Excerpt adapted from Speech at the Second Virginia Convention
by Patrick Henry
This excerpt is taken from a speech delivered in 1775 at the Second Virginia Convention, in which Patrick Henry urged the American colonists to fight for independence from the British.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past, and judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to comfort themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir, for it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss, but ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition agrees with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land.
I ask, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.
Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have debated; we have appealed; we have submitted ourselves before the throne and have begged for its intervention to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our debates have produced additional disagreements and insults; our submissions have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending—if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!
5
Select the correct answer.
How does the author's use of the word "throne" inform the reader?
A.
It suggests that Great Britain is too civilized to go to war with the colonies.
B.
It represents the rigid authority that Great Britain maintains over the colonies.
C.
It emphasizes the rich, time-honored traditions of the British monarchy.
D.
It implies that the British monarchy commands respect from its subjects.