country, as he was the first to break the solemn silence of the first congress; and undoubtedly contributed more, by firing the whole country with the spirit of liberty, to achieve our national independence than any other man, Washington alone excepted. But this is not the place for a panegyric.* From what source did he derive his transcendent gift of speech? From BOTH his parents, of whom Wirt, in his "Life of Henry," thus remarks:— “He was the orator of nature; and such a one as nature might not blush to avow. If the reader shall still demand how he acquired those wonderful powers of speaking, which have been assigned to him, we can only answer, that they were the gift of Heaven-the birthright of genius. "It has been said of Mr. Henry, with inimitable felicity, that 'he was Shakespeare and Garrick combined!' Let the reader then imagine the wonderful talents of those two men united in the same individual, and transferred from the scenes of fiction to the business of real life, and he will have formed some conception of the eloquence of Patrick Henry. In a word, he was one of those perfect prodigies of nature of whom very few have been produced since the foundation of the earth was laid. "Mrs. Henry, the widow of Col. Syme, as we have seen, and the mother of Patrick Henry, was a native of Hanover county, and of the family of the Winstons. She possessed, in an eminent degree, the mild and benevolent disposition, the undeviating probity, the correct understanding and easy elocution, by which that ancient family has been so long distinguished. Her brother William, the brother of the present Judge Winston, is said to have been highly endowed with that peculiar cast of eloquence for which Mr. Henry became, afterward, so justly celebrated. Of this gentleman, I have an anecdote from a correspondent, which I shall give in his own words: 'I have often heard my father, who was intimately acquainted with this William Winston, say, that he was the greatest orator whom he ever heard, Patrick Henry excepted; that during the last French and Indian war, and soon after Braddock's defeat, when the militia were marched to the frontier of Virginia, against the enemy, this William Winston was the lieutenant of a company; that the men, who were indifferently clothed, without tents, and exposed to the rigor and inclemency of the weather, discovered great aversion to the service, and were anxious, and even clamorous to return to their families, when this William Winston, mounting a stump, addressed them with such keenness of invective, and declaimed with such force of eloquence, on liberty and patriotism, that when he concluded, the general cry was, Let us march on; lead us against the enemy!' and they were now willing, * See "American Phrenological Journal," for 1847-Arts. IV. and XX PATRICK HENRY'S ANCESTORS. 245 nay, anxious to encounter all those difficulties and dangers which, but a few moments before, had almost produced a mutiny. Patrick Henry, the second son of John and Sarah Henry, and one of nine children, was born on the 29th of May, 1736, at the family seat, called Studly, in the county of Hanover, and colony of Virginia. His parents, though not rich, were in easy circumstances; and, in point of personal character, were among the most respectable inhabitants of the colony. "His father, Col. John Henry, was a native of Aberdeen, in Scotland. He was, it is said, a first cousin of David Henry, who was the brother-in-law and successor of Edward Cave, in the publication of that celebrated work, the Gentleman's Magazine,' and himself the author of several literary tracts; John Henry is also said to have been a nephew, in the maternal line, to the great historian, Dr. William Robertson. He came over to Virginia, in quest of fortune, some time prior to the year 1730; and the tradition is, that he enjoyed the friendship and patronage of Mr. Dinwiddie, afterward the governor of the colony. By this gentleman, it is reported, that he was introduced to the elder Col. Syme, of Hano. ver, in whose family, it is certain, that he became domesticated during the life of that gentleman; after his death he intermarried with his widow, and resided on the estate which he had left. It is considered as a fair proof of the personal merit of Mr. John Henry, that, in those days when offices were bestowed with peculiar caution, he was the colonel of his regiment, and for many years the principal surveyor of the county. His surviving acquaintances concur in stating that he was a man of liberal education; that he possessed a plain but solid understanding; and lived a life of the most irreproachable integrity, and exemplary piety.”" Mark, inquiring reader, that CONFLUENCE of hereditary conditions here stated. Patrick Henry's paternal grandfather Henry was maternal nephew of the great historian, Dr. William Robertson, and son of the conductor of "that celebrated work," the "Gentleman's Magazine." Here was then a union of two literary families in the parentage of John Henry. We may, therefore, fairly conclude from his PARENTAGE, as from his history, that Patrick Henry's FATHER was a man of great strength of mind and extraordinary command of language, because his maternal uncle was so splendid a writer, and his father so distinguished a literary genius. This product of the confluence of two great developments of Language, married into the WINSTON family, distinguished for their "EASY ELOCUTION," as well as correct understandingmarried the sister of "the greatest orator" of his time, eclipsed only by Patrick Henry. Or, figuratively, the two rivers of the Robertsons