erests or prepossessions, an amusing
instance was mentioned, many years afterward, by President James
Madison. During the war Virginia had paid her soldiers in certificates
for the amounts due them, to be redeemed in cash at some future time.
In many cases, the poverty of the soldiers had induced them to sell
these certificates, for trifling sums in ready money, to certain
speculators, who were thus making a traffic out of the public
distress. For the purpose of checking this cruel and harmful business,
Madison brought forward a suitable bill, which, as he told the story,
Patrick Henry supported with an eloquence so irresistible that it was
carried through the House without an opposing vote; while a notorious
speculator in these very certificates, having listened from the
gallery to Patrick Henry's speech, at its conclusion so far forgot his
own interest in the question as to exclaim, "That bill ought to
pass."[339]

Concerning his appearance and his manner of speech in those days, a
bit of testimony comes down to us from Spencer Roane, who, as he tells
us, first "met with Patrick Henry in the Assembly of 1783." He adds:--

"I also then met with R. H. Lee.... I lodged with Lee one or
two sessions, and was perfectly acquainted with him, while I
was yet a stranger to Mr. H. These two gentlemen were the
great leaders in the House of Delegates, and were almost
constantly opposed. Notwithstanding my habits of intimacy
with Mr. Lee, I found myself obliged to vote with P. H.
against him in '83, and against Madison in '84, ... but with
several important exceptions. I voted against him (P. H.), I
recollect, on the subject of the refugees,--he was for
permitting their return; on the subject of a general
assessment; and the act incorporating the Episcopal Church.
I voted with him, in general, because he was, I thought, a
more practical statesman than Madison (time has made Madison
more practical), and a less selfish one than Lee. As an
orator, Mr. Henry demolished Madison with as much ease as
Samson did the cords that bound him before he was shorn. Mr.
Lee held a greater competition.... Mr. Lee was a polished
gentleman. His person was not very good; and he had lost the
use of one of his hands; but his manner was perfectly
graceful. His language was always chaste, and, although
somewhat too monotonous, his speeches were alway