Improvement Era, 1908 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion

Patrick Henry's Prophecy.

"His views were not less steady than they were bold. His vision pierced deeply into futurity; and long before a whisper of independence had been heard in this land, he had looked through the whole of the approaching contest, and saw, with the eye and the rapture of a prophet, his country seated aloft among the nations of the earth. A striking proof of this prescience is given in an anecdote communicated to me by Mr. Pope. These are his words:-"I am informed by Col. John Overton, that before one drop of blood was shed in our contest with Great Britain, he was at Col. Samuel Overton's in company with Mr. Henry, Col. Morris, John Hawkins, and Col. Samuel Overton, when the last-mentioned gentleman asked Mr. Henry, 'whether he supposed Great Britain would drive her colonies to extremities?-And if she should, what he thought would be the issue of the war?' When Mr. Henry, after looking round to see who were present, expressed himself confidentially to the company in the following manner:

" 'She will drive us to extremities-no accommodation will take place-hostilities will soon commence-and a desperate and bloody touch it will be.' 'But,' said Col. Samuel Overton, 'Do you think, Mr. Henry, that an infant nation as we are without discipline, arms, ammunition, ships of war, or money to procure them-do you think it possible, thus circumstanced, to oppose successfully the fleets and armies of Great Britain?' 'I will be candid with you,' replied Mr. Henry. 'I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to cope with so powerful a nation. But, continued he, (rising from his chair, with great animation,) 'where is France? Where is Spain? Where is Holland? the natural enemies of Great Britain.-Where will they be all this while? Do you suppose they will stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the contest? Will Louis XVI be asleep all this time? Believe me, no! When Louis XVI shall be satisfied by our serious opposition, and our Declaration of Independence, that all prospect of a reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and clothing; and not with these only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight our battles for us; he will form with us a treaty offensive and defensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the confederation! Our independence will be established! and we shall take our stand among the nations of the earth!' Here he ceased; and Col. John Overton says, he shall never forget the voice and prophetic manner with which these predictions were uttered, and which have been since so literally verified. Col. Overton says, at the word independence, the company appeared to be startled; for they had never heard any thing of the kind before even suggested."

It is, of course, a matter of common knowledge that this prophecy was fulfiled in every particular, and still I cannot help to believe that the following passage, from one

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.