XVI.
Thomas Jefferson, his co-worker, says of Henry: “He was as well
suited to the times as any man ever was, and it is not now easy to
say what we should have done without Patrick Henry. He was far
before all in maintaining the spirit of the Revolution.... His
eloquence was peculiar, if indeed it should be called eloquence, for it
was impressive and sublime beyond what can be imagined....
On one or two occasions I have seen him angry and his anger was
terrible; those who witnessed it were not disposed to rouse it again.
... After all, it must be allowed that he was our leader;..
he left us all far behind.”
... “He is by far the most powerful speaker I ever heard,”
says George Mason. “Every word he says, not only engages, but
commands the attention, and your passions are no longer your own
when he addresses them.”
... “Mr. Henry,” says Jefferson, “certainly gave the first
impulse to the ball of the Revolution.”
