Article Images
Content deleted Content added
Line 176: 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 declined, citing age and health. Henry's refusal to accept these offices increased his popularity as he was, like Washington, seen as a [[Cincinnatus]], giving up power to return to his farm and his plow.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=234–236}} [[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. Patrick's is on the right; Henry sold his property in Prince Edward County in 1792, moving with his family to Long Island, a plantation in [[Campbell County, Virginia|Campbell County]]. In 1794 Henry purchased Red Hill near [[Brookneal, Virginia]] in [[Charlotte County, Virginia|Charlotte County]], where he and his family lived much of the year, though they moved to Long Island in the "sickly season".{{sfn|Campbell|p=388}} Henry was gratified at the election of his old friend John Adams as president in 1796 over his foe Jefferson, but Henry's commitment to the [[Federalist Party]] was tested by the repressive [[Alien and Sedition Acts]] of 1798. He chose to say nothing, but supported the campaign of Marshall, a moderate Federalist, for the House of Representatives; Marshall won narrowly. Henry was under considerable pressure from Virginia Federalists to return to politics, but it was not until former president Washington urged him to run for the legislature in early 1799 that Henry gave in.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=239–239}} Turning down an offer from President Adams to make him an envoy to France, Henry was elected as delegate from Charlotte County on March 4, 1799. The legislature had no immediate session scheduled, so he returned to Red Hill, and never left again, dying there of a stomach ailment on June 6, 1799.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=392–393}} He was buried at Red Hill.{{sfn|Campbell|p=418}} | |||