Trumpet-Tongued Foe of Coercion

In Patrick Henry: Patriot in the Making (Lippincott, $7.50) Robert Douthat Meade undertakes a definitive biography of the man whose eloquence did much to bring about American independence. Although this volume, the first of two projected by the author, traces his career only as far as the Continental Congress, it is valuable for its account of his background and of his entrance upon the theater of the Revolution.

Henry’s father, John Henry (of a family which earlier spelled its name “Hendrie”), was a product of the bleak northeast of Scotland. After attending the University of Aberdeen for four years, he decided to exchange the rigors of his native environment for the opportunities of America. Arriving in Virginia in 1727, he petitioned Governor Gooch for a tract of land in Hanover County. Here he married a widow, and here in 1736 was born a son, who was named Patrick after an uncle.

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Richard M. Weaver

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In Patrick Henry: Patriot in the Making (Lippincott, $7.50) Robert Douthat Meade undertakes a definitive biography of the man whose eloquence did much to bring about American independence. Although this volume, the first of two projected by the author, traces his career only as far as the Continental Congress, it is valuable for its account of his background and of his entrance upon the theater of the Revolution.

Henry’s father, John Henry (of a family which earlier spelled its name “Hendrie”), was a product of the bleak northeast of Scotland. After attending the University of Aberdeen for four years, he decided to exchange the rigors of his native environment for the opportunities of America. Arriving in Virginia in 1727, he petitioned Governor Gooch for a tract of land in Hanover County. Here he married a widow, and here in 1736 was born a son, who was named Patrick after an uncle.