Most have heard the name of the famous “Give me Liberty — Give me Death” quote of Patrick Henry, but few know the name, Francis Corbin, of Middlesex and King & Queen counties.
During the Revolutionary War, the wealthy Corbin family sent Francis, born in 1760, to school in England with whispers throughout the colony that his departure was to avoid the upcoming conflicts and leaving with a strong Tory sentiment.
Francis was educated at the Canterbury School in Cambridge, England, and during the Revolutionary War spent time in the Court of St. James, acquiring a “noble polish.”
After the war, Corbin was elected by Middlesex County voters in 1788 to the Virginia Federal Convention in Richmond to determine the state’s stand on establishing a federal constitution. Henry was opposed to a national constitution.
At the convention, James Madison embraced Corbin and encouraged him to support the concept of a national constitution. This would result in a humorous debate between Corbin and Henry on the House floor with Henry putting the young Corbin in his place.
During debates Henry remarked that although he was opposed to a national constitution, he was “ready and willing at all times to bow with the utmost deference, to the majority of the people.”
Corbin took Henry’s words “bow to the majority of the people” and proceeded to make fun of the great orator by elegantly bowing at the end of each one of his own points. At the end of his talk Corbin bowed 13 more times to point to Henry’s pledge to “bow to the majority.”
Henry rebutted with a most elegant speech to defend his stand and noted that while he was here and in the service of his country during the Revolutionary War, Corbin was at the Court of St. James in England learning to make a proper bow.
The account stated that “Herewith, although there was no man who could make a more graceful bow than Mr. Henry, he made one so ludicrously awkward and clownish as took the House by surprise and resulted in a roar of laughter.”
It Happened Here in Rivah Country!
