"I know of no way of judging the future," said Patrick Henry, "but by the past." That particular quotation couldn't be more fitting as an introduction to Williamsburg, since Henry played a very important role here when, as a 29-year-old backcountry lawyer, he spoke out against the Stamp Act in the House of Burgesses in 1765. Today, Williamsburg's central Historic Area is, for all practical purposes, one of the world's largest and best living-history museums.Here the British flag flies most of the year over the Capitol building. Women wear long dresses and ruffled caps, and men don powdered wigs. Taverns serve colonial fare, blacksmiths and harness-makers use 18th-century methods, and the local militia drills on Market Square.