 Proudly we hail. Where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public service time has been made available by this station for your army and your air force to bring you this story. As proudly we hail, Patrick Henry, who loved his country, of a man who was wanting to live and die by that love. Yet his was no blind emotion, but a clear, disturbing thing. He knew why he loved America. To him, her name was an ideal. How that ideal was revealed to him, and with what agony he struggled to uphold it. That is his story. We all share freedom. Help share its defense. Join the army team. Yes, now as always, the United States Army is dedicated to the defense of freedom. Your freedom. You can do something about it. The time for decision, for action is now. The need for trained technicians in every field is urgent. And you can be trained in the most advanced techniques using the world's finest equipment. Visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station for full details. Remember, we all share freedom. Help share its defense. Join the army team. And now, your army and your air force presents the proudly we hail production, No Life So Dear. Of the early years of your life, you remember only fleeting moments. Warm, casual glimpses of the places you knew, your family, your friends. You remember the sunny days spent on your father's farm in Hanover County, Virginia, back in the late 1740s. It wasn't a very large farm. There was a lot of open country where you could go trapping and hunting. There were caves to be explored, and the South Anna River flowed just a few yards from the house. Yes, you remember Hanover County. You remember your father in his nightly tirades at the dinner table. Believe me, if this taxation continues, I swear I'll burn my tobacco on the walls before I'll send it to England. Some more vegetables, Patrick? No, thank you, ma'am. Every day the news goes tighter and tighter. Every day our chances of earning a living wage becomes more difficult. I won't stand for it. You hear? I won't stand for it. Father, you mustn't raise your voice at the dinner table. Think of the children. That's just what I'm thinking of, and just why I'm raising my voice. Perhaps if we all raised our voices, the King of England would hear our protest and curb this taxation. Your father's words had no particular significance for you at that moment. You were too busy just being a boy, too concerned with the pleasures of growing up. But in the years to come, his words would echo in your heart. Perhaps if we all raised our voices? Words to someday shape your destiny. Yes, you remember your father very well. You remember, too, the soft smile of your mother. And you remember another smile, the smile of a girl with hair like molten gold and eyes the color of a blue Virginia sky. She came to visit you one summer's afternoon when you were sick and bedded. She came to visit, and she stood shyly in the doorway. And you heard her say... I brought you some wild jasmine, Patrick. I found it in the woods below the dam. Oh, what's a fellow want with flowers at Sissy's stuff? Oh, thought you'd like to have some, Patrick. Oh, they're fine, Sally. Honest, I was just fooling. You're only saying that to be nice. Oh, no, I'm not. They're real pretty. Uh, how's school, Sally? Oh, fine. We miss you, all of us. How's Miss Weevil? Oh, you mean old Weevil? Old Weevil, wrinkly old and evil. You know, we said the same thing at the same time. Come on, link fingers. You ready? What goes up the chimney? Smoke. What color is it? Blue. Your wish and my wish always come true. What do you wish for? Oh, I can't tell. But it won't come true. I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours. Some day. Some day, Patrick. I'll tell you my wish. More words than you would remember and a wish you would hear some day, but not just then. You first had to learn to walk alone in a young and growing nation. And it was a long road which you walked. Long and difficult. And when you were still young, you met failure for the first time. Patrick? Patrick, come here a minute. Yes, Mother? Sit down here on the porch. I want to talk to you. Yes, Mother. Patrick, the summer's nearly over. Have you thought at all about September, about what you'd like to do? Well, when Father opens his store, I thought I could run errands for him after school. And on Saturdays, I could learn to be a clerk. But, Patrick, suppose you don't go back to school. Oh, I want to go to school. See, that's important. And this year I'll be in the seventh grade. We start ancient history this year, and Miss Weevil says that... Patrick, Miss Weevil came to see me yesterday while you were visiting your aunt. Miss Weevil? Came here to see you? You know, dear, this year there are 14 more children joining the school. It's going to be more than overcrowded. And Miss Weevil says he'll only be able to take care of the boys and girls who are showing real progress in their studies. He had a list of names. And my name wasn't on the list? Oh, never mind, Patrick. We'll study here at home. You and I together. Every day we'll read together. And your father can help you with your arithmetic. It'll be just the same as school. No. No, it won't. Patrick, oh, I am sorry. I'm so sorry. But don't worry. Everything will be all right. Just wait and see. Everything will be all right. Just wait and see. But waiting is hard when you're young. Waiting is loneliness and the bitter taste of disappointment and a lack of faith in yourself. You sat by your mother and she listened while you read aloud and your father helped you with your son. And you were growing and never knew of the coming glory which would be yours. Years past. You were chief clerk in your father's store as you turned 17. Then more years of learning at home and learning in your father's store. But storekeeping was not as interesting as talking with the villagers who would come in to pass the time of day. Bill, the local printer, and Jasper, the amiable cracker barrel philosopher. I tell you, Patrick, unless we stand up in our two back legs and fight, we're going to lose everything we've gained so far. Well, that kind of talk can lead you into a parcel of trouble, Jasper. Well, someone's got to speak their mind. We can't just sit back and let them trod in our toes and push us around like we were nothing but a sack of flour. Father says there's a new tax. He has a friend up Boston where they've even put a tax on tea in Boston. Well, Patrick, they'll be putting a tax on the air we breathe for very long. Well, what can we do? How can we