The Magical History Tour*

*O’Mama left a comment on yesterday’s Ten Things Tuesday, thanking me for bringing you all on a “magical history tour.” I liked that so much, that I swiped it as the title for today’s entry.

Today was an excellent day! We got up earlier than usual so that we could get to Williamsburg to secure carriage ride tickets - the rides are popular and sell out early, particularly when it’s hot outside and they don’t work the animals after about noontime. While Mr. Chili bought tickets, the girls and I headed to the back of the coffeehouse (which is really just the excavated foundations - they’re still trying to figure out exactly how that building looked so they rebuild the structure) to listen to Patrick Henry speak.

(Click on the pictures to see them full size)

I’ve been teaching public speaking for about a year now, and I have to tell you that I was captivated by this man. I recognize that he’s probably given the same speech to the endlessly rotating crowds of tourists for years now (our orientation guide told us yesterday that the man playing Henry does it as his full time gig), but that doesn’t change the fact that he was eloquent, smooth, and loud enough to be heard without artificial amplification. His delivery was entirely believable - he spoke with just the slightest hint of anachronism - he pronounced “been” the way I do (it sounds like “bean”) and he used “an” in front of “historic,” which is a British thing to do, though he didn’t speak with a proper British accent because Henry wouldn’t have - he was born in Virginia. The long and short of it was that I could have sat there all day and listened to him speak - and he likely could have stood there all day and happily obliged me.

I mentioned yesterday that the man, while revered today, was NOT very popular in his own time. The interpreter explained that was because his contemporaries were suspicious of his vehemence and enthusiastic patriotism which, in his day, was looked on a little less like patriotism and a little more like hot-headed treason, as most of the decision-makers of the day were trying to figure out ways to negotiate with the Crown and avoid war. He claimed that he was made governor of Virginia as a means of keeping him, as an executive, from the more powerful legislative position of Speaker of the House but he, being a good Christian and mindful of his duties to his country, did was was asked of him, regardless of how he felt his talents might be put to best use. This was said with not a little bit of bitter sarcasm but, of course, he was not given to public complaint.

When he was done with his speech, he invited questions from the assembly. He mentioned, early in his talk, that the men of Virginia had an abiding mistrust of the men of New England, and I managed to get the last question in to ask him why that was. His explanation was that New Englanders, as Congregationalists, were an austere, stern, cheerless, overly religious people and that Virginians, being not so, were mistrustful of their northern brothers because of their lack of joie de vivre. How can you embrace a people, he asked, who forbid the theatre? And dance? (How, indeed?) He mentioned their lack of tolerance for other faiths, too, as a reason for being suspicious and cautious around New Englanders. He ended his answer to my question, though, by saying that his attitude toward New Englanders was much changed when he attended a Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia with the Adams cousins (those would be Sam and John, in case you were wondering), and that he found them to be thoughtful, considerate, and passionate - true patriots and thinkers.

We met a lot of other people today, and I have to tell you that if you decide to make Williamsburg a vacation destination, make sure you engage the interpreters in conversation. Each and every one of them, up to and including the cantankerous coachman (pictured below), was knowledgeable and willing to answer questions. A few, like Patrick Henry and Wil (”that’s one Dubya, one Eye, one Ell,” pictured here) delighted in the audience and spoke with such believability and confidence that I was sad to see them go. They made today much more enjoyable - and a much better learning experience - than we had yesterday, when we wandered around the buildings and streets on our own.

It was a great day.