it, attracting people of all ages and conditions. When he speaks, it is in the vox argentea of Cicero—a gentle stream of sound, rippling in the sunlight.
"What from Caroline, pray?" asks the dismounted Colonel, pressing the hand held out to him with great warmth. "Do the clergy speak of bringing suit to recover damages at once, for the acts of '55 and '58?"
"I believe not," the gentleman from Caroline replies, courteously, in his soft voice; "but have you not heard the news from Hanover?"
"No, sir; pray let us hear—"
"In the action brought by the Reverend Mr. Maury against the collector, a young man of that county has procured a triumphant verdict for the collector."
"For the collector?"
"Yes!"
"Against the clergy?"
"Yes!"
"You said a triumphant verdict?"
"One penny damages."
An expression of extreme delight diffuses itself over the face of the gentleman receiving this reply.
"And what is the name of the young man who has worked this wonder?"
"Mr. Patrick Henry."
"I have no acquaintance with him."
"I think you will have, however, sir. His speech is said to have been something wonderful; the people carried him on their shoulders, the parsons fled from the bench—I found the county, as I passed through, completely crazy with delight. But what is that small volume, peeping from your pocket, sir?" adds the speaker, with a smile at the abstracted and delighted expression of his interlocutor.