stand up against a country as big and strong as England? Besides, don't mean a might, son. Not a might. If a person or enough people make up their minds to do something, then if they stick to it, no matter what happens, if they stick to it, they'll win out in the end. Well, where does a person start? Where does it begin? We need a voice now. A good, strong voice to speak for us. For us, the common people. The little people. We need someone who isn't all dressed up in a white wig and satin breeches. Smart young lawyer who's one of us. That's what we need. A lawyer. That chance of running a lawyer here in Hanover County, Jester. Good morning, Father. Well, if it isn't the old storekeeper himself. Pull up a chair by the fire and set a spell. We've been talking about something you'll be interested in. In just a moment, Jester. Patrick, may I see you in the office? Of course, Father. Watch the store for me, will you, Bill? Oh, sure. Father, what is it? Has anything happened at home? No. No. Not at home. Patrick, I've just been to the bank trying to get a loan. They refused to give me any more money. Looks like we're going to have to close the store. Close the store, but I thought we would... Yes, yes, the store seems crowded with customers, but we're losing money. Talk won't pay our bills, Patrick. There's no hope. We'll close at the end of the week. I'll go back and work on the farm. And you, son, what are you going to do with your life? I don't know. I just don't know. And you weren't to know for several more years. Years that might have been bleak and terrible except for one person. Someone with hair like molten gold and eyes the color of a blue Virginia sky and a soft unspoken wish. I, Patrick, take thee, Sally. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. You settle down after your marriage on a small tract of land near the outskirts of the village to try your luck at farming, but something always seemed to go wrong. The first year it was bad seed. The next season you planted too early and there was a sudden frost. It was always something. In the evenings, you and Sally would walk in the fields and she would hold your hand tightly and smile at you and say... Patrick, Patrick, darling, you mustn't worry, though. Now stop worrying about the crop. Sally, don't you think I should give up and go to work for Mr. Brady? He offered to give me $25 a week to work in his filing office. He put me to a test and he said my figures were good. Sally, I... I just don't seem to be a very successful farmer. But this is a fine crop, Patrick. Your father said so yesterday. He said it should bring a good price. If the frost comes early, how will we get through the winter? We'll get along. Remember a year back when we saved 20 hapers of beans where I should have taken that money and put it in the bank, but I spent it on seed. We needed that seed. Blight killed four acres overnight. There's no blight now. Oh, Sally. Sally, there aren't many men who could be as lucky as I am. I love you, Patrick. If only I knew what sort of a future there was in store for me. For us. Look at me, Sally. You're not a failure. I won't have you saying things like that, Patrick Henry. You're not a failure. But you must be. Something will turn out. You must have faith. Faith? Faith in what? Surely not in myself. You've heard what everyone says, that no good Patrick Henry can't even make a decent living for his wife and child, and they're right, too. They're right. Oh, darling, listen to me. Don't you know that I love you and have all the confidence in the world in you? I know you have greatness in your heart. And someday, all the world will know your name. Patrick, you must believe. You must believe in our love. And in yourself, you must. Sally, listen. Isn't that the fire bell in the village? Certainly sounds like it. We'd better... Patrick! Patrick, look! There's smoke coming up from behind the barn. It's our house! It's our house, Patrick! You are listening to the proudly we hail production of No Life So Dear. We'll return to our story in just a moment. Those who enjoy freedom must help support it. And in these uncertain times, we must remain strong and alert to the dangers that surround us. If you are qualified, you can join Freedom's Team by becoming a member of your United States Army. There's an urgent need for technical specialists in every field. You'll receive the world's finest training and at the same time, build an interesting and rewarding career. Visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station for full information. You are listening to Proudly We Hail, and now we present the second act of No Life So Dear. Before dawn, the fire had burned out. The fire had burned out, and with it, the last vestige of hope within your heart. You took Sally and your child in the few pitiful possessions you'd saved from the fire, and you went to your father's home. But that evening, as you all sat around the big dining room table... Patrick, dear, you haven't touched a mouthful of food. Please, you must eat. I'm not hungry, mother. It's been a bad day. A bad day? That's a complete understatement. Patrick? It's been a bad week, a bad month, a year. My whole life has been a series of bad years, one after the other. You know it, Father. All of you know it. You'll find your way, Patrick. Yes, I'll find my way. But when? That's what I want to know. When? I heard in the village today that they need men in Philadelphia. They're going to open up a new shipyard. A storekeeper, a farmer, a shipbuilder. Well, why not? Jack of all trades, master of none. If you'd like to go to Philadelphia, Patrick? I don't know where I want to go. I don't know what I want to do. I just want to be left alone. I just want to be left alone. Patrick, Patrick! You walked away from the house and into the night. You walked down along the banks of the South Anna alone. You walked through the night along the banks of the river. A million and one thoughts whirled through your mind, mingled with the sound of the river and the sound of the night. A million and one thoughts, discouraging thoughts. And there were voices. Voices you knew, voices coming back across the year. If this taxation continues, I'll burn my tobacco on the walls. Your father. And Jasper. We need someone to speak for us, the common people, the little people. And Sally. Always the voice of Sally. There's greatness in you, Patrick. What are you going to do with your life, son? A smart young lawyer. That's what we need. I'll burn my tobacco on the walls. Taxation. Too much taxation. No one to speak