Transcriber’s Note: Cover created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.

A BIOGRAPHY
OF THE
SIGNERS
OF THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
AND OF
WASHINGTON AND PATRICK HENRY.

WITH
AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING THE
Constitution of the United States
AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.

BY L. CARROLL JUDSON,
A MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR.

“The proper study of mankind is man.”

PHILADELPHIA:
J. DOBSON, AND THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO.
1839.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, A. D. 1839, by Timothy Caldwell, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

E. G. DORSEY, PRINTER,
LIBRARY STREET.

CONTENTS.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The proprietor of this book, now verging on four score years, presents it to the public with an anxious hope that it will be instrumental in doing much good. To place within the reach of all classes of persons who desire it, the history of the venerable sages who wisely conceived, nobly planned and boldly achieved the independence of these United States, is believed to be a matter of great importance, especially to the rising generation.

Of those who signed the Declaration penned by Jefferson—the Articles of Confederation adopted by the Continental Congress, and the Federal Constitution—not one survives to aid in directing the destinies of our country. Like leaves in autumn they have descended to the earth—the winter of death has shut them from this world for ever. But they have left their bright examples, their shining lights, their luminous beacons, to guide their successors in the path of duty and of safety.

Having had the pleasure of seeing all the signers of the declaration before they made their last bow and retired from the stage of action, and having had the satisfaction of a personal acquaintance with many of them, the proprietor has long felt a strong desire to have the history of the prominent traits of their lives and characters reduced to a single portable and cheap volume, that should not be an onerous tax upon the purse or the memory. Such a volume is now presented to the American public, carefully and impartially prepared—plain in style, simple in arrangement and republican in its features.

If all obey the precepts suggested, and imitate the examples delineated upon the following pages, our republic will continue to rise sublimely, until it reaches an eminence of power and grandeur before unknown among the nations of the earth.

That this may be the happy lot of our country, and that our free government may be preserved in its native purity, is the sincere and ardent wish of the proprietor.

TIMOTHY CALDWELL.

Philadelphia, February 22, 1839.

PREFACE.

The present is emphatically an era of books. The march of mind is onward and upward, bold and expanding. The soaring intellect of man, rising on the wings of investigation and experiment, is seizing upon the elements in all their varied forms, threatening to unveil and reduce to subjection the whole arcana of nature. The flood gates of science are opened, and its translucent stream, rushing through the magic channel of the press, is illuminating the world with rays of light, as multiform in their hues as a rainbow. Like that beautiful phenomenon, some of them attract the delighted gaze of many for a brief period, then vanish from view for want of reflectives, or dissolve in thin air for want of stamina—an ominous hint to the present writer.

He, however, has not aimed at brilliancy or high refinement in composition, nor has he attempted to create a literary GEM to induce admiration. He has aimed at brevity in the impartial statement of plain matters of fact, avoiding verbiage and extracting the essence of the history of the sages of ’76. His work is not designed for the diffusive crucible of the critic, or the empirical hauteur of the cynic. To make a useful book has been the ultimatum of his efforts. It has been his constant purpose to incite a love for moral rectitude, a veneration for unsophisticated religion and pure patriotism, and a lively interest in the perpetuity of our union as a free people, by reflecting the precepts and examples of the revolutionary patriots upon the mind of the reader, from the truth-telling mirror of their history. To preserve, in its pristine purity, the liberty they purchased with years of toil, streams of blood and millions of treasure, is a duty imposed upon us by the law of nature, and by the great Jehovah. To imprint this deeply and strongly upon the heart of every reader, the author has interspersed many practical remarks, and, in some instances, compared the past with the present time.

If the amputating knife, the scalpel and the probe have occasionally been used, a sincere desire to do good has prompted their application. To remove the unsound parts of the body politic—should be a desideratum with every freeman. By shrinking from this duty, we jeopardize our elective franchise and court the domination of designing men, who smile that they may betray, and flatter that they may destroy.

The author has laboured to be concise without being obscure, to inform the understanding without burdening the memory. He has introduced many apothegms, intending to improve the mind and mend the heart. The causes that led to the revolution, its interesting progress, its happy termination and the formation of our federal government, are all amply delineated. The character of each of the individuals who signed the declaration, and of the illustrious Washington and the bold Patrick Henry, is fully portrayed. The most prominent acts of their lives are also clearly exhibited. But few of the biographettes are encumbered with documentary extracts, although they will be found sufficiently full for all ordinary purposes.

To write the biography of fifty-eight individuals, all engaged in the accomplishment of a single object, although that object may be shrouded in refulgent glory—and preserve an interesting variety without being prolix or verbose, is a task no one can realize without attempting it—a task that the author does not claim the credit of having performed. To compensate for any want of diversity, the reader will find all the important facts contained in more expensive, ponderous and voluminous works, placed in so small a compass, that they may be referred to with greater facility than in them.

In the order of the names, it seems most appropriate to place the author of the Declaration of Independence first. In some instances, a character of high classic attainments has been placed by the side of one whose literary advantages were extremely limited, that the reader, when admiring the dazzling splendour of the former, may contemplate the equal patriotism and substantial usefulness of the latter. The names of Messrs. Gwinnett and Ellery, are placed by the side of each other because of the contrast in their demise.

The Appendix is considered an important affixion, and renders the work more full and complete. The Farewell Address of Washington is one of the happiest productions ever penned by mortal man. It should be read often, not only by the young, but by all—the rich and the poor—the public officer and the private citizen. It should be rehearsed in every school and declaimed in every lyceum.

The Constitution of the United States should also be better known; it should be familiar to every farmer and mechanic, that it may be better understood and more faithfully adhered to.

Finally, to carry the reader back to first principles, and point plainly and clearly to the land marks of ’76, as fixed by the signers of the declaration of our independence, and to rouse the patriot to a just sense of our blood-bought privileges and the necessity of preserving them pure and undefiled, has been the constant aim of the author.

If his humble, but honest and earnest efforts shall prove instrumental in adding one inch of time—one happy hour to our political existence, or in strengthening one single link of the golden chain of the glorious Union of these United States, he will deem the months of severe labour devoted to the preparation of this work—AS TIME WELL SPENT.

L. CARROLL JUDSON.

Philadelphia, February 22, 1839.

Declaration of Independence,
BY THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED,
July 4, MDCCLXXVI.

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident:—that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.

“The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

“He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

“He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

“He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

“He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

“He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

“He has refused, for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large, for their exercise; the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.

“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

“He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

“He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

“He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

“He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

“He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.

“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation.

“For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

“For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

“For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

“For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

“For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

“For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences.

“For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies:

“For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

“For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

“He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.

“He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

“He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

“He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

“In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

“Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind—enemies in war—in peace, friends.

“We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, Do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, free and independent States:—that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.”

John Hancock.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Josiah Bartlett,
William Whipple,
Matthew Thornton.

MASSACHUSETTS.
Samuel Adams,
John Adams,
Robert Treat Paine,
Elbridge Gerry.

RHODE ISLAND.
Stephen Hopkins,
William Ellery.

CONNECTICUT.
Roger Sherman,
Samuel Huntingdon,
William Williams,
Oliver Wolcott.

NEW YORK.
William Floyd,
Philip Livingston,
Francis Lewis,
Lewis Morris.

NEW JERSEY.
Richard Stockton,
John Witherspoon,
Francis Hopkinson,
John Hart,
Abraham Clark.

PENNSYLVANIA
Robert Morris,
Benjamin Rush,
Benjamin Franklin,
John Morton,
George Clymer,
James Smith,
George Taylor,
James Wilson,
George Ross.

DELAWARE.
Cæsar Rodney,
George Read,
Thomas M’Kean.

MARYLAND.
Samuel Chase,
Thomas Stone,
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.

VIRGINIA.
George Wythe,
Richard Henry Lee,
Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee,
Carter Braxton.

NORTH CAROLINA.
William Hooper,
Joseph Hewes,
John Penn.

SOUTH CAROLINA.
Edward Rutledge,
Thomas Heywood, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton.

GEORGIA.
Button Gwinnett,
Lyman Hall,
George Walton.

BIOGRAPHY.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

When the Great Ruler of the universe resolved to set his people free from Egyptian bondage, he raised up able and mighty men, to effect his glorious purposes. These he endowed with wisdom to plan, and energy to execute his noble designs. There is a most striking similarity between the history of the Israelites, bursting the chains of slavery riveted upon them by Pharaoh; and that of the American colonies, in disenthralling themselves, by the aid of Heaven, from the oppressions of the British king. Like Moses, Washington led his countrymen through the wilderness of the revolution, and planted them, when the journey was terminated, upon the promised land of freedom and independence. Like Moses, he placed his trust in the God of Hosts, and like him, he was aided and sustained by a band of sages and heroes, unrivalled in the history of the world.

In the front of this band stood Thomas Jefferson, who was born at Shadwell, Albemarle county, Virginia, on the 24th of April, 1743. His ancestors were highly respectable, and among the early emigrants to the Old Dominion. They were true republicans, in affluent circumstances, and exercised an influence that radiated to a considerable extent. Thomas was the son of Peter Jefferson, a man much esteemed in public and private life. The feelings imbibed from him by this son, were conspicuous at an early age, and decidedly of a liberal character. From his childhood, the mind of Thomas Jefferson assumed a high elevation, and took a broad and expansive view of men and things. He was educated at the college of William and Mary, at Williamsburg; and was always found at the head of his class. For assiduity and untiring industry in the exploration of the fields of science, he had no superior. He analyzed every subject that came under his investigation, closely and carefully; passing through the opening avenues of literature with an astonishing celerity. His mind became enraptured with the history of classic Greece and republican Rome, and, in early youth, his political opinions appear to have been distinctly formed, and opposed to every kind of government, tinctured with a shade of monarchy or aristocracy.

After having completed his collegiate course, he commenced the study of law under chancellor Wythe, whose liberal views were well calculated to strengthen and mature those already preponderating in the mind of Jefferson. With regard to the oppressions of the mother country, and the justice and necessity of resistance by the colonies, their kindred bosoms were in unison. By a thorough investigation of the science of law and government, Jefferson soon became prepared to enter upon the great theatre of public action, and into the service of his injured country. Planting himself upon the broad basis of Magna Charta, encircling himself within the pale of the British constitution, he demonstrated most clearly, that the ministry of the crown had long been advancing, with rapid strides, beyond the bounds of their legitimate authority, by exercising a tyrannical power over the American colonies, not delegated to them by the monarchy they corruptly represented. So conclusive and luminous were his expositions of chartered rights on the one hand, and of accumulating wrongs on the other, that he soon became the nucleus of a band of patriots, resolved on deeds of noble daring—on liberty or death.

At the age of twenty-two, he was elected to the provincial legislature, and commissioned a justice of the peace, which gave him an opportunity of disseminating his liberal principles to a considerable extent. He proclaimed himself the unyielding advocate of equal rights, and had engraved upon his watch seal as his motto, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”

By his eloquence and unanswerable reasoning, he soon kindled the flame of opposition in old Virginia, which increased as tyranny advanced; and, in 1769, assumed the shape of a resolution, offered and advocated by Mr. Jefferson in the legislature, not to import a single article from Great Britain. The boldness and firmness with which he maintained his position, astonished the adherents of the crown, and gave a fresh impetus to the glorious cause then in embryo. With ample pecuniary means, with talents unsurpassed, his soul illumined with the fire of patriotism, his indignation roused against the hirelings of the king, his sympathies excited by the sufferings of his country, Mr. Jefferson was well calculated to become one of the master spirits of the revolution; one of the giant champions of universal freedom; a pillar of fire in the cause of liberty, flashing terror and dismay into the ranks of his enemies.

The plan of organizing committees of correspondence throughout the colonies, was devised by him in the early part of 1773, and proved eminently useful in producing unity of sentiment and concert of action among the patriots. About that time, he wrote and published “A Summary View of the Rights of British America,” which also set forth the wrongs inflicted upon his countrymen, in bold and glowing colours. This he addressed to the king in respectful, but plain and impressive language, in the following eloquent strain. “Open your breast, Sire, to liberal and expanded thought. It behooves you to think and act for your people. The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader: to peruse them, needs not the aid of many counsellors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest,” etc.

So exasperated was Lord Duninore on perusing this article, that he threatened to arrest its author for high treason. Written and published during the session of the legislature of which Mr. Jefferson was an influential member, and finding that resolutions had been passed by the representatives, quite as treasonable in their character as the publication in question, his lordship immediately dissolved the farther action of that body.

The following year, the British ministry, in answer to petitions for redress of grievances, sent to the assembly of the Old Dominion, a series of propositions that they termed conciliatory, but which, in truth, added insult to injury. Their hypocrisy and fallacy were unmasked and exposed by Mr. Jefferson, in a masterly strain of eloquent and withering logic and sarcasm, that carried conviction to a large majority of his colleagues. They were referred to a committee, which reported an answer, drawn by the author of the declaration of independence, similar, in its main features, to that much admired document, which was immediately adopted. The ball of resistance was put in motion, the electric fluid of patriotism commenced its insulating powers in the north and in the south; and, extending from sire to son, from heart to heart, the two streams met in the centre, and rising in grandeur, formed the beautiful and luminous arch of Freedom, with its chord extending from Maine to Georgia, its versed sine resting upon the city of Penn. Under its zenith, at the city of Philadelphia, the continental congress convened, in which Thomas Jefferson took his seat on the 21st of June, 1775. Although one of the youngest members of that venerated assemblage of sages and patriots, he was hailed as one of its main pillars. Known as a man of superior intelligence, of liberal sentiments, of strict integrity, of stern republicanism, and of unbending patriotism, his influence was strongly felt and judiciously exercised. From the beginning, he advocated a separation from the mother country, and met, at the threshold, every argument that was urged against it. He considered that allegiance to the crown had been dissolved by oppression, and the original contract cancelled by American blood. Submission was no longer a virtue; the measure of wrongs was filled and overflowing; public sentiment demanded the dissolution of the gordian knot; and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “let my people go.”

