The convention passed resolutions like the Fairfax resolves, and chose delegates to a general congress.

The silent man was now warming into action.

He "made the most eloquent speech that ever was made," and said, "I will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march them to the relief of Boston." He was capable, it would seem, of talking to the purpose with some fire and force, for all he was so quiet and so retiring.

When there was anything to say, he could say it so that it stirred all who listened, because they felt that there was a mastering strength behind the words.

He faced the terrible issue solemnly and firmly, but his blood was up, the fighting spirit in him was aroused, and the convention chose him as one of Virginia's six delegates to the Continental Congress.