is son's audacity history does
not say.

When the day for the trial came there was a great crowd at Hanover
Court-House, for the people were much interested in the case. On the
opening of the court the young lawyer crossed the street from the tavern
and took his seat behind the bar. What he saw was enough to dismay and
confuse a much older man. The court-room was crowded, and every man in
it seemed to have his eyes fixed on the daring young counsel, many of
them with covert smiles on their faces. The twelve men of the jury were
chosen. There were present a large number of the clergy waiting
triumphantly for the verdict, which they were sure would be in their
favor, and looking in disdain at the young lawyer. On the bench as judge
sat John Henry, doubtless feeling that he had a double duty to perform,
to judge at once the case and his son.

The aspiring advocate, so little learned in the law and so poorly
dressed and ungainly in appearance, looked as if he would have given
much just then to be out of the court and clear of the case. But the die
was cast; he was in for it now.

The counsel for the clergymen opened the case. He dwelt much on the law
of the matter, whose exact meaning he declared was beyond question. The
courts had already decided on that subject, and so had his sacred
majesty, the king of England. There was nothing for the jury to do, he
asserted, but to decide how much money his clients were entitled to
under the law. The matter seemed so clear that he made but a brief
address and sat down with a look of complete satisfaction. As he did so
Patrick Henry rose.

This, as may well be imagined, was a critical moment in the young
lawyer's life. He rose very awkwardly and seemed thoroughly frightened.
Every eye was fixed on him and not a sound was heard. Henry was in a
state of painful embarrassment. When he began to speak, his voice was so
low that he could hardly be heard, and he faltered so sadly that his
friends felt that all was at an end.

But, as he himself had once said, "Nait'ral parts are better than all
the larnin' on airth;" and he had these "nait'ral parts," as he was
about to prove. As he went on a change in his aspect took place. His
form became erect, his head uplifted, his voice clearer and firmer. He
soon began to make it appear that he had thought deeply on the people's
cause and was prepared to handle it strongly. His eyes began to flash,
his voice to grow resonant and fill the room; i