The following year, the declaration of independence was proposed, and Mr. Jefferson appointed chairman of the committee to draft a form. He was requested, by his colleagues, to prepare the important document. He performed the task with a boldness of design, and beauty of execution, before unknown and yet unrivalled. The result of his labour is before the world. Admiring nations have united in applauding the declaration of our rights, penned by Jefferson, and sanctioned by the continental congress on the 4th of July, 1776. As a master piece of composition, as a clear and lucid exposition of the rights of man, the principles of free government, the sufferings of an oppressed people, the abuses of a corrupt ministry, and the effects of monarchy upon the destinies of man, it stands unequalled. Pure in its origin, graphic in its delineations, noble in its features, glorious in its career, benign in its influence, and salutary in its results, it has become the chart of patriots throughout the civilized world. It is the ne plus ultra[A] of a gigantic mind, elevated to a lofty eminence by the finest touches of Creative Power; displaying its boldest efforts, its brightest conceptions, its holiest zeal, its purest desires, and its happiest conclusions. It combines the attributes of justice, the flowers of eloquence, the force of logic, and the soul of wisdom. It is the grand palladium of equal RIGHTS, the polar star of rational Liberty, the Magna Charta of universal Freedom, and has crowned the name of its author with laurels of immortal fame.

[A] Nothing beyond—the utmost point.

In the autumn of 1776, Mr. Jefferson, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin and Dr. Deane, was appointed a commissioner to the court of France, for the purpose of forming a treaty of alliance. Ill health of himself and family, and an urgent necessity for his services in his native state, induced him to decline the proffered honour, and also to resign his seat in congress.

He was immediately elected a member of the first legislature of Virginia convened under its new constitution, and was looked upon as one of the main bulwarks of her future safety. After taking his seat in that body, his first business was, to demolish the superstructure of the judicial code, that had been reared, either by, or under the supervision of the British parliament. Although sustained and aided by able and willing colleagues, the great work of revision fell most heavily upon him. The first bill he introduced was aimed at the slave trade, and prohibited the farther importation of negroes into Virginia. This act alone is a triumphant confutation of the accusation often reiterated against Mr. Jefferson, that he was an advocate of slavery. To its principles he was always opposed, and submitted to it practically only by entail. That he struck the first blow at the unhallowed trade of importing human beings for the purpose of consigning them to bondage, is a fact beyond dispute. That this was the first grand step towards a correction of the most cruel features of the traffic, will not be denied. To transfer those born in America, from one state to another, bears no comparison to the heart-rending barbarity of dragging the African from his native home.

He next introduced and effected the passage of bills destroying entails, the rights of primogeniture, the church as established by the English law; and also various others, calculated to assimilate the entire system of jurisprudence in the state, to its new and republican form of government; amounting, in all, to one hundred and twenty-six, most of which were passed, and form the present much admired statutory code of Virginia.

In 1779, he was called to the gubernatorial chair of the Old Dominion, surrounded by dangers and perils on every side. The British troops, headed by the proud Tarleton and the traitor Arnold, were spreading death and destruction over the state, and contemplated the capture of Jefferson, to cap the climax of their triumphant victories. Terror and dismay were depicted on the faces of the more timid patriots, whilst many of the bolder spirits were much alarmed at the approach of these merciless foes. But the energy and vigilance of the governor were found equal to every emergency. He rallied the bone and sinew of old Virginia, who “with hearts of oak and nerves of steel,” checked the enemy in their bold career of indiscriminate slaughter. He imparted confidence and vigour to the desponding, and roused them to bold and noble action. He dispersed the dark and gloomy clouds that hung over his bleeding state, and inspired the friends of liberty with fresh and cheering hopes of ultimate success. So highly were his services appreciated during the eventful period of his administration, that the members of the legislature entered upon their records an unanimous vote of thanks to him, for the able and efficient manner he had performed his public duties, expressing their high opinion of his superior talents, strict rectitude, and stern integrity.

In 1783, Thomas Jefferson again took his seat in congress, and became one of its brightest ornaments. The chaste and moving address from that body to Washington, when he surrendered his commission, was from the soul-stirring pen of Jefferson. He was chairman of the committee appointed to form a plan of territorial government for the extensive regions of the then “far west.” True to his favourite principle of finally emancipating the sable African, he introduced a clause prohibiting slavery after the year 1800, in any of the territories, or states that should be formed from them.

In May, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was appointed a minister plenipotentiary, to aid Messrs. Adams and Franklin, in the important duties of negotiating treaties of commerce with several European nations. He embarked in July following for France, and arrived there on the 6th of August. During his stay he visited several of the foreign courts, but spent the largest portion of his time in Paris. He commanded the highest respect and esteem wherever he went. He was made a welcome guest in the halls of literature, legislation, and jurisprudence. He was received with marked distinction by courtiers and kings, and effected much towards the promotion of the commercial interests of the infant Republic he so ably represented.

He was at Paris when the French revolution commenced, and was often consulted by the leading members of the national convention, relative to the best course to be pursued, in order to establish their government upon the firm basis of republicanism. So far as was consistent with his situation, he gave his opinion freely in favour of rational liberty.

On the 23d of November, 1789, he returned to his native land, and was received with great enthusiasm and affection by his fellow citizens. Soon after his arrival, he was induced to resign his commission as minister to France, and accept the responsible situation of Secretary of State under President Washington. The appointment showed the sagacity of the chief magistrate, and proved a lasting blessing to our country. Familiar with every principle of government; comprehending, at one bold view, the requisites necessary to perfect and perpetuate the new confederation, he was enabled to propose amendments to the constitution that were subsequently adopted, with some suggested by others; and to do much to beautify and reduce to harmonious system, the new order of things. Well versed in the usages of diplomacy, international law, and the policy of European courts, he was prepared to plant the permanent landmarks of foreign intercourse that have guided our nation to the present time in safety, and raised her to a degree of greatness before unknown, in so short a period. A reciprocity of commerce and honourable peace with foreigners, and a rigid neutrality with belligerents, carefully avoiding ambiguous or entangling alliances, were some of his leading principles. To submit to nothing that was clearly wrong, and to ask for nothing but what was unquestionably right, was a doctrine of Jefferson, forcibly inculcated in his able correspondence with the French ministers, during the brief period of their republic. The motto is still nailed to the flag staff of the star spangled banner, and is handed down from sire to son in its native purity.

To the domestic concerns of his country he devoted a laborious and laudable attention. He insisted upon the adoption of a uniform system of currency and of weights and measures, and suggested many other improvements, predicated upon plain and enlightened premises, and all designed to advance the best interests of the American system. He pointed to the importance of securing and protecting fisheries, and of encouraging enterprise in all the branches of industry. He demonstrated the advantages of every species of commerce, and the necessity of preventing others from monopolizing such sources as legitimately belonged to the United States. He showed, in a masterly exposition of existing facts, the increasing policy of European courts, in restricting the intercourse of America, and their evident designs of engrossing trade. He submitted to congress an able and elaborate report, showing great foresight, close observation, and deep investigation, relative to the privileges and restrictions of the commercial intercourse of this with other countries. It received great attention, was a subject of long and animated discussion in congress, and became the foundation of a series of resolutions introduced by Mr. Madison, embracing the doctrines it contained, and forming the great line of demarcation between the old school federal and republican parties.

Having served his country long and faithfully, and having contributed largely in placing her on the high road of prosperity and freedom, Mr. Jefferson retired from public life on the 31st of December, 1793, and, for a season, enjoyed the more substantial comforts of the domestic circle at Monticello. He took especial care to impart comfort to all around him, and treated his slaves in the kindest manner, thus reducing to practice the mode of treatment towards them he had so often alluded to in theory. The education of his children, the cultivation and improvement of his estate, and the resumption of scientific research, gave to him an exhilarating consolation he had long desired, and which is never found in the arena of public business and political bustle.

His manner of life at the period alluded to, is happily described by the Duke de Liancourt, a distinguished French gentleman who visited him at Monticello, and who wrote a narrative of his tour in the United States.

“His conversation is of the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of information, not inferior to any other man. In Europe, he would hold a distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has already appeared there. At present he is employed with activity and perseverance in the management of his farms and buildings, and he orders, directs, and pursues, in the minutest detail, every branch of business relating to them. I found him in the midst of harvest, from which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance. His negroes are nourished, clothed, and treated as well as white servants could be. Every article is made on his farm; his negroes being cabinet makers, carpenters, and masons. The children he employs in a nail manufactory, and the young and old negresses spin for the clothing of the rest. He animates them all by rewards and distinctions. In fine, his superior mind directs the management of his domestic concerns, with the same ability, activity, and regularity, which he evinced in the conduct of public affairs, and which he is calculated to display in every situation of life.”

During his recess from the toils of public life, Mr. Jefferson was unanimously elected president of the American Philosophical Society, a circumstance that was highly gratifying to him. It afforded him much pleasure to occupy the chair that had been long and ably filled by his revered friends, the illustrious Franklin and the philosophic Rittenhouse. He proved himself, in every way, worthy of the honour conferred. After a repose of three years, Mr. Jefferson was again called upon by his fellow citizens to mount the theatre of public action. President Washington had proclaimed his determination to retire to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon, and leave the presidential chair to a new incumbent. The people had become divided politically, and each party determined to nominate a candidate for the high and responsible station about to become vacant. Mr. Jefferson was selected by the democrats, and Mr. Adams by the federalists. The election resulted in the choice of Mr. Adams for President, and of Mr. Jefferson for Vice President. As the presiding officer of the Senate, he discharged his duty with dignity and impartiality. Familiar with parliamentary rules, he was uniformly prepared to decide such questions as came before him, promptly, and generally to the satisfaction of the members.

At the next presidential election, he was again a candidate in opposition to Mr. Adams. The mountain waves of party spirit rolled over the United States like a mighty torrent. Each party presented a bold front regardless of danger, pressed on by a rear rushing to conflict. The political campaign terminated in favour of the democrats, who returned an equal number of votes for Mr. Jefferson as President, and Aaron Burr as Vice President. This singular circumstance imposed the election of the chief magistrate upon the House of Representatives. To defeat the election of the great leader of the popular party, some of his opponents voted for Mr. Burr. A most spirited contest ensued, and thirty-five ineffectual ballotings were made. The ambition of the latter gentleman for promotion, at last so much subsided, as to induce him to withdraw from a farther contest with the man of the people’s choice; and, on the thirty-sixth ballot, Mr. Jefferson was duly elected President, and Mr. Burr Vice President; the former by a majority of eight votes.

The following extract from his inaugural address will show with what sentiments he entered upon the performance of his arduous duties.

“Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none; the support of the state governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a zealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principles of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well disciplined militia our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labour may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of the person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the service of those we trust, and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.”

Here is a statesman’s chart, drawn by one of the ablest navigators that ever stood at the helm of government. His soundings were frequent; his observations were made with mathematical exactness; he combined experience with science, and traced his lines with boldness and precision. To follow its directions is to ensure safety.

Based upon these principles, practically carried out, the administration of Jefferson became popular, peaceful, and prosperous. He knew the reasonable desires of the people, and exerted his noblest energies to provide for them. He knew that the art of governing harmoniously, consisted in an enlightened honesty, and acted accordingly. He anticipated the future wants of the rising and expanding republic over which he presided, and proposed, in his annual and special messages to congress, wise and politic measures to meet them. So satisfactory was his course to his fellow citizens, that he was re-elected to a second term, by a majority of one hundred and forty-eight.

His inaugural address, on that occasion, enforced the same principles contained in his first, and manifested a deep and growing interest in the welfare and prosperity of his country. As his belief in a Supreme Power has been questioned by some, the following extract, containing the same sentiment found in all his writings where this subject is alluded to, may correct those who are labouring under an error on this important point. Hear him, after invoking the aid of congress in the affairs of the nation: “I shall need, too, the favour of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power.”

If all who profess the religion of the cross, discarded sectarianism and honoured unsophisticated practical piety as much as did Thomas Jefferson, the prospect of christianizing the world would soon burst upon us with refulgent brightness. The partition walls of various creeds, drawn from the same pure fountain, and coloured by fancy and construction, would be dissolved by heaven-born charity, and the superstructure of the Redeemer’s kingdom would rise from their mouldering ruins in majesty sublime.

Soon after Mr. Jefferson entered upon the duties of his second term, a portentous storm darkened the horizon of his country, charged with the forked lightning of discord. In consequence of being disappointed in obtaining the presidential chair amidst the confusion he created when Mr. Jefferson was first elected, and superseded by Mr. Clinton as vice president at the expiration of four years, Aaron Burr mounted upon the whirlwind of his wild ambition, and attempted the formation of a new republic in the Spanish provinces on the Mississippi; apparently aiming at an ultimate division, if not dissolution of the United States. Although he was acquitted, after being tried for high treason, owing to his deep cunning in not committing the overt acts necessary to convict, yet the dark stigma of a traitor is marked upon the splendour of his brilliant talents, in traces so deep, that time, nor angels’ tears, can never remove it. Like a comet, propelled by its own centrifugal force from its constitutional orbit, he fell to rise no more, and our country was preserved from his Catiline grasp.

About the same time, France and Great Britain were at war, both of which, and more especially the latter, had repeatedly insulted the American flag under various but unwarranted pretences. Redress was promptly demanded, and measures pursued to obtain it. Anxious to preserve the peace of his country, but determined to vindicate her rights and maintain her dignity, Mr. Jefferson, whilst he prosecuted a vigorous negociation for the arrangement of a friendly intercourse and the adjustment of existing differences, prepared for the final alternative of war. He knew well the importance to England of the importing and exporting trade, and as a means of bringing her to honourable terms, recommended to congress the embargo law, which was passed on the 22nd of December, 1807. This measure was violently assailed by the opponents of the administration. It, however, had a salutary effect upon the British government, and caused a relinquishment of the most odious features of the assumptions of power that had been set up, followed by more conciliatory propositions on the part of England, for a final settlement of all difficulties and wrongs. Thus situated were the foreign relations of the United States when the second term of Mr. Jefferson expired, at which time he bid a final farewell to public life, and left the destinies of his beloved country in other hands. He had been an efficient and faithful labourer in the vineyard of American liberty for nearly forty years; he left it richly covered with foliage and fruit; in the full bloom of its vigour and health; enclosed by the palisades of honesty and truth; and adorned with the crowning glory of patriotism and philanthropy.

On the 3d of March, 1809, Thomas Jefferson surrendered the responsibilities of chief magistrate, ceased to be the active statesman, withdrew from the political arena, and again became a private citizen, surrounded by the halo of his country’s gratitude, consoled by the approbation of a pure conscience, and cheered by the plaudits of admiring millions.

