement has never yet been told. Men have usually misconceived, when they have not altogether overlooked, the motives for his opposition, the spirit in which he conducted it, and the beneficent effects which were accomplished by it; while his ultimate and firm approval of the new Constitution, after it had received the chief amendments called for by his criticisms, has been passionately described as an example of gross political fickleness and inconsistency, instead of being, as it really was, a most logical proceeding on his part, and in perfect harmony with the principles underlying his whole public career.