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Line 172: When the new federal court opened in Virginia in 1790, British creditors promptly filed over a hundred cases seeking to enforce claims from the Revolutionary War. Henry was part of the defense team in ''Jones v. Walker'' before the federal court in 1791; his co-counsel included [[John Marshall]], who prepared the written pleadings while Henry argued much of the case in court. Henry argued the case for three days; Marshall, looking back, called him "a great orator ... and much more, a learned lawyer, a most accurate thinker, and a profound reasoner".{{sfn|Kukla|pp=370–372}} The case ended inconclusively after one of the judges died, but the legal teams reassembled for the case of ''[[Ware v. Hylton]]''. Argued before another three-judge panel that included [[Chief Justice of the United States]] John Jay and Associate Justice [[James Iredell]], Henry's argument provoked Justice Iredell to exclaim, "Gracious God! He is an orator indeed."{{sfn|Kukla|pp=372–373}} Henry and Marshall were initially successful, but the plaintiffs appealed, and after the future chief justice argued his only case before the Supreme Court, that court ruled for the British creditors in 1796.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=373–374}} Henry's friendship with Washington had cooled somewhat amid the ratification debates, but by 1794, both men were looking to reconcile. Henry found himself more aligned with Washington than with Jefferson and Madison, and Washington still considered himself indebted to Henry for notifying him about the Conway Cabal. Washington offered Henry a seat on the Supreme Court in 1794, but he refused, feeling his family needed him. Washington also tried to get Henry to accept positions as Secretary of State and as minister to Spain, and Virginia Governor [[Henry Lee III|"Light-Horse" Harry Lee]] wanted to appoint him to the Senate. Henry refused each time. Henry's continuing popularity in Virginia made him an attractive ally, and even Jefferson tried to recruit him, sending word though a mutual friend that he bore no grudge.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=224–229}} After Washington made it clear he would not seek a third term in 1796, Marshall and Harry Lee discussed a possible Henry run for president with him, but Henry was unwilling. The General Assembly elected him governor again that year, but he [[File:Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial - his fame his best epitaph.jpg|thumb|left|Graves of Patrick Henry and his wife Dorothea in the family burying ground at Red Hill. That of Henry is on the right; his epitaph reads, "His fame his best epitaph".]] | |||