From that time forward, he declined all public honours, and remained in peaceful retirement till the day of his death, seldom leaving his favourite Monticello. But he did not enter upon a life of inglorious ease. The same innate activity that had marked his brilliant career from his youth, the same nobleness of mind and energy of character that had raised him to the loftiest pinnacle fame could rear, still prompted him to action. He immediately reduced his time to a harmonious arrangement, and his whole business to the most perfect system. He uniformly rose before the sun, and held a supervision over all the concerns of his plantation. The various publications from his pen, during the period of his retirement, show that he laboured arduously in the fields of science and philosophy. For the promotion of literature and general intelligence he opened an extensive correspondence with men of letters, in this country and in Europe. He considered the diffusion of knowledge, among the great mass of the human family, the greatest safeguard against tyranny and oppression, the purest source of earthly bliss, and the surest passport to freedom and happiness.

Acting from this impulse, he submitted the plan of a University to the legislature of Virginia, to be erected at Charlottesville, a town situated at the foot of the mountain that reared its romantic scenery in front of his mansion. It was to be built with funds raised by donations from individuals and from the state, himself to be a liberal contributor. The plan of the buildings, the course of instruction, the mode of discipline, the duties and accountabilities of the officers and instructors, were all devised and drawn by Mr. Jefferson, and were so much admired and approved by the members of that legislative body, that they passed an act authorizing its adoption, and appointed its author Rector, to carry the design into effect. Upon the completion of that object he then devoted all necessary time, and more money than strict prudence called for. It became the doating object of his old age, and his strongest efforts were exerted in its accomplishment. These were crowned with success, and he had the happiness to live and see the University completed and filled with students. The course of instruction was designed to prepare the scholars for the general routine of business, both public and private, without being strictly classical. The library was selected by him with great judgment and care, and was confined to what may be termed useful books, treating upon subjects necessary to be understood by every citizen, to prepare him to discharge properly the duties he owes to himself, his family, his country, and his God. A catalogue, written by the hand of Jefferson, is still there, and carefully preserved. He exercised a parental care over this institution as long as his physical powers would permit; and was often seen viewing it with an exquisite pleasure and an honest pride. Much of his time was devoted to visiters, to whom his hospitality was liberally and kindly extended. Thousands of his own countrymen paid their grateful respects to him, and Europeans of distinction thought their tour in the United States incomplete, until they took by the hand the PATRIOT, the SAGE, the PHILOSOPHER, and the PHILANTHROPIST of Monticello. To delight, to instruct, and to please, he was peculiarly calculated. He was familiar with every subject; his mind united the vigour of youth with the experience of age; the strength of a giant with the innocence of a babe. The broad expanse of the universe, the stupendous works of nature, the Pierian fields of science, the deep recesses of philosophy, and the labyrinthian avenues of the intellect of man, seemed spread before him like a map of the world. He was an encyclopedia of the age he adorned, a lexicon of the times he enlightened, and one of the brightest diadems in the crown of his country’s glory.

With calm dignity and peaceful quietude, Mr. Jefferson glided down the stream of time towards the ocean of eternity, until he reached the eighty-fourth year of his age. Forty-four years had rolled over his head, since his amiable companion, the daughter of Mr. Wayles, an eminent lawyer of Virginia, had slumbered beneath the clods of the valley. One of two interesting daughters, the only children he ever had, was also resting in the silent grave. The charms of earth began to fade before him, and he felt sensibly that he was fast approaching the confines of another and a better world. The physical powers and mechanical structure of his frame were fast decaying; the canker worm of disease was doing its final work; and the angel of death stood over him with a keen blade, awaiting Jehovah’s signal to cut the thread of life, and set the prisoner free. Early in the spring of 1826, his bodily infirmities increased, and from the 26th of June to the time of his decease, he was confined to his bed. He then remarked to his physician, “my machine is worn out and can go no longer.” His friends who attended him, flattered themselves that he would again recover, but he was convinced that his voyage of life was about to close, and that he would soon cast his anchor in the haven of rest. To those around him he said, “do not imagine that I feel the smallest solicitude as to the result. I do not indeed wish to die, but I do not fear to die.” To his last moments, he manifested a peculiar anxiety for the future prosperity of the university which he had founded, regarding it as the youngest child of his old age. Assured that it would receive the fostering care of the state, he could say, now Lord, dismiss me. On the 2nd day of July, his body became extremely weak, but his mental powers remained as clear as a crystal fountain. He called his family and friends around him, and, with a cheerful countenance and calm dignity gave directions for his funeral obsequies. He requested that he might be interred at Monticello, without pomp or show, and that the inscription upon his tomb should only refer to him as “The author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statutes of Virginia securing religious freedom, and as the father of the University.” He then conversed separately with each of his family: to his surviving daughter, Mrs. Randolph, he presented a small morocco case, which he requested her not to open until after his death, and when opened, was found to contain a beautiful and affectionate poetic tribute to her virtues.

The next day, being told it was the 3d of July, he expressed a desire that he might be permitted to inhale the atmosphere of the 50th anniversary of our national freedom. His prayer was granted, the glorious 4th of July, 1826, dawned upon him, he took an affectionate leave of those around him, and then raising his eyes upward, articulated distinctly, “I resign myself to God, and my child to my country,” and expired as calmly as an infant sleeps in its mother’s arms, without a murmur or a sigh. Thus lived and thus died Thomas Jefferson, universally esteemed in life, and deeply mourned in death by a nation of freemen; deeply lamented by every patriot in the civilized world.

In person, he was slender and erect, six feet two inches in height; light and intelligent eyes; noble and open countenance; fair complexion; yellowish-red hair, and commanding in his whole appearance. In all the relations of public and private life, he was a model of human talent and rigid integrity, rarely equalled and never surpassed. His whole career was calm and dignified. Under all circumstances his coolness, deliberation, and equanimity of mind, placed him on a lofty eminence, and enabled him to preserve a perfect equilibrium, amidst all the changing vicissitudes and multiform ills that flesh is heir to. He kept his passions under complete control, and cultivated richly the refined qualities of his nature. His philanthropy was as broad as the human family; his sympathies were co-extensive with the afflictions of Adam’s race. He was born to be useful; he nobly fulfilled the design of his creation.

JOHN HANCOCK.

Biography is a subject of such thrilling interest, that the memory of most men, in every age and nation, who have rendered themselves eminent, either in the cause of virtue or vice, glory or infamy, has been handed down on the pages of history. Among the unlettered nations of the earth, we find the exploits of their heroes and sages recorded with hieroglyphics, in wild simplicity; or find their names interwoven in the wild and more romantic tales of mysterious tradition. When graced with truth and impartiality, the subject is not only interesting, but calculated to enrich our minds, by producing a desire to emulate the examples of the great and good, and by pointing out to us the paths of error, that lead us to disgrace and ruin. The interest felt in the history of an individual, depends much upon the manner the biographer performs his important and responsible duty, but more upon the sphere of action and the magnitude of the cause in which the individual has been engaged. The cause in which John Hancock, the subject of this brief sketch, was engaged, is one deeply interesting to every philanthropist, and more especially to every American. It was the cause of humanity and equal rights, opposed to cruelty and oppression; the cause of American Independence, opposed to British tyranny. The part he acted, was alike creditable to his head and heart; his fame is enrolled on the bright list of the illustrious patriots of the revolution.

He was a native of Massachusetts, born near Quincy, in 1737. His father, of the same name, was a clergyman, eminent for his piety, and highly esteemed by the parishioners under his charge. He died during the infancy of his son, and left him under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, who treated him with all the tenderness of a father, and continued him at school until he graduated at Harvard College in 1754. His uncle was a merchant of immense wealth, and, on the completion of his studies, placed him in his counting-house, that he might add to his science a knowledge of business, of men, and of things. In 1760, he visited England, saw the mortal remains of George II. laid in the silent tomb, and the crown placed upon the head of his successor. He continued in the business of his uncle until the age of twenty-seven, when his patron and benefactor died, leaving him his vast estate, supposed to be the largest of any one in the province.

He was, for many years, one of the select men of Boston; and, in 1766, was elected a member of the General Assembly of Massachusetts. He there exhibited talents of a superior order, which attracted the attention, excited the admiration, and gained the esteem of his colleagues. They also excited the jealousy and irony of his enemies, who soon put him in the crucible of slander and persecution; but, after a long trial, he came out like gold seven times tried; he was weighed in the scale of justice, and not found wanting.

As a proof of the high estimation in which he was held when in the assembly, he was placed on the most important committees of that body, and was uniformly chairman. He was also elected speaker, but the governor, who was jealous of his liberal principles, put a veto upon his appointment.

His intelligence had led him to investigate the laws of nature, of God, and of man; he arrived at the conclusion, that men are endowed by their Creator with certain inherent privileges, that they are born equal, and they of right are and should be free. He drank deep from the fountain of liberal principles, and was among the first to repel the blind and cruel policy of the mother country, and rouse his fellow men to a sense of impending danger.

Although deeply interested in commercial business, and more exposed to the wrath of kingly power than any individual in the province, he boldly placed himself at the head of associations for prohibiting the importation of goods from Great Britain. The other provinces caught the fire from these examples; and, to these associations may be traced the preliminaries of the tragic scene, that resulted in the emancipation of the enslaved colonies of the pilgrim fathers.

As an evidence that John Hancock was a leading patriot at that time, the first seizure that was made by the revenue officers, under pretence of some trivial violation of the laws, was that of one of his vessels. The excitement produced by this transaction was so great, that a large number collected to rescue the property. It was moved under the guns of an armed ship, ready charged, to repel any attack. But the popular fury rose like a thunder gust from the western horizon; they rushed to the onset; brought away the vessel, razed to the ground some of the houses occupied by the custom-house officers, and burnt, in triumph, the boat of the collector. This fire was, for a time, smothered by the mantle of authority, but it was never extinguished; it was the fire of Liberty. It only required to be fanned by the impolitic oppression that eventually blew it into curling flames.

To prevent the recurrence of a similar scene, several regiments of British troops, with all their loathsome vices fresh upon them, were quartered amongst the inhabitants. This was like pouring pitch on a fire to extinguish it. The stubborn and independent spirits of Boston were not to be awed into subjection. The consequences were tragical. On the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, a party of these soldiers fired upon, and killed a number of the citizens, who had collected to manifest their indignation against those they hated more than they feared. Had an earthquake shook the town to its very centre, the agitation could not have been greater. Had it been melting before devouring flames, the commotion could not have increased.

The tolling of bells; the groans of the wounded and dying; the shrieks of widows, mothers, and orphans; the flight of soldiers; the rush of the inhabitants; the cry of vengeance, urged on by popular fury; all combined to render it a scene of confusion and horror, upon which imagination dwells and sickens; beneath which, description quails and trembles; at the sight of which, humanity bleeds at every pore. It is a commentary, strong and eloquent, upon the impropriety of quartering soldiers amongst citizens, of maintaining civil law by military force, and of intruding upon the sanctum sanctorum[B] of private and domestic peace.

[B] Holy or sacred place.

On the following day, a meeting of the inhabitants was held; a committee was appointed, at the head of which were Hancock and Samuel Adams, instructed to request the governor to remove the troops from the town. He at first refused, but finding, under existing circumstances, that discretion was the better part of valour, he ordered their removal. This, with promises that the offenders should be brought to condign punishment, prevented further hostilities at that time.

The awful and imposing solemnities of interring those who were killed, was then attended to. Their bodies were deposited in the same tomb; tears of sorrow, sympathy, and a just indignation, were mingled with the clods as they descended upon the butchered victims; and the event was, for many years, annually commemorated with deep and mournful solemnity. A te deum and requiem were chanted to their memory, and the torch of liberty was replenished at their tomb.

At one of these celebrations, in the midst of the revolution, John Hancock delivered the address. A few brief extracts will give the reader some idea of the feelings and sentiments that pervaded his bosom, and of his powers as an orator and a statesman.

“Security to the persons and property of the governed, is so evidently the design and end of civil government, that to attempt a logical demonstration of it, would be like burning a taper at noon day, to assist the sun in enlightening the world. It cannot be either virtuous or honourable to attempt to support institutions of which this is not the great and principal basis.”

“Some boast of being friends to government: I also am a friend to government, to a righteous government, founded upon the principles of reason and justice; but I glory in avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny.”

He then proceeded to portray, in vivid colours, the wrongs inflicted by the mother country, and urged his fellow citizens to vindicate their injured rights.

In speaking of the Boston massacre, his language shows the emotions of his heaving bosom, the feelings of his indignant soul.

“I come reluctantly to the transactions of that dismal night, when, in such quick succession, we felt the extremes of grief, astonishment, and rage; when Heaven, in anger, suffered hell to take the reins; when Satan, with his chosen band, opened the sluices of New England’s blood, and sacrilegiously polluted her land with the bodies of her guiltless sons.

“Let this sad tale never be told without a tear; let not the heaving bosom cease to burn with a manly indignation at the relation of it through the long tracts of future time; let every parent tell the story to his listening children, till the tears of pity glisten in their eyes, or boiling passion shakes their tender frames.

“Dark and designing knaves, murderous parricides! how dare you tread upon the earth which has drunk the blood of slaughtered innocence shed by your hands? How dare you breathe that air, which wafted to the ear of heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition? But if the labouring earth doth not expand her jaws; if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death; yet, hear it and tremble! the eye of heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul, and you, though screened from human observation, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of God.”

His boldness greatly exasperated the adherents of the crown, and every artifice was put in requisition to injure his growing popularity. Amongst them, was his nomination by the governor, who had uniformly been his enemy, to the council, hoping, by this stratagem, that he would, by his acceptance, turn the populace against him. By a prompt refusal he defeated the intrigues of his enemies, and riveted himself more strongly on the affections of those who favoured liberal principles, rendering himself more obnoxious to the king’s officers. He was at this time captain of the governor’s guard, and was immediately removed. As a testimony of respect to him, his company; composed of the first citizens of Boston, dissolved themselves at once.

The tocsin of the revolution was now sounded from the heights of Lexington; American blood had again been shed by British soldiers; the people heard the dread clarion of revolution; thousands rushed to the rescue; the hireling troops fled; in their flight, they found the messengers of death stationed on their whole route; retribution met them at every corner; the trees and fences were illumined by streams of fire from the rusty muskets of the native yeomanry; and many of Briton’s proud sons slumbered in the arms of death on that memorable, that eventful day.

