ld hats and from their belts swung tomahawks and
scalping knives. Their wild appearance on reaching Williamsburg, the
capital of the colony, set the inhabitants in as much fear as did the
thought of invasion by the enemy! Lieutenant John Marshall who was later
to become Chief Justice was among the number--as was his father.

The slogan of the Minute Men "Liberty or Death" brought forth humor from
one wag who said the phrasing was too strong for him; he would enlist if
it were changed to "Liberty or Be Crippled."

Almost upon their immediate arrival at Williamsburg they were marched to
Norfolk County and were participants in the Battle of Great Bridge.

Blind Preacher

Not so far from Gordonsville there is a simple marker near the site of
"Belle Grove," a little church made famous by a blind preacher. And back
of the monument itself is a story well worth repeating. It is a tale
told by William Wirt in his _British Spy_.

In that account Wirt said:

"It was one Sunday as I travelled through the county of Orange,
that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a
ruinous old wooden house in the forest, not far from the
roadside. Having frequently seen such objects before, in
travelling through these States, I had no difficulty in
understanding that this was a place of religion."

He stated further that he was filled with curiosity as to the type of
minister who would preach in such a wilderness as he was passing through
and so he stopped and joined the worshippers. He described the preacher,
a Presbyterian in faith, as having one of the most striking appearances
he had ever seen and a most remarkable delivery.

"I have never seen, in any other orator, such a union of
simplicity and majesty. He has not a gesture, an attitude, or
an accent, to which he does not seem forced by the sentiment
which he is expressing. His mind is too serious, too earnest,
too solicitous, and, at the same time, too dignified, to stoop
to artifice. Although as far removed from ostentation as a man
can be, yet it is clear from the train, the style, and
substance of his thoughts, that he is not only a very polite
scholar, but a man of extensive and profound erudition."

James Waddel was the name of this remarkable old man of God. He was born
in Ireland in 1739 and was brought to America as an infant.

Another interesting tale was told in the neighborh