and Henrys united in the person of Patrick Henry's FATHER, and this lingual river united with that of Winston eloquence, and the confluence of ALL THREE produced the most eloquent man of his age, and probably of the WORLD! To what but the COMBINATION of three extraordinary powers of communication can we ascribe a result thus magnificent! And that Henry owed his forensic gifts to NATURE, not art— to PARENTAGE, instead of cultivation-is too evident, from his early history, to require argument, as well as confirmed by his phrenological DEVELOPMENTS, which are exactly those required to secure natural oratory, as seen in the preceding engraving of him. What these organs were, it would not be in place here to state, but may be learned from the analysis of his character already referred to, as given in the "Phrenological Journal." THE HUTCHINSON FAMILY Furnish a kindred illustration of this law of confluence, in its application to MUSIC. To say that they are the BEST singers to which the author has ever listened, is as just as it is exalted a tribute to their musical genius. And that this talent was INHERITED, is evinced both by the extraordinary size of Tune in all their heads, and by the naturalness and musical pathos which characterize their style of execution. They sing from the soul, and to the soul, because Tune is so SPONTANEOUSLY active and powerful. Unconsciously, in doors and out, before company and when alone, they sing; and that they sing with remarkable sweetness and harmony, the many thousands who have heard them are ear-witnesses. Nor are "the Quartette" probably better NATURAL musicians than the others, only trained to sing in concert. In short, the entire family possess musical genius of the highest order, both phrenologically and practically. Whence was it derived? Let the following extract answer:-- "Judson, John, Asa, and Abby, are the four youngest of the twelve now living, out of sixteen children of the Hutchinson Family. Their maternal grandfather, by name Leavitt, lived in Mount Vernon, in New Hampshire, and was a builder by trade. He built many houses in Boston, but he most prided himself upon being the builder of many churches and meeting houses in divers towns and villages in the State. He was a stout republican, zealous in the cause of his native land, and one of the firmest supporters of her liberty against the aggressions of the mother country. In character he was deeply religious, and being possessed of great natural musical talent, was extremely fond of psalmody and churchmusic. His two youngest daughters, Sarah and Mary, inherited from him this gift in a still more remarkable manner, and their singing in churches and meeting houses was celebrated far and wide. Nothing could be more simple and primitive than the life they led; they spun and wove their own and the family clothes; practised their songs over the wheel and the loom, and on Sundays or meeting-days sung in the church or the meeting house. Mary was very beautiful, and had many lovers; but Sarah had the finer voice, and her skill in church-music was so great that she would take any part, and people came many miles to hear her sing. One day, when she was from home, she went to sing in a church at some distance, and being on a visit, was dressed somewhat differently to what she was when at home; her father, however, happened also to be at the same church, and was astonished by the beautiful voice of the singer, whom he saw, but did not recognize. 'Who is that,' he asked, turning to a neighbor, who sings so like an angel?' 'Do you not know your own daughter?' was the reply, which so much affected him that he could not help weeping. "Mary, also, when she was singing one day in a village choir, stole the heart of a young man from Milford, in the same State. This was Jesse Hutchinson, the son of a farmer, a very religious man, and a deacon of the Presbyterian church. This youth, also, like her, had been from his boyhood remarkable for his musical talent. He had a brother also gifted like himself, and they too were celebrated through the whole country for their musical powers. But though their father was a rigid Presbyterian, and a deacon of the church, his sons were famed for the fun and merriment which they brought everywhere with them. They were full of the joy and gayety of youth, and wherever they went they were welcome, not only because of the gay and merry songs which they sung, but because their violins were a summons to a general dance, which always lasted till day-break. From some cause or other, however, a great change came over his mind; he considered this life of gayety to be sinful, and regarding his violin as an incentive to it, cut the offending 'merry bit of wood' in two, and made it up into tobacco-boxes, and from that time permitted himself only to practise sacred music. It was soon after this change, and about four-andforty years ago, when, in his home-spun suit, and his hair tied in a queue behind with a black ribbon, and a broad beaver on his head, he presented himself to the beautiful young singer in the character of a lover. She was then not sixteen; too young to be married, she said, and was hard to persuade. Her father, who thought very highly of the young man, who had borne a most excellent character, and who was come of so excellent a stock, pleaded for him; but she would not consent, and leaving him in the parlor, she went to bed. He sat up alone all night in the room, and the next morning when she went in, there she found him. But she was still resolute, and he set off to Salem, thinking that time and absence |