Editing Patrick Henry (section)

== Later years ==
[[File:Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial - his fame his best epitaph.jpg|thumb|Graves of Patrick Henry and his wife Dorothea in the family burying ground at [[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial|Red Hill]]. Henry's inscription reads, "His fame his best epitaph".]]
Leaving the House of Delegates after 1790, Henry found himself in debt, owing in part to expenses while governor, and sought to secure his family's fortune through land speculation and a return to the practice of law. Not fully reconciled to the federal government, Henry contemplated a new republic in the sparsely settled frontier lands, but his plans came to nothing.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=218–221}} He did not travel as widely for cases as he had in the 1760s, confining his practice mostly to Prince Edward and Bedford counties, though in a compelling case, or for a large enough fee, he would travel to Richmond or over the mountains to [[Greenbrier County, West Virginia|Greenbrier County]] (today in West Virginia).{{sfn|Mayer|p=463}}

When the new federal court opened in Virginia in 1790, British creditors promptly filed over a hundred cases seeking to enforce claims from the [[American Revolutionary War|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 did much of the courtroom advocacy. Henry argued the case for three days; Marshall, looking back, called him "a great orator&nbsp;... 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 Marshall argued his only case before the Supreme Court, that court in 1796 ruled for the British creditors.{{sfn|Kukla|pp=373–374}}

Henry's friendship with [[George Washington|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 [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] and [[James Madison|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 Lee discussed a possible Henry run for president with him, but Henry was unwilling. The General Assembly elected him as 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 [[Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus|Cincinnatus]], giving up power to return to his farm and his plow.{{sfn|Kidd|pp=234–236}}

Henry sold his property in [[Prince Edward County, Virginia|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 Patrick Henry National Memorial|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 [[Intussusception (medical disorder)|intussusception]] at his home on June 6, 1799.<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMHB.ph|url=https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/henriques/hist615/vmhb.htm|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=chnm.gmu.edu|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128230055/https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/henriques/hist615/vmhb.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Patrick Henry: Champion of Liberty {{!}} AMERICAN HERITAGE|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/patrick-henry-champion-liberty|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=www.americanheritage.com}}</ref> He was buried at Red Hill.{{sfn|Campbell|p=418}} In Henry's will, he left his estates and his 67 slaves to be divided between his wife and his six sons. He did not free any slaves, despite his speeches against enslavement by tyrants and despite his various comments opposing the institution of slavery itself.<ref>{{cite web|title=Henry's Will|url=https://www.redhill.org/biography/henrys-will|access-date=January 14, 2018|publisher=[[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial]]|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101124817/https://www.redhill.org/biography/henrys-will|url-status=live}}</ref>

The tributes to Henry upon his death were many. The ''Virginia Gazette'' printed a death notice bordered in black, "As long as our rivers flow, or mountains stand, Virginia&nbsp;... will say to rising generations, imitate my H&nbsp;{{small|E&nbsp;N&nbsp;R&nbsp;Y}}".{{sfn|Kukla|p=393}} The ''Petersburg Intelligencer'' regretted the death of a man who might have been able "to conciliate all parties and produce that harmony and accord" needed at a time of national controversy.{{sfn|Kukla|p=393}} The ''Argus'', a paper which supported Jefferson's faction, noted that Henry "pointed out those evils in our Constitution&nbsp;... against which we now complain&nbsp;... If any are disposed to censure Mr. Henry for his late political transition [to supporting the Federalists], if anything has been written on that subject, let the [[Genius (mythology)|Genius]] of American Independence drop a tear, and blot it out forever."{{sfn|Mayer|p=474}}