or 1768, in 354 cases. With the
next year there begins a great falling off in the number of his cases;
and the decline continues till 1774, when, in the convulsions of the
time, his practice stops altogether. Thus, for 1769, there are
registered 132 cases; for 1770, 94 cases; for 1771, 102 cases; for
1772, 43 cases; for 1773, 7 cases; and for 1774, none.[90]

The character of the professional work done by him during this period
deserves a moment's consideration. Prior to 1769, he had limited
himself to practice in the courts of the several counties. In that
year he began to practice in the general court,--the highest court in
the colony,--where of course were tried the most important and
difficult causes, and where thenceforward he had constantly to
encounter the most learned and acute lawyers at the bar, including
such men as Pendleton, Wythe, Blair, Mercer, John Randolph, Thompson
Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert C. Nicholas.[91]

There could never have been any doubt of his supreme competency to
deal with such criminal causes as he had to manage in that court or in
any other; and with respect to the conduct of other than criminal
causes, all purely contemporaneous evidence, now to be had, implies
that he had not ventured to present himself before the higher
tribunals of the land until he had qualified himself to bear his part
there with success and honor. Thus, the instance may be mentioned of
his appearing in the Court of Admiralty, "in behalf of a Spanish
captain, whose vessel and cargo had been libeled. A gentleman who was
present, and who was very well qualified to judge, was heard to
declare, after the trial was over, that he never heard a more eloquent
or argumentative speech in his life; that Mr. Henry was on that
occasion greatly superior to Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Mason, or any other
counsel who spoke to the subject; and that he was astonished how Mr.
Henry could have acquired such a knowledge of the maritime law, to
which it was believed he had never before turned his attention."[92]
Moreover, in 1771, just two years from the time when Patrick Henry
began practice in the General Court, Robert C. Nicholas, then a
veteran member of the profession, "who had enjoyed the first practice
at the bar," had occasion to retire, and began looking about among the
younger men for some competent lawyer to whom he might safely intrust
the unfinished business of his clients. He first offered his practice
to Thomas Jefferson