The governor, on the reception of this news, issued his proclamation in the name of his most Christian Majesty, George the III., declaring the province in a state of rebellion, but graciously offering pardon to all returning penitents, excepting John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who had also rendered himself obnoxious by his patriotic and independent course. A secret attempt was made to arrest them, but was foiled. These two philanthropists were preserved to aid in the glorious cause they had boldly and nobly espoused, and to become shining lights in the blue arch of liberty, and bright examples of patriotism to future generations. Their proscription by the governor only served to endear them still more to their friends and their bleeding country. In 1774, John Hancock was unanimously elected President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts; and, in 1775, he was called to preside over the Continental Congress. He accepted this appointment with diffidence, there being many of its number much his senior, and of eminent talents. He, however, succeeded in discharging the arduous duties assigned him, with fidelity and great ability, and to the satisfaction of his colleagues and his country.

His was the only name affixed to the Declaration of Independence when it was first published and presented to the fearless patriots for their approval; and it stands first in bold relievo, on a thousand facsimiles, scattered through the world. It stands at the head of a list of sages, whose names are enrolled in unfading glory, and will be handed down to the remotest ages of time, unsullied and untarnished.

Impaired in his health and worn down by fatigue, Mr. Hancock resigned his station in Congress in October, 1777, having presided over that august body for two years and a half, with a credit to himself, gratifying to his friends, and advantageous to the cause of human rights.

Soon after he returned home, he was elected to a convention of his native state to form a constitution for its government. His experience and talents were of great service in producing a truly republican instrument. In 1780, he was elected the first governor under the new constitution, and continued to fill the gubernatorial chair for five years, when he resigned. After two years he was again elected, and continued to fill this station, with dignity and usefulness, during the remainder of his life. During his administration over the destinies of his dear native state, there were many difficulties to overcome, many evils to suppress. The devastations of the war had paralyzed every kind of business; reduced thousands from affluence to poverty; polluted the morals of society; and left a heavy debt to be liquidated. Many conflicting interests were to be reconciled; many restless spirits were to be subdued; and many visionary theories were to be exploded. Insubordination, arrayed in a faction of 12,000 men, threatening to annihilate the government, was the most prominent evil to be removed. Abuses and riots were of frequent occurrence; the civil authorities were disregarded; and it was found necessary to call out the militia to preserve order. By the prudent management of Governor Hancock, these difficulties were adjusted, the clamour of the people hushed, their complaints silenced, order restored, and but few lives sacrificed at the shrine of treason.

For a time, the governor, by his firm and determined course, incurred the displeasure and enmity of many prominent men; but when reason resumed her station, and prosperity began to alleviate the burdens that had been so strongly felt, their ire was appeased, the sour feelings of party spirit lost their rancour, and admiration and esteem for his sterling virtues and talents, and the long and arduous services he had rendered his country and his state, disarmed his enemies of their resentment, and produced uniform love and esteem.

He used his best exertions in favour of the adoption of the federal constitution, and, to cap the climax of his well earned fame, he left a sick bed on the last week of the session of the Assembly of his state, and, by his vote and influence, induced them to accept and sanction that important instrument of confederation, that has thus far held us in the bonds of union, strength, and power.

Governor Hancock now had the satisfaction of seeing prosperity spread its benign influence over the whole infant republic, and her institutions, laws, trade, manufactures, commerce, and agriculture, based on the firm pillars of freedom and eternal justice. His long nursed vision was reduced to a happy reality; he felt that he could die in peace; and, on the 8th of October, 1793, his soul took its flight suddenly and unexpectedly, to join the kindred spirits that had gone before, to enter upon the untried scenes of the eternal world. He continued to serve his country to the last, and, if a particle of malice against him lingered in the dark bosom of any man, it was buried with him in the tomb. Governor Hancock was amiable in his private character; highly honourable in his feelings; gentlemanly in his deportment; fashionable in his style of living; fond of innocent amusements, but free from corrupting vices; liberal and charitable; a friend to the poor, the oppressed, and the distressed; diligent in business; open and frank in his disposition; a faithful companion; a public spirited citizen, and a consistent man.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

The name of Benjamin Franklin, conspicuous upon the pages of European and American biography, ever commands peculiar respect and veneration. It is surrounded with a rich variety, as rare as it is instructive and interesting.

Franklin was born at Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706, exactly ninety years before my humble self. His father was among the puritans who fled before persecution, and sought repose in the wilds of Massachusetts. His parents were poor, but honest and esteemed. Poverty is ever inconvenient, but has not always been a disgrace. Honesty and industry were formerly the brightest stars on the escutcheon of fame.

Franklin manifested a taste for improvement at an early age, and exhibited talents of a superior order. His pious parents encouraged his education as far as their limited means would permit, and were anxious to see him prepared for the pulpit; but necessity compelled his father to take him from school at the age of ten years, and place him in his shop, to aid him in the prosecution of the chandler business. But this did not paralyze his native genius. Original in every trait of his character, eccentric in his manner, and the child of nature and experiment, he commenced the study of practical philosophy, amidst candle wicks, tallow, and soap. He went through the experiments of ascertaining the precise quantity of sleep and food requisite to supply the wants of nature, and the kind most conducive to health. At this early age, he adopted rules of temperance, frugality, and economy, worthy of imitation, and adorned with all the system of mature age. He also accustomed himself to meet and bear disappointments with philosophic fortitude. He continued to improve his mind by reading, for which he had an insatiable thirst. Nothing passed by him unnoticed, and his expanding genius drew philosophy from nature, from things, and from men. He reasoned, analyzed, moralized, and improved, from every thing he saw. Hence the vast expansion of his gigantic genius, comprehending at one bold view, through after life, the philosophy of mind, of nature, of science, of art, of government, of society, and all the relations of creation, from the dust under his feet, through the myriads of animalculæ in a drop of water, up to the bright seraphs of the skies. A mind like his could not long be confined in a chandler’s shop. Open and honest in his disposition, he communicated his wish of moving in some other sphere, to his father. After an examination of the various trades, and working a short time with a cutler, he was bound to his brother, to learn the art of a printer. He soon became master of his profession, and left a shining example for all apprentices, by adding to his industry in business the improvement of his mind during every leisure hour—a happy prelude to his glorious and useful career through future life.

So intensely bent on the acquisition of knowledge was Franklin, that he often preferred his book to his meal, and studied whole nights, in defiance of the commands and entreaties of Morpheus. As he was paid a weekly sum for his board, he adopted a course of simple vegetable diet, by which he saved money to purchase books. He manifested a correct taste and a sound judgment in the selection of authors and subjects. Among them, he studied with admiration and attention the Memorabilia of Xenophon, and became one of the closest imitators of Socrates, in his mode of reasoning and habits of life, to be found on record. Before he became versed in the rules of propriety, he often gave offence by the bold and obstinate manner in which he advanced and maintained his opinions.

He now commenced his literary career; and, as is most usually the case with young authors, he offered his first sacrifice to Calliope, in a strain of rhyming ideas. His poetry was applauded, but his father, who was a man of sound judgment, cured him of his poetic mania, by turning his verses into ridicule; at the same time encouraging him to improve his talents by writing prose. Suspicious of his own ability, fearing the shafts of criticism, he managed to have several of his productions published in the paper edited by his brother, in so clandestine a manner, that no one could know the author. When he found they met with general admiration, his vanity, as he says, did not let the world long remain ignorant of the writer.

Being flattered by praise and attention from others, he began to feel his importance, which resulted in an open rupture between him and his brother, to whom he was an apprentice. For some time, he endured a course of harsh treatment, but at length resolved to free himself from the chains of bondage. He soon found an opportunity of embarking for New York, where he arrived in safety. Not being able to obtain business there, he bent his course towards the city of Philadelphia, on foot, and alone. On his arrival there, he had but one solitary dollar left; was a stranger, and only seventeen years of age; and, without business, must soon be dependent on the cold charities of the world for his bed and board. On entering Market street, his eccentric appearance excited the gaze of the multitude, as much as his towering talents subsequently did the gaze of the world. He had a roll of bread under each arm, and, approaching the Delaware, he sat down and feasted upon his bread and the pure water from the river. His pockets were projected to an enormous size with the various articles of his wardrobe, and, on the whole, his corpulent appearance was not in bad keeping with old Boniface.

Although there were but two printing offices in Philadelphia, he succeeded in obtaining employment in one, as compositor. He now reduced all his theories of economy to successful practice, maintaining himself at a trifling expense, pursuing a correct and industrious career, which gained for him the esteem of all his acquaintances. Among others, his talents attracted the attention of Sir William Keith, then Governor of the province, who invited him to his house and treated him with great kindness.

The governor was a man whose liberality in promises, often went beyond the means of his purse. Anxious to see his young friend placed in more auspicious circumstances by his benefaction, he proposed to set him up in business, and sent him to London, with letters of high commendation, to obtain the necessary materials for his new enterprise. On his arrival there, he was much chagrined to find that no pecuniary arrangements were made by his new benefactor, and he found himself in a strange land without money to enable him to return. But this was only another lesson of experience, in whose school he delighted to study; and, instead of sitting down under the weight of disappointment and dejection, he soon obtained employment, and, by his skill and industry, gained the confidence and esteem of all his new acquaintances. After residing there for eighteen months he took passage for Philadelphia on the 22nd of July, 1726. On his way home he concocted a set of rules to govern his actions through future life, of the following substance:

I resolve to be frugal; to speak truth at all times; never to raise expectations not to be realized; to be sincere; to be industrious; to be stable; to speak ill of no man; to cover, rather than expose the faults of others; and to do all the good I can to my fellow men.

Upon this foundation of native granite he built a superstructure, as beautiful and enduring as the proudest memorials of Greece and Rome.

He arrived at Philadelphia on the 11th of October, and engaged with the merchant, who owned the goods brought in by the ship in which he came, as a clerk. The same industry and success attended him in the counting-house that cheered him at the press, showing clearly that his talents were of a rare and rich variety. His future prospects in this new department brightened before him, but were suddenly prostrated by the death of his employer, which threw him back into his former trade. For a few months he worked for his old master, but finding a partner who had more money than skill, they commenced business on their own account. His industry and exertions were now put in full requisition: he manned his own wheelbarrow in collecting materials for business, and put nature on short allowance, until he should acquire enough to be free from debt. His industry, punctuality, and correct deportment, gained him many valuable and influential friends, through whose patronage he was enabled to extend his business, and shake off his partner, who had become worse than worthless, by embarrassing and retarding the business of the firm. Up to this era in his life, Franklin had been emphatically fortune’s foot-ball. His life had been a complete checker-board of changing vicissitudes, blasted hopes, and keen disappointments. But, amidst all the stormy trials that had tossed his youthful bark to and fro, surrounded by the foaming torrents of vice, he never became tarnished by corruption, or degraded by the commission of a base or mean action. The moral principles deeply planted in his bosom by parental instruction during his childhood, were as lasting as his life; a happy illustration of the good effects of faithfulness in parents towards their children.

Having now become liberated from his partner in business, he began to feel the necessity and propriety of choosing another, to fill up the vacuum in his side, and share with him the joys and sorrows that awaited him on this mundane sphere of action. Accordingly, in 1730, he entered into a partnership for life with a widow lady, whose maiden name was Read, and for whom he had contracted an attachment previous to her first marriage. In him she found a kind husband, and in her he found a much more agreeable partner than his former one.

Philanthropy predominated in the heart of Franklin; to better the condition of his fellow men, was pleasure to his soul. The rules governing the “Junto,” formed by him, and now merged in the Philosophical Society, show a superior knowledge of human nature, and of the duty men owe to the creature and the Creator. They breathe universal charity, kindness, benevolence, and good will to all mankind. Among them is one for the suppression of intemperance, a prophetic prelude to the exertions of the present day in this cause.

Franklin had profited by the experience of the past, and was now enabled to steer clear of the numerous rocks and quicksands of error, on which so many are ruined and lost. Although he rode in many a storm, prosperity beamed upon him from this time onward, through a long life of usefulness. His new partner smiled upon him, his friends esteemed him, and in the pleasures of the present, past pains were forgotten.

In 1732, he commenced the publication of “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” which he continued until 1737, circulating 10,000 copies annually. Although under an humble title, it was a work of great merit, being replete with maxims and rules calculated for every day use in the various relations of life. It gained great celebrity in Europe, and was translated into various languages.

About this time he commenced the publication of a newspaper, which was conducted with great ability, free from all scurrility, and a messenger of truth. Would to God the same could be said of all the public prints of the present day.

He continued to pursue his studies, until he added to general science a knowledge of the French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin languages. By the “Junto” a small library was commenced, which formed the first stepping stone to the present city collection. He wrote and published a highly interesting pamphlet on the necessity of a paper currency, and added much to his literary fame by the production of various essays, written in his truly original style. He filled, successively and successfully, the situation of state printer, clerk of the General Assembly, and post-master of Philadelphia. He used unwearied exertions to increase municipal improvement in the city, by the organization of fire companies, lighting and improving the streets, regulating the watch, and reducing every thing to that system, order, and harmony, so congenial to his mind. He was the patron and father of the Philosophical Society, the Pennsylvania University and Hospital; and contributed, in every way he could, to advance the glory and prosperity of his adopted home, and the happiness and peace of his fellow citizens. All the important enterprises, both in the city and province, during these days of his towering fame, were either originated by him, or were more rapidly advanced by his wisdom and counsel; and scarcely any project was undertaken without his approving sanction.

In 1741, he commenced the publication of a “General Magazine,” which contained much useful matter, but was less acceptable than his previous writings, being in part devoted to the litigated points of divinity.

The mechanic arts were also much improved by him. He brought to their aid philosophy and chemistry, and combined them with science, economy, and nature. He improved the chimneys, constructed a stove, and proposed many useful and economical corrections in domestic concerns, from the garret to the cellar, from the plough to the mill. Science acknowledged his master spirit, the arts hailed him as their patron, the lightning bowed in subjection to his magic rod, and nature claimed him as her favourite son.

In 1744, he was elected a member of the provincial assembly, where he was continued for ten successive years. Although not a popular speaker, his clear head and sound judgment, as a legislator and a statesman, gave him an influence over that body before unknown.

During the years he was serving his country in the assembly, he also served in the fields of experimental philosophy, and explained many of the mysterious phenomena of nature, that spread his fame to the remotest bounds of the civilized world. His discoveries in electricity alone, were sufficient to have immortalized his name. He was the first man on record who imparted magnetism to steel—melted metals, killed animals, and fired gunpowder by means of electricity; and the first who conceived and reduced to practice, the method of conducting lightning from the clouds to the points of steel rods, and, by them, harmless to the ground. All the elements and fluids, the air, sea, and land, underwent the close investigation of his vast, his philosophic mind.

In 1758, he was sent to Carlisle to conclude a treaty with the Indians; and in the following year, to Albany, to meet a congress of commissioners, to arrange means of defence against the threatened hostilities of the French and savages. He there submitted a plan that met with the unanimous approbation of the commissioners, but was so republican in its features, as to be rejected by those who had at heart the interests of their king more than the happiness of the colonists.

On the decease of the deputy post-master general of America, Franklin succeeded him, and raised the department from a state of embarrassment and expense, to a fruitful source of revenue to the crown.

About this time difficulties arose between the proprietors and government in the province of Pennsylvania, which were finally referred to the mother country for adjustment, and Franklin was sent to England in June, 1757, as advocate for the province. With his usual industry and address, he performed the duties of his mission, the difficulties were adjusted, and in 1762, he returned, received a vote of thanks from the assembly, and a compensation of five hundred pounds. He was now variously employed in regulating the post-office department, making treaties with the Indians, and devising means of defence on the frontiers: every department of government feeling his beneficial influence. New difficulties arose between the assembly and the proprietors, and, in 1764, Franklin again sailed for England, with instructions to obtain the entire abolishment of proprietary authority. On his arrival there, he was called upon to perform more important and perilous duties. The plan for taxing the colonies had been long agitated, and was now matured by the British ministry. This project Franklin had opposed from the beginning, and he was now arraigned to answer numerous accusations brought against him by the enemies of liberty. On the 3d of February, 1766, he appeared before the House of Commons to undergo a public examination. He was found equal to the task; his enemies were astounded at his logic, boldness, dignity, and skill; and his friends were filled with admiration at the able manner he confuted every accusation, and defended the rights and interests of his native country. Amidst the attacks of artifice and insolence of power, he stood unmoved, and firm as a marble statue. He remained in England eleven years as the agent of the colonies, opposing the encroachments of the crown upon the rights of Americans; and, during the whole time, all the combined efforts of malice, flattery, and intrigue, were unable to ensnare or intimidate him. He became acquainted with the etiquette, corruptions, and devices of diplomacy; but never bent his knee to Baal, or kissed the hand of a crowned head.

Matters had now arrived at a crisis that induced his departure for his long neglected home. His personal safety in England, and the need of his public services in his own country, admonished him to return. He accordingly embarked, and arrived at Philadelphia in the beginning of May, 1775. He was received with marked attention and esteem, and immediately elected to the continental congress, adding new lustre and dignity to that august body, and enrolling his name among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Notwithstanding he had used every exertion to reconcile difficulties with Great Britain, and believed his country was yet too weak to achieve its independence, his course was now onward, resolved, with his patriotic colleagues, on liberty or death.

The talents of Franklin were now had in constant requisition, both by his own state and in the general congress. He was always selected to meet the agents of the crown, who were at various times commissioned to offer terms of inglorious peace. They always found in him the firm uncompromising advocate of liberty; the shrewd and wary politician; the bold and zealous defender of the rights of his bleeding country. The disasters of the American army during the campaign of 1778, induced congress to apply to France for assistance. All eyes were turned on Franklin to perform this important mission. In October, 1776, he embarked upon this delicate embassy, and, after a most vigilant intercession, succeeded in concluding a treaty of alliance with that nation, on the 6th of February, 1778, to the great joy of himself and his suffering countrymen. When the news of this alliance reached England, the ministry were much alarmed, and despatched messengers to Paris to endeavour to induce Franklin to enter into a compromise. All was in vain. To Mr. Hutton and others, who came to him with the olive branch of peace, he replied: “I never think of your ministry and their abettors, but with the image strongly painted in my view of their hands red and dropping with the blood of my countrymen, friends and relations. No peace can be signed by those hands, unless you drop all pretensions to govern us, meet us on equal terms, and avoid all occasions of future discord.”

He met all their intrigues at the threshold, and they became convinced that the hardy yeomanry of America were not to be dragooned, flattered, or driven from the bold position they had assumed. During the numerous interviews he had with these emissaries, (I can call them by no milder term,) Franklin was cautioned by Mr. Heartley to beware of his personal safety, which had been repeatedly threatened. He thanked his friend and assured him he felt no alarm, that he had nearly finished a long life, and that the short remainder was of no great value. He ironically remarked: “Perhaps the best use such an old fellow can be put to, is to make a martyr of him.”

If it required much skill and perseverance to negociate an alliance with France, it required more to preserve it. A republican form of government is ever repugnant to kingly power. That the French in America would imbibe liberal principles, was a matter of course. That the thrones of Europe would be endangered on their return, was truly predicted. By this course of ingenious reasoning, the British ministers exerted a powerful influence against the continuation of the alliance. But the eagle eye of Franklin penetrated, anticipated, and frustrated all their dark schemes of intrigue; and, in the event, they were compelled to comply with his terms of peace, acknowledge the independence of the colonies, and retire, defeated, disgraced, and humbled. In the arduous duties of settling definitive preliminaries of peace, Franklin was aided by Messrs. Adams, Jay, and Laurens. These duties were closed, and a definitive treaty concluded with Great Britain and the United States at Paris on the 3d of September, 1783.

Although anxious to be discharged from further public service, it was not until 1785, that Franklin was permitted to return to his beloved country, where he could breathe the pure air of republican freedom, no longer polluted by kingly power. During this time he had concluded treaties between the United States and the kings of Sweden and Prussia. On his departure from Europe every mark of respect was paid to him by kings, by courts, by the literati, and by all classes of society that the most towering ambition could desire. He was clothed with the mantle of love and unfading glory. His reputation was perched sublimely on the loftiest pinnacle fame could rear. He had been a pillow of fire to the American cause, and a pillar of smoke to the enemies of human rights.

At the age of eighty years, borne down by fatigue and disease, he returned to Philadelphia. He was hailed with enthusiastic joy, esteem, and respect by all the friends of liberty, from the humblest citizen up to the illustrious Washington.

Notwithstanding his advanced age, and his great anxiety to retire from the public gaze, he was soon appointed Governor of Pennsylvania—and subsequently, in 1787, elected a delegate to the convention that framed the federal constitution. Many of the bright traits of that matchless instrument received their finishing stroke from his master hand. Early in 1790, his infirmities of body confined him to his room, but his immortal mind remained unimpaired. When approaching rapidly the confines of eternity, he still looked with anxious solicitude upon the interests of the young republic. He still continued to benefit mankind by his writings and counsels. Some of the strongest and most vivid productions from his pen were written during his confinement. His diseases continued to increase, and on the 17th of April, 1790, calm and resigned, cool and collected, peaceful and happy, he resigned his spirit into the hands of his Creator—quitted this vale of tears, and slumbered, quietly and sweetly, in the arms of death—in the full faith of rising to a glorious immortality in realms of bliss beyond the skies.

By his will he prohibited all pomp and parade at his funeral. He was anxious that the plain republican manner of his long and useful life, should be strictly observed in the mournful obsequies of his interment. He was buried on the 21st of April, in the north-west corner of Christ Church yard, where a plain marble slab, even with the surface of the earth, points to where he lies. With his, moulders the dust of his wife, with whom he had lived in harmony and peace. No other inscription is upon the tomb except his and her name.

His death was deeply lamented throughout the civilized world. Congress ordered mourning to be observed throughout the United States one month. The event was solemnized, and many eulogies pronounced in France. The National Assembly decreed that each of its members should wear a badge of mourning on the occasion for three days. The sensations produced there by his death, were as imposing and interesting, and celebrated with as much devotion as those recently witnessed in our own country on the death of La Fayette.

In reviewing the life of this great benefactor of mankind, we find a richer variety to admire than in that of any individual upon the historic page. In whatever station he moved he was a luminary of the first magnitude. He entered upon the stage of action at a time when the world needed just such a man; and continued upon it just long enough to finish all he had begun. He was found just equal to every work he undertook, and always stopped at the golden point of the finishing stroke—a modest hint for me to close. You who profess to admire his virtues, talents, and usefulness, prove your sincerity by imitating his examples.

ROGER SHERMAN.

The man who has been rocked in the cradle of letters from his childhood; who has become familiar with general science, the classics, and philosophy; who has had a father to aid, and friends to caress him; whose path has been smoothed by uninterrupted prosperity—and does not ascend the ladder of fame, is either untrue to himself, or destitute of native talent. With all the advantages of an education lavished upon him, he sinks into obscurity, and the fond anticipations and future hopes of a doting parent, set in gloom.

When, on the other hand, we see a man, whose opportunities for acquiring an education during childhood and youth carried him not far beyond the confines of the spelling book; a man, who had no father or guardian to warn him against the quicksands of error or point him to the temple of science; his intellect enveloped in the rude attire of nature’s quarry at the age of twenty; when we see such a man bursting the chains that bind his mental powers—divesting himself of the dark mantle of ignorance—unveiling his native talents, and shining in all the beauty of intelligence and greatness—we are filled with admiration and delight.

Such a man was Roger Sherman, the great-grandson of Captain John Sherman, who came from England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. Roger was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. His father, William Sherman, was a respectable farmer, with means too limited to educate his son, and, at an early age, bound him to a shoemaker. Like Franklin, at the age of nineteen, he wandered from his master to seek his fortune, and like him, he had a genius that no shop could confine, no obstacle intimidate, or difficulty paralyze. The course of his mind was onward, upward; like a new and blazing star, illuminating the horizon as it rose. Nature designed him to be great and good; he obeyed her dictates.

He went to New Milford, in Connecticut, where he followed shoe-making three years, living within the strictest rules of economy, contributing from his earnings to the support of a widowed mother, with a family of small children. The education of his young brothers and sisters, also received his attention. Every leisure moment he devoted to books, often having one open before him when using his lap stone. With each succeeding day, his mind expanded, unfolding beauties rich and rare. Every obstacle to the pursuit of knowledge, melted before his untiring industry; he ascended the hill of science with a firm and steady pace.

In June, 1743, he removed his mother and her family to New Milford, and entered into the mercantile business with an elder brother—still pursuing his studies as opportunities permitted. He soon stored his capacious memory with a fund of rich and useful information, that ultimately placed him on the pinnacle of public esteem and usefulness. About that time, he made a public profession of religion, which he adorned through subsequent life. In 1745, he was appointed surveyor of Litchfield county, having made himself familiar with mathematics. Like his contemporary and friend, Benjamin Franklin, he made the calculations of an almanac several years, for a publisher in New York.

At the age of twenty-eight, he married Miss Elizabeth Hartwell, of Staughton, Massachusetts, who died in 1780, leaving seven children. He subsequently married Miss Rebecca Prescott, who lived to have eight children, all of whom, with those by his first wife, he carefully trained in the ways of wisdom and virtue. He also supported his mother, and a maiden sister whose health was poor, until death relieved them, at an advanced age, from the toils of life.

In the prosecution of his literary pursuits, he turned his attention to the study of law, in which he made astonishing proficiency. In 1754, he was admitted to the bar, better prepared to act well his part and do justice to his clients, than many who are ushered into notice under the high floating banners of a collegiate diploma.

The following year he was appointed a justice of the peace and elected a member of the colonial assembly; an honour that was conferred upon him during the remainder of his residence at that place. He was highly esteemed by his fellow citizens. His reputation as a lawyer and statesman stood high, and his private worth enabled him to exercise a salutary influence upon those around him. For industry, sound logic, prudence, and discretion, he stood unrivalled in the colony. Strong common sense, the true helm of human action, marked his whole career; rendering him substantially and extensively useful to his fellow men and his country. He was a philanthropist of the highest order, a patriot of the purest water.

In 1759, he was appointed a judge of the county court of Litchfield, and discharged his official duties with great faithfulness and impartiality, correcting vice and promoting virtue.

Two years after, he removed to New Haven, where he was appointed justice of the peace, elected to the assembly, and, in 1765, was placed upon the judicial bench of the county court. He received the degree of master of arts from Yale College, of which he was treasurer for many years, fulfilling the trust with scrupulous honesty and fidelity.

In 1766, he was elected a member of the executive council, which was hailed as an auspicious event by the friends of liberal principles. The mother country had manifested a disposition to impose unjust taxation upon the Americans. It required discernment, experience, nerve and decision, to comprehend and oppose the corrupt plans of an avaricious ministry. The colonies had borne the main burden of the French war, in which they had sacrificed large sums of money and fountains of their richest blood. After years of incessant toil, the foe had been conquered, an honourable peace for England obtained, the frontier settlements in a measure relieved from danger, and the soldier again became the citizen.

Whilst their rejoicings on that occasion were yet on the wings of echo, oppression from the crown threatened to blast their fond anticipations of happiness and repose, and bind them in chains, more to be dreaded than the tomahawk and scalping knife.

This colony had furnished more money and men, and lost more of her bravest sons in the French war than any other with the same population. Mr. Sherman had been an active member of the assembly during the period of its prosecution, and remembered well the sacrifices that had been made to gratify the king. He understood perfectly the rights of his own country and those of the crown. He was eminently prepared to discover approaching danger and sound the alarm. He was well calculated to probe the intrigues and venality of designing men, although the Atlantic rolled between him and them.

Mr. Grenville, who was at the head of the British ministry, determined to reduce his long-nursed theory of taxing the American colonies, to immediate practice. The alarm was immediately spread. Appeals for redress, petitions, and remonstrances, numerously signed, were forwarded to parliament; but all in vain. Reason and justice were dethroned and mercy banished from her seat. The car of oppression moved onward; the stamp act was passed; the indignation of the colonists was roused. After much exertion and excitement, this law was repealed, to the great joy of the Americans; but they soon found that the storm was only lulled to gather new strength, and pour down its wrath upon their devoted heads with tenfold fury. The year following a duty was laid upon tea, glass, paper, and paints. High toned chords were then touched, and their reverberation reached the heart of every freeman. The tea was hurled into the ocean and the law set at open defiance. This spirited opposition induced a repeal of these duties, except on the first named article. This exception was death to the colonial power of England; to America, freedom. Popular fury increased; kindred spirits united to repel the injury, determined to defend their liberty, regardless of consequences. Amidst these commotions, Mr. Sherman remained undaunted at his post, watching, with a calm and prophetic mind, the moving elements. Although elevated to the bench of the superior court, he remained in the executive council, a firm and consistent advocate of his country’s rights; a lucid delineator of Britain’s wrongs. He viewed the gathering clouds as they rolled in fury; he saw the lightning of revenge streaming fearfully, without the tremor of a muscle, coolly awaiting the event, relying on Heaven, trusting in God.

High handed and tyrannical measures were now adopted by Parliament. Laws were passed, violating the chartered rights of the colonists, subversive of reason, humanity, and justice. A volcanic storm gathered; the British lion prowled in anger: the Albion Goliah buckled on his armour; the shining steel dazzled in the sun; the sword of vengeance was drawn; colonial blood was spilt; popular fury was roused; allegiance was dissolved; America was free.

At this momentous, this thrilling crisis, a band of sages and patriots assembled at Philadelphia, to devise means for the safety of their bleeding country. In the front rank stood Roger Sherman, in all the dignity of his native greatness. He was a member of the first continental Congress, and remained firm and unwavering at his post, during the trying scenes of the revolution, the formation of the new government, and the adoption of the federal constitution. With a gigantic mind, improved and enlarged by a rich fund of useful knowledge, inured to all the toils and intricacies of legislation, the history of his country and of nations spread upon his memory, the ingratitude and insults of a foreign monarch preying upon his soul, he was prepared to render his country services, equalled by few, exceeded by none.

His capacity was equal to every emergency: he shrunk from no duty; discharged every responsibility assumed; moving, with the mathematical precision of a planet, within the orbit of sound discretion. He was familiar with men and things, acquainted with the minutiæ of human nature, traced causes and results to their true source, and viewed, with a philosophic eye, the secret springs of human action; the arcana of economies was open before him; he solved problems, demonstrated principles, placing them in the full blaze of illustration, as irresistible as the pages of Euclid. Such was the self-taught Roger Sherman.

The session of 1775 was one of great labour, anxiety, and embarrassment. None but “hearts of oak, and nerves of steel,” could have sustained the tremendous shock, the fearful onset. An army was to be raised and organized, military stores provided, fortifications erected, rules of government adopted, plans of operation matured, internal enemies encountered, and legions of Britain’s bravest veterans to be repelled. To meet these emergencies, the members of Congress had hearts full of courage, but a treasury empty and bare. A forlorn hope was before them—a revenging foe on their shores. But they had resolved on liberty or death. Nor did they “split on the rock of resolves, where thousands live and die the same.” They met the fury of the king, encountering his vials of wrath with a firmness, wisdom, and patriotism, before unknown; placing them above all Greek, all Roman fame. Their course was onward towards the goal of FREEDOM. No threats of vengeance dismayed them—the shafts of terror fell harmless at their feet.

In 1776, with the colonies bleeding at every pore; a picture of sad reverses before them; a conquering enemy sweeping over their land like a destructive torrent; the streams purpled with the blood of their brethren; the cries of widows and orphans ringing in their ears; the sky illuminated by the streaming blaze of their towns; this band of patriots conceived the bold and towering plan of independence—a plan that stamped their heads, their hearts, their names, with immortal fame.

Early in the summer, Messrs. Sherman, Adams, Franklin, Livingston and Jefferson, were appointed a committee to draft a declaration of rights. After much deliberation, it was prepared, reported, and, on the memorable 4th of July, 1776, received the hearty sanction of the Continental Congress, amidst the transporting joys of freemen, who hailed it as the bright, the morning star; to them, a prelude of future bliss; to tyrants, a burning meteor, threatening to devour them.

Illustrious in all their actions, the signers of the declaration were eminently so, when, assuming their native dignity, they rose, in all the majesty of greatness, bursting their servile chains; cutting asunder the cords of oppressive allegiance; sublimely passing the grand Rubicon; and, in view of an approving Heaven and an admiring world, declared their country free and independent. The era was one of resplendent glory, sacred to the cause of human rights, enduring as the tablet of time, brilliant as the meridian sun. The sages whose signatures grace the chart of our liberty placed themselves on the loftiest spire fame could rear. By their own consciences, by their countrymen, by Heaven, and in view of gazing millions, they stood approved, applauded, and admired.

No member of the Continental Congress had studied more closely and comprehended more clearly finance and political economy than Judge Sherman. His mind was moulded in system, his plans were judicious, and his habits frugal. He was a practical man and conversant with every department of government. He was an efficient member of the board of war, ordnance, and the treasury. In short, he was placed on the most important committees during the long and bloody struggle of the revolution. His plans for replenishing the treasury, regulating expenditures, and disbursing moneys, were based on rules of economy and frugality, corresponding with the emergency of the times. Fraudulent contractors shrunk before his penetrating scrutiny; speculations upon government were often paralyzed by his torpedo touch; and he guarded, with an eagle eye and a father’s care, the interests of the young republic.

In the estimation of Washington, the members of Congress, and of the nation, the talents of Roger Sherman, for sterling integrity and substantial usefulness, were second to none among the bright constellations that illuminated the memorable era of ’76. In those days the ladder of fame was firmly based on honest merit and modest worth. It required no stump speeches or bar-room harangues to gain popular favour. The tree was judged by its fruit; principles and not men, were the political land marks. It was also a time of labour. Inglorious ease was not known in the legislative halls; long written speeches were not read to the speaker and walls of the house: the business of the nation was the order of the day; that business was done faithfully, promptly, and effectually. Posts of honour were then posts of duty; profit was out of the question. The motives and actions of the revolutionary sages and heroes were not based on the seven principles of five loaves and two fishes, but on love of country, social order, and human rights.

By the citizens of his own state the virtues and talents of Mr. Sherman were held in high estimation. In addition to his congressional honours, they continued him a member of council during the war. In 1784, when New Haven received a city charter, he was elected mayor, filling the office with dignity and usefulness to the close of his life, when not absent on more important public duties.

At the termination of the war, he, in conjunction with Judge Law, was appointed to revise the judicial code of Connecticut, which duty was performed with great ability, and to the satisfaction of all concerned. He was a member of the general convention that framed the federal constitution. From a manuscript found amongst his papers, it appears that this instrument of union received many of its original features from Mr. Sherman. To his conceptive mind and practical wisdom, we are much indebted for the towering greatness and unparalleled prosperity we so eminently enjoy, and which will endure so long as we are faithful to ourselves. With all the local and conflicting interests of the colonies spread open to his view, he was enabled to exercise a salutary influence in reconciling difficulties between the members, that, for a time, threatened to hurl back the elements of government into original chaos, and prostrate the fair fabric of liberty.

By examining the profound discussions, the variety of opinions, the multifarious interests, the intense anxiety, the agony of soul, and sacrifices of private views that characterized the formation of the federal constitution, we discover wisdom, discretion and patriotism of the purest, loftiest kind, shining in all the grandeur of bold relievo.

Based upon the declaration of rights, it forms a superstructure towering in sublimity above all others, radiating its heart-cheering influence over sixteen millions of freemen, revered at home, respected abroad, and without a rival in the annals of legislation.

Judge Sherman did much to remove the objections made against this important document by the people of his own and adjoining states. He showed them clearly, and convinced them fully, that to effect and perpetuate the union, private feeling and interest must yield to public policy and public good; and that each state should strive to produce an equilibrium in the government of the whole. The wisdom of the sages who framed, and by their continued exertion and salutary influence effected the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, deserves our admiration quite as much as when they guided our nation through the storms of the revolution. It is often easier to acquire a particular object than to properly enjoy and preserve it.

Judge Sherman was elected a member of the first congress under the new government, and resigned his judicial station that he might take a seat in that body. His influence had great weight in the national legislature. His exertions to promote the interests of his country were unremitting. Traces of his magnanimity and prophetic policy are upon the journals, and in many of the early laws of our country.

Upon many subjects members differed, and, in some instances, much warmth and acrimony were exhibited. On such occasions, Mr. Sherman was peculiarly happy in his exertions to produce reconciliation. He was emphatically a peace maker.

At the expiration of his representative term, he was elected to the United States Senate, of which he was a member when he closed his useful career, and bade a long adieu, a final farewell, to earth and its toils. He died on the 23d of July, 1793, in the full enjoyment of that religion he had honoured and practised in all the changing scenes of his eventful pilgrimage. He had lived the life of a good man, his closing scene was calm, happy, and serene. He could triumph over death and the grave, reaching forward to receive the enduring prize of immortal glory. He could approach the dread tribunal of the great Jehovah, smiling and smiled upon; and enter into pure and unalloyed bliss, lasting as the rolling ages of eternity.

Thus closed the valuable and useful life of Roger Sherman. He had been a faithful public servant nearly forty years. He had participated in all the trying scenes of the revolution; he had seen his country burst into being, a nation of freemen. He had aided in effecting a consolidation of the government; he had seen the dawnings of prosperity. In all the important measures of the state of his adoption, and of the American nation, he had taken an active and important part, from the commencement of the French war to the time of his death.

As a Christian, he was esteemed by all denominations, for his consistent piety and liberal charity. With him, sectarianism was not religion; for him it had no charms. His philanthropy was as broad as creation; it reached from earth to Heaven. He made himself acquainted with the abstrusest branches of theology, and was an esteemed correspondent of several celebrated divines.

In the history of Roger Sherman, we behold one of nature’s fairest sheets of purest white, covered with all the sublime delineations that dignify a man, and assimilate him to his Creator. His life was crowned with unfading laurels, plucked from the rich soil of genuine worth and substantial merit. No ephemeral flowers decked his venerable brow. A chaplet of amaranthine roses surmounts his well-earned fame. The mementos of his examples are a rich boon to posterity, and, whilst religion and social order survive, the virtues of this great and good man will shine in all the majesty of light. His private character was as pure as his public career was illustrious. He buried none of his talents; he fulfilled the design of his creation.

By his example it is plainly demonstrated, that man is the architect of his own fortune. By industry and perseverance, with the aid of books, now accessible to all, young apprentices and mechanics may surmount the Alpine summit of science, and take their stations, with superior advantages, by the side of those who have become enervated within the walls of a college. No one in our land of intelligence is excusable for growing up under the dark shades of ignorance. The sun of science has risen, and all who will, may bask in its genial rays. The field of knowledge and path to glory are open to all. The means of acquiring information are far superior to those enjoyed by Sherman and Franklin. Let their bright and shining examples be imitated by Columbia’s sons, and our happy republic will live for centuries. Let ignorance, corruption, and fanaticism predominate, and the fair fabric of our freedom, reared by the valour, and cemented by the blood of the revolutionary patriots, will tremble, totter, and fall. Chaos will mount the car of discord, sound the dread clarion of death, and LIBERTY will expire amidst the smoking ruins of her own citadel. Remember that “knowledge is power,” wealth “the sinews of power,” and that honesty, virtue, and integrity are the regulators of them both. Remember that intrigue, fanaticism, and faction may prostrate, at one bold stroke, the fairest, noblest work of years.

EDWARD RUTLEDGE.

The thrilling subject of American Independence is ever welcome to the patriot and philanthropist. The annual celebration of the event is calculated to perpetuate a kindred feeling and a kindred love of liberty. The time may arrive when the day may not be celebrated, but to the end of time the event, and the names of those who achieved it, will be handed down on the historic page with pride and veneration. The names of the Signers of the Declaration, like those of the twelve Apostles, are surrounded by a wreath of glory unfading and untarnished. Among them we find that of Edward Rutledge, who was born in Charleston, S. C., in November, 1749. His father, Dr. John Rutledge, was a native of Ireland, who married Sarah Hert, a lady of high accomplishments, piety and good sense. Edward lost his father at an early age, and, like those of many great and good men, his mind was moulded by his mother. After passing through the usual routine of an education, he commenced the study of law with an elder brother, who stood high at the Charleston bar. Whilst he stored his mind with Coke and Bacon, he paid great attention to elocution. In 1769 he went to England, became a student at the temple, made himself familiar with the practice of courts, with the rules of parliament, with the policy, designs and feelings of the British ministry, and cultivated an acquaintance with the celebrated orators and statesmen Chatham, Mansfield and others. In 1773, he returned, richly laden with stock for future use. He commenced a successful practice, uniting an expressive countenance, a good voice, a rich imagination, elegance of action, an honourable mind, and a good heart, with strong native talent, improved by superior advantages and untiring industry.

He soon acquired a merited eminence as a bold, discreet and able advocate. He was peculiarly happy in his exertions excited by the spur of the moment, a talent always useful to a lawyer, and eminently useful to a statesman during a revolutionary struggle. His lamp was always trimmed and burning, and with true Irish zeal and eloquence, he was always ready to enter the arena where duty called him. He had a warm heart for the weak and oppressed.

It was self-evident that talents like his were well calculated to promote the cause of emancipation, and Mr. Rutledge was among the first selected members to the continental congress in 1774. This alone was sufficient to place him on the list of imperishable fame; for none but men of superior merit, known fortitude, and of pure patriotism, were selected to represent their country’s rights and repel a monarch’s wrongs. Such a man was Edward Rutledge. With the ardour of an Emmet, he united great prudence and discretion. By his open frankness of expression he incurred the displeasure of the crown adherents, but imparted the holy flame of patriotism to the friends of liberty in a pre-eminent degree.

With all his ardour and zeal he was a friend to order and opposed to mobocracy. He acted from enlightened and liberal principles, aiming to build every superstructure on the firm basis of reason and justice. To this nobleness of design, conceived and adhered to by all of the signers of the declaration, may be attributed the lofty dignity that pervaded that august body. Revolution is a tornado where prudence seldom enters to neutralize its baneful effects; but when such men as those who constituted the first American congress in Philadelphia combine, men who could command the whirlwind of passion, and conduct the lightning of revenge by the silken cords of reason, and the steel rods of unbending patriotism to a desired and useful destination, revolution is stripped of its bane and is crowned with unfading glory. Such were the signers of the declaration—such was the American revolution. We find Mr. Rutledge associated with several important committees of the continental congress, and among them he was appointed with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to meet Lord Howe, when he came clothed with authority to offer humiliating terms of peace. No three men could have been selected whose combined talents were better calculated to inspire awe and respect. They were received and treated with marked attention by his lordship, who became convinced, that under the direction of such spirits as these, the rebels would conquer or die. They detested his offers of pardon, for who had they injured? They disclaimed all right of the crown to their allegiance; it had been sacrificed at the shrine of an ambitious ministry. Freedom was their motto—Liberty their watchword, and their terms Independence or death. They had resolved “to do or die.”

As a sound, judicious and able statesman, Mr. Rutledge stood high; his brow was also decked by laurels in the field. He had long commanded a company in the ancient battalion of artillery. When the British landed at Port Royal in 1779, he led his company to the attack with the skill and courage of a veteran. At no battle during the revolution was more personal bravery displayed than at this, nor was the enemy, at any time, more chagrined at a total defeat by raw militia. It was a mystery to them to find in the same man, the statesman, the soldier and the hero. He was at a subsequent period elected colonel. During the investment of Charleston by the enemy in 1780, he was again in the field, but was unfortunately taken prisoner, sent to St. Augustine, and not exchanged for nearly a year. Before his return the dark clouds began to recede, and the horizon of liberty was slowly illuminated by the rays of hope.

He returned to his native state and aided in restoring the civil government that had been paralyzed by the cruel conquering arm of the crown. He was a member of the enraged assembly who met at Jacksonborough in 1782, and with his recent injuries and those of his friends bleeding fresh before him, he sanctioned the bill of pains and penalties, that, under other circumstances, would not have received his approval, and which, during the time it remained in force, he used every exertion to meliorate.

Among those who had been tortured by persecution was his venerable mother, who had been taken from her peaceful home in the country and confined in Charleston, then occupied by the British; a high compliment to her talents and patriotism, placing her on the list of fame with the matrons of Greece and Rome.

During the whole of the doubtful and protracted struggle of the revolution, Mr. Rutledge remained its steady and zealous advocate, and gave his best exertions in its behalf. After its termination, he again returned to the bosom of his friends and the labours of his profession. His private worth took deep root in the affections of the community, and he had the confidence and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances.

In organizing the new government of his native state, he acted a useful and consistent part. Many difficulties were to be overcome, many clashing local interests to be reconciled, and many measures and laws adopted, to restore an equilibrium in private and public concerns. A great commotion existed between debtors and creditors; specie was out of the question; the paper currency was nearly annihilated, and many who felt that they had shaken off the British yoke, were about to fall into the hands of relentless creditors, who, when prompted by avarice, are as destitute of mercy as the pirate is of compassion. Instances are on record in our own country, (I blush as I write,) where some of those very veterans who bled for our boasted freedom, have been incarcerated in a prison by the cold inquisitorial creditor, for sums so trifling that shame would hide its face to name them.

In this dilemma, Mr. Rutledge was among those who proposed and passed a law, making property a lawful tender for debts; a law purely republican, but so obnoxious to avarice, that most men, who are aristocrats just in proportion to the amount of wealth they acquire above the wants of life, oppose it.

He also favoured the instalment law, and used his best exertions to meliorate the condition of the poor as well as the rich, by the enactment of laws based upon humanity and justice. He took an active part in most of the legislation of the state, and when the federal constitution was presented for consideration, he was, taking it as a whole, its warm and zealous advocate. Purely republican in principle, he was always opposed to slavery, deeming it a national curse. He was untiring in his labour—emphatically a working man. Dr. Ramsay remarks of him, “For the good obtained and the evil prevented, his memory will be long respected by his countrymen.”

As I have before remarked, he was a friend to order and law, and when any measure was consummated by legislative action, or by any public functionary duly authorized to act, he delighted in seeing it fulfilled to the letter. Although he was in feeling with the French when difficulties arose between them and England, he reprobated strongly the conduct of M. Genet and the French Directory. He was not a party man, but was always actuated by a sense of duty, and a pure desire for the prosperity of his country. His was the stern, unflinching moderation, calculated to awe a mob, paralyze a faction, and preserve, pure and undefiled, that lofty patriotism which commands esteem and respect.

In 1798 he was elected governor of his native state. Soon after, disease fastened its relentless hands upon him, and handed him over to the king of terrors in the mid career of his term. During the legislative session of 1800, his illness increased so rapidly that he felt an assurance that his dissolution was rapidly approaching, and was desirous of returning to Charleston, that he might yield up his breath where he first inhaled the atmosphere. The constitution required the presence of the governor during the sitting of the legislature, and so scrupulous was he to fulfil its letter, that he determined to remain unless both branches passed a resolution sanctioning his absence. The subject was submitted, but on some debate arising from the partisan feeling then prevalent, the application was immediately withdrawn, and he remained until the legislature adjourned. He was barely able to reach his home, when he laid down upon the bed of death and yielded to the only tyrant that could conquer his patriotic spirit, on the 23d of January, 1800. The same fortitude that had characterized his whole life, was strongly exhibited during his last illness, and did not forsake him in his dying hours. His loss was severely felt and deeply lamented by his mourning fellow-citizens. In the death of this good man, his native state lost one of its brightest ornaments, one of its noblest sons.

Governor Rutledge stood high as an orator. He appears to have understood well the machinery of human nature, and knew well when to address the judgment and when the passions of his audience. In exciting the sympathy of a jury, he had no equal at the Charleston bar. He also knew how, where, and when to be logical; and, what is all-important in every man, either in the public or private walks of life, he knew how, when, and where to speak, and what to say. His private worth and public services were highly honourable to himself, consoling to his friends and beneficial to his country. His usefulness only ended with his life; his fame is untarnished with error; his examples are worthy of imitation, and his life without a blank.

By his first wife, Harriet, daughter of Henry Middleton, one of his colleagues in congress, he had a son and daughter, the latter of whom remained in Charleston, the former, Major Henry M. Rutledge, became one of the pioneers of Tennessee. God grant that he may imitate the virtues of his venerable father, and fill the blank our country experienced in the death of the wise, the judicious, the benevolent, the philanthropic, the patriotic, and the high minded Edward Rutledge.

THOMAS M’KEAN.

But few men have contributed more to fill the measure of the glory and prosperity of their country, than the subject of this brief sketch. He was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and born on the 19th day of March, 1734. He was the son of William M’Kean, who immigrated from Ireland when quite young. He placed Thomas, at an early age, under the tuition of the Rev. Francis Allison, then principal of one of the most celebrated Seminaries of the Province, and a gentleman of profound science and erudition. The talents of Thomas soon budded and blossomed like the early rose of spring. His mind was moulded for close application to study; his proficiency was truly gratifying to his teachers and friends, and gave high promise of unusual attainments. He became a thorough linguist, a practical mathematician, and a moral philosopher. He was a faithful student, and left the seminary, a finished scholar and an accomplished gentleman, esteemed and respected by his numerous acquaintances.

He then commenced the study of law under David Kinney, Esquire, at New Castle, Delaware. He explored the vast field of this science with astonishing and unusual success, and was admitted to the bar under the most favourable auspices. He commenced practice at the same place, and soon acquired a lucrative business and a proud reputation. He extended his operations into the province of his nativity, and was admitted in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in 1757. His strict attention to business and his superior legal acquirements, obtained for him an extensive and just celebrity. Although he had become the eloquent advocate and able lawyer, he was still a close and industrious student. He continued to add to his large stock of knowledge, with the same avidity and to greater advantage, than when he commenced his scientific career. He did not fall into the error that has prevented some lawyers of strong native talent from rising above mediocrity: that when their practice begins their studies end. This is a rock on which many have been shipwrecked in all the learned professions. The laws of nature demand a constant supply of food in the intellectual as well as in the physical world. The corroding rust of forgetfulness will mar the most brilliant acquirements, of literature, unless kept bright by use; and much study is requisite to keep pace with the march of mind and the ever varying changes in the field of science, constantly under the cultivation of the soaring intellect of man. It maybe said, that the grand basis of the law is as unchanging as the rock of adamant. To this I answer: its superstructure is an increasing labyrinth, and, unless the progress of the work is kept constantly in view, those who enter, strangers to its meanderings, will find themselves in a perplexing situation.

In 1762, Mr. M’Kean was elected a member of the Delaware assembly from New Castle county, and was continued in that station for eleven successive years, when he removed to the city of Philadelphia. So much attached to him were the people of that county, that they continued to elect him for six succeeding years after his removal, although he necessarily declined the honour of serving. He was claimed by Delaware and Pennsylvania as a favourite son of each, under the old regimen, and did, in fact, serve both after changing his residence, by being elected to the continental congress from the state of Delaware, being then Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, the former state claiming him, probably, because he still retained his mansion, furnished by himself, in New Castle, where his business frequently called him.

In 1779, he attempted to take final leave of his constituents in Delaware, and on that occasion, as a large meeting was convened for the purpose, made a most animating, patriotic and thrilling speech; portraying, in glowing colours, the bright prospects that were dawning upon the infant republic, and the certainty of being able to maintain the independence of the United States. After he retired, a committee waited upon him, with the novel request, that he would name seven gentlemen, suitable to be elected to the assembly. He desired them to report his thanks for the confidence they expressed in his judgment, and assured them there were not only seven but seventy then in the meeting, fully qualified to represent the people, and begged to be excused from naming any gentlemen, lest he should give offence. A second time the committee called and insisted on the selection by him, with the full assurance that he would give no offence. He then named seven candidates, and had the gratification to learn that they were all elected. An unlimited confidence in his abilities and integrity, was strongly felt by his constituents, he continued to represent them in congress during the eventful period of the war.

In 1765, he was a member of the Congress of New York, sent from Delaware. He was one of the committee that drafted the memorable address to the House of Commons of Great Britain. His patriotism, love of liberty, and unbending firmness of purpose; were fully demonstrated in that instrument, as well as in the acts of his subsequent life. He was a republican to the core, and despised the chains of political slavery, the baubles of monarchy, and the trappings of a crown. He was for LIBERTY or death, and scorned to be a slave.

On his return, the same year, he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas, quarter sessions, and orphans’ court, of New Castle county. The stamp act was then in full life, but not in full force: Judge M’Kean directed the officers of the courts over which he presided not to use stamped paper, as had been ordered by the hirelings of the British ministers. He set their authority at utter defiance, and was the first Judge, in any of the colonies, who took this bold stand. That circumstance alone, trifling as it may now seem to some readers, was big with events, and was an important entering wedge to the revolution, and stamped his name, in bold relievo, on the tablet of enduring fame. He had talent to design and energy to execute. From that time forward, in all the leading measures of the struggle for liberty, he was among the leading patriots.

He was a prominent member of the congress of 1774, that convened at Philadelphia. From that time to the peace of 1783, he was a member of the continental congress, and the only one who served during the whole time. He was a strong advocate for the declaration of independence, and most willingly affixed his signature to that sacred instrument. When it came up for final action, so anxious was he that it should pass unanimously, that he sent an express after Cæsar Rodney, one of his colleagues, the other, Mr. Read, having manifested a disposition to vote against it. Mr. Rodney arrived on the 4th of July, just in time to give his vote in favour of the important measure, and thus secured its unanimous adoption. Notwithstanding the arduous duties that devolved on Mr. M’Kean, as member of congress, member of several committees, and chief justice of Pennsylvania, all of which he discharged satisfactorily—so ardent was his patriotism, so devoted was he to promote the cause he had nobly espoused, that he accepted a colonel’s commission, and was appointed to the command of a regiment of associators, raised in the city of Philadelphia, and marched to the support of Gen. Washington, with whom he remained until a supply of new recruits was raised. During his absence, his Delaware constituents had elected him a member of the convention to form a constitution. On his return he proceeded to New Castle, and, in a tavern, without premeditation or consulting men or books, he hastily penned the constitution that was adopted by the delegates. Understanding the wants and feelings of the people, well versed in law and the principles of republicanism, and a ready writer, he was enabled to perform, in a few hours, a work that, in modern times, requires the labours of an expensive assembly for nearly a year. How changed are men and things since the glorious era of ’76! How different the motives that now impel to action, and how different the amount of labour performed in the same time and for the same money. Then all were anxious to listen! now nearly all are anxious to speak. Then, legislators loved their country more, and the loaves and fishes less, than at the present day.

On the 10th of July, 1781, Judge M’Kean was elected president of congress, which honour he was compelled to decline, because his duties as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania would necessarily require his absence some part of the time during the session. He was then urged to occupy the chair until the first Monday of November, when the court was to commence. To this he assented, and presided until that time, with great credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the members of that august body. On his retiring from the chair, the following resolution was unanimously passed on the 7th of November, 1781:

“Resolved, That the thanks of congress be given to the Honourable Thomas M’Kean, late president of congress, in testimony of their approbation of his conduct in the chair, and in the execution of public business.”

His duties upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which commenced in 1777, were often of the most responsible and arduous character. He did not recognise the power of the crown, and held himself amenable, in the discharge of his official functions, only to his country and his God. An able jurist and an unyielding patriot, he punished, at the hazard of his own life, all who were brought before him and convicted of violating the laws of the new dynasty. No threats could intimidate or influence reach him, when designed to divert him from the independent discharge of his duty. His profound legal acquirements, his ardent zeal, his equal justice, his vigorous energy and his noble patriotism, enabled him to outride every storm, and calm the raging billows that often surrounded him. He marched on triumphantly to the goal of LIBERTY, and hailed with joy the star spangled banner, as it waved in grandeur from the lofty spires of the temple of FREEDOM. He beheld, with the eye of a sage, a philosopher, and a philanthropist, the rising glory of Columbia’s new world. He viewed, with emotions of pleasing confidence, the American eagle descend from etherial regions, beyond the altitude of a tyrant’s breath, and pounce upon the British lion. With increasing vigour and redoubled fury, the mighty bird continued the awful conflict, until the king of beasts retreated to his lair, and proclaimed to a gazing and admiring world, America is free!! Angels rejoiced, monarchs trembled, and patriots shouted aloud—Amen!! The grand Rubicon was passed, the torch of England’s power over the colonies had expired in its socket, and the birth of a new nation was celebrated by happy millions, basking beneath the luminous rays and refulgent glories of LIBERTY and FREEDOM! The harvest was past, the summer ended, and our country saved. The mighty work of political regeneration was accomplished, the independence of the United States acknowledged, and an honourable peace consummated.

Judge M’Kean, in common with his fellow patriots, heroes and sages, then sat down under his own fig tree, to enjoy the full fruition of his long and faithful labours in the cause of equal rights. He continued to discharge the important duties of chief justice until 1799, illuminating his judicial path with profound learning, impartial decision, and sound discretion. His legal opinions, based as they generally are, upon the firm pillars of equal justice, strict equity, and correct law; given, as they were, when our form of government was changing, the laws unsettled, our state constitution but just formed, and the federal constitution bursting from embryo—are monuments of fame, enduring as social order, revered, respected, and canonized.

He was a member of the convention that formed the constitution of Pennsylvania adopted in 1790, and exercised an influence in that body that was of the most salutary kind. In 1799 he was elected governor of the key-stone state, and contributed largely in adding new strength and beauty to the grand arch of our union. For nine successive years he wielded the destinies of the land of Penn, commencing at a period when the mountain waves of party spirit were rolling over the United States with a fury before unknown. But amidst the foaming and conflicting elements, Governor M’Kean stood at the helm of state, calm as a summer morning, firm as a mountain of granite, and guided his noble ship through the raging storm, unscathed and unharmed. His annual messages to the legislature for elegance and force of language, correct and liberal views of policy, and a luminous exposition of law and rules of government, stand unrivalled and unsurpassed. The clamours of his political enemies he passed by as the idle wind; the suggestions of his friends he scanned with the most rigid scrutiny. Neither flattery or censure could drive him from the strong citadel of his own matured judgment. The good of his country and the glory of the American character, formed the grand basis of his actions.

The fawning sycophant and the brawling demagogue, he spurned with contempt. By honest means alone he desired the advancement of the party that had elevated him. Open and avowed principles, fully proclaimed and strictly carried out, were by him submitted to the people, frankly and cordially, without prevarication or disguise. He was a politician of the old school, when each party had plain and visible landmarks, distinctive names, and fixed principles. Political chemists had not then introduced the modern process of amalgamation, producing a heterogenous mass, that defies the power of analyzation, scientific arrangement, or classical separation.

Governor M’Kean respected those of his political opponents who opposed him from an honest difference of opinion, and numbered among them many personal friends. He was free from that narrow-minded policy, based upon self, that actuates too many of those of the present day, who assume the high responsibility of becoming the arbiters of the minds of their fellow men. His views were expansive and liberal, broad and charitable. He aimed at distributing equal justice to all, the rich and poor, the public officer and private citizen. He was free from that contracted selfishness that prefers present aggrandizement to future good. To lay deep the foundations of lasting and increasing prosperity for his own state and for our nation, was the object of this pure patriot, enlightened statesman, and able jurist. Her vast resources, her wide spread territory, her majestic rivers, her silvery lakes, her mineral mountains, her rich valleys, her rolling uplands, her beautiful prairies, her extensive seaboard, her enterprising sons and virtuous daughters, were arrayed before his gigantic mind, and passed him in grand review. He was firmly convinced that she had only to be wise and good to be great and happy. To this end he embraced every opportunity, both in public and private life, to inculcate, by precept and example, those great principles of moral rectitude, inflexible virtue, purity of motive, and nobleness of action, that alone can permanently preserve a nation. He cast a withering frown upon vice in all its borrowed and alluring forms, and exerted his strongest powers to arrest the bold career of crime and corruption. He was a terror to evil doers, and inspired confidence in those who did well. His administration was prosperous and enlightened, and when he closed his public duties, the bitterness of his political opponents was lost in the admiration of his patriotism, virtue, impartiality, consistency, and candour.

In 1808 he retired from the ponderous weight of public business, that he had so long and honourably borne. He had devoted a long life to the faithful service of his country, and was covered with laurels of imperishable fame. He stood approved at the bar of his own conscience, his country, and his God. He had acted well his part, and had contributed largely in raising the American character to a proud elevation among the nations of the earth. Thus highly stood Governor M’Kean, when he bid a final adieu, a last farewell to the public arena, and retired to the peaceful city of Penn, to breathe his life out sweetly there. He outlived all the animosities that a faithful minister of the laws unavoidably creates for a time, and on the 24th of June, 1817, at his residence in Philadelphia, resigned his spirit to Him who gave it, and entered upon the untried scenes of a boundless eternity, to reap the rich reward of a life well spent.

His private character was beyond reproach, unsullied as the virgin sheet. His person was tall and erect, his countenance bold, intelligent, and commanding; his manners urbane, gentlemanly, and affable; his feelings noble, generous, and humane; and his conduct open, frank, and republican. He never shrunk from what he deemed duty, and was always actuated by a desire to promote the interest of the human family and the general good of mankind. He was a refined philanthropist, an acute philosopher, an enlightened statesman, an impartial judge, an able magistrate, and a truly great and good man.

PHILIP LIVINGSTON.

Men often engage in transactions and designs, that produce results in direct opposition to those anticipated. Thus, religious persecution scattered the primitive Christians into various parts of the earth, and, instead of annihilating the doctrines of the Cross, they were more widely spread and diffused through the world. For the enjoyment of the liberty of conscience, the emigrants to New England left their native homes; for the same reason, the Huguenots of France fled before the withering blasts of the revolution of the edict of Nantes in 1685, many of them settling in the city of New York. To the persecuted and oppressed, America was represented as a land of rest, and emigrants poured in upon our shores from France, Holland, Germany, England, Ireland, and Scotland; among whom were many eminent for piety, intelligence, and liberal principles. To the latter place, we trace the ancestor of the subject of this brief sketch. The great grandfather of Philip Livingston was an eminent divine in the church of Scotland, and, in 1663, emigrated to Rotterdam, a city of the Netherlands, in South Holland, where he died nine years after. His son Robert emigrated to America, and obtained a grant for the manor along the Hudson river, which is remarkable for the beauty of its location and the richness of its soil.

He had three sons, Philip, the father of the present subject, Robert, grandfather of Chancellor Livingston, and Gilbert, the grandfather of the Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston, who stood high as a scholar and divine. The subject of this memoir was his fourth son, born at Albany, 15th of January, 1716.

Mr. Livingston was among the few, who, in those days, received a college education. After his preparatory studies, he entered Yale College, and graduated in 1737. In common with most of the descendants of that celebrated family, he was blessed with strong native talent, which he improved by an excellent education. With principles firmly based on religion and moral rectitude, he was eminently prepared to commence a career of usefulness. In those days of republican simplicity, graduates from college, instead of riding rough shod over those whose literary advantages were less, believing themselves forever exonerated from the field, the shop, and the counting-house, thought it no disparagement to apply themselves to agricultural, mechanical, and commercial pursuits. Among them, we find Mr. Livingston extensively and successfully engaged in mercantile business, in the city of New York. Reposing full confidence in his integrity, which was then a necessary passport to public favour, his fellow citizens elected him to the office of Alderman in 1754, in which he continued during nine successive years, contributing largely to the peace and prosperity of the city. In 1759, he was a member of the colonial assembly, which had important duties to perform; Great Britain being at war with France, which brought the colonists in contact with the Canadian French and Indians. Twenty-thousand men were to be raised by the colonists to guard the frontier settlements, and, if practicable, to carry the war into the territory of the enemy.

The province of New York furnished 2680 men, and 250,000 pounds, to aid in the proposed object.

Mr. Livingston took an active and judicious part in these deliberations, and also introduced laws for the advancement of commerce, agriculture, and various improvements; manifesting a sound judgment and liberal views. He was an active member of the committee on foreign relations, who wisely selected the celebrated Edmund Burke, to represent their interests in the British parliament. From the lucid communications of Mr. Livingston, that celebrated statesman and friend to America, was made thoroughly acquainted with the situation, feelings, and interests of the colonists.

After the dissolution of the general assembly by the decease of George II., Mr. Livingston was again elected in 1761, a member of the one under the new dynasty. In 1764, he wrote an answer to the message of lieutenant-governor Colden, pointing out, in respectful, but bold and convincing language, the oppressions and infringements of the British ministry upon the rights of the Americans.

He soon became a nucleus, around which a band of patriots gathered, and eventually formed a nut too hard to be cracked by all the hammers of the crown. The consequence of the bold stand taken by many of the members, in defence of their dear bought privileges, was the sudden dissolution of the assembly by the governor, whenever he discovered a majority in favour of liberal principles.

In 1768, the assembly consisted of the brightest luminaries of talent then in the colony, who elevated Mr. Livingston to the honourable and distinguished station of Speaker. Discovering that a majority of the new assembly were unwilling to be slaves and tools, the governor, Sir Henry Moore, dissolved them, and ordered a new election. He succeeded in obtaining a majority of creatures like himself, but a sufficient number of whigs were elected to watch the interests of the people, and hold the minions of the crown in check and awe. Although Mr. Livingston, from disgust at the procedure of the governor and his adherents, had declined being a candidate in the city of New York, he was returned from the manor, and, on mature deliberation, took his seat as a member, although opposed, at first unsuccessfully, because he was not a resident of the district that elected him, in which predicament a large majority of the members were found involved: they therefore concluded not to run the risk of having their own glass houses broken, for the sake of demolishing that of Mr. Livingston. During this session, he offered a resolution setting forth the grievances of his countrymen, which gave great umbrage to the adherents of the crown. This determined them to expel him on the ground at first assumed, which was effected by a vote of 17 to 6; twenty-one of the twenty-four members being similarly situated, not residents of the districts they represented.

A wider field was now opened before him. He was elected to the first Congress at Philadelphia, and became a brilliant star in that enlightened and patriotic body. He was one of the committee that prepared the spirited address to the British nation, that roused from their lethargy those whose attention had not been called to the all-important subjects then in agitation, involving a nation’s rights and a nation’s wrongs.

He was continued a member of Congress, and, when the grand birthday of our independence arrived, Mr. Livingston aided in the thrilling duties of the occasion, invoked the smiles of Heaven upon the new born infant, and gave the sanction of his name to the magna charta that secured to it a towering majesty and grandeur before unknown.

He was also a member of the association that recommended and adopted a non-intercourse with the mother country; president of the provincial Congress assembled at New York, to devise measures for their protection, and was one of those who framed the Constitution of his native State, which was adopted in 1777. Under that he was chosen a Senator, and attended the first session of the legislature of the empire State. The same year he was elected to Congress, then in session at York, Pennsylvania, having retired before their conquering foe. Deeply afflicted with a hydro-thorax, (dropsy of the chest,) he felt that his mortal career was fast drawing to a close. It was in the Spring of 1778, when the dark mantle of gloom and misfortune hung over the bleeding colonies.

Under these circumstances, he was willing to devote his last expiring breath, as he had much of his estate, to the service of his beloved country. He addressed a valedictory letter to his friends at Albany, bade them a last farewell, urged them to remain firm in the cause of liberty, and trust in God for deliverance; clasped his lovely wife and children to his bosom, commended them to Heaven for protection, and looked upon them with a heart full of tenderness for the last time on this side of eternity. They were then at Kingston, where they had fled for safety and protection from a brutal soldiery.

On the 5th of May he took his seat in Congress, and, on the 12th of June, he yielded to the only monarch that could subdue his patriotic heart—relentless death. He was buried the same day under all the mournful honours due to his great worth and merit, deeply lamented by every friend to the American cause. Although he was deprived of the kind offices of his own family in his last moments, he had a friend who had been his stay and support in every hour of trial, and now smoothed the pillow of death. Religion had been his companion through life; in the hour of dissolution, it was his support; angels waited for the transit of his immortal soul; Heaven opened wide its gates to let the patriot in; the king of glory decked him with laurels of bliss; enrolled his name on the book of life; and crowned him with that peaceful rest which is the reward of a pure heart and a virtuous life.

His private character was a continued eulogy upon virtue, philanthropy, benevolence, urbanity, integrity, nobleness, honesty, patriotism, consistency, and all the leading qualities that render man dignified on earth, and fit for Heaven.

GEORGE WYTHE.

The name of every patriot who aided in gaining the liberty we now so permanently enjoy, is remembered and repeated with veneration and respect. A particular regard is felt for those whose names are enrolled on that bold and noble production, the Declaration of Independence. Their names, with many others who espoused the cause of freedom, will glide down the stream of time on the gentle waves of admiration and gratitude, until merged in the ocean of eternity. This single act has placed them on the list of immortal fame.

Among them was George Wythe, a native of Elizabeth city in Virginia, born in 1728, of respectable parents. His father was a thriving farmer, and his mother a woman of unusual worth, talents and learning. His school education was limited, and, like Washington, Lafayette, and a large proportion of great men, he was indebted to his mother for the most of his learning and the early impressions of noble and correct principles.

From her he acquired the Latin and Greek languages; by her he was led to the pure fountains of science, and to her he was indebted for the formation of his youthful mind.

Unfortunately for him death snatched away, nearly at the same time, both his parents, leaving him still in his minority without a hand to guide or a voice to warn him against the allurements of pleasure and the seductions of vice.

His father left him a fortune, which, by prudence and frugality, was sufficient to render his circumstances easy and comfortable. But like too many only sons, his father had not inured him to business habits; he was soon led astray—he was captivated by amusements—and from that time until the age of thirty, his time was spent in pursuit of the phantoms of pleasurable diversions, and in idle company, neglecting both study and business.

Like the prodigal, he then came to himself—returned to the paths of virtue, studied the profession of the law, was admitted to the bar, and soon became one of its brightest luminaries—one of its most eminent members. During the remainder of his life, he pursued the paths of wisdom most scrupulously, and showed to his friends and the world that a young man, although led astray by the prowling wolves of vice, can burst the chains that bind him—redeem his character—correct his habits—and become a useful and virtuous member of society. So did George Wythe; go thou and do likewise. He felt most keenly, regretted most sincerely, but redeemed most nobly the misspent time of his younger days. If this should chance to meet the eyes of any man under similar circumstances, let me say to him—imitate the striking example of George Wythe. Perhaps no man ever maintained the professional dignity of the bar better than him, or was more highly esteemed by his most intimate acquaintances. He was scrupulously honest, and would never proceed in a case until convinced justice required his services. If, by any deception, a client induced him to embark in a suit that he subsequently discovered was unjust, he refunded his fee, and abandoned his cause.

His virtuous habits, extreme fidelity, judicial acquirements, and extensive knowledge, gained for him public confidence and esteem. He was for a long time a member of the House of Burgesses, and under the new government he received the appointment of Chancellor of Virginia, which office he filled with honour to himself and usefulness to his native state until the day of his death. As a legislator he was highly esteemed for talent, integrity and independence. He was not the tool of party, he stood upon his own bottom, and depended upon his own judgment. In 1764, on the 14th of November, he was appointed a member of the committee to prepare a petition to the King, a memorial to the House of Lords, and a remonstrance to the House of Commons on the impropriety and injustice of the proposed stamp act.

The remonstrance was from the able pen of Mr. Wythe, and was drawn in language so bold and strong, that it alarmed many of his colleagues, and underwent considerable modification to divest it of what they deemed a tincture of treason. He understood and properly appreciated the true dignity of man, and was not born to succumb or quail beneath the tyranny of a haughty monarch or an aspiring ministry. He was a prominent and active member of the House of Burgesses in 1768, when Virginia blood and Virginia patriotism were roused, and passed the memorable resolutions asserting their exclusive right to levy their own taxes; accused ministers and parliament of violating the British constitution; and denied the right of the crown to transport and try persons in England for crimes committed in the colonies.

In passing these resolutions parliamentary rules were dispensed with—they went through with the onward course of an avalanche, the members anticipating the proroguing power of the governor, who, on hearing of their tenor, immediately dissolved the house. But he was half an hour too late, they had passed their final reading and were entered upon the records, and beyond his power to veto or expunge.