with a little people. You must believe in yourself. A smart young lawyer. A lawyer? What are you going to do with your life, son? Someone to speak with us. The little people. Bad chance to find a lawyer and hand over county. A lawyer. Taxation. A smart young lawyer. Believe in yourself, Patrick. A lawyer. Yes, a lawyer. Something to tell you. You must have found your foothold in the future. At last, the ultimate shape of your destiny became clear and complete. Two years went by. Long years. Years of study, English, history, Roman law. Hours of burdensome study. Patrick, dear. Don't you think you should go to bed? It's way past midnight. A little while, dear. I just want to finish this brief. Hours of work. Hard work. But work you knew you must do to achieve your goals. You were 24 when you passed your examinations to practice law at the Bar of Virginia. Oh, Patrick, I told you so. I knew you could do it. Oh, just think. My husband is a lawyer. Patrick Henry is a lawyer. Two more years went by. Over a thousand notations in your fee book. Moderate charges for country practice. Your name became known, respected by everyone. Two years of building a foundation. Two years of learning and listening. Listening to the sound of unrest. Feeling the bonds of oppression growing tighter. Hearing the tiny voice of freedom echoing across your new and growing nation. We shouldn't stand for it, Henry. We should fight. There'll be war. Mark my words. There will be war. How did the English dare to try to rule our lives in this manner? That was in 1764. And in 1765, you were elected a member of the House of Burgess where you introduced the Virginia Resolve against the tyranny of the Stamp Act. Let it be resolved, therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony have the only and sole exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony. And that every attempt to best such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the General Assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom. Freedom! Freedom! Caesar has his grotesque. Charles I, his crumbled. And George III may profit by their example. If this speech reasons, make the most of it. Historic words to ring down through the years, down through the pages of American history. It was only a moment from your speech before the House of Burgess until another great moment and another speech before the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It was the fourth day of the Congress. Four long, weary days of arguments, of attack and counter-attack, and still no definite plan. The thunderclouds of war were gathering quickly. Some action had to be taken and taken quickly, or the new nation would be trampled under the heel of English sovereignty. Four days, then at last your opportunity arose. A committee of five important Virginia planters proposed an alliance with England. At that moment, you knew you must make the delegates the facts for the first time. You rose slowly to your feet. Mr. President. Mr. Patrick Henry has the floor. I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British Ministry for the past ten years to justify those hopes with which so many gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our last petition was so graciously received? Ask yourselves how this reception comports with those war-like preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation, the last instruments to which a king resorts. We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature has placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the Holy Cause of Liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can stand against us. This is the price of chains or slavery, not what cause others may take. But as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Magnificent, a magnificent speech, Mr. Henry. Thank you very much, sir. You speak with eloquence, Mr. Henry. You speak also with a conviction that you can only be born of a genuine love of America. A love which I'm sure is shared by all of us. And by the people of our 13 states. Mr. Henry. Excuse me a moment, gentlemen. Yes? Mr. Henry, you must come at once. The wire is desperately ill. Sally! I knew it was you. I felt you kneel at my bedside while I was dosing. Sally, why didn't you tell me? Mother says you've been ill for a month. Why didn't you tell me? I wanted to wait until your work was finished. My work is finished now, Sally. They say in the village... They say there'll be war. Yes, my darling. There will be war. There's no other solution. And will you go, too? No. No, no. I'm to stay home now. Just as you've always wanted. I'm going to begin practicing law again. Coming home for lunch every day. Getting under your feet again. Being a terrible nuisance around the house. But you won't mind too terribly, will you? Hold my hand. Darling, I know you think your responsibility is here with me and your family. But you have a responsibility, too, with the family next door. And all the families who've come to know this great land is home. It must always be home to them. Always. Promise me that you'll go back and fight. Promise me, Patrick. You have my promise, Sally. But now you must get some rest. We can talk again in the morning. Patrick, do you remember a long, long time ago? Do you remember a wish we made when we were children? I think I would like you to know my wish now. I've known it for a long, long time, Sally. Because to know and share your love is all that any man could wish. My very dearest, dearest darling. And as you knelt there in the still darkness and the tears of sorrow were wet upon your face, deep within your heart you felt a new strength which you'd never known before. A strength which would lead you forward through the years of war to become the governor of Virginia itself. A strength born of the wish of a boy and a girl to live and love and find happiness together. In a free land. Not always new, but the call it sounds is as old as the history of our country. Today, as we stand strong and alert against communism, the United States Army is calling for qualified young men and women to join the freedom team and become Army technical specialists. You'll be trained in the latest techniques using the finest equipment and you'll be building a rewarding career for yourself. For full information, visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station. The time is now. Present a transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This program featured a cast of outstanding players. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail.